Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 stars(4 felt too low) I build PCs pretty regularly for myself
Reviewed in the United States on September 12, 2017
4.5 stars is my true feeling. (4 felt too low)
I build PCs pretty regularly for myself, family and friends (about 30 builds in the past 10 years) so I'm familiar with cases. This NZXT case is my 3rd or 4th from them. I've always liked how NZXT does things and the interesting case styles they provide. They are built pretty solid with decent metal thickness, they always paint the inside, they always provide extra screws, standoffs and zip-ties. There are no sharp edges and their cases are designed with the builder in mind with many little details you'll appreciate, even their cheap, $50 cases are built that way..
This particular NZXT case is all about showing off. I needed to do some PC upgrades and I decided on the purple/white S340 for my girlfriend's existing gaming rig (her old (& fantastic) Fractal Design R5 case went to another build). I also added 3x purple fans (top & rear exhaust and bottom front intake) and a rear fan controller. (product names listed at bottom)
Stuff I like:
---The S340 hides wires like no other case I've worked with before. It's simply a breeze to make a build look sharp and clean with this case. There is a bar on the right of the motherboard that hovers out from the backplate of the case and allows all your right side cabling to be cleanly hidden as it comes to the board. Down on the "floor", where you'll mount two SSDs, there are slot holes in the back to run the cables directly to the SSDs. Below your video card(s), there is a hole to run the power cords directly up the card from the power supply bay below. That bay, which hides your power supply is great for shoving all the extra wires. Above your motherboard, there's plenty of room to run the wires up there through the slots provided. There's ample room in the back of the case for wire management. There's also tie-downs EVERYWHERE.
---Solid. No flimsy metal, no sharp edges.
---While I prefer fancier, lever-opening case panels, I do appreciate the painted thumb screws they provide here (and at this price point, you won't find levers).
---The case has a full size filter inside the front and a filter on the bottom. I refuse to buy cases that don't have filters (as I'm typically the person who ends up cleaning inside most of these rigs).
---There is a massive access hole in the back in case you want to swap out your CPU cooler.
---The power button light is a nice, low white glow rather than the ridiculously bright blue leds we've all come to despise.
Cons: (nitpicks?)
---I really dislike the video card clip on the back. You remove a small panel to get to the screws. While it is more solid than others you may have encountered, I've never been a fan of that kind of setup.
---The front filter, while great, is difficult to retrieve. It's possible to remove it through the slot on the top but not easy. The "easy" way is to remove the entire front panel. It's the standard, 6 plastic clips holding it in so you have to really yank on it to get it to release. I wish they had made the filter access easier.
---There are only two 3.5" HDD bays in the bottom and two SSD slots on the floor. There is space to shoehorn another drive into the PSU area, but the HDD/SSD options are very limited.
---There are only two USB ports on the top/front panel.
---There is no fan controller.
Aesthetics:
I really like how much purple they've put on this case, and that was the main reason we grabbed this, she loves purple. The entire top (not pictured) is all purple and it's a relatively dark shade (not too light). If you look at the bigger NZXT S440, there's not that much purple, it's more white. The white on this case is very nice looking and the case is very diminutive with the lack of 5.25 bays on the front. Every piece of this case is painted. The interior, the back, there's not a single spot of bare metal color anywhere.
Size:
This is a pretty small case but I managed to fit an oversized Gigabyte Sniper.g2 motherboard (w/ i7 2600K) into this case but just barely. It butts right into the purple bar on the right and nearly touches the bottom as well. Her MSi GTX 970 fits with ease. Looks like large video cards and CPU air coolers should fit fine. Water cooling space is really tight. You may get a single fan radiator in but a larger, 2 fan radiator will really be a hassle if it even fits at all.
Overall, if you know how big it is, the drive limitations and are prepared to work in that space, I can't imagine you won't love this case too. It's very nice to work in and looks great when you're done.
...fans and controller used:
120mm PWM case fan 3-PACK Solar Eclipse Hydraulic Bearing quiet cooling case fan for computer 32 leds MIRAGE Color LED fan 4 pin with Anti Vibration Rubber Pads(Purple)
Lamptron CP436 4-way High Power PCI Fan Controller - Black
