Review System

Assembly

We expect every case to provide a certain degree of user-friendliness when it comes to cable routing and only mention pre-routed implementations to point them out. Thus, a bit of time is always spent to see to it that a fairly clean build comes together. However, with the Zalman X3, the sheer number of cables and lack of unique routing mean around 30 minutes were spent just trying to figure out the initial mess. We ended up with a creative approach which utilizes openings in the front to secure the fan leads, and then pulled the excess cables through another opening to steer them clear of the cable trench. We also removed the cover of the fan controller in the process. While there is no way to pass the RPM signal from the motherboard on to these fans, there is a fan-speed button on the PCB, but with it behind the screwed-down plastic cover, it isn't accessible.


Adding the motherboard with the CNPS17X is done by using spacers and screws. There is no space on the bottom edge of the board, but Zalman includes two well-situated cable-routing holes for clean cable management.


Inserting the GPU was straightforward as well. The GPU support bracket buckles a little bit under the weight of the cooler, and initially did not want to stay put properly. Turns out, the thumb screw here actually ends up squeezing into the metal cutout if you tighten it too much as it is too small. As you can see above, there are a few scuff marks where that happened. Luckily, simply replacing it with a classic PSU screw solved the issue.


To place an SSD inside your build, just take out a tray and screw the drive into it. Once filled, put the tray back from where you grabbed it and use the thumb screw to secure it.


For 3.5" drives, you have to take out the tray underneath the shroud. Rubber rings act as anti-vibration measures. If you are installing a drive on top of the cage, it needs to go on first. You may then fasten the other to the cage with screws. Once filled, simply slide it back in and use the two thumb screws to secure the cage.


Adding a PSU is straightforward: slide it into place and use classic screws to secure it from the rear of the case.


With everything installed, the interior of the Zalman X3 looks pretty clean overall. We even managed to clean up the backside of the motherboard tray nicely. As you can see, we initially used the cable hooks further from the trench to secure some I/O cables, just to keep the trench free for power supply or data cables you may want to get to easily. Unfortunately, trying to put the side panel was impossible. It would simply pop right off the chassis. So we moved the cables into the trench, which solved the issue. This means the cable hooks are not useful for anything other than the most slim cables, like ARGB or fan leads.

Finished Looks

Turning on the system, the coolest visual element is clearly the top with its two built-in ARGB strips. You can see the glow of the center-mounted ARGB elements in the CNPS17X and the ring of the rear fan through the heavily tinted window. A blue power and red HDD activity LED light up in the top I/O when the PC is turned on as well. Unfortunately, the fan hub just blasts the fans at full speed, and while you could pull off the side panel and remove the two screws holding the cover and PCB in place just to push that undocumented button on the PCB, that button is clearly just a leftover of the OEM controller picked by Zalman.


Looking at the front, you can also see the rings of the three fans through the gap between the panels. Viewing the side of the build directly, you should be able to make out your parts because of the white interior. Those opting for the black Zalman X3 probably won't be able to. In the rear, everything is where you would expect it based on the internal layout.

On top of the various single and multi-color modes and lighting animations you may toggle through with the Zalman X3, there are also the usual solid colors, which you can view below.