After I consider case corporations that follow the script, the primary firm that involves thoughts is NZXT. The H5 has undergone quite a few revisions because it hit the market in 2019, a few of which had been higher than others. Nonetheless, its silhouette all the time remained boxy and minimal. Since then, the corporate has additionally experimented with keyboards and motherboards, however not a lot with new case designs.
The brand new H5 Elite comes with quantity of RGB, a sexy 45-degree backside fan and acquainted (and sound) cable administration design for $140, out there in both white or black. With that mentioned, is the H5 Elite as spectacular as its airflow-focused H7 Professional? Let’s discover out and examine whether or not it deserves a spot on our record of the finest PC instances.
Specs of the NZXT H5 Elite
Kind | ATX Mid-Tower |
Motherboard | Mini-ITX, Micro ATX, ATX |
Assist | |
Dimensions (HxWxD) | 18.3 x 9 x 17.6-inches |
Max GPU Size | 14.4-inches |
CPU Cooler Peak | 6.5-inches |
Exterior Bays | X |
Inside Bays | 2x 2.5-inch, 1x 3.5-inch or 1x 2.5 and 1x 3.5-inch |
Enlargement Slots | 7 |
Entrance I/O | USB Kind-C (10Gbps), one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind A (5Gbps) and an audio and microphone jack |
Different | Mesh Facet Panel |
Entrance Followers | 2x 140mm followers |
Rear Followers | None |
High Followers | None |
Backside Followers | 1x 120mm fan |
Weight | 17.8 kilos |
Guarantee | 2 years |
Options of the NZXT H5 Elite
The NZXT H5 Elite is a mid-tower chassis that contains a tempered glass entrance panel, a function that’s fallen off in recognition over the previous 12 months or so. Currently, most case corporations have been manufacturing new instances with mesh entrance panels, because of the abundance of warmth generated by the latest {hardware}. And if airflow is essential to you, the corporate additionally has a brand new H5 Movement as properly, seen within the picture above on the correct. It has a perforated entrance panel and sells for $95.
Nonetheless, the H5 Elite makes an attempt to ship the look of glass and good airflow, due to a roughly 1.5-inch hole within the entrance between the glass and followers. This enables for an honest quantity of consumption from the aspect, plus there’s a 120mm fan on the backside of the case, on a 45-degree angle, to help GPU cooling.
With these key options out of the way in which, the H5 Elite largely follows the recipe of success that we noticed within the H7 earlier this 12 months.
That mentioned, when the corporate launched the H7 and H7 Movement earlier this 12 months, each of these instances had an analogous hole up entrance for higher airflow. However right here, that hole visually stands out extra, maybe resulting from the truth that there are solely two followers up entrance, and the glass doesn’t prolong to the underside of the case. I perceive the necessity to higher consumption right here, however a number of of our editors agree that the hole seems awkward, like there’s a lacking piece, or maybe that NZXT has constructed some sort of Kubrick-inspired “2001: A House Odyssey” mini fridge.
The followers, which I’ll cowl in additional element shortly, are fascinating, however the entrance IO is decidedly uninspired. You get one USB Kind-C (10Gbps), one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind A (5Gbps) and an audio and microphone jack. And whereas it’s good that NZXT has made among the cables white to match the case, that doesn’t change the truth that none (or a minimum of most) of the cables out of your parts gained’t be.
Inside Structure
The NZXT H5 Elite stands at 18.3 x 9 x 17.6-inches (HWD), which is simply barely taller than the earlier fashions. The case comes with the standard H-series options, just like the cable administration bar and an RGB controller, each of that are appreciated.
And also you higher like M.2 (or have restricted knowledge wants) as a result of The H5 Elite meets the naked minimal relating to storage. Behind the motherboard tray, you’ll discover a sled that may help as much as two 2.5-inch drives, whereas 3.5-inch house is proscribed to only one drive.
The place of the 45-degree fan on the backside severely limits the house for storage drives.
NZXT H5 Elite Cooling Choices
It’s been a very long time since I’ve labored with a case that utilized a tempered glass entrance panel, so I used to be excited to see how cooling would work. The entrance followers are screwed right into a tray, which could be eliminated through two thumbscrews. I’m glad extra corporations are doing this as a result of I hate screwing followers (don’t get me began on radiators) straight into the case when this feature exists.
The entrance fan tray helps as much as 280mm price of radiator or followers, whereas the highest is proscribed to 240mm. Each the rear and backside of the case have a most of 120mm, which is sweet sufficient.
