NZXT Duet

Testing

The case was stood on as per our standing test for cases. The case scored a 2 meaning that it was showing the signs of strain when my boot was on it. It’ll be perfect for a LANer as it has the strength, and probably slightly more important is that it’s light. Compared to high-end cases like the P182B, its refreshing to be able to carry it around with out huffing and puffing.

Onto the standing test. After placing my boot on the case, it started flexing and I didn’t have enough confidence in the case to allow for my full weight to be applied. A score of 1 was received, which isn’t bad considering as this case isn’t designed to be moved around, and instead sit on its lonesome somewhere.

The case has very dim power and hard disc activity lights, which are blue and red respectively. They shine from behind the glossy plastic front of the case, and loo
quite pretty good and unobtrusive, unlike high powered LED’s used on gaming cases.

The twin 80mm fans at the rear of the case are practically silent, however, it’s actually very hard to feel any air being moved by them. This case doesn’t have the cooling capacity to house any high-end component, unless you use the two 120mm fan slots, which means that you can’t mount more than two hard discs. The hard discs, when mounted on the sides, are very loud as the vibrations from them are passed onto the hollow case. Some vibration mounts would have been nice. As a result of the poor cooling, the case is noticeably hotter than the SilverStone Temjin TJ08 that this board was in previously.

After a few days usage, the shortcomings of the case become apparent. For one, the front I/O panel isn’t secured into place and if you use the far left USB slot, the whole thing bends backwards (this appears to be a faulty screw inside the case, so may be a one off). As the power supply sits at the front of the case, there is no exit air passage, unless you have a underside 120mm PSU. If your PSU blows the hot air out the back of unit, then the front panel of the Duet becomes hot after a while.

Another annoyance with the case is the 5.25” bays. These are hidden, by design, behind the front door. Unfortunately, if you have a front display, like the XS-PC LCD, then you’ll have to have the front door permanently open which is less aesthetically pleasing. Also, if you have a remote control with your media PC, then you will also have to have the door open for the infra red sensor.

While I understand that the front of the case is meant to look as clean as possible, the inability to have a front display is a rather strange. Either have one built in, or allow one to be used in the future; having to have the front door open looks much worse than it needs to be.

Another flaw is that there are no dust filters. Granted the included ventilation doesn’t move much air, but a media PC is something you build and then forget about for years. Imagine the amount of dust that would build up. Factor in the already warm case, plus the dust, and you get a poor working environment for your PC.

It makes no sense to have low powered, silent fans that barely move any air, when the rest of the case hasn’t been set up to be silent (no foam sides, no vibration mounts etc.).

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