We know them for their mastery of minimalist design, production of impeccably manufactured products, and being proud parents of the marvellously mischievous Pucci (we’re not sure how he keeps getting into the studio)! The US based brand NZXT has another case for us to look at.
As we alluded to last week ‘we’re all about airflow’, so let’s get back to business as usual. The NZXT H5 Flow arrived with us a few short weeks ago, awaiting its time to shine. Upon first glance you would be forgiven for mistaking it for the recently released H7 Flow: it follows similar design language, supports up to E-ATX motherboards and gives us a lot of choice in hardware configuration - just like it’s big brother. What makes it different you may ask? It’s all about size, this case is smaller in every dimension, coming in at (h)465mm x (w) 225mm x (d) 430mm. If you have more limited desk space, or just prefer a smaller rig then the H5 Flow is certainly worth a look!
NZXT were kind enough to send us both a black and white version of their latest offering. We can only film one build per week so we had a choice to make. We love the look of them both but we went for black, it’s beautiful, and surely you’d have done the same?
Case Overview
NZXT are maestros of aesthetic simplicity, so you’d expect the case looks amazing and is effortless to strip down to the chassis. There is one captive screw to remove the top panel, two to remove the side panel, the front, and the glass panel just pop off. In the bottom chamber you’ve got space for the power supply and a cage for a 3.5 inch and a 1+1 bay for 2.5 inch storage drives. Behind the motherboard is a cable management channel, with three velcro straps to keep everything secure and a handful of other mounting points for cables.
Looking at hardware support we have a lot of options, we’ve already noted motherboard support. The chassis can also house:
A 360mm radiator on the front and 240mm on the top.
Air coolers up to 175mm.
2 x 120mm fans on the bottom.
1 x 120mm fan on the rear.
Graphics Cards up to 425mm.
Up to ATX power supplies under 200mm.
Once inside we see the perk of using the RGB variant, there is a preinstalled F360 RGB Core fan unit. The unit is 3 x 120mm fans in a single housing for easy mounting. It’s the same as the one found in the H7 flow, though this time it’s the black version, with white fans. The lighting is provided by 8 LEDs in the centre - they can get nice and bright. The RGB also bleeds through to a translucent strip on the side of the housing. The unit also has the benefit of having a single ribbon cable coming off it, to be run to the latest NZXT Control Hub: though each set of the RGB Core range does come with a converter so you can use RBG/fan headers too - it’s nice to have options. Using the Control Hub did help a lot with cable management, and having 3 fans in a single frame looks clean! Spoilers - we decided to use RGB Core F240’s for the bottom intake and on the radiator too to complete the look. We’re curious to hear your thoughts on bar style fans, is the ease of installation worth it? Does the thought of having to swap out the whole unit if a fan fails change your mind? Looking at NZXT's website, it seems the range are covered by a 5 year warranty which should help ease any worries.
Though overall this is shaping up to be a fantastic case and lead to a beautiful build I do have a couple of suggestions I’d love to see updated on the next version. Firstly as the case is not really raised from the desk the power supply must be mounted with the fan facing up, the PSU fan may then be fighting for air with the bottom intake fans. Luckily the intake fans and the PSU or offset from each other and there is mesh next to the PSU so it can be fed, so I don’t think this will cause major issues. It would be nice to have the option of mounting either way though. Secondly I would love to see space for a 360mm radiator up top. We gave it a quick trial run and with about 20mm more space it would have fit perfectly. There again, if you absolutely must have 360 radiator support I’m sure you’re already looking at the H7 Flow.
How Does it Differ From The Previous Version?
The new H5 Flow looks set to replace the previous generation so it would be remiss of us not to look at the improvements made with this new iteration of the design.
The look of the case has been updated inline with the brand's updated design language. It is a complete aesthetic overhaul. Gone are the feet that raise the case from the desk, instead the case features a stepped-in look at the bottom that allows air to the bottom intake fans. The mesh which adorns the exterior is now finer, similar to other cases in recent memory, so it is unlikely to hamper airflow. The refinements to the look and stance of the case give it a real lift, bringing it into 2024 with style.
As for spec changes, it centres around cooling. In the 2022 version of the H5 Flow there was a single 120mm bottom intake fan, angled towards the graphics card, space for 2 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fans on the front and support for a 240mm radiator up top. The 2024 version has moved the intake for the graphics card to directly below it and increased support to allow for 2 x 120mm fans. The front of the case now supports 3 x 120mm or 2 x 140mm fans (or 1 x 360mm radiator), though the maximum radiator support at the top remains at 240mm. Overall the hardware support upgrades should lead to even better airflow - even though the 2022 version was no slouch
Parts List
Why Did We Choose This Hardware?
