Zalman enter the ITX market with the M1

[brownninja97]

 

Well then, zalman has been pushing their limits in the last year, its mainly due to the sales of the z11 exploding in the UK in last year, in the most sold case here and by friggin far.

 

Anyways onto the "case" at hand, its full on metal, the trim is standard paint but the panel in the middle which says zalman is brushed aluminium, some like it and some will sacrifice it to the god of finger prints.

 

First up first Io, dual usb 3.0, audio ports, power and reset the standard deal, the usb 3.0s headers use a 19pin cable(death to passthrough usb 3.0). Nothing too amazing here but im glad the buttons are on the top, its one of the reasons i dont like the bitfenix cases, IO on the side of the case means that you are limited in placement.

 

Two more details here, there is a fan speed header, 12v and 9v i believe. Also a 3.5 hot swap bay and a 5.25inch bay but if you use that bay then your psu size is slightly reduced also it basically means use modular or die. 

The controller supports two fans.

 

 

Talking dust filters the guys at zalman are confused, it says there are filters in the front and  for the psu but they forgot that they have filters for the side vents, not sure about the top but its likely that the top fans are exhaust so a fan filter there would be stupid.

 

Well they took the words out of my mouth, damn one of my strong points is listing facts, anyways it does seem pretty nice to me. 

The drive cage in the top can be taken out also i never knew zalman made ssds, well whatever.

 

Not so sure if this cable routing is any good, never done an itx build so you guys will have to decide, also the four stand-offs are pro installed, you also get another stand-off, not sure why.

 

Feet for the bottem of the case, the case is fine where ever it is put also psu butt rest, one step closer to usb butt plugs.

 

Also comes with two fans, 120mm intake up front and 120mm exhaust in the back.

 

Hitting the market at £50

 

 

http://www.zalman.com/global/product/Product_Read.php?Idx=915

 

 

Places to buy

 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-085-ZA&adword=google/pla/unoptimized&gclid=CjgKEAjw8r6dBRDZprbmndPi90sSJAB2U6dRT0S9JpquZXybDIephwUxNok9ulUX15LcX3ILWzl6zfD_BwE

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zalman%20m1

 

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=zalman%20m1

[Askew]

I actually really like the look of this case.

 

There is one thing though, is this a 'butt rest'?

 

[Polyvalent]

Eh. 

 

There are so many better options for this form factor.  I don't see the appeal.

[Freaky_spider]

no support for a 240 in the front, huge mistaken imo

[brownninja97]

no support for a 240 in the front, huge mistaken imo

do you mean fan or rad, are there any itx cases with a 240 rad support in the front. If you mean the fan then i agree, pretty stupid of them, well its £50, it had to have flaws somewhere.

[Freaky_spider]

do you mean fan or rad, are there any itx cases with a 240 rad support in the front. If you mean the fan then i agree, pretty stupid of them, well its £50, it had to have flaws somewhere.

the prodigy does have 240 rad support, but i ment 2 120 fans, rad support would mean no hdd rack's and stuff

[brownninja97]

the prodigy does have 240 rad support, but i ment 2 120 fans, rad support would mean no hdd rack's and stuff

this m1 supports 240rads at the tipppy top without the loose of hdd or 5.25 stuffs.

[ijKs Snow]

Eh. 

 

There are so many better options for this form factor.  I don't see the appeal.

Zalman cases has always had a market share for people who want the most bang for buck.

 

Metal/Aluminium, Dual Rad support, SSD/HDD hot swap support, full dust filter for 50. Will probably see a price drop after the first month like all Zalman cases.

[NIC ROBERTOOO]

Ditch the 5.25, add 230mm fan support and more filters

[CatCloud]

That title made me believe this was about motherboards, not cases....

Also those amazon links to mics, not the case.

As for the case itself....for that price it's not terrible.

[NannerBeans]

I think manufactures need to stop making huge mitx cases. I don't see why you would get this over a small matx case. I really want a small compact mitx tower case that can still fit a full length card but there are limited choices out there like the Ncase M1 and the EVGA Hadron. And with the Hadron, I can't use my current gpu because it is about an inch too long. 

[carolkarine]

BTW I have a prodigy and the cable management here is miles better. otherwise the ID is meh.

[connorpiper]

"The user may adjust the speed of fan in two levels"

 

Can I have a medium speed of fan?

[Me1z]

Looks like a Prodigy with Cooler Master HAF styling. The $50 price tag makes me think we will see a sudden flood of budget ITX builds in this case.

 

Edit- Didn't see that the price was in pounds. £50 is more like $85, I can't see many people buying this over the Prodigy at that price.

 

 

@brownninja97 Where's the music? I gotta admit I'm a bit disappointed.

[digitalnav]

TOO big for Mini ITX.

[brownninja97]

Looks like a Prodigy with Cooler Master HAF styling. The $50 price tag makes me think we will see a sudden flood of budget ITX builds in this case.

 

Edit- Didn't see that the price was in pounds. £50 is more like $85, I can't see many people buying this over the Prodigy at that price.

 

 

@brownninja97 Where's the music? I gotta admit I'm a bit disappointed.

I cant believe i forgot, may i pay for my arrogance.

[That Norwegian Guy]

Wow, Zalman designed something that is not shaped like random junk? Amazing.

 

Still 95% plastic.

[qwertywarrior]

Eh. 

 

There are so many better options for this form factor.  I don't see the appeal.

Hitting the market at £50

[That Norwegian Guy]

Wow, just noticed, can't believe they have only a teeny 120mm fan in the front of that huge grill, MAN they are CLUELESS. I came back honestly thinking about retiring my Prodigy as it's too much of a dust magnet, but the air flow of this thing is a joke.

[Polyvalent]

Hitting the market at £50

 

Yeah, it's cheap.  I worry more about quality than price.

[Lukiose]

I actually really like the look of this case.

 

There is one thing though, is this a 'butt rest'?

 

I think it means buttress as in the supporting structure like buttress roots 

[theroflcopta]

Yeah the price is nice but just seeing the flat unused area by the front fan mount is sad. If they could have fit the mounting for a 200mm fan they should have. Other then that decent looking case and nice post.

[Misanthrope]

It's similar to other cube cases but not small enough for the size compromise of itx, I rather have something like this aerocool anyday:

 

 

Much easier to find a wider range of m-atx and it's relatively not that much bigger in the looks department imho.

[bob345]

It's similar to other cube cases but not small enough for the size compromise of itx, I rather have something like this aerocool anyday:

 

 

 

Much easier to find a wider range of m-atx and it's relatively not that much bigger in the looks department imho.

i definitely agree with that. I do not understand why manufactures make these itx cases that could easily accommodate an m-atx board. It just does not make any sense. What's the point of buying an itx board if you are not going for a small form factor?

[Defc0n1]

I have the aerocool DS case and I think the filters, front and side airflow is better on the zalman. Shame you can't get matx in.