With the spacious H7 and the unusual H6, NZXT recently launched two very decent cases for DIY enthusiasts. Read on to find out why the new H5 doesn’t quite live up to expectations.
The absence of magnetic dust filters on the larger siblings of the 2024 NZXT cases was not well received by many potential buyers. Unfortunately, this is not the only shortcoming that I noticed negatively when testing the new H5 Flow RGB. First of all, it should be said that this is definitely not a bad case or a total thermal failure! Nevertheless, many of the compromises made were incomprehensible to me and caused me to frown occasionally.
NZXT positions the H5 Flow at the lower end of its own mid-tower portfolio and tries to accommodate the good characteristics and features of its larger siblings in a more compact package. The focus here is also clearly on the airflow, which ensures decent temperatures in the small H5 Flow. But before we get to the negative features in the introduction, let’s unpack the case together.
Unboxing
The outer box once again comes in the typical NZXT design.
Visually, not much has changed compared to the “old” version of the H5 Flow.
The dimensions have been reduced by a few centimeters (the overall case volume has shrunk by 2 liters), but the new version can now accommodate even larger graphics cards (410 instead of 365mm).
The metal front is perforated over a large area:
It is easy to remove, but has no additional dust filter. Behind it, we can already see the pre-installed RGB fans, which I will discuss later.
The rear has a simple design, the external expansion slots cannot be “rotated”, but are at least designed without a bar, so that an optional expansion or a 3rd party solution for the vertical mounting of a graphics card could be used.
There is nothing special to see on the bottom either.
Although the half-sloping mesh floor is a special feature, it is already familiar from the predecessor.
The lid is easy to remove and – like the rest of the case – is not equipped with dust filters. The front I/O is rather spartan with only one USB-A, one USB-C, a 3.5mm combo jack and a rationalized reset button.
Now we come to the inner workings.
There is about 3 cm available for cable management even at the narrowest points, which is definitely good to work with.
There are plenty of lashing points available for neat cable management.
The power supply unit is mounted without a mounting frame and is mounted on solid foam rubber buffers in an exemplary manner, but the more subtle may notice at this point that the base has no perforations – the power supply unit must therefore be mounted “upside down” to avoid suffocation.
The base also has space for 1×3.5″ HDD and 2×2.5″ SSDs, and the bracket can also be moved or completely removed in favor of a front radiator.
If the HDD cage is removed, there is space for radiator/fan combinations up to approx. 6.5 cm at the front.
And that brings us to the main chamber.
The rear features a plain white 120mm fan in the “case version”, which unfortunately (like the visually appealing F360 fan in the front) simply lacks PWM control.
Here is the aforementioned “360mm” fan, which we already know from previous NZXT reviews.
The area above the mainboard is relatively flat.
This is why the 8-pin connectors for the CPU supply should be plugged into the lid before installing an AIO. When using 280mm radiators in the lid, either a slim radiator or very flat RAM must be used, otherwise collisions may occur.
However, the infamous centering nub should be mentioned on a positive note.
The included accessories are modest, but are easily sufficient for mounting and simple cable management.
36 Antworten
Kommentar
Lade neue Kommentare
Veteran
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Mitglied
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Mitglied
Urgestein
Urgestein
Urgestein
Veteran
Urgestein
Veteran
Urgestein
Alle Kommentare lesen unter igor´sLAB Community →