Nzxt has been creating interesting cases since 2004. Their designs and aesthetics have come along way, with the rouge not being an exception. This will be the 4th NZXT case I will have owned, starting from the Zero, to the Hush.

Case Specs:

MODEL

ROGUE SERIES

CASE TYPE

SMALL FORM FACTOR

FRONT PANEL MATERIAL

ALUMINUM

DIMENSIONS (W x H x D)

368 x 278.2 x 421.2 mm

COOLING SYSTEM:

FRONT: No Fans

REAR: 1 X 120 mm RED LED Fan (included)

SIDE PANEL: 4 X 120mm Fans ( two optional)

DRIVE BAYS:

4 DRIVE BAYS

2 EXTERNAL 5.25" DRIVE BAYS

1 EXTERNAL 3.5 " DRIVE BAYS

4 INTERNAL 3.5" DRIVE BAYS

MATERIAL(S)

Aluminum/Steel Construction

EXPANSION SLOTS: 4

POWER SUPPLY

500 WATT PS2 ATX 12V 2.0 ( OPTIONAL )

WEIGHT

9.2 KGS (W/O Power)

MOTHERBOARD SUPPORT:

MICRO-ATX

Case design.

I was told i was going to be reviewing a mini atx case that supported large power supplies, and large video cards. What I was expecting was a case that was slightly larger then what shuttle made popular. I was wrong, and that is a good thing! The Rouge is half the height of your standard mid size atx case. However, the case is much wider then your usual case. When comparing it to their Trinity case (about 8 inches wide) it is 6 inches wider! Depth wise, this is around the same size as a standard case.

This is the part where Nzxt breaks the mold. Your standard mini atx case uses proprietary power supplies. It can't fit a normal sized video card, and only has space for 1 to 2 hard drives. These cases usually leave next to nothing for cooling, and unless you have small hands, you will leave with battle scars.

Now enter the rouge:
It can support 1000+ power supplies. It has ample space for full sized video cards. It can support 5 hard drives two 5.25" devices. It has space for five 120mm Fans!!, and here is the icing on the cake, there is enough room in the case to install a water cooling system internally! This case was made for abuse, I mean portability. The whole case is made with thick walls made of aluminum. It has a door which can be locked, and other mechanisms to keep people out of the case .

Cooling.

The case has room for 5 120mm fans. It comes with 3 fans installed, 1 on the back and 1 on each side of the case. For each of the "intake" fans, they include a screen to keep dust out of the system. Over all the 120mm fans run pretty quite while providing enough airflow to keep the system cool.

The hard drive slots, are partially covered by the 120mm fans, but still have a tendency of getting on the warm side.

It also has some slick light up LED fans and front accents to please the eyes.

Installation

When it comes to the world of mini atx boards, I am a bit limited. For this build I am using:

ECS Geforece6100SM-M Motherboard /w a Athlon64 3400+ Processor (stock Cooling).
Ati 1950XT VideoCard
Ultra Xfinity 500w PowerSupply.

The Rouge has a removable motherboard tray for easy install. They even include thumbscrews. Installing the motherboard was a breeze. Next I went to install the video card, once again, no issues. The cables to hook up the power switch, lights, etc, are long enough to extend outside of the case.

I ran into my first issue when I went to put the motherboard back in. The video card is too tall to fit. You will need to install the video card after you have the motherboard back in place (if using a large form factor card). The only other issue I ran into with the install was taking off the side panels. The side panels use a very small screw. Nzxt includes a screwdriver for this, but the screws on my sample were put on very tightly. A simple fix is to use a screwdriver with a large handle.

Installing the dvdrw and hard drives was a snap! They even have a small layer of rubber foam, that helps keep the vibration noise to a minimal. Please note if you need to install another 5.25" device, you will need to remove the hard drives to access the screw hole. The last item I installed was the power supply. Nzxt provided two mounting brackets. 1 is the basic flat piece of metal, and the second one is an 1 extender piece. This piece allows the psu to hang a bit outside of the case, thus allowing for larger power supplies. The power supply I used has very long cables and in some cases, cable management is an issue. In the Rouge you have two locations where you can "hide" your wiring. The 1st location is at the front of the case, there is a large area that can not be seen from the Plexiglas window on the case. The second location is the 5.25" bays strait across from the power supply.

Portability.

When I took the case out of the box, my 1st impression was "this is portable?". Yes the case is a bit wider then your average case, but at the same time it is 1/2 the height of a mid tower case. Nzxt includes a carrying case, that is really easy to put on the case.
The case covers the side of the case, so when you are carrying it, the portion that would touch you is covered, preventing scratching. Nzxt even took it a step further, for every clip has a cover on it once again, preventing scratching. The carrier includes a shoulder strap, and a handle that has a sturdy bar inserted into it.

I didn’t have a LAN party to bring the system to, so for a good test i brought the case home with me on the bus. The trip faired well. I got a couple of strange looks, but lucky for me, the bus I ride goes through the Microsoft campus. The case got plenty of loving attention from the geek crowd ;)

Conclusion.

This is a well built case, that can take a beating from being moved around a lot. For a mini-pc case, Nzxt is setting the standard for a whole new breed of cases. It had a couple of minor flaws that can be easily worked around (and for most people, this will not be an issue). Overall I would give this case a 9.5 out of 10

Pros.
Portable
Very well built
Cooling blows away other cases in its class.

Cons
Removable motherboard tray has issues with tall video cards.
Hard drives must be removed to access 5.25" Drives
Large footprint