Azza Nova 8000 CSAZ-8000B Full-Tower Chassis Review

Azza is not typically a company we think of when buying a case, but its Nova 8000 full-tower chassis might help change that line of thought.

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Manufacturer: Azza
14 minutes & 38 seconds read time
TweakTown's Rating: 95%
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The Bottom Line

The Nova 8000 shows that Azza is not stuck in their old designs! This is an attractive solution that is packed with features, we dig the front doors and hinges, and everything fits without issue. At this price, you are getting quite the offering for your investment.

Introduction, Specifications, and Pricing

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When it comes to cases from Azza, we have found they have been hit or miss in their designs. When things started out for them, a few of their solutions were on the gaudy side, trying to attract younger or uneducated chassis buyers. As time passed, things have changed, as their case designs have become more refined, and even now offer a lot of the features that most potential customers would find beneficial. We realize that when starting up a company, every solution cannot be a groundbreaking hit, but we are also pleased to see the progression Azza is making, bringing them closer and closer to more mainstream offerings.

The last chassis we saw from Azza was a tiny black and green case for M-ITX builds, but even in those tight confines, we were very pleased with the chassis and the types of gear we could install within it. While the script is now flipped to a full-tower chassis, this time around, that idea has not been lost. The outside of this latest design comes in three color options, which is much like the larger players in the game have been doing for some time now. Also with this exterior, we find an aggressive yet stylish design that reminds us of a few cases that have been a huge hit for other companies in the past. The interior also takes a step up in this offering, where the design is modular, tool-free for the most part, and in this particular version, we get bold splashes of orange that dress up not only the exterior but the interior as well.

Azza sent us the Nova 8000 full-tower chassis to have a look at this time. As we mentioned, it comes in three flavors. There is the CSAZ-8000B we have now, which is mostly black with orange accents. There is also an 8000W, which is white with black accents, and lastly, there is a gunmetal option in the 8000GM, which the entire chassis is shipped as one solid color. Azza is also trying something new in this chassis as it comes with a four-door design, and while they compartmentalized the design, this full-tower still offers room for all the gear you need to house in it, and can accommodate water cooling relatively easy. While Azza may not be a name that you normally think of right away for your next chassis purchase, the Nova full-tower is something we feel that may just break that mold and have you very interested.

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The majority of the chassis is built from SECC steel and is then painted while some of the bits are made of ABS plastic. All three versions come with a tinted side window on the left of them, and you can fit a CPU air cooler behind it with a height of up to 190mm. These cases are not only capable of housing an ATX motherboard, but they can also house M-ATX motherboards, and even an E-ATX motherboard, which is more than most even consider. This chassis is 21.6" tall, 8.7" wide, is 22.6" deep, and all told when empty the Nova 8000 weighs in at 30 pounds.

The front of the chassis offers four removable bay covers with 5.25" drive bays behind them for your optical drive or reservoir needs. Inside, the Nova offers room for a trio of 2.5" drives, and up to six 3.5" drives. In the back, there are nine expansions slots to fill with video cards and the like, and the front I/O panel offers up two USB 3.0 ports, a pair of USB 2.0 ports, HD Audio jacks, and even adds in a three stage fan controller as well.

Cooling inside of the chassis is offered in three locations. The front of the chassis is shipped with only a single 120mm LED fan in place, but can support two, and even a 240mm radiator if configured for it. The top of the chassis is shipped with a pair of 120mm fans in place, and they are raised into the top of the chassis. A third fan can be added to the top, and there is also room for a 360mm radiator. The rear of the chassis is the last location for cooling. The Nova is shipped with a 120mm fan and an orange plastic grill, but again, you can hand water cooling here if desired as well.

The last bits found at the bottom of the chart cover a few things you might need to know. We see that two of the four side panels are built to swing open. This allows access to the drive bays without the need to open up the larger side panels. This chassis can accommodate 360mm worth of video cards, and that there is a large cut-out for the CPU cooler to be easily installed or replaced, without the need to remove the motherboard from the Nova 8000.

