NZXT Khaos chassis brings death and destruction to your desktop

We've seen some wild cases in our day, but few have matched the general bad-assery of the NZXT Khaos. The whole shebang is built from thick aluminum, there are eleven 5.25-inch drive bays, there's support for dual power supplies, and a myriad of 120mm fans are locked and loaded for pushing all that hot air around. And hey, everything is better with a guttural "Kh" before it, so you know it has to be good. Khaos will retail for $399 when it hits mid-June.

[Aguiluz @ Jun 11th 2008 12:00AM]

For $399, it's pretty good.

[Juaquin @ Jun 11th 2008 12:22AM]

Yeah. It's way out of my price range for a case, but if I had the money I wouldn't feel like it was overpriced at all. Flip-out mobo tray? Sign me up.

[Abuzar @ Jun 11th 2008 12:57AM]

lol

A 70 dollar Raidmax Smilodon has a flip out mobo tray, and it's a VERY high quality case.

[Dave @ Jun 11th 2008 1:15AM]

I wonder if you can fit two motherboards in there...

[Sam Morris @ Jun 21st 2008 4:43AM]

Heh, there's a bit more to it than just a removable motherboard tray!

[Jhongerkong @ Jun 11th 2008 12:09AM]

This is what Darth Vader's desktop looks like

[Dave @ Jun 11th 2008 12:11AM]

pure pwnage

[gotrixzeth @ Jun 11th 2008 12:19AM]

that case is pure orgasmic!! lol too bad its so freakin expensive :(

[Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2008 12:19AM]

An Antec P190 can be had with 1200W continuous power for $350. And thats an extremely high-end case. This case is overpriced. Who needs 11 5.25-inch drive bays anyway? a Cooler Master Stacker is also a much better buy in my honest opinion.

[Juaquin @ Jun 11th 2008 12:24AM]

The Stacker 830's were over $300 when they first came out (350 for the black, I believe). With innovative features like the flip-out motherboard I definitely think it's worth it. And I have CM Stacker 830.

[happy_penguin @ Jun 11th 2008 12:55AM]

The Antec P190, while I'm sure is an awesome case, is made of steel. This is aluminum. Aluminum is lighter and it costs more than steel. It's not a fair assessment to call it overpriced just from the specs.

[Abuzar @ Jun 11th 2008 1:01AM]

A flipout mobo tray is NOT innovative. Lots of other, and much cheaper cases have it. A build plenty of computers and surprisingly some cheap(in price) cases have flip out mobo trays ALONG with great quality.

[Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2008 1:06AM]

Hate to be a nit-pick but the .8 mm cold-rolled steel is used for a reason. it is more durable. And has better noise-dampening qualities. Antec's OLDER, LOWER END (cheaper) cases use aluminum. And anyway, this case is going to be enormously heavy with 11-5.25s and 2 PSUs so nobody is going to notice a pound here or there. If I wasn't going to call it overpriced from the specs, what would I call it overpriced from? We all know the build quality will be good (NZXT) so what else am I missing?

[happy_penguin @ Jun 11th 2008 1:20AM]

"Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2008 1:06AM
Hate to be a nit-pick but the .8 mm cold-rolled steel is used for a reason. it is more durable. And has better noise-dampening qualities. Antec's OLDER, LOWER END (cheaper) cases use aluminum. And anyway, this case is going to be enormously heavy with 11-5.25s and 2 PSUs so nobody is going to notice a pound here or there. If I wasn't going to call it overpriced from the specs, what would I call it overpriced from? We all know the build quality will be good (NZXT) so what else am I missing?"

Yes steel is more durable than aluminum but that doesn't discount the fact that aluminum is a more expensive material. Antec's lower priced aluminum cases are probably in part made of less aluminum as the article says it's "thick", whatever that means. A steel case of the same gauge is undoubtedly heavier. I have checked the smaller, cheaper aluminum Antecs and they are indeed quite thin. Not noticing a pound or two? You're probably right, so that may be something for the minus column. Regardless, pound for pound aluminum costs more than steel and if there is machining involved, that adds to the cost quite dramatically. If anything, they have perhaps built a product that few people will want, but that doesn't make it overpriced for what it is in it's construction. I'd like to know what the markup is.

[hello @ Jun 11th 2008 10:22PM]

way to be honest! :)

[sack'oBeans @ Jun 11th 2008 12:23AM]

is that wheels on the bottom?
not like your gonna be takin' that to any lan party

[Juaquin @ Jun 11th 2008 12:25AM]

Yeah, because a LAN party is the only reason to ever move a case...? I have a huge case and would very much appreciate wheels for moving it when working on it, moving into apartment, etc.

[Erik @ Jun 11th 2008 12:31AM]

When I scroll up and down on the image, I feel like there's something wrong with my screen.

[shibathedog @ Jun 11th 2008 12:44AM]

While the flippable motherboard tray feature is pure awesome, thats way too much money for a case for me. I still like my Armor :P

[k @ Jun 11th 2008 12:37AM]

Hey 11 5.25 drivebays and dual PSUs gotta future proof your rig for a while

[nintendo fanboy hater @ Jun 11th 2008 12:39AM]

And hey, everything is better with a gutteral "i" before it, so you know it has to be good.

