Gadgetory

today we have something super interesting and full tower from Zalman okay this thing is huge and just for size reference it's almost as big as the appendix and two elite cases are getting way too big these days so the case is pretty huge but I appreciate that the tempered glass panels have been removed during shipment so the actual frame is much lighter to you know carry and work around and then you can list all the glass side panels when you actually finished that's brilliant so let's find out what this thing is any good right after this the new master liquid all-in-one coolers are available in 120 and 240 millimeter stylish radiator sizes with air balance fans included for best air flow and RGB sync on the pump and the fans and that are controlled via this hub or through your motherboard check out the ML 120 ln 240 l down below alright so the salmon x7 full tower is an interesting case in the area because of Computex two years ago basically we saw an early prototype in development stages and Zalman requested feedback from the community you guys and they actually were reading in comments and actually a lot of the feedback that you guys provided in the comments was taken into the final product but in order to keep a little bit of suspense for this video I'm gonna review the price in the end so this should be interesting now you guys may know my thoughts about really large super towers and if you're going for water cooling build then a large Tower makes sense if they're done right but unfortunately Zalman failed on so many accounts with the x7 it's not even funny it's just large for the sake of being large so this is supposed to be their most premium enclosure yet we still have misaligned mounting screws there's a vibrant red Mullis connector on the rear side this is where a glass panels supposed to sit the fans use a proprietary six pin connection because is that what premium users want the aluminum edges and a few spots are warped and because we have the aluminum surface running on the top the front the bottom and even the rear you gotta be careful not to cut yourself because the edges are not and they're super sharp everywhere the bottom panel is the perfect example as the case feet are these tiny plastic pieces and so my table got all scratched up because of the aluminum edges and seriously zalman this is just lazy a dust filter that is not easily accessible and there's practically no room for the power supply to breathe anyway this open space in the front should have been switched with the back and they also feel that the brushed texture also feels outdated sandblasted aluminum is the better way to go forward on any aluminum surface I do like the overall shape of the frame though it's got some elegant elements but oh my goodness what's happening on the power supply shroud with that giant branding let this be a realization moment that no PC enthusiasts or hardcore brand loyalists find this type of model text attractive if anything it's embarrassing and they should have kept the original shroud from the prototype case from two years ago now the one unique part of the exterior is the i/o / fan controller knobs they all have this extremely satisfying smooth rotation and analog feel to adjust the fan speed brightness of the leds and the speed of the lighting effects but everyone is moving towards the software control so this already feels outdated but of course I do enjoy a throwback and the 4 USB 3 ports are appreciated too unfortunately the lighting integration on the shroud is far from a uniform if anything it makes it look even worse when the x7 part for example is not even illuminated with the internal LED strip and even when the glass panels on the tint is so dark that you practically cannot even see the model name on the shroud which is actually a good thing there's a front ambient strip that is nice but it doesn't sink in color with the fans for some reason and none of the fans displayed anything in the blue channel so I had no blues or purples and overall this is a disappointing execution all around of course this would not be a 2017 released without a front section choking point what's strange though there is a dust filter right behind the aluminum plate it makes no sense as the aluminum cover is flush with the plastic frame so the only ventilation points are on both sides that have this coarse mesh also you can probably notice more frame restriction on those fans even though the mounting points are flexible this whole front section is a total failure and on the inside you can fit a second ATX motherboard beside those fans because the interior proportions for the x7 are just way off even with an e ATX motherboard you'll need to preserve ours beside that second row of rubber grommets to occupy that space the power supply shroud has a few good features though like a mount for a vertical GPU but they didn't actually include any accessories for this to happen and actually aside from these standard screw bits and this poster size quick guide accessories are non existent then we have proper rubber grommets beneath the motherboard and then we find rivets that hold the non removable hard drive cages in the shroud chamber so when you're building a crazy water-cooling build you also can have six three and half inch hard drives in your system and lastly the front section of the shroud is only open a bit to accommodate maximum a 50 millimeter radiator and I would say this is normal in like a regular mid Tower but for case this long they couldn't have made the cutout larger to support let's say 60 millimeter rods with the push-pull fans this tiny EVGA case in comparison has more radiator room it's absolutely embarrassing for the x7 although I do like these GPU brackets but again it's a cheap plastic implementation that almost symbolizes the x7 in its entirety moving on to the top the fan bracket is super inconvenient to access first removing the three screws that hold the top panel on which all the i/o is assembled so you can't fully remove it for convenience next the bracket is secured with two thumb screws underneath the frame making installation incredibly difficult especially with wide radiators the bracket on the other side has three pegs that need to align so it must be installed at an angle first and why didn't they just stick to the original on rails bracket like we saw at concrete Tech's two years ago it's completely boggles my mind that the final mounting procedure is so frustrating it does support the 360 rad without any issues but the mounting points for it 280 radiator are misaligned and you cannot have it somewhere in the middle of the bracket instead you need to use the corner mounting brackets to install it to ADA grad and I find this to be a ridiculous compromise on the bracket this large and just to finish off the tour with the rear side which has nothing practical and form of cable management for a case this large and this exposed we have five SSD brackets for storage I guess that's nice but no covers on anything to hide the cables and all this mess not even a single cable tie point beside those SSD caddies what a disappointment now let's put this case into this hypothetical situation where you'd want to install dual radiators for a custom loop so my 360 rad is comfortable up top although installation was a pain the GPU support bracket is good to eliminate sag but might interfere with SATA cables and the first row of rubber grommets is just way too far for a standard ATX motherboard it really sucks how there's no PCI extension cable included so I can't utilize that vertical slot for my GPU and if you really want to experiment with how to occupy this empty space in a case then the x7 is for you now the thing is the size is not even the biggest issue but it's lack of refinement and elegance of this tower that makes it so unappealing like the branding on the shroud and it's crappy illumination the tempered glass side panels are fully bare with a dark tint but no blackout perimeters nor any blackout portions on the cable management side so everything is exposed and there's the sense of poor attention to detail every step of the way and it's a big slap in the face because the price like I said in your intro would be revealed in the end is two hundred and ninety-nine dollars ouch let that sink in for a little bit and it's competing with the latest C 700p the new cosmos from cooler master which is a $2.99 but it feels like it's more premium than this thingy and cases like the dark bass 700 and the H 700 I all have similar radiator and cooling options but costs significantly less plus have all somewhat of interesting and unique interior options which this thing doesn't and I want to say that the Z machine design team needs to enter the present get out of their bubble because if they don't that is how brands start to die then you coarser avoid pro gaming headset is comfortable stylish in different colors delivers fantastic wireless performance even for competitive gaming with an all-new microphone for clear communications check out the void Pro Wireless or wired in the description below so thank you guys so much for watching make sure to subscribe and check out this other relevant content let me know what you think of the Z machine x7 in the comments do you think it's as bigger a failure as I make it out to be or have I missed something that you guys potentially let me know yeah thanks so much for watching we'll see you next day