Shopping for the Nova 8000, we found two listings. One of them is at Newegg, but currently, it is just a placeholder listing, as this listing shows no current stock available at this time. The other listing we found is at Amazon. Here we see that the chassis is sold from Azza, and the price listed on it is $129.99. Even though it is not contained in the Prime membership, free shipping is still offered with the Nova 8000. Considering everything this chassis is said to offer, and what it can house, we feel that the pricing is on point, and as long as the styling hits you right in this chassis, we feel that it is well worth the investment.

Chad's Chassis Test System Specifications

Packaging

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Keeping things simple, Azza chooses to ship the Nova CSAZ-8000 in a plain cardboard box, using screen printing to deliver the information. On this larger panel, we see a large image of the chassis off to the left side, and a large dark corner at the bottom right, which also is where the site address is offered.

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Spinning he box around a bit, we then run into this side panel. At the top are three versions of this chassis listed, with the CSAZ-8000B marked as what will be found inside of it. The rest of this panel is taken up with a large specifications chart that matches what we have just covered on the previous page.

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We did say Azza kept the packaging simplistic. When we get to the back panel of the packaging, we find that it is an exact duplicate of everything we found on the front panel.

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Sticking to that simplistic trend even the side panels are an identical match to each other. Azza at least made sure to check the appropriate box on both sides so that you don't have to fumble with this large box in the store to find out which of the three versions is inside.

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Thick, dense foam is used on the top and bottom of the chassis to ensure any major bumps or drops of this chassis on the way to your door has little to no effect on the case inside of it. There is also a plastic liner wrapped around the chassis to protect the paint. Taking it a step further, the window, as well as any of the shiny plastic on the bezel and top of the chassis, are also protected with a second layer of plastic. All of this effort shows its worth, as our Azza Nova 8000 arrived in perfect condition to be reviewed.

Azza Nova 8000 Full-Tower Chassis

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The front bezel of the Nova 8000 is broken up in many ways. The majority of it is made of shiny black plastic, and most obvious is the wide orange stripe that runs down the face. At the top are four removable bay covers, off to the left is a trapezoidal shape in the plastic, and at the bottom are angled slots acting as the intake grill.

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As the front bezel curves to meet the plastic top panel, we immediately find the front I/O panel, which is separated from the rest with that bright orange stripe. There is a long power LED above the power and reset buttons, as well as the fan control buttons. Along the bottom, we find two USB 3.0 ports, one of which has something blocking part of it. There is then a pair of 3.5mm jack followed by two USB 2.0 ports, and there is a tiny HDD LED, and FAN controller LED just above them.

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Behind the orange stripe, where it moved from right to left across the top, there is more of that same mesh that the front bezel offered. To go along with the stripe, there is also a large section of steel mesh at the back.

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The left side of the Nova offers two of the four panels which this chassis offers. The front section has a large handle to allow the panel to open forward on a hinge system while the large panel offers a large tinted window to see inside the case.

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From the back, we can see that the top of the Nova is angled and raised tall off the steel frame. In the steel section, we have two grommets, the rear I/O, and the exhaust fan locations at the top. In the eight expansion slots, we find orange plastic covers that are released from outside the case, and to the right of them are another four grommets, so external water cooling and wiring is very easy. That leaves the large hole at the bottom to house the PSU.

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The right side of the chassis also offers two panels, and this gets us to the total of four. The front section opens the same as it does on the left. The larger panels are held in with thumbscrews, and simply slide back a bit, and can easily be pulled off the chassis.

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There are large plastic legs that support the front edge as well as the back. As they angle towards each other on the longer sides of the chassis, they have rubber feet applied. At the back, we notice the dust filter that comes out the back of the case, and at the front, we see no gap in the bezel to make removing the front panel simple.

Inside the Nova 8000

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Reaching inside of the front edge of the chassis, we found there are four latches on either side of the bezel that allow it to be removed. This is how you would need to access the fans for replacement, cleaning, or simply adding a second fan if desired.

