Verdict on the NZXT Rogue?

L

Llathos

Limp Gawd
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
Messages
151
I saw an announcement in here not so long ago about a "revolutionary" SFF case in the NZXT Rogue case.

Several people here have bought them, but I don't see too much chatter about it.

What was the verdict?

My impression from face value is:

-too big to be called SFF
-looks heavy/clunky/boxy, though stylized
-expensive compared to other SFF cases
 
I personally love the the case. If you check my worklog, you'll see why.

The Rogue was designed as a no-compromises LAN box. Of course, everything comes with compromises. There are a few positives. Sure, it's large, but airflow isn't an issue. We're talking about room for five 120mm fans. Also, it if you're in to watercooling or modifications of any kind, then this case is a prime platform. In addition, it will easily accomodate up to 5 hard drives (4 if you really want a 3.5" bay device, large power supplys, and large air coolers. If these are things that are important to you, then this is a great case. If you feel it's too big, then by all means go with a smaller box. Of course you'll risk hotter running components and a general lack of airflow. The way I see it, not matter which way you go, the perfect SFF case does not yet exist.
 
My verdict:

It looks nice to begin with.... but..

It's big, poor build quality, bad construction af the Motherboard tray whict makes it difficult to install a 8800 card.

@craigbru... love your mod, but you are total rebuilding the case which can correct some of the build errors. Looking forward to see your work progress
 
Now that part is a surprise to hear. I figured the Rogue would be the easiest card to install an 8800 onto. The case is HUGE! Where's the conflict?

First off, poor build quality seems to contradict exactly what craigbru said in his post as well as 75% of the reviews on Newegg.

Strangely, the other 25% explicitly state that its build quality is poor.

Why the discrepancy? How can one person claim it's a tank that could be rolled down stairs and someone else claim it's a flimsy piece of crap?
 
It's possible that my experience with the case is somewhat unique. When I received the case in November, it was one of only two in existence at the time. I believe that I have the case that NZXT took the original product photos with. You could look at it one of two ways, either I got a cherry-picked case, or I got a case that would most likely be a pre-production unit with likely flaws. I'm not sure which it is, but I'm confident that I could drop the thing down my stairs and not worry about the case, I'd be worried about the stairs... :p

I'm not using the original motherboard tray, but I believe it's just an issue when installing the tray with the video card in place. Once it's in the case, I really can't see card clearance becoming an issue.
 
Llathos said:
I saw an announcement in here not so long ago about a "revolutionary" SFF case in the NZXT Rogue case.

Several people here have bought them, but I don't see too much chatter about it.

What was the verdict?

My impression from face value is:

-too big to be called SFF
Call it what you want but fits on my desk much better than any tower

-looks heavy/clunky/boxy, though stylized
I don't move mine other than to change out components which is not an everyday thing. If you buy this expecting to take it to LANs there are the spec sheet should let you know what you are gettting into.
-expensive compared to other SFF cases
Yes but no other SFF case offers the features this case does. Also yes going by the newegg price it is a ripoff. The buy.com price is much more palatable.
Click to expand...

I am more than happy with it. It fulfills my needs. I wanted a case that could sit on my desk so I could keep it away from my 18 month old daughter and out of the way of the cat hair.(We have two, one of which is long hair.) I also wanted the ability to add at least three hard drives. I also did not want to give up any in my OCing so sufficient cooling was a must without being loud as it is in the living room.

No other case on the market can do all of this at any price. Read the reviews and know what you are getting into. This case has a place, it is not for everyone. For those that it is for it is a wonderful piece of equipment. Thank fact it is built like a tank makes the price easier to swallow as well.
 
boomhower said:
I am more than happy with it. It fulfills my needs. I wanted a case that could sit on my desk so I could keep it away from my 18 month old daughter and out of the way of the cat hair.(We have two, one of which is long hair.) I also wanted the ability to add at least three hard drives. I also did not want to give up any in my OCing so sufficient cooling was a must without being loud as it is in the living room.

No other case on the market can do all of this at any price. Read the reviews and know what you are getting into. This case has a place, it is not for everyone. For those that it is for it is a wonderful piece of equipment. Thank fact it is built like a tank makes the price easier to swallow as well.
Click to expand...

At any price? The Qmicra is superior to it in every way. :)
 
Skott said:
At any price? The Qmicra is superior to it in every way. :)
Click to expand...

Going from a quick look over of a review at silent pc:

I completely disagree. For starters I don't care for its looks but since that will vary from person to person lets not count that.

