A Closer Look - Outside

The case looks clean without any windows or other curvy design elements. The body is made of steel, while the front is a combination of plastic with an aluminum plate in front. The latter is quite thick and does convey a high-quality feel to the otherwise bland plastic door. It also adds to the weight of the chassis considerably. Since this is a large Server/Workstation case, I doubt one will be planning to move the unit around alot anyways. Nonetheless, the overall looks - while very clean - hint at the combination of design elements with a bland and fairly boring interior. NZXT seems to deem such a route satisfactory, while I do believe that some potential buyers may be put off by such an aspect.


The front has some built-in lighting, as do all the NZXT cases. The front can be opened from left to right, perfect for placing the unit to the right of your working space. The rear has the usual gray color, but looks a bit out of the ordinary. The PSU bay is located on the very bottom, with two fans above it. The rest of the rear is traditional with the mainboard expansion bays, small holes for water cooling - possibly too small for some - and the usual 120 mm fan in the rear.


Both sides of the chassis are completely solid. The Whisper features noise dampening everywhere, so the lack of any air vents further improves the noise level of the chassis. We have counted three fans so far. That should be plenty to create a nice air flow within the enclosure.


The I/O can be found on the very top of the Whisper. It is actually embedded into the case and can be popped out, by releasing a plastic lock. The overall contraption works, but the lock does not hold well at all. The entire unit is constructed of quite weak, cheap and fairly crude plastic. It would have been more interesting to see the embedded approach without any moving parts, like in the Silverstone Fortress.


Upon opening the door, the bottom intake fan can be seen. This is the only one with LED lights in it. The rest of the front is taken up by seven 5.25 inch drive bays. The top one has been filled with a 3.5 inch bay adapter, so that you may install such a device into the case as well. NZXT has constructed the door in such a fashion, that you may turn on or reset the computer without opening the door - a nice touch.