Nox infinity alpha review in Spanish (full analysis)

The Spanish manufacturer NOX brings us three new chassis to the market for the entry-level and mid-range. Today we are with the second chassis on our list, the NOX INFINITY ALPHA, which comes in a mini tower format with support for Mini ITX and Micro ATX boards. A very economical chassis that does not give up a side glass panel and ARGB lighting on the front and rear fan and capacity for AIO liquid cooling systems.

After seeing the NOX HUMMER TGM, what will NOX offer us with this new member in the INFINITY family? And before we begin, we thank NOX for the trust they have placed in us by giving us their three new chassis for analysis.

NOX INFINITY ALPHA technical characteristics

Unboxing

The Spanish manufacturer has used exactly the same presentation system for NOX INFINITY ALPHA as the other models. It consists of a neutral cardboard box with the corresponding silkscreen showing a sketch of the chassis along with its key characteristics.

The interior is also exactly the same, with a plastic bag that surrounds this small tower and two polystyrene corks that cover both sides from possible blows. The handling of the package is extremely simple in the case of a box, since dimensions and weight are quite small.

In the bundle we only find the chassis itself and a small bag inside with the screws and the speaker for the BIOS messages. The manufacturer has deemed that no instructions are necessary.

Exterior design

What do we find at first sight? NOX INFINITY ALPHA is a chassis built in SPCC steel of 0.4 mm thickness, that is, exactly the same as for example the HUMMER TGM, so we agree in our opinion that it is a somewhat weak chassis structurally speaking.

Great detail is that on the side it incorporates a tempered glass panel along with a front made of ABS plastic with RGB lighting completely painted in black without other colors available. As we have already pointed out, it is a chassis in Mini Tower format, because it does not offer compatibility with ATX plates, so its total measurements are 410 mm high, 212 mm wide and 408 mm deep and designed only 3, 3 Kg.

Of course nobody is going to complain that it is an extremely portable and light tower, one of its main advantages, although we sacrifice some rigidity of the set. In addition, it has a compartment where to store the source and hard drives and an ARGB fan. If we stop to think, they are characteristics still difficult to see in towers of only 39.90 euros.

The left side area is presented with a 4mm thick tempered glass panel that occupies the entire side except the front panel. By not presenting an opaque frame around the mime, we can see the edges of the chassis where it rests.

The mounting method consists of four manual thread screws on soft rubber supports to preserve the integrity of the panel. Of these rubbers, we have spare parts in the accessories.

On the opposite side, it has been decided to install a sheet metal panel painted in black. And unlike, for example, the HUMMER TGM, this new model does not need the central widening of the panel, since the width amounts to 212 mm, which aesthetically improves this area.

The mounting system is the same, two manual thread screws at the rear, of which we also have spare parts in the accessory bag. Behind it hides a space for cable management of about 24 mm thick that we will analyze later.

And if we stop briefly in the front area of NOX INFINITY ALPHA, we have a black ABS casing with an opening in the central part that, in addition to letting air pass into the interior area, also installs a band with ARGB lighting that can be managed from the own chassis.

When it comes to air flow in or out, it is certainly a fairly small opening and insufficient if we install the three 120mm fans that the area supports. On this occasion, we do not have any pre-installed in the area, and this front can be removed, but not completely due to the I / O panel.

From the top we can learn that it supports dual 140 or 120mm fan configurations and liquid cooling system. In fact, almost the entire area is open to the outside and protected with a medium grain magnetic dust filter. Look also at the detail of having an extra thickness to pull the EPS cables towards the CPU and that do not hinder the fans.

And here we also have the NOX INFINITY ALPHA port and control panel installed, which follows the same line as the other new models launched on the market. We'll see then:

• 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 2x USB 2.0 Audio Jack Microphone Jack Power Button and RESET Button for lighting control Activity LEDs for hard drive and power on

NOX has left a hole without function in this front, the reason? Well, it could be, for example, launching a version with more fans and placing a button here to control its speed. (This is only a proposition, not a certainty)

And we finish with the rear and bottom of the NOX INFINITY ALPHA in this review to the external appearance.