So lets see:

The cooling sucks. Four heavily constricted 80mm fans compared to five relatively free flowing 120mm fans, no contest. A very questionable hard drive mounting scheme some of which may be blocked by certain GPU arrangements. It is also not capable of accommodating large tower heatsinks.

That is not what I would call superior by a long shot.
 
I should have been more specific in my post. Qmicra V2 which is what I was referring to. The original Qmicra has been discontinued for a little while now.
 
Skott said:
I should have been more specific in my post. Qmicra V2 which is what I was referring to. The original Qmicra has been discontinued for a little while now.
Click to expand...

I like that one much better. I still don't care for the barn look but again that is just a personal thing. I also still don't care for the hard drive mounts, just doesn't seem very secure. Plus if you max out the fans(left side) and with certain video cards(right side) all of the hard drive mounts would be gone. Plus the height eliminates it from the space I have on my desk.

That is a much better design than the V1 but I still would not call it superior by any means, but it is much more comparable.
 
I had bought the case and also planned on doing some mods to the case. I even went as far to communicate with craigbru who just is doing an amazing job with this case. But with that said, I had to return the case. It is built like a tank or more like a mini frig. The WAF is very low on this case. The comment was, "I am not having a mini frig on my desk." The quality was not that good. Coming from Lian-LI cases I expect the same quality for the price. The brushed look almost looked painted on and the door did not line up along with the side panels. The drive bays were also done very poorly. The top panel looked like it was an after thought and very thin. Overall I was not impressed. I do hope that one day Lian-LI would clean up their act and come out with a better design for their idea of an SFF. Till then I have to wait. The best case right now IMHO is the Qmicra II. But I am not a fan of the coating they put on it and also the U shaped cover along with the high price. Maybe version III will be cheaper and more impressive.
 
I doubt the next Qmicra will be much cheaper if at all. Unless they move to a different material to make it out of and/or find someplace that makes it cheaper than America. American made and top quality metal = expensive. Plus the fact its not mass produced in huge quantities doesn't help. Its a niche product made for the more hardcore enthusiast crowds that love to mod. I don't see that changing but I could always be wrong.
 
I just built a qmicra v2 rig. I did alot of research before I bought it. Don't hate on it just because it costs a premium price. I would definitely call it a superior. Its a really good case, and I prefer the "arch" shape to the squared corners on the first version (ugly). The handles are stealthed nicely. The harddrive mounts work well. You can easily fit several hdd in the case and still have room on the other side for the fan mounts. If you need more hdd it would be very heavy. You could install a $14 hotswap drive bay in one or more of the three 5.25" bays though, or a '2 to 4' or '3 to 5' drive backplane. The guy with the cylon mod on [H] fit four 1tb drives in the Qmicra V2 on two of its standard hdd mounting brackets -- with a 8800gtx installed in the case (linked here)..
DryInstall01.jpg

More than that you should just use external esata drives or a file mule rig/NAT on gigabit lan. This is a sff why would you want 4+ hdd in it?
The Qmicra v2 uses 120mm fans also. The alignment works excellent to exhaust heat.. It fits tall 'fin tower' heatsinks too. (Check my post in the P5E-VM hdmi thread). I don't mind paying the $ for such a high quality case. The material and design is excellent. And its about 1 cubic foot volume. Also, cases have long lifespans in my house and this is a keeper.

Some people buy into SLI and/or $450+ single slot video cards but settle for less on a case that might last them several builds. I also see crappy computer chairs and desks in a lot of people's pics. Its your money do what you like but for the amount of time enthusiasts are at their desk and in their chair, I'd hope they would get a good chair with a headrest and lumbar support, and a nice desk at some point over the years. A good case, desk and chair won't increase your fps but they are worthwhile purchases in my opinion.

But I digress --- as I said in a different rogue thread on [H], I investigated the rogue and measured it all out on cardboard like I did a bunch of other cases. The rogue is a bit oversized in my opinion at 16.6"L x 14.5"W x 10.9"H (vs Qmicra V2: 14"L x 9.75"W x 11.25"H). A neat looking case, but for how fat it is it should fit a full size ATX board in my opinion. The width kills any functionality as a semi-portable case for me, and with a permanent located case that size I don't feel like I should trade off full ATX. It looks like a decent case otherwise. If it had supported full ATX I probably would have bought one for one of my other rigs at some point. As it is I will passed on this case.

