Assembly

Installing the motherboard within the Z11 NEO bears no surprises. While the ATX unit does come in at full width, the cable routing holes are still accessible, and the long GPU will fit without having to sacrifice a hard drive cage. Using a 240 mm liquid cooling solution poses no problem at all as the entire contraption fits inside the top panel of the chassis, making it invisible when viewed from the side.


Installing an SSD onto the backside of the motherboard tray requires traditional screws. You should make sure the connectors face the right side for easy cable management.


The plastic hard-drive trays can each hold 3.5'' or 2.5'' drives and come with rubber rings as an anti-vibration measure. You won't need any tools to install 3.5'' drives, but an SSD will require screws and a screwdriver.


Once in place, simply slide the drive into the cage of your choice until it snaps into place. Once done, it does seem to be held in place securely enough for you to move the PC around without worry.


Installing the optical drive requires you to remove the cover of the bay, before sliding the ODD into place. As you can see, there is still quite the gap between the drive and the front panel cover. By dropping the cover, a lot of unsightly plastic is revealed, which does cramp the Z11 NEO's overall style.


Installing the PSU is done by traditional means, with the use of included screws. As you can see, even my fairly compact unit covers the mounting holes for a 140mm fan on the floor, and the modular nature of the PSU also does not allow for a 120mm fan to be installed, which means most users won't be able to use this fan-mounting position because the PSU will be too long.


With everything in place, the Z11 NEO make a good impression, but it is not quite as clean as it could have been if Zalman had included grommets to cover the cable-routing holes. Most of the cable mess has been placed behind the motherboard tray, away from any onlookers.

Finished Looks

With everything put back together, the Z11 NEO looks quite nice. A blue power LED lights up underneath the power button when the PC is turned on.


The ODD drive is the only thing in front to tell others that this system is running, as you will not see the fan behind the solid front cover. Looking through the tinted side window, you will not really see much aside from a few onboard LEDs that shine through the dark acrylic panel.


Everything in the rear is where you would expect it to be, with the power cable a fair ways away from all major expansion slots. Last but not least, you can see the radiator's fins behind the angled air vent if you take a quick look at the top.