NZXT Guardian 921 Case Evaluation

NZXT is again up on the hot plate as we take a look at the Guardian 921. This case from NZXT has a few interesting features and an intriguing look. Will this look be enough to pass our Subjective Aesthetics tests? Will the extra features on the 921 lure in the gamers and enthusiasts? Or will the NZXT Guardian 921 get tossed in the back of the garage with the other “also rans”? The only way to find out is to read on… (Well you could cheat and click through to the end of the review but where is the fun in that?)

Product: NZXT Guardian 921     
Author: Sean Kalinich
Reviewed on: August 11th 2008
Product cost: $99.99 (at Newegg.com)
Manufacturer: NZXT
Spelling and Grammatical editor: Planetx64 Staff

{mospagebreak title=Packaging and Construction}
Packaging and Construction:
Packaging:
What a difference a little thought makes in packaging. Unlike the box that they Tempest ships in, the Guardian 921 arrived in an eye catching box that would certainly get a closer look on a shelf.  With a “Film Noir” type effect displaying a three-quarter view over an incomplete profile view of the 921 glowing in an eye catching purple.  The box also contains the usual information on specs and feature highlights.
Upon opening the box the 921 also looks a little bit better protected than the Tempest was.

Construction:
As with all the crafted series cases from NZXT the Guardian 921 uses a steel frame. This makes the 921 very sturdy and a little heavy for its size. Taking a look at the front of the 921 we see a “Transformer” like face which is caused by the three angled LEDs and the upper and lower portions of the front face plate (although with a little glow-in-the-dark paint you could turn this into the BIOHAZRAD symbol)
the lower portion of the face plate is slit to allow for good air intake while the top “crown” is actually a display area for the built in temperature sensors. The system power and reset buttons are located on this display panel as well.
Upon opening the front faceplate I was a little let down, the 921 looks like little more than a standard mid tower case with a fancy cover on it.
NZXT has opted to put the front panel connections on the lower left side of the front faceplate. I would have thought a better place would have been to incorporate them into the “Crown” area.
Moving to the exciting side of the 921 we see a very nicely cut window. Well it would be a very nice window it NZXT had not of ruined it with the way the side mounted fan was done. I although I can understand the use of a fan grill to help reduce dust in the system the Plexiglas bars and the silver grille ruin what should be an excellent window.

Looking at the back of the 921 it looks again like not much more than a standard mid-tower case with two openings for water cooling. Again in a departure from the Tempest the Guardian 921 has large openings allowing for a wider selection of tubing sizes to be used.
Taking a look inside we see that the 921 is also a tool-less case as far as drive mounting goes. For drive bays the 921 offers three 5-1/4 bays, two external 3-1/2 bays and (according to the box) five Internal 3-1/2” HDD bays. However, when I looked there were only five 3-1/2” bays total (3 internal and 2 external), so the box is very misleading.

The HDD bays are mounted so that they can be installed directly from the side making installation easier while a 120mm fan provides cooling. The NZXT is also tool-less for mounting your expansion cards. A 120mm fan at the back of the case provides additional airflow.
One thing to note, the box states that the Guardian 921 will fit an E-ATX mainboard. However looking at the interior of the case and doing some measurements I quickly found that unless you plan on forcing it in, you are not going to get an E-ATX board in this case. There is simply not enough room for one.

{mospagebreak title=Aesthetics}
Aesthetics:
The Guardian 921 is different. There is something about that does catch your eye even if you can’t say what it is. It was a very big hit with my kids and their friends. The glossy curved face has an ominous look to it and when lighted it seems to stare at you, it is almost creepy.  The side window glows nicely in the dark and other than the poorly done fan grill, is one of the highlights of the case. Personally I found the 921 to be a good looking case, it is not in my personal taste as far as cases go but as mentioned there is something about it that makes it stand out and remain in your head.

As with the Tempest I asked a small sampling of people to rate the Guardian 921 for looks and “coolness”.  I also asked for a one word description. 
Below are the results:

One common comment was that the 921 stuck in their head. There was something about it that made you want to stare at it. This was especially true when the system was powered on and the lights were out.

{mospagebreak title=Performace}
Performance:
Building a system into the 921 was fairly simple. The tool-less design made for easy drive installation.
Where I ran into problems was mounting the mainboard. Here the smaller size of the case became a hindrance. Installing larger GPUs was also difficult due to the shorter length of the 921. Cable management was not as easy as in the Tempest again the lack of room prevented a stuffing bales out of the way. I would certainly recommend a modular PSU if you are going to be using the Guardian 921.
After I was finished I found the inside to look cramped and jumbled.  Air flow was sufficient but not great. The temperature probes made a nice touch and do allow you a real-time display of how cool your rig is running. The three sensors are labeled CPU, HDD and Sys. Fan controllers linked to the thermistors would have been a nice touch but were not present.

{mospagebreak title=Price}
Price:
The NZXT Guardian 921 runs for around $99.99. This is a pretty good price considering you are getting a free temperature monitor with the case. There are other cases in this price range that do offer better cooling and larger interiors for mainboards, but these do not have the styling that the 921 has. Here your personal tastes will have to come into play.

{mospagebreak title=Conclusion}
Conclusion:
I found that I liked the NZXT Guardian 921. I do not think I would buy it for myself but it was a good looking case. I also do not feel it is a gamers’ case or meant for enthusiasts it simply does not have the options needed to hold the gamer over.
The 921 would be something that I would seriously consider getting a teenager that was building their first system or that wanted to upgrade. It has style is inexpensive and easy enough to use that you could safely leave it up to them (with a little help) to build it.