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After completely removing the larger panel, we opened the front section and allowed the hinges to extend fully, leaving the panel next to the chassis out of the way. In the main chamber, we can see that the wiring is run through the management holes, and there is a bag tied to the tray with the literature and hardware in it.

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As long as the device has standard mounting holes like optical drives and bay reservoirs do, you can use these large plastic thumbscrews to secure devices in these four bays. The opposite side of these bays does not offer this luxury.

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Below the 5.25" bays we run into the removable rack housing six plastic drive sleds. These unclip and slide out, you screw in the drive, and then slide it back in and lock it.

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Removing the bay opens the front for water cooling for starters, it also opens up the floor so that the ventilation offered there is not mostly blocked by this rack.

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With more tabs to release to remove it, we finally worked the top panel off the chassis. We find the fans are raised up into the top, and while it hides fans from view inside, this also offsets everything far enough to support a radiator without conflict to the motherboard below.

Inside the Nova 8000 Continued

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The motherboard tray delivers eight holes of various sizes to run the wiring through, and only two of them have grommets in them. We also see that there is a large CPU cooler access hole, and it has eight punched out wire tie points in various locations.

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At the bottom of the Nova, we see four rubber pads on the floor to support the PSU over the ventilated area. There is also a pushed in oval shaped bit of steel to keep the PSU aligned at the back for mounting, and we also notice that the floor at the front is drilled for 120mm fans.

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The 120mm fan hanging in the back of the chassis matches the two in the top, and like those, this fan is pre-wired to the fan controller. At this time, no screws are holding in the expansion slot covers, as they clip into place, and currently, there is no need for screws.

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On the right side, the larger section removes normally, and again the front section opens and moves out of the way. There is plenty of room for wiring on both sides, and we see the front fan lead running to the top, as it too is connected to the fan controls as well.

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HDD bays four and five are connected via this SATA PCB to offer a pair of hot-swap drive bays. This is powered with a 4-pin Molex lead. You do need to connect the SATA ports here to the motherboard with your cables, but it also offers a pair of 3-pin fan plugs for additional fans.

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At the top, we find the Molex connection that powers the fan controller but the rest of the wiring is much longer. There is a ribbon cable with connections for switches and LEDs on the front panel. We then find the USB 2.0 connection, a native USB 3.0 connection, and the HD Audio connection at the right - all of them dressed in black.

Hardware & Documentation

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The hardware comes in a neat and tidy group. Each type of screw comes in a separate bag, and they are clearly marked as to their usage. Along the top are tiny HDD screws, thumbscrews for the expansion slots, and pan-head screws for the motherboard and 2.5" drive mounting. Along the bottom, we have brass standoffs to the left, hex-head PSU screws in the middle, and a set of four fan screws in case you have just one fan you want to add.

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We were sent seven zip ties to help manage the chassis and PSU wiring as needed. Along with those, we also found a set of plastic standoffs. These have double sided tape on the flat ends, they push through motherboard mounting holes, and are intended to be used for E-ATX motherboard installations.

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The user manual that is sent with the Nova 8000 is the same literature for its cousin, the Zen chassis, both of which are shown on the cover. Inside we are offered a parts list, how to access the interior, and with text and imagery, we are shown how to install the major components.

Case Build & Finished Product

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If you were to install an optical device, fan controller, card reader, or reservoir into the front, you could easily change the aesthetics. However, we gave up on installing optical drives years ago, and with a built-in fan controller, and no need for the others in this build, we left the front bezel as-is.

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We did test the hot-swap bays for functionality, and they do work, but we closed up shop on the front at this point. In the main section, we find room at the top for a radiator, and we have one hanging on the back, and even our longer Zotac video card fits without issue. While we can see a lot of the wiring, we will admit that without the holes, even without grommets, it could have looked much worse.

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The back of the Nova posed no issues for our build. The dust cover snapped right in. The video card is securely held in place with thumbscrews, and the PSU is held tightly to the steel after it is mounted.

