A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior, simply remove the thumb screws holding each panel in place. The layout within the Orbit-Z1 looks quite simple but functional at first sight. On the back of the motherboard tray are two 2.5" mounting positions alongside additional openings to mount more exotic parts, like liquid cooling. If you look closely, you will see two additional mounting positions for SSDs, horizontally instead of vertically. These would allow you to mount such drives on the inside to then place two more on the backside of the motherboard tray for a total of four such storage units. Unfortunately, Rosewill has omitted any grommets, so you do want to make sure all the cables are hidden away nicely.


There is a fairly large and complicated PCB on the backside of the motherboard tray as well. It comes pre-wired, meaning that all the fans and LED strips within the chassis are connected right out of the box. The plugs used are not of the standard variety, which means you may be locked into buying specific Rosewill fans and LED elements should you want to expand on this area.


There is very little space behind the motherboard tray, so Rosewill has embossed the side panel a bit to double the room, which leaves you with 12-25 mm of space to work with.


There is a high-quality metal shroud inside the Orbit-Z1 that covers the PSU and 3.5" hard-drive bays. Rosewill also allows for two 120 mm fans to be installed here. The interesting part, however, is the LED strip that has been fused into the shroud itself. It is RGB as well and features five LEDs. This is pretty cool, and while some may crave a higher number of LEDs across 30 cm or so, having such an element built-in means no cable mess and awesome lighting right out of the box.


Taking a closer look at the front area, the two 3.5" drives utilize a pretty unique rail system on one side and thumb screws on the other. Above that are additional mounting holes for any fans you may want to install into the front. The mounting holes for these cooling units have been raised slightly, which means that you may have a hard time installing AIO radiators within with the fans on the other side of the chassis frame since it would take slightly longer screws.


The PSU bay in the rear is pretty standard, and there are small foam pads to keep vibrations due the PSU away from the chassis frame. Above that are the seven expansion slots. Rosewill has put a plastic cover across the opening where the screws are meant to go. This gives you easy, tool-less access to this area, but also closes off the hole you would have had otherwise. The 120 mm LED fan with wide pads and clear, dimple-equipped blades in the very top is of retail quality - you could buy additional ones of the same kind if you wanted to.


Looking at the ceiling, you can see another row of RGB LEDs on top of the RGB lighting elements embedded into the fan. Rosewill went all out to make sure you can light everything up nicely right out of the box.


All the cables within the Orbit-Z1 are of the usual default variety. As the chassis offers a single USB 2.0 header - which is a bit odd as you will also find a cable for it within the chassis - it feels like Rosewill could have saved some money by sticking with two USB 3.0 ports and a combo header, but we are not complaining: the more the better.