Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Review

Installation
Now it is time for installation, here is what we will be installing in our system.

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CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 7850 OC
Memory: 8GB Kingston HyperX Genesis DDR3-1600
Cooling: Thermaltake FRIO OCK
Storage: SATA Drive and Optical Drive
Power: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W

Now the first thing you are going to want to do is install your motherboard.  You will need to install the motherboard standoffs first then secure your motherboard in the case with screws.  Installation of the motherboard went well, but I did notice something.  The exhaust fan uses a molex power connector rather than a 3pin connector.  With a 3pin connector I could easily connect it to my motherboard.  I’m not sure why this fan and the two side fans use molex power connectors and the top and front fan use 3pin connectors.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

Next is our hard drive.  To install it you need to install four rubber rollers, 2 on each side.  These are installed by screwing them in.  Now just slide your hard drive in to one of the open spaces and it will lock in to place.  To remove your hard drive simply lift up on the lever on the left side of the hard drive cage.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

You will need to remove the front bezel of the case to install the CD-ROM drive.  To do this pull on it front the bottom and it will pop off.  Slide in your optical drive and before you secure it with screws put the front bezel back on so you can line it up perfectly.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

The power supply easily mounts to the bottom of the case.  The entire bottom of the case is open so you can easily route your cables around the backside of the case.  When I was connecting the power up inside the case I ran into another issue.  Zalman includes a CPU power extension cable, but it is extremely hard to get through the opening at the top of the case, especially if you have already installed your motherboard.  If you look at the third photo below you can see the top part of the case actually blocks part of the opening.  This was definitely not thought out at all by Zalman.  So I ended up having to run this cable around my CPU cooler and down to the power supply.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

You will also need to route the USB 3.0 cables to the back of the case.  Zalman includes a PCI slot cover that has an opening for the cables, which makes it very easy to route them to the back of the case.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

The video card is the last component we need to install and it easily goes right in and you can secure it with thumbscrews.  Now just connect everything and you are good to go.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

Put your side panels back on and you can see your internal components through the side panel window.  Turn the power on and the top and front of the case light up bright blue from the blue LED fans.

Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case Zalman Z11 Plus Mid Tower Case

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