Gadgetory

almost a year ago we awarded the NZXT s340 our prestigious stuff that doesn't suck award for being a well-built case with a smaller footprint at a fairly reasonable price since then the s340 has been a hit with many system builders and now NZXT is doubling down and releasing an all-new razer edition s340 for folks who want to pair it with their Razer peripherals or who just really like the color green or who well yeah anyways we'll be taking a closer look at the s340 than we did the original time showcased quite a while ago and we'll see what new features Razer brings to the table is it good enough for your next case stay tuned to find out and hit the like button if you're interested in seeing us attempt a hard drive platters swap without a clean room and on a drive that we haven't seen anyone do this too the Logitech G 303 features a lightweight design and advanced optical sensor with delta0 technology for precise tracking and RGB lighting to match your setup click the link in the video description to learn more so let's get right into it the packaging that ends a text to use is the same kind of middle-of-the-road styrofoam that they've been using for a while now and although we were lucky enough not to encounter any defects on the original s340 that reviewed not this guy this time around we had the misfortune of having a family fall completely off of its frame resulting in a broken fin and some pretty serious initial disappointment I'm not sure if this was due to the packaging or if the fan was just effective but it might have been something NZXT should take a closer look at in the future as numerous people have complained about shipping damage on the original s340 which we mentioned in our previous video review which you can check out here fortunately we were able to throw in a replacement fan and just charge on forward with our review the case itself is nice and light for a mid Tower and while I don't see it as a land party case specifically as there's no handles it wouldn't be too hard to lug around if need be you'll be able to find a matte black finish on the entire case in contrast to the original s 340 which was mostly glossy which which finishes superior kind of depends on your personal preference though I do personally prefer matte finish above glossy finish every time if for nothing else than just its fingerprint resistance with that said let's have a closer look at the outside of this bad boy the front of the case is completely clean has a smooth look with the exception of the light up green Razer logo in the middle the left side panel features a large highly tinted window to show off your components the tinting is quite dark and might be too much for some people who really want to be able to see their rigs innards in detail but folks who want a more stealthy look might really go for it in any event adding some cheap LEDs on the inside is an option as well if you want to brighten stuff up the right side panel is bare and continues the cases stealthy matte look moving to the top you'll find a 120 millimeter fan included this particular one here is white as you can probably see but we had to replace the previously installed so it won't be white a few buy yours the amount does support up to 140 millimeter fans if you want to swap the current one out and the included fans the two included fans in the case our rifle bearing bass fans with three pin connectors you can plug them into whatever you want you also get power button at the top which glows green with the computer is on as well as headphone and microphone jacks a green hard drive activity light and two USB 3.0 ports in a Razer green instead of the traditional blue I especially liked how the power button gave a nice hard click when I pressed it so you know for sure that it's been activated do note that there is no reset button on this case however make it a little bit more difficult to cycle your system although not a ton of people use them anyways the back of the case features a button that allows you to easily turn the case lights on or off the rest of the back is pretty standard you get that second 120 millimeter fan and the regular complement of seven PCIe slots the thumb screws for the slots are covered on the outside of the chassis presumably to save space on the inside you do need to remove an extra panel that's held on with a thumb screw beside these slots to install the PCIe cards though this is an improvement over the original s340 we've simply left that space open exposing the inside of your case the side panels are held on with captive thumb screws that include small little washers to keep them from scratching your cases finish which is actually pretty cool and there's also a thumb screw bracket for your power supply we get easy to install and remove said power supply from your case the bottom has some ground effect lighting again in that Razer green which you're probably expecting which produces a pretty powerful visual effect in a room with maybe dim lighting and this makes the case look kind of like something out of fast and furious but you might be going for that no judgment no judgement what's not as cool as this is the power supply dust filter however the original s3 40 came with a flimsy but still functional filter that didn't have a frame and was just kind of held in place with some small metal Clips forgivable since it was a budget minded case the razor Edition comes with the same filter but once we removed it it was a little tricky to reinstall because you have to bend the thing into a couple of tiny holes or lots underneath where the under glow lights are even on a budget case something as simple as a dust filter should really be not that hard to work with you do however get the same nice rubber feet that you did on the original s340 that give your case a nice amount of clearance which is especially important if you'll be using it in a carpeted area so now let's explore the inside starting behind the front panel the front bezel is a little bit difficult to remove because there's pegs and they're stiff and I don't like pegs but whatever once you give it a good tug you'll get the thing off under there you'll find a much nicer magnetic dust filter which is easy to remove reinstall clean all that good stuff and space for two 120 millimeter fans or two 140 millimeter fans or a 240 millimeter radiator or 280 millimeter radiator if you prefer your water cooling side of things however because of the mounting location of the PCB for your