Introduction

The Prominent 5 is a mid-tower case from Nexus targeted to users looking forward to build a quiet PC. Let’s take a look at it.

Both side panels are solid and, although it is a steel case, the two edges of the front panel are made in aluminum. This helps the Prominent 5 to have a very sober, professional looks.

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Figure 1: Nexus Prominent 5 case

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Figure 2: Nexus Prominent 5 case

The front panel of the Nexus Prominent 5 can be seen in Figure 3. It has five 5.25” bays, all with meshed covers with air filters. The top-most bay comes with a 5.25”-to-3.5” adapter, allowing you to install an external 3.5” device (floppy disk drive, memory card reader, etc).

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Figure 3: Front panel

At the bottom of the front panel the case comes with a 120 mm sleeve bearing fan (Nexus D12SL-12, 1,000 rpm, 36.87 cfm, 18 dBA). One of the cool things about this fan is that it is attached to the case using rubber pegs instead of screws. These rubber pegs will absorb the vibration of the fan and, therefore, reduce the noise level. This fan is attached to a standard peripheral power plug and to a three-pin fan power connector, so you can choose between installing it directly on your power supply or on your motherboard.

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Figure 4: Front fan

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Figure 5: Rubber pegs on the front fan

Introduction (Cont’d)

In Figure 6, you can see the top panel of the Prominent 5, with cooling vents (no air filters). The case comes with one 140 mm fan and an additional 80, 90, 120 or 140 mm fan can be installed. We will discuss more about the top fan later.

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Figure 6: Top panel

The connectors and reset button are located on the top panel, under a small door. The case comes with four USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire port, and one eSATA port, plus the traditional audio jacks.

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Figure 7: Buttons and connectors

The bottom panel, seen in Figure 8, has a mesh for the power supply fan and a mesh for an optional 80, 90, 120, or 140 mm fan. Unfortunately these meshes are not equipped with air filters.

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Figure 8: Bottom panel

The rear panel and the interior of the Nexus Prominent 5 are painted black. The power supply is installed on the bottom part of the case, and it comes with seven expansion slots. A small mesh is available to improve the ventilation of the case. There are no holes for passing hoses of liquid cooling solutions, but since the Prominent 5 doesn’t come with a rear fan installed, we are to assume that the manufacturer designed this case to be used with a small sealed liquid cooling solution, installing its radiator on the mesh for the rear fan. This mesh supports 80, 90 and 120 mm fans, if you decide to install one.

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Figure 9: Rear panel

Let’s now take a look inside the Nexus Prominent 5.

Inside the Nexus Prominent 5

Both panels of the Prominent 5 are fastened to the case using black thumbscrews. Both side panels come with a sheet of foam installed on them, to absorb noise and make the computer quieter.

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Figure 10: Right panel

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Figure 11: Left panel

The motherboard tray has a mesh for cooling the bottom part of the CPU, but there is no hole for you to access the backplate of the CPU cooler without having to remove the motherboard from the case. The motherboard compartment comes with five plastic cable holders for you to organize cables inside the case.

The motherboard tray has one hole for you to route cables behind it and some metallic clips for you to fasten cables using cable ties. The motherboard tray doesn’t touch the disk drive bays, making it easy to route and hide the hard drive cables.

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Figure 12: Overall look

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Figure 13: A view behind the motherboard tray

Inside the Nexus Prominent 5 (Cont’d)

In Figure 14, you have another overall look inside the case. Expansion cards are fastened to the case using individual plastic tool-less mechanisms. The fan that comes installed on the top panel is a 140 mm sleeve bearing model (Nexus DX14SL-12, 1,000 rpm, 46 cfm, 18 dBA). This fan uses a regular peripheral power connector and a three-pin fan power connector, so you can install it directly on your power supply or on your motherboard.

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Figure 14: Overall look

The Prominent 5 supports video cards up to 11.8” (300 mm) long.

Note that the power supply can be installed with either its bottom fan facing up or facing down, so you can decide if you want the fan of your power supply pulling air from inside the case or from outside of it.

The case comes with a rubber foam that goes between the power supply and the rear panel, helping to absorb vibrations and, thus, noise.

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Figure 15: Power supply compartment

The Disk Drive Bays

The Nexus Prominent 5 comes with five external 5.25” bays and five internal 3.5” bays, all featuring tool-less installation mechanisms. If you pay attention, screws are stored screwed on the 5.25” bays, which is a nice idea.

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Figure 16: Disk drive bays

The top-most 5.25” bay comes with an adapter that can be use to install an external 3.5” device, an internal 3.5” device or an internal 2.5” device.

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Figure 17: Adapter

Each 3.5” bay is actually a drawer, which has rings to absorb the vibration (and, therefore, noise) generated by the hard drive.

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Figure 18: Hard drive drawer

Main Specifications

The main specs for the Nexus Prominent 5 case include:

• Style: Mid-tower
• Application: ATX and smaller form factors derived from this one
• Material: Zinc-coated steel (SECC) with aluminum edges on the front panel
• Power supply: Doesn’t come with the product
• Available colors: Black
• Side panel: Solid
• Dimensions: 18.9 x 8.2 x 20 inches (479 x 207 x 508 mm) (H x W x D)
• Net weight: 21 lbs (9.4 kg)
• Gross weight: 24.5 lbs (10.8 kg)
• Bays: Five external 5.25” bays and five internal 3.5” bays, one external 3.5,” internal 3.5” or internal 2.5” if the included adapter is used
• Expansion slots: Seven
• Maximum video card length: 11.8” (300 mm)
• Maximum CPU cooler height: NA
• Fans: One 120 mm fan on the front panel (Nexus D12SL-12, 1,000 rpm, 36.87 cfm, 18 dBA) and one 140 mm fan on the top panel (Nexus DX14SL-12, 1,000 rpm, 46 cfm, 18 dBA)
• Optional fans: One 80, 90, 120 or 140 mm fan on the top panel, one 80, 90, 120 or 140 mm fan on the bottom panel, and one 80, 90 or 120 mm fan on the rear panel
• More Information: http://www.nexustek.nl
• Average price in the US*: USD 145.00

* Researched at Google Shopping on the day we published this review.

Conclusions

The Nexus Prominent 5 is a beautiful option for users looking for a high-quality, feature-full case and are worried about noise. We could complain that the case doesn’t come with a rear fan, but it seems that it is targeted to users that will used a small sealed liquid cooling solution that requires you to install the radiator on the place of the rear fan. In summary, it is a good case, but a little bit too expensive, in our opinion.

Strong Points

• The 5.25” bay covers are meshed featuring air filters
• Air filter for the front fans
• Silent fans
• Noise-absorbing foams on the side panels
• Supports one 2.5” device
• Supports five (or six, if the included adapter is used) hard drives
• Holes for routing cables behind the motherboard tray
• Tool-less mechanisms for installing expansion cards
• Tool-less mechanisms for installing disk drives
• Anti-vibration mechanisms for hard drives
• FireWire and eSATA ports

Weak Points

• Price
• No air filters on the meshes located at the bottom panel
• No cut-out for accessing the retention mechanism of the CPU cooler
• Comes with only two fans
• No vented slot covers