NZXT Hades Crafted Series Mid-Tower

[Rob Williams]

You might know Hades as being the God of the Underworld, but after taking a look at this chassis, you might begin to think he was the God of the "Meshworld". Yes, there's a lot of mesh used here, along with stark angles, creative lighting and a smart design that delivers fantastic cooling performance. But, can it unseat CM's 690 II?

You can read Bill's review here and discuss it here!

 

[Doomsday]

lol@ God of the "Meshworld"!

man, it just missed the 9/10 mark with those 2, very silly i must say, cons! do these guys not check their stuff before finalizing it!? soo weird!

 

[crowTrobot]

Yeah NZXT cases tend to have the motherboard sit a little to high. I built a system for somebody that used the tempest evo iirc and it was the same problem.

Awesome cases for their price though. I love that cable routing thing that the Hades has ala Corsair 800D.

 

[Rob Williams]

very silly i must say, cons! do these guys not check their stuff before finalizing it!? soo weird!

I think they do check, but sometimes they may sacrifice a detail like that in order to just make things work. It might not always be the best way. NZXT pretty much has one single designer, so I'm sure it's freaking difficult to make sure everything is perfect, especially when he's dealing with more than one model at a time.

 

[Doomsday]

I think they do check, but sometimes they may sacrifice a detail like that in order to just make things work. It might not always be the best way. NZXT pretty much has one single designer, so I'm sure it's freaking difficult to make sure everything is perfect, especially when he's dealing with more than one model at a time.

Hmm.. that be understandable!

 

[b1lk1]

Understandable, yes. BUT, this chassis has the closest possible placement of the motherboard to the top fans I have yet come across. This, in my mind, is something that needs to be addressed as it causes alot of issues with heatsinks. Same goes with that side panel fan. All they really need to do is move it down a few inches for it to not interfere with the CPU heatsinks. I know they prefer symmetry over function, but it really hampers the ability of what can be installed inside this chassis and would prevent me from suggesting it to anyone with the need for a large heatsink. It's too bad really, the case has AWESOME airflow and potential.

 

[Rob Williams]

Yes, it's unfortunate that it's just these couple of things that cause issues. Since the CM 690 II doesn't have these issues, it's kind of important to note. I'll mention this to the designer at NZXT and see what he thinks. It's too bad, because I know just how dedicated he is to creating stellar cases, and I'm sure he doesn't want it to be CM that keeps beating him at each design. CM is rather unstoppable where cases are concerned.

 

[b1lk1]

It's a fine line between style and function. Also, I feel it is easier for companies lime Cooler Master to sell their cases at a lower cost since they are a larger company and they know they will get more sales. Again, I am a very big fan of NZXT's work. They have released the best budget cases to cross my path. They only fault of the Hades is that at the price point there are some simply stellar and underpriced rivals. I should be more careful with my words and opinions because I would still recommend this chassis to quite a large audience, but with some minor tweaking I would have no issue suggesting it universally to any user.

 

[Mindless]

V8 Coolermaster

"I was lucky in that the Cooler Master V8 cooler I was using was able to be "adjusted" so that I could fit the panel in place."

I'm looking for a new case, and I have my eye on this one. My Coolermaster V8's been sticking out of my old case for a while now.
When you say you were able to 'adjust' it, what do you mean?

Cooler space is the only thing holding me back from throwing money at this case.

 

[b1lk1]

I had to bend one of the extra heatpipe sections down a touch to clear the side panel fan. Didn't require much force at all and it fit nice and snug.