Hardware NZXT Beta Review

Why not..some ppl on a budget might use these kind of low end case, upgrading the internals instead of spending much on a case and spend less on graphics+etc etc..I'm not saying that Antec 300 is not good, but I prefer sideways harddrive mounting, If some ppl wants to change to the bottom PSU -they could opt for Beta EVO ones..

 

No just choose one make and model of fan and use it for all case tests. Its called benchmarking!

 

Maybe so the antec 300 is ugly as hell.
Not a fan of cheese graters under my desk...

 

Hi,
Please sign my petition for bit-tech to review the NZXT Beta with FANS Installed.
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/bittechnzxtbetafans/
Thanks

 

Whatever fan we choose will offend someone - if we choose a quality fan and add (fan mounts x £15) to the price of the case, the case manufacturers will rightly call the wambulance. If we choose a crappy cheap fan, you guys will get annoyed.

And then we get into the grey area of how many fan mounts to fill? Do we fill all of them and add a lot extra to the overall price? Do we add front and back fans only? Do we replace the fans the case ships with in favour of our test fans (as many people do with new case purchases)?

Of course we could choose a way to do all of the above, but the results would still be unsatisfactory, and arguably even less scientific and fair than if we just test cases as they ship and report results. The way we test cases is the fairest method, and by far the least worst solution.

 

90's styling- check
ugly as hell - check

 

It's really unfortunate to see NZXT making such low quality crap... I mean I've really liked some of their cases - the Rogue and Panzerbox to name a couple, but then they come up with stuff like Tempest and this one... Just sad.

 

They're testing the case, not the fans. There are so many billions of combinations of fan size, airflow, speed, pressure and arrangement that case reviews would begin to resemble telephone directories.

Even if you pick one set (I don't know - fill all the available slots with a fan of size and price applicable to the case or some such ****), that will favour some cases more than others, depending on whether they were designed for high-airflow or low. It's hardly fair that a wind-tunnel case would benefit hugely from BT's addition of another four fans or something, whereas an HTPC case which prioritises silence doesn't have six fan slots and therefore looks awfully hot by comparison. You can't second-guess what consumers will or won't do with their hardware once they've bought it.

While we're on the subject of what consumers might do with their case once they've bought it, everyone seems to have also forgotten the biggest factor in the whole test, which is that BT's case tests use the hardware equivalent of a blazing inferno in there - are we going to tailor the case test hardware to the price range of the case as well?

When there's that many variables - you test the case as it was sold. The manufacturer, who unlike BT, has many millions of test hours and dollars to throw at making these the best they can be for their price point - prioritises accordingly to get the best results it can. Then BT tests them. Behold - objectivity!

 

Think these comments highlight how opinionated case reviews are, one person's hate is another person's love

 

I have to agree with PureSilver on this, in that I think bit-tech have this one right.

I'm not against having a good old whinge myself, but it has to be fair. With almost limitless variables, and nearly as many conflicting ideas of what is the 'right' thing to do, doing anything other than what they already do would just make things worse.

Of course this case would drastically improve with the addition of an exhaust fan, but that rather begs the question why NZXT didn't bother putting one on in the first place. As Paradigm Shifter pointed out, it would have probably cost them less than a quid - putting less than 3% more on the price of the case overall, yet massively increasing it's performance.

That to me is an oversight on the part of NZXT, not bit-tech.

Myself, (and contradicting what I just said) I personally wish all case manufacturers would stop shipping cases with any fans on them. It wasn't too many years ago that you were hard-pressed to find a case that didn't ship with a bundled (usually rubbish) PSU, now it's the other way around.

Whenever I buy a case I always strip out the (usually rubbish) fans and put in my own choice - to me, the original fans are just wasted money.

Maybe they could do what the CPU guys do & offer OEM & Retail versions of their cases - offering a 'fan pack' to those that want it. Surely that would be better than the half-arsed position most manufacturers seem to take at the moment...

 

So when you test motherboards you should test without cpu and ram or graphics card. Because they dont come with them either.
QUOTE The way we test cases is the fairest method, and by far the least worst solution.
Shouldnt that read " The way we test cases is the easiest method, and by far the least work.?

 

that would be great. I used it in a build recently and from what I can tell it does just fine with the stock fans... granted my method wasnt very scientific.

 

Oh lawd, people will create petitions for anything these days

I suppose MW2 syndrome is still affecting a number of people.

 

I'd rather get the Antec 902, Instead of another "Hot Case". This case might actually have some value, As scrap metal, But You'd take a loss on the case I'd think, So I'll get the 902 instead, nice review though.

And one thing more the 902 has filters and stays cooler(temp wise), nuff said.

 

I just bought the newer version, the Beta Evo for a new build and the main reason for it was because they made it similar to the Antec 300 by moving the PSU to the bottom and putting 2x140mm fan mounts at the top of the case. Sure the steel quality may still be flimsy, but i've not necessarily noticed a time where it's been a major disadvantage.

As for the thoughts of whether or not to test with all the fan mounts occupied, i'd say i'm sitting on the issue. I can see how by testing the cases "stock", it makes for a much fairer comparison at either the price point or the targeted market segment.

On the other hand, i think it would be good if Bit-tech would fill all the fans mounts allowing users to see the "potential" for the case, so that they know that even if they buy a case that's rubbish at stock, after adding a few fans it can compete with the best.

I know there's the argument that if they're going to add fans later (which will cost) they might as well splash out the extra cash for a better case, but what if you're upgrading from a low end system and want to know that if you just pay the cost of the fans, you'll get something to rival the newer cases? Not to mention that ultimately a budget is a budget and as long as you aren't mainly looking for style, i would say cases generally sit lower than the majority of components on the scale when choosing parts for a new PC since they don't directly affect performance.

 

wow....

 

Wow, the people saying about adding fans are not quite getting it. If you add something extra then you are not reviewing the case as it arrives. Also its not about MOAR FANS IZ MORE COOLING, it is about the placement of fans and good case design which promotes good air flow, would bit tech then have to try every possible combination which each case and have a graph with 70 different entries for 5 or 6 cases. It is massively impractical and massive unfair. You wouldn't review a car and add induction kits to each one because there are kits cheaply available and a lot of people put them in.

 

An estimated 87 people look to disagree with this review. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146055

I've built many PCs and this is a decent case for the price. I used it in my brothers build recently. Comparing it to similar cases in its price range its a winner. I would have given it at least a 6.5. Does bit-tech lump their scoring all together? If thats the case then I'd understand a 5. Or do they break it up into categories....budget cases or elite cases?

They also have the Beta EVO now. I'm not sure of the difference between the two.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146059