Zalman GS1000 Full-Tower Case

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Max Slowik
Kurtis
Zalman
Feb. 10, 2009

Specifications

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Introduction

You want a big, breezy, E-ATX case. You've gone over your floor plans, moved the furniture around, checked the availability of outlets, and made sure the space next to your desk can withstand the weight. Good. You're ready. There are only a few options that don't look like recycled server equipment, and Zalman's got their entry. Of course, these enclosures get expensive. This particular case's appeal is that it's not that expensive. It's available for less than $200, but it's got the slick looks and volume of cases that cost another fifty or more.

So we know that something's left out of this case; the Cosmos has all kinds of NVIDIA ESA hardware, that adds to the sticker, but the Zalman 1000 has a SATA hot-swap cage, those probably add about the same build costs. What's been overlooked? Construction, or fit-and-finish?

I'm going to go with a lesser build quality. I can say this easily, because this case bit me and I bled. But there's more wrong with this case than just some underzealous filing. I've seen better-made cases for OEMs; unless you get a great price on this case, you might want to think twice before buying it.

First Looks

Don't get me wrong, my beef's got nothing to do with the looks of this chassis. It's really very well-rendered. The brushed aluminum doors are aerodynamic. The steel frame is clad in titanium-painted plastic, with a hint of brass, which is a lot nicer than that description makes it sound, and the overall impression is that there's been a lot of detail-attention paid. The hard drive cages, with their sliding, hot-swap racks, have beautifully-sprung doors that slide open smoothly and deliberately, and click shut with confidence.

The top of the case is highlighted with another nice, sprung hatch hiding the front I/O jacks, and a low-slung bezel guiding exhaust and noise backwards and away from the case, but is otherwise featureless--minimalistic. The top of the chassis is bowed, slightly, which should deter anyone from using it as a shelf, you know, cats aside.

The front I/O panel covers the bases. It's good for two USB connections, an IEEE 1394 connection, and a headset. For lights there's power and hard drive activity, and a chrome-ringed power button that's nice to mash. No reset button. The audio headers have AC '97 and HD audio covered, with separately broken-out pins for those unfortunates.

The front is vented, but not meshed. There are gaps between the 5.25" bays and around the HDD cages' doors. This poses an issue, actually. Because the 5.25" bays are irregularly-spaced, anyone looking to use multi-bay devices will be SOL. They're just not going to work. The majority of air intake is actually at the floor of the case. In addition to being perforated, there's additional, vented cladding under the case. So even the part that you can't look at looks nice.

The case uses two detachable, plastic feet that are held in place with clips. They match the rest of the plastic cladding, and both look good while lifting the case a full inch off the ground, although they're not designed to be vibration-dampening. Weight will take care of much of that, but they're not what you'd call stellar.

The doors are easy to detach and use server-style thumbscrews which hold the screws in place; they don't fully detach from the door and won't fall away forever, lost behind that radiator. Each one also has a big, sturdy handle which makes pulling them off clean and easy. With their good looks and thoughtful construction, the doors are easily the nicest, most enjoyable part of this case.

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Page 1: Introduction and First Looks
Page 2: Inside the Case
Page 3: In Use and Conclusion

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