Test System

Assembly

We usually start with the motherboard, but due to the fact that the Nova TG lacks large enough openings above the motherboard tray to route CPU power cables behind the tray once the board is installed, we will start with the power supply instead. This allows us to route the cable and then place the board over it so that the interior ends up being as clean as possible. The PSU is secured using traditional screws, and there is plenty of space for longer units - should the need arise.


With the motherboard in place and the first bits of cable routed, it becomes apparent that everything within the Bitfenix Nova TG is sized to make sure those fairly large components will fit. The GPU can be 280 mm long and tower coolers of up to 120 mm tower in height will also fit - just barely. Bitfenix mentions 160 mm as a maximum for these type of coolers. The be quiet! Pure Rock comes in at 155 mm, and those just barely fits. As you can see, the CPU power cable comes out underneath the motherboard to achieve the cleanest possible look.


Installing a 3.5" hard drive does not require any screws or tools. Simply take the tray of your choice and insert a drive of your liking. Plastic pins will hold it in place somewhat. At this point, there is still a bit of wiggle room, and inserting it back into the cage does not change that fact. Luckily, you are able to add screws to the side of the cage to pin the tray itself down.


Interestingly enough, the SSD trays use the same method and work extremely well. There is no wiggle room or play here, and they fit snug inside the cage once filled. Looks like the 3.5" variant may just have become victim to some manufacturing variance.


Something we have not seen in a while is an actual ODD bay. This is something the Nova TG has, which makes it especially appealing to system integrators. To add a drive, remove the cover and plastic locks and slide the drive in to secure it with the two plastic pieces. Needless to say, they don't work well at all. It is better to get rid of them and use traditional screws to hold the optical drive in place. While we are all for tool-less mechanisms, in the case of the Nova TG, this is just a marketing feature to woo a potential customer with. In reality, it is pretty useless.


With everything in place and some creative cable routing, the interior of the Nova TG actually looks quite clean - a nice result for a chassis of this price point.

Finished Looks

Once the system is put back together, the Nova TG makes a really nice impression. A bright white LED at the front denotes the system's power status.


Thanks to the tempered glass side panel, you can clearly see the faint glow of the four LEDs in the fan, alongside all the separate components within. Some may argue that a shroud covering the PSU bay would have been nice, but considering the price tag and target audience of the case, the lack thereof may be forgiven.


Looking at the front, the optical drive looks right at home due to the chassis' understated design. In the rear, everything is where you would expect it to be.