NZXT H700i Mid-Tower Case Review

NZXT H700i Mid-Tower Case Review

NZXT has a large range of cooling and cases to choose from. The company now manufactures motherboards and PSUs as well as audio solutions, all with the same quality you'd find in other products. The company's cases are the best choice for those who want a sleek rig. However, the newer models have proven to be incredibly popular for their superior cooling performance.

Their cooling solutions, such as NZXT Kraken X series AIO coolers, are frequently used together with the cases to give them a sophisticated look.

NZXT H series cases have been available for some time now. They are certainly one of the most beautiful cases. These H-series cases come in four main variants: H200, H400 and H500. There is also a H700 and an H700. Newer models are H210, H510 and H710, with no refresh to the H400.

If the case is named with an i, it will include the Grid+ and Hue+. The Hue+ control device is an RGB device made by the NZXT. It can also be controlled using the NZXT CAM Software. Grid+ smart controller is controlled via the CAM Software.

Casings in the 200-series series are suitable for micro-ATX systems. The casings of 400-series can also be used with mini-ITX systems. For ATX systems, the 500-series or 700-series casings can be used. They offer plenty of room for large-scale rig design. Today we will review the NZXTH700i Matte Black + Red, a mid-tower ATX box that comes with Grid+ and Hue+.

Unboxing

It is easy to find the box and open it. The casing contains two large pieces of thermopole, and a sheet covering the entire case. The box does not contain any accessories, but you should be aware of this. All accessories can be found inside the box.

These are the contents of your box:

Designers & closer looks

NZXT's H700i is available in four colours: white, black and red. Due to their most popular colour scheme, the white and red versions are very popular. It has a strong front and top, as well as a decent cooling performance. This is due to the numerous small holes that are all around the case. This case is vastly improved over the NZXT cases of the past, which were primarily focused on aesthetics. The majority of the case's material is SGCC steel. This is the reason it weighs 12.27kg.

The case has a large red bar in the center that hides smart devices and enhances cable management. The PSU shroud is very well designed and has many air vents. However, they don't seem to make much difference.

You can also remove the metal panel by simply pressing a button. These holes are on both the front and top sides of the case compensate for the lack of mesh at the top. The accessories that come with this case can be found once you lift the back. This case has excellent cable management, and provides proper channels.

The aesthetics of this case are stunning. It has a beautiful solid front panel that gives it a unique appearance when placed on a desk. It isn't glossy, and has a lovely grainy texture. The bottom of the panel has the word 'NZXT,' which would make the front too simplistic. You can see the feet from the front of the case, which are responsible for a large gap.

The dust filter, which is very effective at its task, can be seen by opening the panel. Beautiful NZXT fans are hidden behind the dust filter. The case looks simple, but once the panels are opened you will see that it is a complicated and powerful case.

The NZXT AER F120 fans provide RGB lighting, but can only be viewed from the sides. These fans can run at 1200+/-200 RPM fan speeds. They also have a 50.42 CFM airflow, which is quite fair. Although they aren't the quietest fans, their noise is only 28 decibels.

It is slightly more elaborate than the standard casing and tries to offer as many vents possible. The vents are located on the top, fan, and expansion slots positions. The rear fan is actually 140mm in diameter, which, as mentioned, improves airflow. You can also move the rear fan up or down, which allows for optimization. The fan is specified at 1000 RPM and emits a 29-dBA noise level.

You will find the I/O at the top and it has a clean appearance. Two USB 2.0 ports are located on the top of the case, along with two USB 3.1 Gen1 port ports. There is also an audio in port and an output port. Although it is placed in a strange location, the power button itself is quite large and easy to locate.

It has four feet with rubber and a dust filter to protect the PSU. There are also design elements for the interior. The case's high feet allow for a good airflow, which is important because the PSU can breathe well due to its large size.

Compatibility with Case

NZXT's H700i mid-tower tower case is expected to be made by the company. However, this case will easily accommodate the most powerful mainstream motherboards. This case supports the EATX standard, so you can pair it with either the Intel LGA-2066 or AMD TR4 motherboards.

It can hold 360mm radiators in the front and top, while 120mm radiators are possible at the back. The case can be paired with three 120mm fans in the front and three 120mm fans in the top. A single 120mm fan is available at the back. It is quite common to have 7 fans in high-end cases. This allows for high airflow, even though most modern cases don't allow as much airflow because of the tempered glass top and sides.

Concerning clearance, the GPU clearance is 413 mm and cooler clearance is 185 mm. Front radiator clearance is 60 mm. Top radiator clearance is 30 mm.

Grid+

NZXT Grid+, one of the best features that comes with the case is NZXT Grid+. This smart device can control many parameters on the computer, such as fan speed. You can use it in conjunction with NZXT CAM software. In fact, the device uses machine learning to create fan curves that are optimal. Although this device has the potential to be a very powerful component, it is not yet fully functional and contains many loopholes. This is why manual fan curves would work better for fans.

Testing Methodology & Specs

Two types of testing were done for NZXTH700i. We first tested the case's acoustic properties and then tested its cooling capabilities. We placed the microphone facing up at the mic, 20cm from the top of the case's side panel. Next, we adjusted the fan speed to 0%, 30% and 50% respectively. We also noted which readings were recorded on the microphone. We used the same fan settings to test the cooling performance. For all settings we ran AIDA 64 Extreme stability testing for the stress on the CPU and Furmark using Xtreme burn-in at 4K resolution. We then looked at the temperature readings for both the graphics card and processor. Ambient temperature was approximately 30°F and ambient noise was about 32 dBA.

• CPU: Intel Coire i9-9900K
• Motherboard by ASUS ROG StrixZ390-E
• Cooler - DEEPCOOL Castle360 RGB AIO
• RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 32GB DDR4 3200MHz C16
• GPU - MSI RTX2080 Gaming X Trio
• Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB NVMe M.2 SSD

Acoustic Performance

It is not common for the NZXT to have such a high acoustic output. The acoustic performance of the NZXT H700i is quite similar at low fan speeds. However, noise levels increase significantly when fan speeds exceed 50%. We find that noise levels increase by 4 dBA when fan speeds are increased from 50 to 75 percent, increasing to 41 dBA and by just 2 dBA when fan speeds reach 100 percent. This does not necessarily mean the case is quieter, but it is more noisy than high-end ones.

Thermo Performance

This case has a better thermal performance than many others due to its numerous vents. Although the CPU temperatures can be quite high, the main reason is the Intel Core i9-9900K's inefficient thermal processor. It was only able to run at 4.7 GHz across all cores. AIDA 64 Extreme, one of the most demanding software on the CPU, places a lot of strain on it. The high CPU temperatures were not caused by the case. However, DEEPCOOL Castle 360RGBV2 was used as the cooler. This cooling system does not depend on its thermal performance.

The GPU temperature is fine at a maximum of 87°C, given the GPU fan speed of half the setting. Furmark looks very similar to AIDA 64 Extreme. Temperatures like these were expected after the Xtreme Burn-In was checked. The temperatures were close to 80°C with the fan speed increased. This is a great result considering the ambient temperature of 30 degrees.

Conclusion

Overall, NZXTH700i is one the most stunning cases ever created. It has all of those great features that you'd expect in a $200 case. The case features beautiful RGB lighting and spacious interior. It also has lots of drive bays. The case is not only beautiful, it also has excellent cooling performance, comparable to other mesh-front cases.