Well, in the back, we have 4 expansion slots with three of them covered with welded sheets. So we will have to strongly remove those that are necessary, and we always recommend doing it before installing the motherboard. NOX has included a 120mm ARGB fan in this rear area identical to those included in the HUMMER TGM.

And with respect to the lower part, in addition to the four legs of considerable size and with rubber supports, we also have an opening with a metal filter for the breathing of the PSU and a front area with double had for hard drives again installed with pins in screws place. We do not understand this option, since it will limit the installation of power supplies as we will now see.

Interior and assembly

The assembly that we are going to do in this case is as follows:

• AMD Athlon GE 240 with stock sink MSI B350I PRO AC Board (Mini ITX) 16 GB DDR4 G.SKILL SniperAMD Radeon Vega 56PSU Corsair AX860i (the only one available for our mounts)

Now it is time to explore the interior of the NOX INFINITY ALPHA chassis, which presents us with the three typical sections, the main one for basic hardware, the lower one for PSU and 3.5 ”disks and the rear one to store wiring.

We have plenty of holes to pull cables to the motherboard, which may be Micro-ATX or Mini ITX, but never ATX because it does not fit. These gaps do not have any protection as is normal, and we also note the absence of the hole to pass the EPS cables behind to the motherboard, and in this case there is no excuse, because between the board and the ceiling, there is plenty of space.

The PSU compartment is metal and is fixedly installed with a large opening in the visible area. And just at the top two openings have been created with the possibility of installing 120mm fans. It's not too useful, but there it is.

The hardware capacity in this area supports CPU coolers up to 160mm high, and graphics cards up to 355mm if we don't install liquid cooling, and if we do it drops to about 295mm. It is a more than acceptable capacity for this small chassis.

Storage capacity

Regarding storage, we are dealing with a standard NOX configuration, since we will be able to install a total of 2 units of 2.5 inches and another two units of 3.5 inches. Let's see the details.

First of all, we have two holes compatible with the 2.5 ”units on the side next to the motherboard, in which case we could install them in the front or rear area, where we like the most. I think that the space above the PSU cover could have been used to install more hard drives.

And, secondly, we have the cabinet with capacity for two 3.5 ”HDD units, in this case we do not have couplings for quick installation, it will be necessary to pull traditional screws. We consider that this wardrobe should be fixed with screws, and not with pins for something that we will see right now.

Very tight space for power supply

We already mentioned in the NOX HUMMER TGM review that the space for PSU was very tight because the hard drive cabinet is fixed by pins. In this case the exact same thing happens and also in a more pronounced way, since the chassis supports power supplies of no more than 150 mm. Today almost all mid / high range sources over 500W have measurements equal to or greater than this.

The point is that our 160mm PSU does not fit, we did not have another one, so we accepted it. But if we had had mobility in this cabinet, we would not have had any problem mounting it, since there is physically room to be a 408 mm deep chassis.

In case of having a 150mm PSU, keep in mind that, if it is modular, before you can put it in you will have to remove the cables since this will not fit, needing to install the cables after putting it in. So, in summary, the most advantageous will be to place a font that is not modular and small, because if not, we will have problems.

Cooling capacity

After this, let's see what benefits we have in terms of refrigeration, and in this case we already anticipated that they will be quite worthy for the price where we move.

Let's start with its capacity for fans:

• Front: 3x 120mm Top: 2x 120mm / 2x 140mm Rear: 1x 120mm (optional) On PSU cover: 2x 120mm

In this case we only have compatibility for 140mm fans at the top, which is appreciated. And it is also appreciated to have an RGB pre-installed in the back. We always recommend having at least one installed in the front area to facilitate air flow.

And let's continue with its capacity for liquid cooling:

• Front: 120/240 mm Top: 120/240 mm Rear: 120 mm

One more than worthy capacity and also above there is enough space for AIO installations of fans + radiators due to the width, which is quite positive.

