Taking a Look Inside
The interior of the S340 Eite continues with the blacked out matte theme we found on the exterior. My first impression is that they hit the nail on the head with the color. There are plenty of cases on the market that have an all black interior and there always have been, but NZXT somehow takes it to the next level here. Every facet has been hit with a matte black paint that just soaks up light. It really is the perfect blank canvas for showing off the contrasting colors of whatever gear you choose to install. This case practically begs, “Mod Me!”.
Looking closer at the details of the interior the first thing I notice are the SSD or 2.5” drive mounts. There are two mounted to the top of the full length PSU shroud complete with stealthy cable pass throughs and a third mounted towards the front of the case also on the PSU shroud. All three slide on and off mounting rails and are secured with thumb screws.
In the top of the front of the case you will notice the top I/O control board and the cables snaking away from it into the back of the case. This is the one spot where I would change something in the design. I find the exposed cables and board detracts from the rest of the interior of the case and could have used a shroud. It’s a good spot for a modder to begin their work. Right below the control board you will find mounting space for up to a 280mm radiator or a pair of fans of your choice. Directly left of the wiring you will find what’s becoming the standard NZXT cable pass through shroud. The bottom has the NZXT logo stamped into the metal while the top has a center slot that a reservoir or any other item requiring a mounting slot can be installed.
Moving left again towards the back of the case you will find a generous sized cut out above which is mounted that top exhaust 120mm F V2 fan and a bit more left it’s twin in the rear exhaust position. They are pretty simple fans, but should to the job and bring more cost value to the case than anything.
After removing the rear panel we find a clean cable routing system with plenty of tie offs and little tricks for keeping things clean.
You will notice the throng of cables working it’s way from the front panel across into the rectangular retention clips running down the center just left of the cut out. While the front panel access is nice it does come at the cost of having lot’s of long cables that need to run to the motherboard and GPU. The large retention clips to a great job of keeping them all in line. Amongst the cables you find connectors for USB 2.0, USB 3.0, HDMI, Power/LED, front HD audio, and molex to power the two case fans.
Under the shroud you will find the case accessories stashed and secured with twist ties. Inside the smaller box are the standard issue type case items; screws, zip ties, a sata power adapter, and a manual. Inside the other box however is a very unique item specific to the S340 Elite, a rubberized magnetic headset or headphone holder that is meant to be attached to the front of the case. This black puck quickly attaches and detaches allowing you to be much more clutter free and hang your headset in a safe way.
Back at the rear of the case and under the PSU shroud you will find a couple more items of interest. In the front hanging from the shroud is a two bay drive cage for full size HDDs. It lines up perfectly with the channel behind the pass through shroud allowing for easy cable management and quick access to your drives and motherboard. And of course you will find room for full sized power supplies which install from the rear of the case by attaching to a mounting bracket.
The S340 Elite comes equipped with dust filters in a couple of areas. The larger of the two is present towards the front just behind the front panel. Looking down the top into the air intake you will see a tab that can be pulled forward to remove the filter. The filter has four magnets that secure it at the corners while it’s large enough to cover the entire intake area. While it’s not necessary to remove the front panel to clean the filter, it does pop off easily enough if required.
The other filter is located at the back and is for the PSU intake. This filter is secured within metal slides along the bottom of the case and covers the entire grill section in the base. Some manufacturers include filters for all the fan ports, NZXT has chosen to include them for only the intakes. This is sure to cut costs but might leave some wishing they had the option to convert those ports to intake.
