We are computer hardware manufacturer NZXT, ask us anything!

It would be cool if you could add dust filters to the Phantom 410 series, like the one's here that weren't so expensive and made from you so it's real deal. Anyways love your products and thanks for the AMA. Also I'd love to see an aftermarket air cooler heatsink fan from you guys.

Unfortunately accessories for the Phantom 410 are unlikely to happen. I understand your request though. Dust filters make a world of difference. This ultimately comes down to logistic and inventory issues, not simply because we don't want to help our customers.

As Polygon_sex mentioned, we do have 2 series for air coolers. :)

ITX case... I know you guys are keeping it as confidential as possible, but let us in a little on the release date or shape. If NZXT guys are releasing any sort of ITX, gonna hold off on the Prodigy ANY day.

ITX is something we are very aware of but we want to make sure we do it right when we do :) Since it's new territory, we'll be spending a bit of time developing it to make sure its something we know you guys will all love. Can't give any release window but I can say it definitely won't be this year.

Any interesting stories of office shenanigans?

Some people have been "caged"

I hope you guys aren't angry that i stole your username =/

You again! :D

Why do you guys not build something with Hotswap HDDs?

The home NAS market is getting bigger and bigger but it still is hard to get a case with outside 3,5" Hotswap bays that is not a 'gamer case', basically looking for something like your H2/Tempest 210 just with front facing Hotswap..

Honestly, we feel the cost associated with HDD cages does not match the limited appeal of the hot swap. These funds have mostly been reallocated to the SD Card reader. We also feel that superior options are widely available as 5.25 replacements.

No criticism directly pointed towards NZXT, but this is something more general. Why are most computer cases so goddamn ugly? So many frills, intakes and weird shapes all over it. Seems almost none of the manufacturers have simple sleek/minimal designs.

Believe it or not, they sell, they sell a lot. What do you think of our H630?

Hello NZXT! I don't have a question really, I just wanted to convey my overall support of your fantastic products. My first gaming PC was built using one of your cases and several of your accessories, and I couldn't be happier with the quality and look of them all as a package. Thank you again, and I look forward to your future products.

Thank you for your support!

Rats, I missed this! I had many questions!

Go go go.

Ah! I have tons of questions. Firstly, have guys ever considered designing special hardware for pro? It's an awesome, open market. I used to be a VFX artist (now producer). We have a constant need for LOTS of cooling, but it also needs to be QUIET!

2.) Do you happen to get preview parts from card companies? Do you design the cases around modern profiles?

3.) The phantom cases are AMAZING! Where do you guys draw explanations for that kind of stuff?

4.) How do you design and test your CPU coolers? In college, I experimented with designing a peltier cooled CPU system. Have you guys eve considered something like that?

You guys make equipment like a boss! I'm about to build a new PC for both myself and my sister (who graduated from college yesterday!) and I'm totally picking up some heavy-duty cases - and they'll be PHANTOM!

Thanks guys! Hope I'm not entirely too late!!

Late reply to your late reply!

1. We actually see a lot of our case getting used by industry professionals. There is a great convergence of the enthusiast and professional market these days!

2. Through our partners we generally get to see the new stuff in advanced. Modern profiles rarely change enough to affect our designs though.

3. If you check some of the other replies, we've touched on this a bit. But we look at a lot of car, boat, furniture, and architecture for inspiration!

Thanks for your support!

I know I'm late, but this question is important to me. I have the White Switch 810 case stuffed full of fans, a radiator, etc. When I look at your website however, there are not any "white" fan controllers. Is there ever going to be an option to get fan controllers that match my case? For now I've gotten by with the included fan hub, and an additional one, but I would like to have control of the fans myself.

I feel like the possibility of this happening is getting larger as we launch more white cases without doors. :)

you guys may have said this when you first started streaming, but I missed it: what are all three of your names and/or job titles?

thanks for answering!

For the people that weren't watching it was myself (Tuan, marketing), Johnny (CEO/Founder) and Shin (lead designer).

