Closer Look: Exterior

The NZXT M59 case presents a striking facade: it has a dramatically-angled front bezel, along with a smoked-plastic side panel window with an integrated blue-LED fan.

On the front of the case are four 5.25" device bays. The top bay has a stealth cover for an optical drive. Note that there are no external 3.5" device bays.

Just below the 5.25" bays is the I/O panel. It contains the power and reset switches, as well as two USB ports (placed too close together for anything wider than a standard USB cable), an E-SATA port, and microphone and speaker jacks. The rim of the power switch glows blue when the computer is on, and the rim of the reset switch flickers green to indicate hard drive activity. This panel is slanted upwards slightly which positions these buttons and connectors conveniently if you place the case on the floor.

Moving to the rear of the case, we can see the power supply fits in at the bottom, just below the 7 meshed card shields. A 120mm fan is pre-installed in its usual place above the I/O shield area; just above are rubber-grommeted holes for water-cooling hoses. The rear fan opening also has mounting holes for 92mm and 80mm fans should you for some reason want to switch to a smaller fan. Both side panels are secured with thumbscrews.

The right side of the case is a plain black panel, which removes from the chassis after two thumb screws are removed.

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