Review on 🖥️ Zalman S3 ATX Mid Tower PC Case: Smoky Acrylic Side Panel, Three 120mm Fans, Patterned Mesh Design, Black by Craig Galante

Let me start by saying that Zalman is a good company that has been around for a while and their customer service is excellent! Overall I am very happy with the performance of this case and the construction (see photo) came out and the price paid. This case is more suited to a micro build than a full size ATX board due to its small size. If you're buying a power supply at the same time, I also recommend looking for one that has flat cables for easier cable routing. I think this feature is more important than using a modular or semi-modular power supply in this case. I have used semi-modular with conventional sized cables. I don't have any hard drives installed yet as I am currently using a 512GB NVME M.2 drive as my boot drive/storage. Pros: - Excellent ventilation, including the top and front of the case - Works very cool - Good power button - Comes with 3 black 120mm fans that are very quiet - Easy to move and install on any rack (with a 3/16-inch -Wrench) ) -Lightweight -Easily remove the faceplate -Easy to "break off" the removable expansion slots -Decent cable routing options (with planning) Cons: -Large - as shown in the images above, it was necessary to cut some of the metal edge of the Side panel out to fit the plate. The reason was that the plate was not covered by the CPU power cable. I suspect using a power supply with a flat cable would have avoided this problem. That was it. It wasn't possible to move the cable so that was my only option. Used thick auto paint. to coat bare metal after smoothing the cut metal as much as possible. Uses a dremel cutting tool, buffing attachment, Metal files and bare oxide paper to make and smooth the cut. Very happy with the solution and how it turned out. Just be careful not to cut off the metal hook/tab that goes into the case (right above my cut). As others have recommended before me, you MUST first run the CPU power cable through its slot to connect it to your MOBO. The space is poorly designed and you cannot insert the plug when the MOBO is screwed on. While I routed the CPU cable first, I also routed the rear fan cable through the same hole because I used its Molex connector for full-speed power delivery. I attached the fan to the upper opening of the housing with two cable ties so that it does not interfere with the installation of the MOBO. Passed her through the net. Then just cut the cable ties and put the fan in the rear position. Don't ask me what I'll do if the rear fan ever dies or needs greasing. - 2 of 3 fans included - Molex connector only (the third one can be plugged into the MOBO fan connector to be controlled by the MOBO BIOS) - With a really big PSU over 160mm long, it can get tight in the basement will.