[Brook @ Jun 11th 2008 12:49AM]

dual psu...crazy
11 5.25 bays, not so crazy...
i have the thermaltake armor which has 11 5.25 bays
and 3 additional hard drive bays internally and its only about 180$

[Abuzar @ Jun 11th 2008 1:02AM]

The Armor is a great case. The LED lights can be annoying but still a great case.

[V Langs @ Jun 11th 2008 12:53AM]

11 trays huh?
well atleast all ur floppies, zips, tape drives, cd rom, cdrw, dvdrom, dvdrw, dvdram, hddvd, bd-rw and hddvd/bluray combo will be covered.

[jordan @ Jun 11th 2008 12:55AM]

If you're just a gaming enthusiast, I don't see how this case is for you. Yes, it has a flip out mother board tray. That's not worth $399 to me. Yes, it's got tons of 120mm/1 140mm fan. Do I need it? Probably not, since the video cards have directed cooling out the back and a couple 120mm front intakes would probably do fine without all the extra fans everywhere. 11 5.25 bays. I'd really like to see a use for all of those outside of using them for hot-swappable HD's in a RAID0/1/5 environment, which most enthusiasts won't need.

Really, though, if I was looking to build a nice server for a small business, I would definitely give this thing a second look, because it's very cost-effective for what it offers (cooling and bay capabilities, especially).

[Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2008 1:10AM]

very true, this would make a decent 8 TB server for a small business. The fans blowing directly over the drives would be an excellent way to safely operate so many in such close proximity.

[happy_penguin @ Jun 11th 2008 12:57AM]

With 11 5.25 bays this thing has to be huge. I doubt it's primary target market is lan parties.

[happy_penguin @ Jun 11th 2008 1:00AM]

Well fuck me if the link doesn't call it a "gaming chassis". Do most people really carry huge ass cases like this to lan parties? Yikes.

[Abuzar @ Jun 11th 2008 1:03AM]

I would rather not.

[Jimmy @ Jun 11th 2008 1:12AM]

one word: Fragbox

[happy_penguin @ Jun 11th 2008 1:23AM]

Fragbox? Oh hell yeah, now you're talkin'.

[Arjy @ Jun 11th 2008 12:57AM]

11 drive bays, you can fit two dvd drives AND a 3 fan radiator for your water cooling set up in there.

[immer_ohne_gott @ Jun 11th 2008 1:12AM]

Holy hotness batman! My Antec Super LanBoy (yes, that seriously is the name of the case) weeps. And by weeps, I mean I'm kicking it repetitively for not being so awesome.

[vileta2 @ Jun 11th 2008 1:25AM]

This suddenly made my Lexa Blackline look a lot less sexy.

[Eh @ Jun 11th 2008 1:27AM]

I see that they "classed" it up with some LED fans...

Why do people like LED's so damn much? And ugly neon colored ones at that.

[Striker @ Jun 11th 2008 2:54AM]

Some mixed white and blue LED fans would look classy on this, so the light radiates out the vents.

[Brian @ Jun 11th 2008 1:56AM]

I have a NZXT Apollo black, and it is quite a beastly chassis. NZXT makes some very high quality stuff.

[tails2 @ Jun 11th 2008 3:40AM]

I have to say, I own 2 NZXT cases. The HUSH being one of them. They don't always do what they are supposed to. The hush is not quiet at all. Without even pushing the pc to any kind of limit, it is so loud. No overclocking, no games running, just simple music or video or nothing at all and it's noise dampening is useless.

I say take a look at one set up and working before you take the plunge for any NZXT cases.

[Spawn Xe @ Jun 11th 2008 7:36AM]

it seems like they started designing the inside...then the side of the case.. then they get to the front and just said 'nah, cant be bothered now'

fugly and lets the whole thing down, i mean... you spend most of the time looking at the front anyway coz thats where all the devices n buttons are!

[Chris @ Jun 11th 2008 11:39AM]

Did you say you spend most of the time looking at the front of the case? Who looks at the case? I look at the monitor, sometimes my keyboard and mouse. I'll never understand all the interest in how the case looks.

[Cal @ Jun 11th 2008 8:08AM]

NZXT FTW.

[slarity @ Jun 11th 2008 8:20AM]

It is cool but for about $310 less my CM RC-690 is better

[Fernando @ Jun 11th 2008 8:45AM]

Finally a case that looks cool and it's practical with no extra useless plastic everywhere.

[wrabbit @ Jun 11th 2008 9:22AM]

Wow, I bet this mother will heat up a moderately sized house better than any furnace, especially if you load it up and run Crysis on max. :)

[Catsceo @ Jun 11th 2008 5:29PM]

WANT!

[Matt @ Jun 19th 2008 2:46PM]

Hey, I found this case for sale at a place called http://www.AVADirect.com

The link for the case is here http://www.avadirect.com/product_details_parts.asp?PRID=11181