In this chassis we have few elements to take into account regarding the cooling that we have not already commented. Dismantling the front area we see that we do not have a dust filter for the air intake, and that we are not going to obtain a good air intake flow either, since the small opening is also obstructed by the lighting installation.

For this reason, we recommend that, as far as possible, we install a possible cooling system on top, in air extraction mode. And if we opt for a fan system, we should place them on the front in suction mode or on the top in extraction mode.

Microcontroller and LED lighting

Related to the matter, there will always be the lighting system. NOX INFINITY ALPHA incorporates a fan with addressable RGB and a strip in the front also addressable. All of this is synchronized and will be managed through a microcontroller and a button on the I / O panel.

It is a model cut in connectivity with the ZT-AJ-XCKZ4A code compared to the ZT-AJ-XCKZ3 widely used by the brand. In this case, we have capacity for three RGB fans with the possibility of PWM control by the board through a connector, and two LED strips, of which there is already one installed, which is the front one.

It is basic, but it is appreciated in a chassis as cheap as this one, and also with the possibility of installing two other identical RGB fans to synchronize them. Not bad the truth.

Installation a hardware mount

Already input, we see enough cables in this back, and more to be filled when we start using our power supply. On the side we have gaps to pass cables, but in the upper right corner the gap we would need for the EPS connector on the board is conspicuous by its absence. So we will have to pass it through the main compartment in full view.

For the rest, we have an acceptable space to store cables in the best way we can, without advanced entrances elements (we do not ask for them in such a cheap chassis either) and leaving a fairly clean main space as seen in the images.

As the PSU that we had no cable in the chassis, we have chosen to make the final presentation with it out and the side cover removed. In any case, the result has not been hardly hindered by this problem we have had.

Final score

Mounting in general will be quite fast due to the manageability of the tower and the good size for small boards. Here we can see the result with the assembly in operation.

Final words and conclusion about NOX INFINITY ALPHA

And we come to the end of our NOX INFINITY ALPHA review, a chassis that clearly stands in the entry range, with a generally minimalist design and interesting details such as the presence of a tempered glass panel on the side and lighting on the front.

This front lighting perhaps goes a little bit unnoticed because it's a bit dim and low-power, contrasted with the pre-installed nice rear 120mm ARGB fan. All this can be managed through a button on the I / O panel and with a microcontroller, which also supports 2 more fans of the same type.

It is remarkable the cooling capacity it has, up to 6 120mm fans and capacity for 240mm liquid cooling on the front and top. The only drawback we see is that the front panel lets in very little air.

We also recommend our article on the best chassis of the moment

The hardware capacity is correct, it supports 160mm heatsinks and GPUs of up to 355mm, always keeping in mind that it does not support ATX boards, do not get confused. There are very powerful Micro ATX and Mini ITX configurations geared towards gaming and this chassis could be an option that we want something cheap.

The biggest problem we see is the capacity for power supplies, we have theoretical space, but a cabinet for hard drives fixed with pins does not allow us to play with this space.

NOX INFINITY ALPHA is a chassis that we can get at a price of only 39.90 euros approximately. We really can't really fault a chassis of this cost located in the entry range. So, for users with tight budgets and small boards, it can be a great option.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ PRICE	- SOMETHING RARE CHASSIS AND PRETTY BASIC INTERIOR SPACE
+ SMALL AND MANAGEABLE TOWER	- DOES NOT ADMIT 160 MM PSU, WE RECOMMEND LESS THAN 150 MM
+ RGB LIGHTING WITH CONTROLLER AND BUTTON ON I / O PANEL	- LOW AIR FLOW FROM THE FRONT
+ GOOD CAPACITY FOR FANS AND AIO LIQUIDS
+ BRING TEMPERED GLASS

The professional review team awards him the silver medal:

NOX INFINITY ALPHA Review

DESIGN - 79%

MATERIALS - 77%

WIRING MANAGEMENT - 74%

PRICE - 77%

77%