Installation
Now it is time for installation, here is what we will be installing in our system.
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 OC
Memory: 8GB Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3-1600
Cooling: Thermaltake FRIO OCK
Storage: SATA Drive and Optical Drive
Power: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W
Now the first thing you are going to want to do is install your motherboard. You will need to install the motherboard standoffs first then secure your motherboard in the case with screws. Installation of the motherboard went well, but I did notice something. The exhaust fan uses a molex power connector rather than a 3pin connector. With a 3pin connector I could easily connect it to my motherboard. I’m not sure why this fan and the two side fans use molex power connectors and the top and front fan use 3pin connectors.
Next is our hard drive. To install it you need to install four rubber rollers, 2 on each side. These are installed by screwing them in. Now just slide your hard drive in to one of the open spaces and it will lock in to place. To remove your hard drive simply lift up on the lever on the left side of the hard drive cage.
You will need to remove the front bezel of the case to install the CD-ROM drive. To do this pull on it front the bottom and it will pop off. Slide in your optical drive and before you secure it with screws put the front bezel back on so you can line it up perfectly.
The power supply easily mounts to the bottom of the case. The entire bottom of the case is open so you can easily route your cables around the backside of the case. When I was connecting the power up inside the case I ran into another issue. Zalman includes a CPU power extension cable, but it is extremely hard to get through the opening at the top of the case, especially if you have already installed your motherboard. If you look at the third photo below you can see the top part of the case actually blocks part of the opening. This was definitely not thought out at all by Zalman. So I ended up having to run this cable around my CPU cooler and down to the power supply.
You will also need to route the USB 3.0 cables to the back of the case. Zalman includes a PCI slot cover that has an opening for the cables, which makes it very easy to route them to the back of the case.
The video card is the last component we need to install and it easily goes right in and you can secure it with thumbscrews. Now just connect everything and you are good to go.
Put your side panels back on and you can see your internal components through the side panel window. Turn the power on and the top and front of the case light up bright blue from the blue LED fans.
I have to agree with Bob here; I went straight to the “Final Thoughts” after getting to the point that there wasn’t native 2.5″ HDD support, at a price of $85, there are more than a few better cases floating around the online stores (that include USB 3.0 motherboard connectors).
Hi to everyone. I own a Zalman Z9 Plus (similar to this Z11) and I have to say:
>> Weird that the fans use different connectors
I’m DOUBLE WEIRD and agree with Bob. Why to use different connectors? It does not make sense to me! Could use a double version connector, molex & 3-pin. Bad choice for a good chassis (in my opinion).
Pros:
– Futuristic design
• Amazing desing of the case that’s why I’ve bought it + great cable management
– 5 included cooling fans
• my pc runs so cool
– USB 3.0 support
• Why they didn’t made USB 3.0 internal ? =/
Cons:
– CPU power cable opening is partially blocked
• yes, but guys to put correctly the 8 pin cpu atx connector, disconnect the 4+4 to 4 pin pass it and the second 😉
– Not a lot of room on the backside of the case
• Hell yes it’s true but when you do a better cable management it closes correctly
– Weird that the fans use different connectors
• yes but when you don’t have enought connectors on your motherboard and can’t buy a fan controller it’s a good idea
weird to see the usb 3.0 cables on the back I was so unhappy to see them there. I did some research and I found a 20 pins usb 3.0 header to a female usb 3.0 ,still waiting to receive it hopefully I will be able to connect the front usb 3.0 directly to the motherboard inside
bottom psu vent is not enough. my psu fan making noise when im install the psu downwards. i check the bottom and back of the psu with my hand and i dont feel any air flow at all, even psu fan is running at full speed. when i rotate the psu upwars sound disappeared. and i can feel the airflow from the back of the psu.
Noise coming from your PSU has nothing to do with which way your PSU is facing (up or down), just means your PSU fan is slowly dying.
You can do 1 of 2 things; get a new fan for your PSU (cheapest way), or buy a new PSU (from a reputable company).
its a brand new psu from zalman. noise coming from psu fan under load because of the poor design of bottom vent.