Zalman Z9 Plus review

Although the Zalman Z9 Plus is cheap, we were impressed by its build quality and smoothly finished interior. Unlike many cheaper cases, it even has thumbscrews to remove the side panels. There are no USB3 ports on the front, though, which means that you’ll have to add a backplate if you want to use your motherboard’s USB3 header. On the plus side, there are four front panel USB ports for you to connect, alongside a fan speed controller and a temperature display.

The Z9 Plus comes fitted with four 120mm fans: intakes on the front and side panels and exhaust fans at the top and rear of the case. The system is generally well ventilated; perhaps too much so if you’re concerned about noise or about dust getting into your system.

There’s a dust-proof mesh panel at the bottom of the case, at least. There’s no ventilation grille for the bottom-mounted power supply, but it’s not a problem to have your PSU fan facing upwards into the case. The back panel blanking plates have to be broken off and can’t be re-attached, but a bag of thumb screws is supplied to secure any cards you wish to fit.

There’s enough room for a 290mm graphics card, which covers all but the most powerful models, and we managed fit a 165mm CPU cooler, although we wouldn’t advise going much taller than that. There are four external 5 1/4in bays, with one fitted with a removable 3 1/2in converter. The case’s five internal 3 1/2in bays are designed to work with the supplied fittings, so make sure you hang on to the case’s accessory pouch. Finally, there’s an additional 2 1/2in bay on the back of the motherboard tray for an SSD.

The Z9 Plus lacks USB3 ports and its noise and dust-proofing are more or less non-existent, but if you want a sturdy case at a low price, this is a perfect Budget Buy.