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Xoxide Z-40 Insight


Date
: 04/22/03 – 07:12:27 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Introduction

Manufacturer: Xoxide
Price: $44.99

Introduction

At O² we review several cases a year, just have a quick glance at out case reviews collected over the several years this site has been on the net. Since not everyone can or wants to spend $200 or more on a computer case, people end up with cheap but bad quality cases featuring cool gadgets like razorblade edges that will rip through your skin in no time, pain-in-the-butt mounting systems for motherboard, add-on cards and other hardware and last but not least, a cheap look and feel.
Fortunately, there are "other" affordable cases out there as well. One of those cases is the Xoxide Z-40 which can be yours for under $45 and still offering you all the features you do not expect getting from a case in this price zone. O² put one of these on the testbench and shows you what you get!

Page 2 : Specifications

Specifications

Let's start off with a nice copy/paste from the Xoxide website showing the specs of the Z-40:

- Dimensions: 7.75" x 17" x 18.5" (W,H,D)
- Drive bays: 11 Total: (4) 5.25" External, (2) 3.5" External, (5) 3.5" Internal
- M/B Type: ATX & Pentium 4 (MAX SIZE: 11.5"x9")
- Fans: 4 80mm Fans (Add In Fan Upgrade Below)
- Special features: UV Reactive Side Window

Judging from the dimensions, you can clearly see that the Z-40 is a midi-tower case. This means it will not house all the stuff you can put into a big full tower case, but let me reassure you that this baby can carry a lot of hardware!

The Z-40 is made entirely out of aluminum, just like the more expensive Lian Li or Coolermaster cases. Because of that, the case is very light and easy to carry around, making it a good partner for LAN-attending gamers. The inside is unpainted and therefore reflective (thanks to the aluminum). The outside is pained entirely black, a color I kind off love for cases … I love them stealthy ;).

The front bezel is made out of plastic and is also black, fitting in perfectly with the rest of the case. There is a total of five 5.25" bays and two external 3.5" bays. The case has a nice big powerbutton right in the middle, underneath the 3.5" bays. Right underneath the powerbutton, is the reset button which is a bit smaller but not too small. Some cases that pass through the O² lab feature such a tiny reset button that I need a screwdriver to push it … I love how some case manufacturers reckon my system is so stable I never need to reset it ;p.

Both sidepanels are removable and independent from the top of the toppart of the case. The left one (which is the one you need to remove when you install or remove hardware) is fitted with a nice big rectangle shaped window (with rounded edges). The outer side of it looks frosted, giving it a pretty cool effect. Also note that the window is made out of UV reflective material, making the window glow when you install a blacklight.

Now that we covered the outside of the case, let's check out the inside. As I already mentioned, the Z-40 features a total of 11 drivebays: 4 external 5.25" bays, 2 external 3.5" bays and 5 internal 3.5" bays. Thanks to this expansion room, you can easily run a RAID setup with four drives and still have room left for a spare drive! Not too shabby for a midi tower case huh?

Of course one needs good cooling when filling a case with tons of expensive hardware. Luckily, the fellas at Xoxide are aware of these needs and prepared the Z-40 to accommodate all your needs. It can hold a total of four 80mm fans: one in the bottom front, one at the top of the case (roof fan as I like to call it) and also two fans underneath the PSU, right behind the CPU. Xoxide can install these fans optionally if needed, or you can just add them yourself.

The Z-40 does comes without PSU, but you can add one when ordering. Several PSU's are available, in all price classes. Some people don't like a case without a PSU, I love them … I prefer adding my own PSU to my case instead of getting a no-good crappy PSU for free.

One thing I missed in the Z-40, is a removable motherboard tray. These things make life a lot easier and are a blessed feature …

Now, let's put a system together with this black beauty and see how the end result looks shall we?

Page 3 : Testing

Testing

I will be attending a LAN party soon, and I figured why not build a nice gaming system with the Z-40 … Here is a list of the hardware I used:

- Intel P4 2.53GHz CPU
- ABIT BH7 i845PE Motherboard
- 512MB DDR Samsung PC2700 Memory
- ABIT GeForce4 Ti4200 OTES Video Card
- AOpen CD-ROM and CD-RW
- Windows XP + all the latest drivers

Besides the necessary hardware, I also added a blue and UV cathode light and decided to clean up the cable mess with some wire looms, also supplied by Xoxide.Com. These looms give your case a nice and clean look, and the best part is, they light up when exposed to UV light! Looks excellent! Add to that a pair of rounded IDE cables, and you got yourself a slick setup.

Installing all the hardware is a breeze and very easy if you know your way with hardware. I was pleased to see the Z-40 has not one sharp edge, features perfectly aligned mounting holes and acted as a excellent host ;).

That's pretty much it, all the needed hardware is included to mount everything. One thing that would have been nice, was a set of thumbscrews to secure the side panels and perhaps the add-on cards. I added thumbies to the sidepanel mounts myself, because I reckon it looks good. Enjoy the pictures of my finished Xoxide Z-40 "LAN" Case …

Page 4 : Conclusion

Conclusion

Xoxide has managed to manufacture an excellent quality case for a low-budget end-user. The Z-40 is made entirely out of aluminum, has a nice black color and has an excellent finish, meaning no sharp edges, perfect fit, … Add to that the nice looking UV reactive rectangle window and the good cooling potential and you got yourself a sweet midi tower with great expansion room. Need I remind you of the fact that this case is yours for $44.99? Bummer it doesn't have a removable motherboard tray or thumbscrews, that would have made it perfect :).

Good

- Light
- It's black :)
- UV-reactive window

Bad

- No removable motherboard tray
- No thumbscrews