top IO you have to install the fans between the radiator and the front of the case or you won't have enough room at the top once we figure this out though installing a full size 2 180 millimeter closed loop water cooler was actually pretty easy there's also a very nice amount of clearance between the bezel and the front of the chassis itself so your fans should get some good airflow from the top and bottom of the case make sure though to be careful when removing this front bezel as the wires for the light-up Razer logo connect to a plug that's cable managed through it in a hole in the frame and stuff and it's very easy to snag the plug on the hole and because the wires are so thin you can snap them right apart which is what happened to us during the review process fortunately we were able to solder the thing back together and get the light working again but it is something you should definitely be wary of behind the phantom radiator mounts there's a cable management bar which kind of separates itself a little bit and well allows you to manage cables behind it instead of the typical series of holes that we'd see on other cases with possibly some grommets in it it features a Razer logo though it's a little hard to see with everything being closed behind the window tinting because it is not actually illuminated the bar itself however is actually pretty useful I like that it comes into the middle of the case a little bit because you have more space there and something like a 24 pin cable which can have a bunch of extra bulk you don't have to try to cram and behind the motherboard tray on these style of cases you might not have a ton of space behind that motherboard tray so that 24 pin is taking up a lot of valuable real estate so if you kind of shove it up there a little bit can I get out of the way speaking of the motherboard tray you'll find pre-installed standoffs in the proper places for an HDX board with a peg in the center to help you avoid frustration during assembly which is great I love those things there's also a couple of cable management holes up the top on either side for things like your 8 pin eps connector and system fan headers there aren't rubber grommets but the holes do a pretty good enough job regardless directly below the motherboard tray we have an h4 40 s basement area there are two thumb screw mounts for your SSDs on top of the basement which lets you show them off which is great as well as cable management holes behind them for both your SATA cables and anything you need to plug into the bottom of your motherboard the inside of the basement contains both your power supply and non removable hard drive cage that you can hold to mechanical hard drives in or SSDs do note though that the case doesn't come with any SSDs adapters so you'll have to use some third-party solution or just leave it there to be completely honest doesn't really matter you'll also need screws for the hard drive mounts where as they aren't to lists and as with the original s 340 you'll either need to remove the power supply or use a short screwdriver to get to the kind of second screw further inside the basement you can mount one more drive on the floor of the case which you'll need to screw in through the bottom and if you're concerned about drive air flow the vents near the top of the basement above the cage so you're kind of hard drive heat can go into the main part of your case and be blown away from there for those of you that don't want this and would rather block it off there isn't a stock solution but I'm sure you can figure something out the drive cage is also where you'll find the accessories kit you get screws zips ties a handy socket for in moving and installing standoffs and a couple of razor stickers that you can stick on things like a case moving behind the right side panel we see that NZXT has included some cable management options I counted 4 heal management loops on the bar 3 near the front and another 11 on the motherboard tray which is freaking awesome actually especially as I've seen far fewer options on larger more expensive cases pre-installed cables are nearly pre managed with bakery style twist ties including the fans which come connected to a molex powered fan hub that also provides power to the case lights there are a couple of caveats though if you use the front cable loops it may be a bit harder to close the side panel as it can get caught on whatever cables are there also all the cable management bar is a good idea overall it can make connecting cables to side mounted SATA ports a challenge as you have to kind of thread them through a narrow gap and then plug them in without a lot of clearance for your fingers there's some ways to do it but it's not as easy so can we say that the NZXT s340 razor Edition doesn't suck just like its predecessor the answer is a definitive yes the one drawback is that you're gonna have to pay an extra maybe 30 bucks to get the razor branding and case lighting which may move it out of the budget realm for some buyers at 100 US dollars but the build quality is very good throughout with the only plastic being on the front bezel and the case was also pretty quiet even though it doesn't have any actual noise dampening features specifically anywhere so if you want a stealthy black and green build and don't mind plunking down a few extra dollars the NZXT s340 razor Edition definitely worth a look ting is the u.s. mobile carrier that is focused on customer service and customer satisfaction first don't speak to a robot call it ting and get put through directly to a person while paying only for what you use the average ting bill is only about $24 per month per device and if you're stuck in a contract and want to switch to ting they'll cover 25% of your cancellation fee up to $75 so head over to Linus tank comm and try out their savings calculator and when you sign up with our link you'll also get a $25 service credit and a $25 towards a new device credit thank you for watching guys if this video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome it subscribed hit the like button or even consider supporting us directly by using our Philly go to shop on Amazon buying a cool t-shirt from our t-shirt store thing or with the direct monthly contribution through the forum now that you're done doing all of that and stuff you're probably wondering what to watch next so click the little button in the top right hand corner to check out this video where I take a brief look at the razor Wildcat