I have one of your cases, the Hush. It's flippin awesome. It's a damn shame it was discontinued. My question is, do you guys have anything interesting in the works? Something we haven't seen in other cases, maybe?

Of course!

I just recently built a pc for the first time and bought an nzxt case. Works great. Just wanted to say thanks for the product.

Thank you for your support!

I'm looking at one of your sexy Phantom Red cases right now! Thanks!

Thanks for checking us out. ;)

What is your current computer?

Work PC - Travel Edition:

• Asrock Extreme4M X79
• Intel Xeon E5 2680
• 16gb Adata DDR3 2000mhz
• 256gb Kingston HyperX 3K SSD
• 2TB 7200 RPM WD Blue
• Nvidia GTX590
• NZXT HALE90 1000W
• NZXT Respire T40
• NZXT Aperture M
• NZXT Vulcan

---

Home PC:

• Asus Sabertooth X79
• Intel i7 3970X
• NZXT Kraken X60
• 22gb Patriot Sector 7
• 256gb Kingston HyperX 3K SSD
• 3x 2TB WD Green
• Nvidia GTX680 W/ Kraken X40
• NZXT HALE90 V2 1200W
• NZXT Aperture M
• NZXT Hue
• NZXT Switch 810 White

Anywhere specific you draw inspiration from? Because I've always thought the phantom case was wicked because of the sci fi inspirations

A few AMA's back I recall our lead designer stating he loves to pull inspiration from many places, not just the typical car and jet stuff. Specifically speaking, furniture, architecture, and boats.

Thanks for don't this. Is there a reason you have do not have a small cases for Micro-ATX or mini, nano, or, pico ITX ?

Simply because they are still incredibly niche. The same amount of development and investment will generally go into a smaller case, however it will still appeal to less people than even our larger full towers.

I think Corsair have missed the mark a bit on the pricing of the 350D. Can you rival it for less?

mATX is in a bit of an odd spot. I think it has a chance to start to take away from the ATX market, but the ITX is certainly taking a big chunk out of it. I think we'll wait to see where the dust begins to settle.

What goes through your mind when creating new cases and features? Obviously performance is important, but how much time do you take when it comes to the design of a case? Do you try to go for a futuristic look?

I love the look of the white phantom case. It looks super futuristic. I think it would look amazing in a limited edition Chrome effect.

We'll generally pitch a rough concept while we are planning our roadmap. After that, while working on other projects we'll informally start to conceptualize what we could do with it. (The H630 is a great example, the floating panel idea is something I came up on long before the project actually started.) Once the project kicks off we'll start getting sketches down, or if in a time crunch we'll jump straight into 3D. We don't try to go with futuristic, we just try to go for great universal design without overdoing it.

Chrome's been kicked around before. :)

Hello,

I just bought one of your fans for my AM3+ CPU at work on Monday and just installed it yesterday 5/17/13. Some people on newegg were complaining about how complicated the instructions were (??) but I found them to be pretty flawless. Took me about 5 minutes to install it. Here are some photos

http://imgur.com/bjwlNLI,ia3xXNQ

Excellent work. Sure beats the hell out of the stock cooler.

It looks fantastic! Thank you for your purchase! :D

Do you think the tower & monitor setup will still be mainstream in the next 10 years or will it be something that is common only in the custom gaming PC niche? Is this the case already?

Personally speaking, I believe we will begin to see ITX sized boards take the traditional DIY build while X79 SLI/XFire caliber builds will remain around current standard size. :)

please start focusing more on the cleaner looking cases like the switch.

i find the phantoms to be butt ass ugly, but that is personal preference.

also with the HUE, is it possible to get it without the epoxy led strip? possibly with the sleeved led rope like the smaller lighting kits.

do you have any aluminum cases?

EDIT: just wanted to say THANKS FOR THE IU01; it really helps out quite a lot in some situations.

We haven't made aluminum cases in a few years. Have you seen the H630?