We haven’t featured a Radeon card in a while, so it was a nice change! The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7800X3D and the TUF Gaming Radeon RX 7800 XT seemed right for the build, they offer high performance at a reasonable (relative) cost. This combination should net us around 120fps at 3440x1440 in our usual gameplay scenario’s, which is not bad for the price and capabilities. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D typically runs fairly cool so we’re happy to use a 240mm radiator with it. We decided on using the older Kraken Z53 because our Kraken Elite 240mm (black) is in use elsewhere! This did give us a chance to back up our opening paragraph, referring to NZXT as producers ‘of impeccably manufactured products’. This cooler has been used quite a few times before and is still in great shape and is working just as well as the day it was received. To round out the look we used the TUF Gaming X670E-Plus motherboard to keep design language consistent with the graphics card and the NZXT F240 RGB Core fan units to match the front air intake.
What Was It Like To Build In?
Stripping the case was sublimely simple, and to get to the position we needed only required removal of three panels, no other screws or mounting points to fumble with. I feel I must emphasise how easy of a build this was: remove the panels, attach the built motherboard and cooler, screw in the additional fans, pop in the PSU, cable manage and then finish up with the graphics card. We’ve often said previously suggested the type of builder that might enjoy the build. This time we would recommend this to all, if it’s your first build, of course do your research, but you can do this!
Airflow
Flow is part of the model name, so I’ll give you three guesses as to how the case performed in airflow testing……… It performed exactly as expected, it devoured air, even with lower fan speeds. You can see from the visualisation that the bottom intake throws air at the graphics card, so much so that the fans on the graphics card often didn’t even need to spin up during less demanding tasks. The air then makes a pass over the heatsinks on the motherboard on its way out. The fans on the front perform much the same, feeding air that is mostly sucked up by the CPU cooler. We have no issues with general cooling.
The area we’ve found it hard to definitively address through airflow visualisation is whether the bottom intake fans limit air supply to the PSU. After another look over the design, the mesh venting on the panel behind the motherboard appears sufficient to feed it and not much air is drawn through this panel to the bottom intake. We’re content this will be a non-issue.
Performance
When testing we’re always more interested in thermal performance, after all the CPU and graphics cards benchmarks are widely known. A normal gaming temp for the TUF Gaming RX 7800XT is around 57-60°C and a Ryzen 7 7800X3D should be fine anywhere up to 80°C. We’re hoping for the cooling setup to keep everything nice and chilly and give the headroom for the components to reach their maximum. With that noted here are our results:
Ambient Room Temperature 25.5°C
Spider-Man Remastered
3440x1440
Medium
94-135fps
67°C max CPU
55°C GPU
High
94-127fps
67°C max CPU
57°C GPU
Very High
91-121fps
69°C max CPU
57°C GPU
Forza Horizon 5
3440x1440
High
196-240fps
67°C max CPU
57°C GPU
Ultra
136-152fps
63°C max CPU
58°C GPU
Extreme
92-116fps
70°C max CPU
58°C GPU
CPU-Z
1 minute stress test
74°C max CPU
Furmark2
3440x1440
Avg fps 161
Max temp 56°C
Hotspot 74°C
The results show that the build is performing exactly as we had wished. Temperatures are well below maximum under load. It was interesting to see the frame-rate in Forza Horizon 5 plummet as we moved beyond high settings, though evidence suggests that has nothing to do with the cooling efficiency.
Roundup
In 2022 NZXT set the standard for an airflow focused mid-tower with the H5 Flow, they have come back to the table with worthy refinements and some new ideas. We like to see brands update their products with well thought out upgrades, and we have them aplenty here! The overhaul of the exterior design was also most welcome, the previous generation was a good looking case, but the new release takes it up a few notches! It is overall a more refined product than its predecessor and may even sway some potential buyers away from the H7 Flow. Why? Firstly its MSRP is lower and secondly, let's be real for a moment, this case can support pretty much any configuration thrown at it.
Is this case right for your setup? If you have the desk space required then you can’t go far wrong here. It’s all about preference, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we think this is a stunner! What are your thoughts? Full video below.
Blog post written by Sam Thwaytes
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