External Examination:

The finish of Zalman's Z9 case is a textured, somewhat satin black. Many manufacturer's are using glossy finishes, and I am glad to see something different here as I do not care for glossy finishes and their tendency to show fingerprints rather easily. Overall the case is constructed mostly of metal with portions of the front bezel and top panel being made of plastic.



The front panel includes the usual items; a nicely placed power button at top, and in what would be the first 5.25 drive bay is the Zalman I/O plate. On the I/O plate is the temperature gauge which is above the fan controller. Next is a pair of USB 2.0 connections, headphone and microphone jacks, and another pair of USB 2.0 connections. All the way to the right is the hard drive activity LED (which lights up red) and the reset switch.



The above right picture shows the bottom half of the front panel. There are three accessible 5.25" drive bays, and one 3.5" drive bay. The drive bay covers are made of a wire mesh instead of a solid piece of plastic. The very bottom covers the front intake fan, and has two solid plastic areas, which look like a big Z; which gives it a unique look.

The top panel has two distinct sections. The front provides a bit of storage space where Zalman has placed their name. The back section is all mesh, which covers the top exhaust fan.



The main side panel has a raised area that looks like a trapezoid. In this area, a large portion of it has a honeycomb mesh, while at the top and bottom there are two little windows. Once again, I see a big Z when I look at the panel. In the lower right corner of the panel is the case model name, Z9 Plus.



The back panel looks similar to every other case out there that has the power supply at the bottom. There are two water cooling holes placed near the expansion slots, which is a good place to allow the water cooling tubes to reach either of the major components (CPU and video card). The picture on the right shows the bottom of the case. The non-slip feet also keep the case off the desktop to allow plenty of airflow into the louvered power supply air intake, and the filtered bottom intake fan (optional fan).