For Reference:
xQpack.............13.80" L x 9.00" W x 11.20" H
QMicra V2.........14.00" L x 9.75" W x 11.25" H
BobSlay Cube:...14.50" L x 11.25" W x 12.25" H <---- full atx
LanboxLite:........16.90" L x 11.80" W x 9.00" H
Rogue................16.60" L x 14.5" W x 10.9" H
SuperLanBoy:.....16.75" L x 8.25" W x 16.25" H <---- full atx
Full Tower:.........18.50" L x 8.00" W x 21.00" H <---- full atx


1027.jpg
 
Its should also be pointed out the Qmicra V2 is designed for water cooling as well. Its not your typical SFF case. I think everyone could agree on that part.
 
That picture is of the Rogue NZXT right? The giant black mini-fridge being schlepped around?
 
1027.jpg


It's quite large. I'm not sure how portable that is to me. You might as well stick a mid-tower in a luggage case.

But then again, I'm biased and prefer Shuttle sizes
SFF_PC.jpg

bbbha0.jpg


It's like 1/5th the size of the Rogue.

xQpack.............13.80" L x 9.00" W x 11.20" H
QMicra V2.........14.00" L x 9.75" W x 11.25" H
BobSlay Cube:...14.50" L x 11.25" W x 12.25" H <---- full atx
LanboxLite:........16.90" L x 11.80" W x 9.00" H
Rogue................16.60" L x 14.5" W x 10.9" H
SuperLanBoy:.....16.75" L x 8.25" W x 16.25" H <---- full atx
Full Tower:.........18.50" L x 8.00" W x 21.00" H <---- full atx
Shuttle G5 .........11.8" L x 7.8" W x 7.3" H <---- proprietary format (think a bit larger than 8800GTS L x Optical Drive W x Optical Drive H)

Of course, they are for completely different purposes, I understand that. I just thought it would be fun illustrating the size difference. Too bad I can't find a proper comparison pic.
 
It's amazing that these cases can coexist in the marketplace.

A case like the Ultra MicroFly for <$50 fits standard PSU and all microATX MBs, is mobile, and has a slew of external ports.

Meanwhile, there are other cases that have proprietary PSU sizes, fit only some microATX boards, can't hold a full size modern graphics card, but costs $200 or more.

Can someone explain that to me?
 
Llathos said:
It's amazing that these cases can coexist in the marketplace.

A case like the Ultra MicroFly for <$50 fits standard PSU and all microATX MBs, is mobile, and has a slew of external ports.

Meanwhile, there are other cases that have proprietary PSU sizes, fit only some microATX boards, can't hold a full size modern graphics card, but costs $200 or more.

Can someone explain that to me?
Click to expand...

Because size and aesthetic beauty charge a premium. I find it amazing that you can put a quad core intel and an 8800GT into a Shuttle that is the size of 2 modern PSU's side by side. Larger one-size fits all cases that fit all microATX boards and all PSU sizes don't have to spend any development costs on their own hardware. They also don't include their own hardware aside from a generic cheap PSU at times. It's up the consumer to buy the motherboard, cooling, and maybe a higher quality PSU themselves, easily adding up to a $200 cost.

Smaller ones like Shuttles come with their own proprietary motherboard and proprietary PSU and proprietary cooling system already for that price.

My friend has a MicroFly, he doesn't think it looks very portable at all when I bring my Shuttle over. He certainly can't stick it in a small student's backpack when he moves it around. Larger cases are good if you want more choice in motherboards, like having more than 1 optical drive, like having more than 2 harddrives, doing SLI, etc. If you want a computer that is just as fast as any modern computer, can use the latest graphics cards (yes you can run 8800s to 9800s in a Shuttle), has all the neccessary features, yet is 1/5th the size, there are the smaller options for you which I think is great!

The rogue is simply a beast, I would have personally liked it to be designed a little more vertically rather than being like a big box. I think it would have been possible to get it into the size of a briefcase, then it would be much easier to carry it around via handle or backpack or even inside a briefcase or piece of luggage rather than hauling it like a cubic mini-fridge on straps.
 
Spare-Flair said:
The rogue is simply a beast, I would have personally liked it to be designed a little more vertically rather than being like a big box. I think it would have been possible to get it into the size of a briefcase, then it would be much easier to carry it around via handle or backpack or even inside a briefcase or piece of luggage rather than hauling it like a cubic mini-fridge on straps.
Click to expand...

That is the one reason the I really liked it, you can fit a nice tower cooler in it. Some users are running TRUE's. You just need to know what you are getting. Even thought it comes with a carrying strap you should not get this thing with intentions of transporting often. It just isn't the right case for that purpose.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top