Assembly

Installing the motherboard is done by traditional means as you will use spacers and screws. Thanks to the lack of traditional hard-drive bays, there is plenty of space to work with. Zalman even placed the rubber grommets nicely, which has everything look very tidy right off the bat.


Installing a 3.5" drive is completely tool-less as you can simply pull the cage of your choice out and snap the drive into place before sliding it all back in. The plastic trays come with rubber elements as an anti-vibration measure and may also be used with 2.5" drives.


Installing an SSD in the most prominent location is an easy task as well, but does require the use of the supplied screws and a screw driver. The same goes for the ODD since you have to slide it into the bay of your choice before using screws to pin it down. Due to the modular nature of the bays, there is a bit of play, which may lead to vibrations and, thus, noise when in use.


Installing the Zalman 1100W PSU, which was supplied to us in addition to the chassis, is a very traditional affair as well. Simply slide it into place and use screws to secure it through the rear of the chassis.


With everything installed, the Zalman Z9 NEO makes a very clean impression - both when viewed from behind the motherboard tray or while looking into its interior.

Finished Looks

Turning the Zalman Z9 NEO on also activates all the blue lighting elements. The two top fans do their job in shedding some cool glow onto your hardware, but the power button also lights up. The one big surprise here, however, are the LEDs around the USB ports. These will allow you to easily find them in the dark, which make these a very nice and useful addition.


In the front, the ODD is hidden nicely behind the door, and you can clearly see all the interesting hardware through the side panel's window. A little bit of the ODD drive is unfortunately also visible, which disturbs the look slightly. Things would have been better with the window slightly shorter and a smidge more toward the side panel's rear.