A Better Look at Things:

The NZXT Lexa S arrives in a cardboard box with the case pictured on the front as a space age train heading down the tracks. Choo choo. The back of the box lists its features and shows a picture of the case’s innards. On the sides we find the specs of the Lexa S.

Removing the Lexa S from its box we see that it is a Mid Tower case and is entirely black; on both the outside and inside. With all this black, I guess you could call this the “Johnny Cash” of PC cases. It is primarily constructed of steel and measures 19.6 X 48.0 X 52.8 cm and weighs in at 12.3 kgs without a power supply. Besides the case, there is a box containing screws, drive rails and instructions.

NZXT designed the Lexa S with a futuristic appearance by having a forward angled front bezel. It looks like something out of Cylon inspired Battlestar Galactica (the original series). Its front door is composed of piano black plastic and opens from left to right. On it we see a large vertical blue LED with a small drive indicator LED beneath it. Below this door are two additional vertical blue LEDs and a grill for the fan that sits behind it. All three of these blue LEDs stay on when the PC is powered.

Opening the case door reveals one 3.5” and four 5.25” drive bay slots. One interesting thing to note is NZXT uses mesh plates to cover these drive slots meaning that unused bays actually function to ventilate the system. This concept is something I have not seen in previous cases that I have reviewed. It is a nice touch by the folks at NZXT.

On each side of the 3.5” bay we find the power and reset buttons with two knobs below this area for fan control. Finally at the bottom of this area we find a NZXT badge in black and silver. Off to the left side of the front panel are two USB ports, an eSATA connection and microphone and headphone jacks.

The left side of the case features a square frosted clear window which houses a 120mm fan with a blue LED. This side panel is kept in place with two large thumb screws. Sadly NZXT does not provide a ridge for grabbing the panel and sliding it off involves getting your finger nails under the panel edge near the front of the case and then sliding it backwards. Strangely the right side panel has a notched area for easy removal. I wonder what NZXT was thinking with this windowed panel and no easy grip access.

If you like vents on your cases then the Lexa S will definitely make you smile. NZXT placed vents on the top, rear and base of the case. Only the right side panel is bereft of some form of ventilation.

From the rear of the case we see seven expansion slots which are closed with vented shields. The Lexa S is a PSU on the bottom case so there is an opening for the PSU at that location. Another 120mm fan is found next to the I/O plate area on the back of the Lexa S. Just above this fan are two liquid cooling holes.

On the underside of the case is another vent with with a removable filter for easy cleaning; we don’t want dust bunnies in our case. Four rubberized legs help keep the case off the ground and provide a space for ventilation.

Once the side panel is removed we see the inside of the Lexa S is painted the same color black as the outside. The left hand side of the case holds a large open area for the motherboard and power supply. A reverse ‘L’ shape has rubber protected openings for running wires to the back of the case to keep them concealed as much as possible. The rubber is nice as it protects and keeps the wires in position.

The right side of the case has four 5.25” and two 3.5” device bays on the upper section and five 3.5” drive bays on the bottom. These hard drive bays are turned to help provide a cleaner look with wire management. Emerging from the center section of 3.5” drive bays we see the case wires for power, LEDs, fans, etc.

NZXT includes an SSD adapter that is found in the hard drive bay. With this adapter you can install two 2.5” SSDs if you so desire.