The carrying harness is simple to attach, just lay it out on a flat surface and then set the Rogue down on top. The adjustable belts wrap around and plastic clips snap together to hold the case very tightly. The harness comes with a both a tubular handle and a padded shoulder strap, and also has a mesh pocket for storage, although the items would have to be relatively thin as the mesh doesn't stretch much. Also remember to lock the front panel before moving or the door is likely to pop open on you.



Without the harness the Rogue looks almost like a black cube, relatively featureless and doesn't stand out. Until you power it up that is. The blue LED lighting adds a touch of splash to the otherwise plain case and the window shows off mostly your power supply and optical drive, possibly also your CPU cooler if you've got an oversized one in there.




Conclusion

If I was in the market for a LAN gaming rig I would want something small and light weight for portability, but big enough to hold high-end components such as video card and power supply. I'd want it to look good and be highly durable, with a good measure of security thrown in. I'd want it to be easy to carry around and easy to maintain. In short, I'd want something like the NZXT Rogue.

The finish on the Rogue is outstanding, great looking and doesn't scratch easily. The design is more classic than contemporary, with sleek front and side panels. The window and blue lights add some bling without overdoing it. The included carrying harness makes toting the Rogue around very easy, either in your hand or over the shoulder. The broad, squat shape is perfect for a monitor stand and the locking front panel and optional lock for the top panel keeps what's inside out of reach of others. The design allows use of even the overly large 8800 nVidia cards, with room for most power supplies 750w or less. Since the case is microATX only, 750w ought to be plenty of power for the components, as you won't be running any multi-GPU setups here.

I would be a little concerned about the side grills since one got bent at some point before the case was delivered. On a case that's meant to be transported around you don't want sides that get damaged easily. Likewise many power supplies today are modular, and as we saw there's little enough space as it is for the unit itself, better to stick to a conventional wired supply and check your dimensions before ordering.

A couple things bothered me about the Rogue, for one I found the included drive rails poorly designed and pretty much useless. But it was a simple matter to mount the drive traditionally using screws which are also included. Having the bay blanks screwed in place may seem a bit of a pain to deal with but in retrospect it probably saves them from popping out or getting pushed in like a standard plastic cover might. NZXT advertises this as an aluminum frame chassis but in actuality much of it is steel, including the bottom, sides, rear and tray. Weight savings is not spectacular and the Rogue definitely has some heft to it.

I had some difficulty finding the Rogue for sale online, only a few retailers are carrying it at this point so pricing may be a bit high at around $150. This might come down in the coming months as availability increases. Certainly for a high-quality case, painted inside and out and with such attention to detail in a well-thought out gaming case design, this price is not surprising. If you're looking for a case to haul your rig around to gaming parties I recommend checking out the NZXT Rogue.



Thanks to NZXT for providing the Rogue for review.