It is currently not available to get the HUE witout the expoxy LED strip.

Thanks for your support!

Love your case designs, always wanted one but never been able to justify the spend while I have a perfectly serviceable Antec.

Question. Would guys consider a custom paint option on cases (if there isn't one already, I've not spotted it on the website) or is your manufacturing process not in line with that capability?

This is something I've kicked around for a while. It certainly wouldn't be feasible to have the factory do it, it would need to be in the states, the problem will be manpower and the major cost increase.

This is probably over, but any thoughts on combined mainboard/psu's? I think it's one of the next steps after Haswell's powerful iGPU and IVRs..

Integrated components don't lend well to replacement and enthusiast builds. When you integrate too many components, it increases the risk for the whole thing requiring replacement. There are also mannnnnny certifications each respective product requires and very territory to territory, I don't see this happening in the foreseeable future.

Intel or Amd?

Personally, Intel. Less personally, all office systems are using Intel.

I always go straight to NZXT when picking out a case. Just wanted to say that you guys make a great product. My Apollo case is still running strong. My only problem with them is the built in usb ports on the side of the case don't last too long. But other than that its been working great. Much better than my last case from thermaltake. And they look so cooooooool.

Thank you!!! Our Apollo was our best selling case actually! Thank you so much for your support!

Love your phantom black case

Thanks!

I'm still loving my 2 year old white phantom case! Only problem is the plastic faceplate... Mine has turned yellow from sunlight. I have emailed customer support, but haven't heard back. I didn't bother contacting them again after. Any tips on how to turn the plastic white again?

Hello hayos,

Please try to open a ticket using our new support system, someone should get back to you next business day. It's very hard to modify plastic color without paint.

Sorry for the issues you are facing.

The material that the majority of the Phantom 410 is made out of is extremely prone to static electricity. Is this a design flaw or were you aware of this but deemed it harmless? Because I feel very cautious about having the innards of my case surrounded by a layer of static electricity.

Static electricity from the plastic shell has never effected the performance or stability of the components inside.

Do you sell any good looking cases that have handles so I can LAN?

Also - my friend bought one of your Phantom cases - the power connectors for his fans don't match his power supply - what should he do?

We do sell the Vulcan mATX case which features a great big handle. I literally carried a system in it with me from Los Angeles to Taiwan!

Usually you need a fan adapter, fan hub, or fan controller to connect fans to the power supplies.

A 2.5 years ago when I was doing my build, and a lot of research, I discovered the Tempest EVO. Thank you for making the best case I've ever worked with. It still turns heads. If I could provide a little feedback: perhaps the stock fans could have been a bit better quality / quieter. Keep up the great work though!

Thank you for your support and feedback. Included case fans are always a struggle to get a good cost / quality ballance. Since the Tempest EVO, we've certainly improved the quality quite a bit, but there's already room to keep improving!

Just wanted to say I have a nzxt phantom and I love it so much. Yesterday I tripped and hit it with my knee quite hard (big ass bruise today) . A lesser case would have dented but the Phantom gave no fucks.

You all make some really nice cases.

Phantom don't care. :D

Thanks for your support!

Hey, I had never heard of you before today, now I'm glad I have. Question: Would you please make a tiny AC unit that can be attached or otherwise piped into a laptop? Think car AC but small it would keep the air drier and the machine legitimately cool! This would make my gaming experience smoother!

This is not something we would likely make due to costs, potential upkeep, safety, and mass appeal.

I have the nzxt sentry lx and it won't stop beeping. Fan number 5 always turns off and it starts beeping. How do I stop this?

It would be best to conact http://nzxt.com/support, is sounds like you may have a defective unit. I am sorry for this.

Absolutely love my M59 with a HUE inside! Had to recently order a mobo and CPU due to parts dying on me, hoping to get a phantom 410 soon

Thank you for your support! :)

Hi NZXT, I am wondering what case you think has the best Airflow out of all your sub $100 cases.

