Today we are looking at the latest case from NZXT: the Trinity. Many people think the NZXT line of cases is catered to gamers, which indeed is true with the moniker of "Crafted Gaming Armor." That thought process certainly is true for the Guardian and Nemesis cases, but NZXT has taken a different approach with the introduction of the Trinity. The Trinity is marketed more as a business machine with a sleek look and stylish profile.

Marketing Hype

Sleek, Modern and Classic, the Trinity is the first case introduced under the NZXT Classic Series. Build on a steel chassis the Trinity is equiped with a temperature sensor, users can monitor their computer at all times. First introduced in the Nemesis, the Trinity also has a stealthed clear side panel, which hides all the screws, giving it a cleaner look. If that's too much, the Trinity also has a standard solid side panel (availability depends on your local retailer). The case gets it's Sleek look from the Steel Plated front panel and Metallic Finish.

Specifications

Trinity as Shipped

NZXT protects all its cases with plastic wrap on surfaces like the windows and the front plate.

There is only one external 3 ½” bay, but nowadays one is more than enough since floppy drives are already on the way out. Like every other NZXT case, a screwless design is present for the floppy, optical, and hard drives. However, screws are still necessary for I/O cards installed to this particular case.

The stock fan within the Trinity is an 80-mm model, and as seen can be upgraded to an 92- or 120-mm model if desired.

The hook in the above picture works well to keep down the big cables from the power supply. In the first picture, you can see that the motherboard extends almost all the way to the 5 ¼" drives. Those with longer drives, such as Plextor optical models, are recommended to install the drive in the very top bay. The hard drive bay area is well designed, plus two fans can be installed for direct drive cooling. One fan blows on the length of the drive while there is the traditional fan placement where an 80-, 92-, or 120-mm fan can be placed to draw air and better cool the drives perpendicular to the other fan.

Trinity in Action

Note the slight orange glow in the below picture is from the hard drive activity light.

System as Tested

Load testing was performed by running the 3DMark2001 SE benchmark and Find-A-Drug distributed computing client looped in the background for one hour. Idle temperatures were recorded with the system simply booted to Windows for one hour. An average room temperature of 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit was maintained during thermal testing. All temperatures were recorded with Motherboard Monitor 5. Comparison testing was provided by utilizing the previously reviewed NXZT Gaurdian case.

Thermal Performance

Trinity versus Guardian at Idle

Trinity      Guardian

Trinity versus Guardian at Load

Trinity      Guardian

Performance Analysis

The Trinity and the previously reviewed Guardian perform similarly, with the only significant difference being the idle temperature. Both cases were tested using the stock fan configuration. Assuming 120mm fans were installed to the Trinity, there is no doubt temperatures would substantially decrease even further.

Final Thoughts

NZXT offers this case for those who want a sleek machine with modest styling. Personally, I like the simplicity of the Trinity more than the overstated styling of the Nemesis and Guardian models. The Trinty just feels and looks great under the desk, plus pricing is affordable, as a quick search on ResellerRatings shows the Trinity can be had for under $90 with a 400-watt power supply preinstalled.

Pros: LCD display Solid construction Stylish design Cons: Steel chassis

Overall Rating: 9.5/10 (higher is better) Manufacturer Info: Company: NZXT Pricing:    ~ $89.00