NZXT Grid First Impressions

When we first found out that NZXT was going to send us the Grid we were very excited, or atleast I was. If you have been in the forums then you might have seen that I currently use the Cooler Master HAF 932 case. While the 932 is a great case it does have a couple issues. First is as you can see from the picture below is the way they enable you to connect all your fans without having to use connectors on your motherboard. Personally while it is nice to have these extensions, I think they are absolutely horrible for cable management.

As I said above about the extensions pictures above and how horrible they are I was excited to be able to get rid of them and do some serious cable management behind my motherboard.

Installation was pretty straight forward and the only thing I did before installation is figure out how I planned to route all the cables from the fans to the NZXT Grid. I had a couple fan cables that ended up being short but NZXT saved me by providing a couple different kind of extensions so I didn’t have to run out and buy them. Installation was as it looks. All I did was stick one piece of the 3M Dual lock pad on the actual NZXT Grid and one on my case after I figured out my routing and simply connected everything and to the NZXT Grid first and BAM! Now you have installed the NZXT Grid and didn’t even have to break a sweat!

 

 

While I may not be the end all god at doing cable management, I just can’t tell you how much better I feel be able to get rid of those connectors and have everything plugged into a central location.

Look and Feel of the NZXT Grid

Although this is one of those things that will most likely never be seen,  it still has a nice finish to it. The construction is top notch in that it doesn’t feel cheap at all when in the hand, it has a feeling of durability I guess you could call it. I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to break this with my hands or if it dropped on the ground from waist high it is going to snap into a million pieces. If for some reason you do have a case that will allow you to show off the NZXT Grid or even be able to see it, the Grid does have three white LEDs that will be on when it is working.

Conclusion

The NZXT Grid is everything you could want it to be. I think the only thing they could have changed but may not be feasible is using a SATA power connected instead of molex. I would like to see this since the only 4-pin molex connector I am using currently is to power the NZXT Grid. If you are using a fan controller then you can connect your Grid to it and not have this issue since it can draw power from it.  I still would of liked to see a SATA connector is possible for the fact of the PSU I am using is semi-modular and I could unplug the 4-pin molex cable and have even better cable management. Is this a deal breaker? No way but just an observation.

Another huge plus to the NZXT Grid is the price point of $11.99 from Amazon or NZXT Store. When you factor in just the accessories if you bought them separately makes this a steal.

Pros:

• 10 channels
• Easy installation
• Solid construction
• Very Nice accessory pack

Cons:

• None

Join the Forum discussion on this post