Exterior Features
My first look at the Switch 810 out of the box was a bit of a mixed bag. The case weighs in at about 20 pounds, which is pretty light for a full tower PC chassis. After taking a closer look at the plastic paneling, I’m a bit concerned about the durability of this case. The top panel is completely made from plastic and includes a large vent, but seems a bit flimsy overall. The white paint and black trim looks attractive, but I’m not sure how the Switch 810 will hold up to gamers who may want to transport their rig to LAN parties.
The front panel of the Switch 810 includes four 5.25" optical bays and have quick-release covers that can be removed to add more optical devices. The bottom panel is also removable to gain access to the front panel fans.
NZXT added a hidden front I/O panel that includes two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, audio/mic jacks, reset button, and a button that controls two white LEDs that light up the back I/O panel. I applaud the addition of an SD card reader and the unique LED controller that we’ll go into in more depth later in the review. My only criticism is that I would have liked an eSATA port because I have many devices that still use it, and I’m sure many of our readers would need eSATA support as well.
The fourth optical drive has a hidden present for users – a hot-swappable, removable SATA hard drive cage. This case supports 3.5" hard drives and 2.5" solid state drives. NZXt painted the cage to match the chassis, but didn’t include any rubber grommets to help dampen the sound from 3.5" hard drives.
I removed the bottom panel cover to unveil ample room for two 120mm or 140mm fans to help bring cool air into the Switch 810. NZXT included one 140mm fan to get users started. The back of the bottom panel includes a filter that is secured with six screws. All of the Switch 810’s filters are removable with a push of a button except this one.
Here is one of the removable filters that NZXT built into the Switch 810. These are very handy for those who like to keep dust and other particles from entering their cases. The filters seem to be made of a high quality mesh material and fit like a glove in custom compartments that run along the bottom of the case.
The left side panel includes a funky looking acrylic window that gives users a great view of the motherboard, cable management cutouts, and power supply.
One of the unique features on the Switch 810 is the top panel’s massive vent. This vent allows users to have a choice between expanding the case’s airflow options or closing the vent and keeping their case more silent.
Here is what the top panel vent looks like when it is open. The vent cutouts are pretty large and don’t include any filters for keeping dust out. This may be an issue down the road, especially for those users who keep the Switch 810 under their desk or in a custom cubby hole.
I removed the top panel vent to reveal more real estate to support high-end CPU liquid cooling solutions that use double and triple radiator setups. If you prefer using air cooling instead, the top of this case can handle up to three 120mm/140mm exhaust fans as well. This is one of the "hybrid" features that NZXT touts to consumers about the Switch 810.
The top panel also includes the power button, power LED, and hard drive activity LED. The LEDs are white to match the case as well.
The back panel of the Switch 810 is pretty standard except for four outlets to connect to external liquid cooling solutions and a large 140mm fan that can be moved up and down to the user’s preferences. I have to say this is the first time I’ve seen a fan that can be adjusted to help cool different PC components.
NZXT included another removable filter under the power supply that can be unlocked with a touch of a button.
The right panel on this case is very plain and provides no features or improvements to mention in this review.
To round out the Switch 810’s exterior features, we wanted to show our readers a quick shot of the bottom panel that includes two removable filters under the power supply and removable hard drive cages. There are also four narrow, rubber case feet that should keep this full-tower case stable during operations.
I hope they could make a
I hope they could make a version of this Switch 810 model to accommodate the upcoming and
very much awaited EVGA and ASUS dual lga2011 socket motherboard for PC enthusiast. Since it
can accommodate a 360mm radiator on its top with push/pull fan setup, by extending the
motherboard’s installation width area for an additional 6 inches would result huge
difference and would give PC enthusiast a lot of room for installing different kinds
very hi end components including those HTPX dual socket motherboards as mentioned.
– Bottom line, NZXT gave us another quality, hi end, full featured, cool looking and
affordable product the Switch 810. Needless to say, this is what Coolermaster should do
with their COSMOS II case as far as giving enthusiast a lot of head room and FREEDOM
to install any aftermarket components they like including those fan controller(s) and not
just stuck on some messy pre-installed fan controller that doesn’t help but intervenes with
your setup making it more harder to route and install wires and connectors needed by your
hi end components specially if you have lots of them.
This case may be overkill for
This case may be overkill for an air cooled rig but every website review out there loves it for water cooling. You can fit up to 7×120 worth of radiators inside the case without modifications.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00752QYLU/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=emjay2d-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00752QYLU
That wasn’t a review, it was
That wasn’t a review, it was a product preview.
Pretty nice, NZXT has come a
Pretty nice, NZXT has come a long way from the maker of those horrid, gaudy robot face cases a decade ago.