NZXT H440 Mid Tower Computer Case

I wanted a sleek looking, spartan case. Most important feature for me? Lack of 5.25" bays. They clutter the aesthetic of the front panel and they take up precious space that could be use for better things. Finding such a case was nearly impossible in the current market; I guess people adore their 5.25" bays for some reason. Luckily NZXT saved me. Both their S340 and H440 designs have a clean front panel, and overall the design is minimal and stylish. It's not gorgeous, but when the competition is chasing that neon green, bulky protrusions, "gamer" style, these cases were a much needed breath of fresh air. I picked the H440 over the S340 simply because I needed the extra space for a Noctua NH-D15 cooler. I liked the S340 better because it was smaller, but oh well. In hindsight, I should have paid extra for an AIO water cooler and gone with an S340. The cases are clearly designed for water cooling, and they look better without a massive Noctua NH-D15 sitting in the middle of the window. I love Noctua, but it ain't pretty looking (6-core CPU is 55C under full load though...). So how about the case itself? Love the USB/Audio ports at the top; great placement and they flow seamlessly with the minimalist design. The toggle-able LED lighting in the back so you can see while plugging things in? Amazing. The light-up NZXT logo is also toggle-able; nice. Plenty of room for everything; CPU cooler, space for water cooling, tons and tons of drive space, long PSU space, long GPU space. The only place lacking room? The cable routing behind the mobo. Don't get me wrong, they clearly put thought into the routing space back there, with lots of well placed zip tie hooks and such. But the space is small. I have to smoosh the side panel on because the 24-pin ATX power cable is too thick to "properly" fit back there. Bummer. All that said, I'm not sure what they can do about it. The case is already wider than I'd prefer, and the width is needed MOBO-side to fit massive CPU coolers. So, again, I really should have gone with the S340 and water cooling. Onto the bad. The screws in the case are awful. Screws for the side panels, PCI slots, PSU bracket. Just awful. They're really stiff and hard to get in and out. They are supposed to be captive screws, it seems, but the way they achieve captivity makes it difficult to align them while screwing them in. And because of the stiffness, it's hard to know when the screw is threading out of the case, or threading out of the captivity. They are knurled for fingers, but again because of the stiffness it's impossible to use anything except a screw driver. I know the screws aren't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but I'm contrasting this with my old Rosewill case. I could get into and out of that case without any tools, because the screws had lovely plastic knurling on them and were smooth as butter, yet still fixed firmly when needed. Overall, I like the case. I think NZXT put a lot of thought into it. It's quiet, as it was designed to be. Plenty of space (except in the routing cage), sturdy, and looks good. They need to work on those screws. For me personally, I really hope companies like NZXT continue to chase minimalist designs. I want to see smaller cases for people like me who don't have 4 GPUs, 10 drives, and 3 DVD drives. I just have the Mobo, Cpu, Gpu, Psu, 1 HDD, and 1 SDD. So much wasted space. That innovation seems to be happening in the Mini-ITX case space, but good Mini-ITX boards are still a rarity for gaming specs so most folks are stuck on Mid-Towers like me.