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We decided to keep most of the wiring on the front this time, but there is plenty of room here for it. The tie points help keep the front I/O wiring away from the holes so that the PSU wiring can go through easier, and there is a hole where the chassis splits to pass wiring from the front section to the back.

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Even though this design is wildly different than it, we cannot help the fact that our mind tells us that this looks like the NZXT Phantom. Even though this design is chunky, we do feel that it is one of the better-looking cases to come from Azza.

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When the chassis gets powered on, there is a slightly audible hum heard from the fans when the fan controller is at its highest of three settings. The green LED intensifies with each step, and will turn off when the fan controller is turned off. As for the power LED at the top, it too is orange to match the stripe that runs along this chassis.

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Azza was sure to offer the front 120mm fan as an LED fan. This allows them to add even more orange lighting to the chassis, as we see the LEDs through the angled mesh here.

Final Thoughts

The build quality is nice, with rolled edges on the holes and where all the panel components end, a solid feel with the doors on or off, and even with all the plastic, they were sure to clip securely all of it in so that there are not rattles or squeaks that come from them. The styling may not be for everyone, but we do like the contrast of the bright orange with the shiny black around it. We also like the idea of multiple side panels. While we have seen this idea before, the Nova delivers it with a super simple way of access, and hinges that take the panels out from the sides then allows them to slide forward, completely out of your way. The HDD cage is removable, and with the option to install 2.5" drives to the right side of the ODD bays, you are not out of options if you choose to do so.

We also like that in this design that you have access to place a 240mm radiator in the front or on the floor. You can use a 360mm radiator at the top of the chassis, the back offers room for a 120mm or 140mm radiator, and with six holes through the back panel, you can add as much externally as you want to. Everywhere you look, we are pleased with even the little things like extra lighting, a SATA hot-swap PCB, and a pre-wired fan controller - it shows the drive to offer a feature rich design.

We found plenty of room for everything we needed to fit inside and have plenty of options later to allow the Nova 8000 to grow with you, as you buy more gear and install it down the road. With the fan controller off, the chassis makes no noises, not even slightly. As you increase the fan speeds, we jump to 24dB in low mode, 29dB when it is set to medium, and at its highest setting, we heard 33dB of noise from the Nova. As we sit here thinking of a reason to pick the Nova 8000 apart, for any reason at all, we are left with nothing major to rant about. If anything, we would have wanted a clear side window, because without chassis lighting on the interior, seeing your components inside is near impossible in low light conditions.

While this design does look similar to another huge hit in the chassis game, Azza kept it classy and took their own approach to that concept. The aesthetic is a bit chunky, with many body lines and shapes to break up that standard box look that most cases offer, but it has grown on us the more we looked at it and built the system. Considering everything this chassis offers, inside and out, all the little bells and whistles, Azza has shown that are taking huge steps be more mainstream with this Nova 8000.

With it only costing $129.99, we feel not only does this chassis offer quite a bit for the investment, but even in the grander scheme of cases, it is hard to come up with many like this, with this feature set. The nice thing about this design too is that if you don't like the orange, you can opt for the gunmetal color. Even if you tend to lean toward white cases, Azza has you covered there too.

Chad's Chassis Test System Specifications

TweakTown award
Performance 93%
Quality including Design and Build 94%
General Features 98%
Bundle and Packaging 93%
Value for Money 97%
Overall 95%

The Bottom Line: The Nova 8000 shows that Azza is not stuck in their old designs! This is an attractive solution that is packed with features, we dig the front doors and hinges, and everything fits without issue. At this price, you are getting quite the offering for your investment.

PRICING: You can find products similar to this one for sale below.

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Chad joined the TweakTown team in 2009 and has since reviewed 100s of new techy items. After a year of gaming, Chad caught the OC bug. With overclocking comes the need for better cooling, and Chad has had many air and water setups. With a few years of abusing computer parts, he decided to take his chances and try to get a review job. As an avid overclocker, Chad is always looking for the next leg up in RAM and coolers.

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