NZXT is doing something new with PC case fans, something no one is doing, and it's as exciting for the company as it's scary "In the fan market, there's a lot of fan stories that you can click with magnetic fans," CEO Johnny Hou tells me. "So if you really care about the fans being connected, why don't we all make it together?""
If you look around Lian Li, Corsair, Thermaltake, MSI, etc., they all make up a new case fan system that links a number of fans to make up a solid mass of rotating airflow, whether it's AIO water cooling system, or a large front panel in the chassis, or an installation that requires several 120mm fans basically anywhere." It is useful only for those who are not familiar with the system.
And it makes sense. Magnetic connections often carry power to the next one in the daisy chain, so you win, get rid of the hassle of extra cables and it will install on your PC. But do you still have to screw into each corner of each fan, or do you, for example, flop out and break the connection, either side of them and you do not want it.
But what if there was a better way? This is what nzxt is doing with F Series RGB core fans: we manufacture single, dual, triple fan arrays and multiple different sizes (240, 280, 360mm). And they all need the same number of screws: 4.
"If you think about it, first of all, these magnets and connectors cost a lot, but you still need to connect them. You still have the screws you have to do.
"The problem is that in the fan market, basically zero percent of fans are unibody. So we put it in every case and everything. So internally there were a lot of concerns — and there are still — there were a lot of concerns. Oh, no one is doing this. Is this okay, you know.
Self-distrust is affectionate and honest, because when you look at it, it makes very sense. It feels like a sad mythological story that NASA spends a lot of cash to develop a space pen when the Russians simply take the pencil, while other fan-makers over-engineer the problem, while NZXT is just making a bigger frame.
It's wise for some of you to think, well, if no one is doing it, maybe there's something we just don't think about.
"But when we run surveys," says Hou, "when we talk to users, they are like, it makes perfect sense." Yeah, why if the quality is good, the performance is the same and the price is fair.
"So, a year from now, if the industry moved to unibody, I would say that way, it would be the one thing I would be really proud of, you know, because I think it's driving the industry in the right direction, and it's making a better consumer experience."
Until that moment happens, the product that Hou is most proud of is the classic H440 chassis from NZXT. It was the first ever PC case to ditch a 5.25-inch bay. For the young people reading this, mummy and daddy used physical media to install Windows and games on their PCs. They use CD-ROM drives, DVD drives if they were fancy, and Blu-Ray drives if they were really fancy.
And HD-DVD drives if they were idiots.
These are the ones that filled the last 5.25-inch bays of the PC. There were other applications such as cup holders and cigarette lighters, but they were the main applications. But then there always happens a connected Internet, install Windows from a USB stick and download games from Steam. So NZXT decided to get rid of it, and in doing so it freed up a lot of space inside the new case.
And everyone lost collective feces.
"Distributors, wait, how do people install Windows."Hou says. "At that moment it was such a controversial decision. And early on in that case, people didn't sell as well as half a year because it was strange to see a computer case without a five-four-inch drive bay."
And now you have a hard time finding a single PC case that is not some dedicated media chassis to include a 5.25-inch bay. Sure, you can't see a gaming PC dead by 1.
"So, it's a good example of something I'm very proud of. We somehow let the industry consider doing something different that might not have been possible had we not taken the risk."
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