[section_title title=The Interior & Build]
The Interior & Build
Upon taking off the large windowed side panel, we have a closer look of what to expect inside the Razer edition S340. First of all the most striking element is the full blown PSU cover which not only adds a middle shelf to the case to mount 2.5” SSDs, but of course it makes the interior look neater.
As you can see, NZXT have included 2 x 120mm NZXT FN V2 fans as outtakes, but surprisingly have chosen not to include an intake. Instead the S340 is water-cooling ready with space for up to a 280mm radiator in the front and up to a 120mm at the rear; not amazing, but this case is clearly focused on style over enthusiast typed water-cooling support.
This case also supports ATX, M-ATX and M-ITX motherboards…
Although there are no intake fans, NZXT have included a removable dust filter anyway which if you are like us, you will install an intake immediately, maybe even placing one of the 120mm fans already included into the space; just to balance out the airflow somewhat. Instead of rubber grommets, NZXT have a sort of steel grooved bar which doesn’t feel as good as grommets (in my opinion), but it certainly does the intended job.
There isn’t much in the way of support at the top however, with only venting space for 1 x 120mm fan; something NZXT have already included to fill the space.
To install a power supply into this case, you will need to remove the retention plate via the 4 thumb screws at the back; for best cable management results, take the back panel off too so you can direct the cables the way you want them.
It’s worth noting from the get go that our regular test setup for building into cases was kai-boshed by the lack of overall support for tall coolers within the S340 which did leave us disappointed; our Noctua NH-D15 looks a little big and since the windowed side panel won’t fit back on, we had to revert to our other Noctua cooler, the NH-L9i.
With that issue out of the way, here is our revised specification for today’s build:
CPU – Intel Core i7 4770k
Motherboard – MSI Z97 Gaming 9 AC
Cooler – Noctua NH-L9i
Memory – 8GB Gskill TridentX (2x4GB) 2666MHz
Graphics Card – PNY GTX 980 OC2
Power Supply – BitFenix Fury 650w
My experience building inside of the NZXT S340 Razer edition was pretty straight forward and was made easy by having such a simplistic and clean layout internally. Cable management wasn’t an issue and as I highlighted on the last page, the best way to install a power supply is by taking the back panel off. This is so you can push the cables in the direction you want as when the power supply is installed, access from the rear is denied.
A stunning build only let down by the lack of a performance air cooler or AIO; maybe we will have to start water cooling inside of cases to show off the beauty? (Let us know in the comments).
