Interior design
The interior of the Lexa
is not painted, but the aluminum shine makes
up for it more than enough. Anyway, there
are way too few cases that their interiors
are painted. Looking at the upper rear part
of the case, you will first see the clear
blue LED 120mm and the top exhaust 80 mm normal
fans.
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The blue LED fan gives a
nice, clear blue light and is nearly silent
while at all. The PCI brackets locking mechanism
is taken from the older model of NZXT, the
Nemesis.
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There is a switch which locks
and unlocks all of the PCI brackets with a
single move. Much more convenient than screws,
especially for those who switch components
often.
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The HDD case is located at the lower
front part of the case, facing sideward towards the
window, as NZXT is used to placing it when designing
cases. The drives will be located directly in front
of the intake 120mm fan, which will help their cooling
and reliability dramatically. The drive cage is attached
to the case and not removable, but I don’t think
it had to be as the drives are merely sliding in place
by using rails and the drive cage is facing sideward,
with nothing able to block direct and easy access
to it. The case also has a lot of cables, expectedly
as except the usual LED and button cables, as well
as the front audio, USB and firewire ports, there
are 3 temperature sensors which allow the monitoring
of 3 temperatures from the front panel LCD display.
The power cables of the fans and the LCD display add
to the crowd. Cable management shouldn’t be
difficult though, the case has many places to hide
cables at, such as behind the drive bays.
Extra Features
As I mentioned before, there is an
LCD display at the top of the case, monitoring 3 temperatures
simultaneously. The LCD is dark blue with light blue
characters, very charming to the eye. I really liked
its appearance and clean look. The power-on LED of
the case is not exactly a small LED, but a stripe
across the middle of the case’s door. It is
soft, so it shouldn’t bother anyone, but surely
noticeable and I liked the effect it creates on the
case.
Final words and conclusion
NZXT embraced success with the release
of the Lexa case. The case is very nicely built, sturdy
and built with good quality material. It is also nicely
designed and well balanced. But these are not features
that can guarantee the success of the case. On the
other hand, the amount of attention it draws is extraordinary.
I never before had so many people, who many did not
know me at all, asking me what that was and where
they can get one. The appearance of the Lexa
is what makes it a winner; it is very well balanced
and good looking, without being overcrowded with features
or effects.
Pros:
• Excellent design and appearance
• Good built quality, great paint finish
• Extremely lightweight
• Almost entirely screwless
• 4 included cooling fans, two of which clear
blue LED fans, all silent
• Brilliant aluminum front panel effect and
LCD screen
• Good bundle, included carrying strap
• Window side panel with lockable handle and
nickel plated bars
Cons:
• The drive mounting rails feel fragile
Considering all the above, I think that the Lexa deserves
our Heavenly Hardware Gold Award. You want a case
that looks nice and different at the same time, not
very large but perfectly functional for everyone while
it won’t cost you a fortune? NZXT just provided
you with the answer to your calls and Lexa is the
name.
Contacts:
Reviewer: Grace
Editor/Designer:
Allan "Zardon" Campbell
My thanks to Mike (NZXT Europe)
for providing us the review sample for the needs of
this review.
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