Installation, Testing and Comparison:

For my test system I installed the following into the Lexa S:

Motherboard: Asus P6T Deluxe
CPU: Intel Core i7 920
Memory: Kingston HyperX 12GB
Video Card: MSI n260GTX
Hard Drives: Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM, Samsung 1 TB 7200 RPM
PSU: Ultra X-Finity 1000 Watt Power Supply
Cooler: Noctua NH-U12P SE1366
DVD Burner: ASUS DRW-22B1LT and LiteOn BluRay
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
Thermal Interface: OCZ Freeze Thermal Extreme Conductivity Compound

The installation began with the modular PSU being put into position. Next the included standoffs were screwed into the motherboard tray and the Asus motherboard was attached after snapping the I/O plate into place. Before securing the motherboard onto the tray, I would recommend you check the length of your motherboard power connectors to make sure they are long enough. In the end I needed an extension for the four pin 12V power connection. As an aside, I do not know why modular PSU makers don’t include an extension or a long enough cable to reach a full ATX motherboard when placed in a PSU on the bottom system. I always need an extension with a PSU on the bottom setup.

After attaching the case power, LED, reset and USB connectors, it is time to mount the hard drives and optical drives. The hard drives are installed using the included snap on rails with the SATA or ATA connection aimed towards the motherboard tray area. This provides the “clean” look to the hard drive area.

To install the optical drives, you need to remove the bezel from the front of the case then remove the 5.25” bay vented shields. The optical drives are inserted and locked into place using the included thumbscrews.

Here is what the Lexa S looks with a PC housed inside within. I tried to be meticulous with my wire management unfortunately I need an apprenticeship in cable management 101 because it still looks pretty wild and wooly. The main wires that caused me difficulty were the PCI-E power cables, the USB/Firewire external expansion slot card and the upper fans wires. Sorry folks, I gave it my best shot.

The case fans connect via 3 pin or molex connectors. Using the 3 pin adapters allows the front fan control to be use with the case fans to control the speed and volume of any connected fan.

One nice feature of the Lexa S is the cut out area for CPU access found on the motherboard tray. This is designed to make switching CPU coolers much simpler as you don’t need to remove the motherboard from the case.

The Lexa S had enough room for my system and was able to easily accommodate the large Nvidia 260GTX graphics card. Like other NZXT cases the Lexa S is designed to be cool and quiet. Unfortunately at full speed the fans were a bit too loud for my tastes, thankfully NZXT included the built in fan controller which dialed down the fan speeds and made things virtually silent. With the four built in fans plus the additional CPU, GPU and memory fans, my system was pretty well ventilated thus I did not need to run the fans at full power. If you are overclocking then you may need to sacrifice so fan volume for better cooling.

After using my Lexa S housed computer I did have a few quibbles. My first issue is the power button is behind the door. On my NZXT Zero 2 case, the power button sits outside and below the door. I prefer to not have to open my door when starting my PC.

Another issue I have with the Lexa S is the side panel could be easier to remove which I mentioned previously. The last issue is the loss of space going from the full tower of the Zero2 to the mid tower of the Lexa S. There was plenty of space for my migrated PC, but it felt rather cramped when compared to its former residence.

In a perfect world my ideal case would be a hybrid of the Lexa S and the Zero2.

None of my issues are dealbreakers as I do love the appearance of the case and especially like the black inside of the case. Once I take my cable management courses I think it will look even better. Plus the Lexa S has a cool blue window fan.