Zalman R1 Computer Case - A Value Buyer's Dream?
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2015-05-07
·
1,618 words · ~8 min read
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all right real talk time the review requests that I get from viewers are
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usually terrible I mean we're talking stuff no one could possibly care about
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ancient products that have been reviewed to death already products that simply
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aren't available in my region of the world blah blah blah the list goes on
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and on but I still love getting review requests because without them I wouldn't
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happen across little things like this
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one right here I'm still mostly going to pick stuff myself like the long overdue
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room video that I have upcoming but keep your review requests coming
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anyway save on select and tell 730 series ssds with instant rebates during
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President week February 22nd to March 1st 2015 click now to learn
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more so you guys often ask me for more affordable stuff the Zan R1 is
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definitely that is is it the cheapest case on the market no that would be some
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homemade affair with cardboard and packing tape something that seems cool
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in theory and then you're all like oh no there's no front USB 3 which I guess
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leads us pretty well into the tour of the outside of the R1 the top mounted
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I/O includes a power switch to USB 2.0 ports a USB 3.0 Port audio jacks and a
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reset switch that's actually not as susceptible to cat feet as it looks
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since it needs to be pressed in pretty far to activate also on the top top is a
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removable panel that covers one of the three included 120 mm fans and amount
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for another although it's very unlikely you'd be able to fit a radiator here due
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to the motherboard clearance and issues that you might run into the front of the
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case features a brushed finish and a stylized Zalman Z with a very stealthy
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uh seriously there does not appear to be a handle door that opens up to reveal
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the junkiest noise dampening material I think I have ever seen seriously there
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are round plastic stickers applied to the magnets that help the door stay
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closed so it won't accidentally like stick too much and like pull it off as
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far as I can tell there's 25 and a/4 inch bays in here a 3 and 1/2 in
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external Bay a two fan speed controller that cleverly supports low high and off
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for up to those two fans I just mentioned and a removable cover that has
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Fine removable plastic mesh in place of
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a normal filter that reveals another of the three included 120 mm fans this with
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LED lighting as well as another spot for an extra although much like The Cooler
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Master silencio that I reviewed recently I fail to understand where the front
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fans are going to draw air in from there is a small gap between the front door
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and the front bezel and there are small mesh vents on the side of the bezel but
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that's still going to be very restrictive so I wouldn't recommend
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putting your dual R9 29x config in this
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case on the bottom of the case are some taller than average feet good for keep
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keeping your power supply with its bottom mounted fan supplied with fresh
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air and on the right is a bulged out side panel to give you some room for
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cable management because there's almost none between the motherboard tray and
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where the panel would normally be and even then there is not a lot even with
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the Bulge on the left side is a tasteful window that will show you the CPU socket
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area and graphics card and finally around the back is the final included
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120 mm fan on the old only radiator
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compatible fan mount in the case external water cooling grommet seven PCI
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slots and a bottom mounted power supply slot so let's open this baby up we'll
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start with drives there's a single 2 and 1/2 in Mount above the four 3 and 1/2 in
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tooless mounts it's nice that it only requires screws on one side and keeps
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your SSD up high enough that you won't have clearance issues with the cables at
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the back so no complaints here but the 3 and 1/2 in mounts are frankly terrible
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the left side plastic rail doesn't allow a screw Mount and the right side one
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doesn't latch to the case like there's no handle on it so to reiterate no hard
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Mount and one of the least secure toolless tabs that I've ever seen do not
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buy a pre-built system in this case there is a good chance your drives will
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slip out in shipping although it's less of an issue if you're just buying the
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bare case the only exceptional thing about the tooless 5 and 1/4 in cages is
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the layo cable management holes nearby for the front panel connector
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everything but USB 3 fits through the one hole to be cable managed at the back
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um but the USB 3 one has to go through a separate one it's not a huge deal or anything it just feels a little bit
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shortsighted around the back of the motherboard trade there are lots of
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cable management holes that are mostly actually pretty well positioned one in
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the corner for the 8 Pin EPS connector well spaced ones on the side of the
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motherboard and the bottom near the power supply and only one for the front
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panel audio conspicuously absent and there are lots of cable management loops
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with a CPU cutout for easier cooler installation back here as well there are
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also some weird vent holes back here that I feel like probably should have
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been just left solid the motherboard tray in this case is quite flimsy as it
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is and punching more holes in it just feels like tickling the bear so to speak
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with that said it feels fine once your motherboard is in just make sure you run
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your 8 Pin power connector before mounting your board or it will not fit
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through the hole and also make sure your board is no wider than standard ATX or
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it'll interfere with this Bend in the tray power supply mounting is pretty bog
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standard there's a filter on the bottom of the case but unfortunately it's kind
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of a pain to get at unless you flip the case over but this support brace that
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screws into the top and bottom of the chassis and prevents saging up to two
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heavy expansion cards is actually a really nice addition the mechanism is
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fairly rudimentary you just kind of unscrew it where it is and then screw it
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back in where you want it to be but it really works with that said I suspect
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part of the reason that it's needed is that the metal used for the rear of the
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case is quite thin so heavy cards are much more likely to warp the PCI slots
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and seg and while I'm complaining about those really zelman onetime use PCI
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covers I hate those what if I change my card load out and I don't want to leave
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a gaping hole in the back of my system but I guess it's all kind of a you get
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what you pay for thing the MSRP for this case what told us enough to know that it
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wasn't going to be you know super amazingly built but it's certainly
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functional and surprisingly goodlooking so for a single GPU gaming rig well
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looks like not a bad choice and at the prices that I've seen people on the line
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of tech tips Forum saying they've gotten this case for on sale I'm willing to
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forgive you know boneheaded stuff like
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the pre-installed top 120 mm fan that will literally exhaust no air in the
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case's default config with the top panel closed so I mean with the right promo
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the R1 is a pretty killer value for a
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windowed case with a black interior a stylish looking front panel and all of
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the other things that it's got going for it so it wins my it might be good but it
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really depends how much you'll be paying for it award speaking of depending how
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much your painting.com there pay only for what you
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need approach to being a mobile carrier means that all you've got to to do is visit
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lus.org machine if you've got a contract they'll pay 25% of your cancellation fee
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up to 75 bucks and they officially support GSM devices like the iPhone 6
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and 6 Plus now so that's Linus doing.com to let them know we sent you and I think
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that's pretty much it thank you for watching guys like this video if you liked it like it if you disliked it
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