Case followers are costly, particularly if you need name-brand RGB variants. NZXT contains two F140 RGB followers right here, which retail for $27 every. The underside fan isn’t RGB, but it surely’s an F120Q– the identical one discovered within the H7 Movement, and I really like these followers due to how quiet they’re. We’ll see how that interprets shortly in our testing.
The H5 Elite helps CPU coolers as tall as 165mm (6.5-inches), which is sufficient to match even the largest of the very best CPU coolers. Nonetheless, the GPU clearance is proscribed to 365mm (14.4-inches), which appears like lots, however can be considerably shorter for these operating front-mounted radiators.
Testing {Hardware}
Our testing {hardware} makes use of Intel’s twelfth Gen Alder Lake platform. We’re utilizing a Core i7-12700KF, cooled by a Noctua U12s air cooler. Our graphics card is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and our motherboard is the MSI Professional Z690-A WIFI.
Acoustic Outcomes for the NZXT H5 Elite
Our acoustic take a look at consists of three eventualities: We run the CPU at full load, the CPU and GPU at full load, and an optimized mode. The CPU full load take a look at runs the CPU and case followers at their most pace. For the CPU and GPU full load acoustic take a look at, we additionally stress the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and set the followers at 75% pace, as a result of in gaming, the followers by no means run at one hundred pc and are far too loud once they do.
For the optimized mode, we run the GPU fan pace at 30% and the CPU and included case followers on the lowest pace they may spin.
Paradoxically, the H5 Elite was louder than the suspiciously quiet H7 Movement. Nonetheless, the H7 Movement comes geared up with two F120Q followers, designed to be delicate with a max RPM of 1,200. The 2 F140 followers on the H5 sport a max RPM of 1,800, which is important for a case like this with much less entrance airflow.
So, are the acoustic outcomes from the H5 Elite disappointing? Sort of, however when there are fewer areas for air to get in, followers have to spin sooner to maintain the strain going, which leads to extra noise. And most of the people will nonetheless discover the 44 dB we measured in our middle-ground take a look at acceptable.
Thermal Outcomes for the NZXT H5 Elite
For the thermal assessments, all case and CPU fan speeds are set to 100%. The Core i7-12700K is ready at a 4.7GHz clock at 1.3v on all efficiency cores to make sure constant energy consumption throughout take a look at eventualities. Letting the GPU run at 75% fan pace allows it to keep up its energy goal whereas sticking to 1 set affordable fan pace, so the temperature is the one variable.
As a substitute of burying the H5 Elite’s thermals amongst all of the instances we’ve examined this 12 months, I shared the temps of comparable chassis. I’m going to check it to the H7 Movement and as you may see, the underside fan on the Elite did end in higher GPU thermals, although not a lot the CPU.
As a result of the H5 is usually glass, I needed to see how the thermals in comparison with the Hyte Y60 and considerably surprisingly, the Hyte wins within the CPU class however falls considerably quick in each different class.
Lastly, I included the Corsair iCUE 5000T as a result of it has an analogous PSU shroud design and low profile shroud. I theorized why the iCUE’s low profile shroud supplied such nice GPU thermals in my evaluate, however to summarize: The air goes up the shroud to the graphics card’s followers. Whereas the H5 Elite doesn’t function that kind of shroud, it roughly has its personal GPU fan, due to the angeled backside 120mm spinner.
Whereas the thermals on the H5 Elite aren’t spectacular, I imagine there seems to be extra potential on this chassis than most different tempered glass instances, due to the underside fan, in addition to the hole up entrance. I like to recommend choosing up a fan with higher static strain for even higher thermal efficiency, just like the Corsair ML120s.
Backside Line
As PC {hardware} turns into extra power-hungry, the necessity for correct airflow is extra crucial than ever. Nonetheless, many individuals nonetheless love tempered glass entrance panels and RGB. The NZXT H5 Elite brings us again to 2019 when RGB and tempered glass got here first and airflow was typically an afterthought. NZXT has added some fascinating and, in response to our testing, largely efficient additions, which bridge the hole between airflow and glass fronts–creating a niche within the course of.
And except for the entrance hole, the underside angled fan means drive storage is extra restricted than the overwhelming majority of mid-tower instances. Given the ever-expanding variety of M.2 slots on new motherboards, that’s turning into much less of a difficulty, however those that wish to carry over greater than a single 3.5-inch drive and two 2.5-inches must look elsewhere.
Maybe the H5 Elite’s most interesting function is its $140 value. It’s truly $20 lower than the earlier H510 Elite. In a world the place all the things else is seemingly going up in value, this makes the H5 Elite’s quirks really feel way more bearable–even when we nonetheless suppose that entrance hole seems awkward.
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Supply By https://www.tomshardware.com/opinions/nzxt-h5-elite