Most gaming cases are large, ostentatious affairs that tend to look as wild as the games they're designed to encourage. Not so with the new NZXT Vulcan ($69.99 list): This case, designed for building systems based on MicroATX motherboards, is refined, almost businesslike. It offers relatively little flash, but it does provide a solid foundation for building a potentially portable gaming PC. A system housed in the Vulcan is one you won't mind having around—even if it you may not advertise it most of the time.
Measuring only about 15.25 by 7 by 18.5 inches (HWD) in its natural state, the jet-black Vulcan wastes almost no space. It's not much taller than the height of a motherboard stacked atop a power supply, and from front to back there's also not much extra space. There is, however, sufficient room for the newest full-length video cards, such as the Nvidia GTX 480 and the ATI Radeon HD 5970. You won't have a lot of clearance, mind you, but you will be able to fit one such card in there.
You get enough space for that because NZXT has left a gap of almost four inches between the top external 3.5-inch drive cage and the bottom internal 3.5-inch cage (both of which hold two drives). That allows just enough room for the cards, when placed in a PCIe x16 slot, to extend toward the front of the case. That's smart design, and something we wouldn't mind seeing on more full-size cases.
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