The verdict

NZXT always does really amazing stuff with PC cases. Yet this is the first time I have some reservations. Obviously a SSF chassis is smaller to work in, yet it is a problem with this case. It's not designed with the same feel as the previous products. It's just not easy to install your gear in this chassis and that didn't make sense. The tool-less installation of HDD or optical is not working right, removing the drive bay is nearly impossible as it's not designed to be removed at all. If not easily accessible, I want to be able to remove the drive bay easily, period. Yet you'll end up removing the side panels to secure the HD and optical drives and actually screw them secure instead of your usual tool-less experience. And don't get me even started on removing the bay covers for the CD/DVD drive. Everything is just not as handy as I always have seen from the NZXT products in the past.

Then there's the design. It surely does have good looks, but it is a rather large case for a SSF chassis, I mean this thing is 368 x 278.2 x 421.2 mm and weighs near 9 kilograms excluding components. It's certainly not a case you want to carry around to LAN parties. So I'm not seeing this product as a LAN case at all to be honest. But lets say thanks to NZXT for it's design and optimal cooling for those looking for a really nice HTPC.

Then let's talk about build quality; for 95% of the chassis it's just really good. The sturdy aluminum design is done perfectly right. Everything is at the right place, reasonable accessible and hey .. you can insert normal or large sized PSUs in there pretty easily. But then you remove the mainboard tray ... seriously use too much force and you'll bend the thing, it's just too thin. It's a bit weird as usually we do not have to critique an NZXT product at all.

Let's return to the big overall picture though. Other than the small deficits mentioned I must say that overall I'm really impressed with what NZXT managed to do with this case. It's a fun looking package and has a unique pre-modded top window, it allows plenty of HD/Optical drives (for a SSF chassis), has a removable mainboard tray and hey .. is has some excellent low-noise cooling, which truly is a great selling point. Combine that with the aluminum design and you have a recipe for success.

The design of the chassis is professional yet not too stringent. See, it's professional in a nice way, playful. We see the lighted fan at the back and LED lighting at the front. Yeah the design works for me, but taste differs per person obviously. Other than that it's a very sturdy design and it'll accommodate pretty much anything you want.

The price however might be a tad steep. You can pick it up for roughly 160 USD, and that will be a problem for a lot of people. You build a SSF PC for several reasons, and one of the main reasons is very likely that it shouldn't cost too much and you want to be able to carry it around.

The NZXT Rogue in my humble opinion is a little pricy, yet aluminum is expensive material to work with, so that definitely explains the price as you can immediately see where that money went. Other than the minor negatives we mentioned this surely is a very adorable chassis. Therefore we can recommend the case for sure.

Name: NZXT Rogue
Product: Pre-Modified SSF / mATX PC chassis
Info: www.nzxt.com
Buy: $159.99