I believe that would be our Tempest 410 Elite for $79.99 :)

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Haha I can assure you about the sales of the Avatar as it has been discontinued for quite some time. It certainly wasn't the greatest performing, but I agree, it was damn sexy.

As for the monolith, somewhere I have a Photoshop of our Grid in the scene with the Apes! I think the Black H630 is the closest thing we've got currently.

Why are the Cable Management grommets for the Phantom 410 so useless? They pop off if you try to force braided cables through them.

We're sorry for this, we have since come up with an improved design. Part of this is due to the internal chassis being a shared chassis. Our newer products feature custom designed chassis's and are much improved.

I have your kraken x60 i bought two months ago and it came with a rattling fan. Can you replace it? I have sent emails to no avail.

I like the cooler but it needs to be able to support showing CPU temps not just water temps. Thanks for the AMA

Hello Maybe, the best way to contact support would be to go through http://www.nzxt.com/support.

It does support showing CPU temperatures, however the included OpenHardwareMonitor needs to be running.

When will the NZXT H630 be available for sale?

By the end of the month. :)

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Hello oscarandjo,

Can you please elaborate on this, do you still require help? I'd love to make sure you can get taken care of and am sorry that you had an awful experience.

Thanks, Rob Teller

WHere did you get that AWESOME HAT!!! and what is your favorite part of the process in making a new project/product

Johnny won the Teemo hat at GDC 2013 from a punching machine contest at Riot's booth.

THANKS FOR THE AMA!!! you guys ROCK!!! Awesome Hats, Cool Shirts, and Best Cases and Cooling in the business IMO !! Keep it up!

Thanks, you rock! :)

Your white Phantom 820 case is one of my prized possesions, thanks!

Happy to hear! Thanks for your purchase!

The custom PC market is pretty niche these days with so many people clawing out their eyes to get a new macbook or buying a pre-built gaming rig. What made you decide to justify another player in an incredibly competitive marketplace?

We've actually been in business for 9 hours and business for us is consistently improving. Personally speaking, I am seeing the consumer market for PCs shrink, while enthusiast market is growing!

We've actually been in business for 9 hours

Only 9 hours? I've been using the Phantom 410 for a lot longer than that!

Years*!

I have your phantom case for my pc and literally bought if off the sheer beauty of the case! I walked into a specialty store with no knowledge of the brand or quality but immediately got a sense of how great it was after just a few minutes of fiddling with it, immense love for your products. Keep up the great work!

Thank you, we will! Thank you for your support!

What cases are you most proud of overall, both form-wise and functionally?

I think I am most proud of our H630. Not just because it is our newest, but because its a completely NZXT engineered chassis with a brand new design. Something all current development staff had a hand in perfecting. :)

That is a fine case

Thank you :]

Have you guys seen the Acer Predator?

While I like the Phantom a lot (I'm using the Vulcan), I'm really hoping that you guys can make more cases that can be tailored to be the center piece of a living room (no offense to the modding scene of course).

Now, the Acer Predator case was one thing that I would never think twice about putting it right there in the living room. While the Phantom case is much better spec-wise, it lacks that WOW effect that the Predator have especially when opening the predator lid itself was quite a pleasure to see.

So what do you guys think? Any thoughts? Maybe the next evolution of the Phantom?

I asked this since, my opinion is that, if there's a place where PC cases should be going forward, this could be it.

A well priced mATX/ATX case that make me go hell yea I want to display that in my living room! It's a pity to see something that I build from scratch (well, parts) just to stay there under the desk in a bedroom just because there's no real motivation to put in on display out there.

TL;DR I wager the opinion that the design for PC cases going forward should be treated like the design of a car.
e.g. I don't just want to drive. I want to look awesome driving it.

We think the over the top features are always cool, but it's a bit needlessly crazy. I think it terms of the doors, you will begin to see us move away from that. We are trying to focus more on sexy functional currently.

Is anyone on the NZXT team a fan of Naruto?

Yes, quite a few of us follow Naruto, including Johnny.