NZXT H3 Flow review – a sleek, compact PC case for a great price

NZXT is perhaps finest recognized for its ATX circumstances and enormous liquid coolers but it surely has additionally dabbled in smaller type issue choices with some success, and its NZXT H3 Stream is its newest mATX effort. Not solely is that this new PC case compact in comparison with an ATX case and possessing of an excellent clear look, it additionally prices simply $60 and, whereas it is small, it will possibly home two AIO liquid coolers and has ample clearance for tall air coolers together with very massive graphics playing cards too.

Arguably, the very best PC case choices for mATX methods are ones that are not an excessive amount of bigger than the motherboard, as in any other case you could as nicely simply get a full-size case. In that sense, the NZXT H3 Stream is not essentially the most standout possibility, because it’s solely an inch or two smaller than typical ATX circumstances. Nonetheless, it’s nonetheless technically extra compact and but would not compromise on the cooling and elements you may match inside.

Such a compelling mixture means we have been very eager to place this case to the take a look at to see what, if something, its $60 value has meant by way of value financial savings and compromises. Is it price contemplating in comparison with common competitors such because the Lian Li A3 mATX or Phanteks XT M3? Learn on to seek out out.

Specs

Options

The secret’s within the title right here, with the H3 Stream that includes perforated mesh sections on 5 of its six panels for top general airflow. The most important of those is the entrance panel with a close to edge-to-edge mesh sitting in entrance of two fan mounts that may home both a pair of 120mm or 140mm followers in addition to 240mm and 280mm AIO liquid coolers. These dictate the graphics card size restrict too. This measurement stands at 377mm with no entrance followers, falling to 352mm with entrance followers put in or 317mm with a 30mm-thick radiator and followers. As for CPU coolers, as much as 170mm-tall choices are supported.

The panel, which is each ornamental and acts because the mud filter for this part, is detachable by simply pulling it off. That is simple to do and provides you entry to the fan mounts behind. There are not any entrance followers included as normal and in reality solely a single rear 120mm fan is included to maintain the associated fee to a minimal. The roof panel additionally gives a house to a pair of 120mm or 140mm followers, however relying in your motherboard’s heatsinks, you may doubtless be restricted to a 240mm radiator right here.

The roof panel is fastened and features a detachable magnetic mud filter, which as soon as eliminated offers clear entry to the fan mounts. There are two extra 120mm fan mounts within the PSU cowl, with screws within the field included to make use of those, though relying in your motherboard’s GPU slot location and graphics card thickness, these will not be usable.

The included fan is an NZXT F120Q (CV), which a fast Google search urged had a potent 1,750rpm peak velocity, however the one included right here peaks at simply 1,350rpm, which is sort of common. Mixed with the a number of mesh panels, detrimental strain is the dominant function right here. If you wish to enhance cooling, the logical spot for an additional fan could be within the entrance pointed at your CPU cooler, however we’ll see the advantage of this in a minute.

The facet panels are each tool-free, with the primary glass panel sitting within the high three quarters of the case above the massive mesh part on the facet and being held by push-pins.

The entrance panel connectors are minimal with simply single Kind-A and Kind-C USB ports, though the latter does assist USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 with speeds as much as 20Gbps. Your motherboard’s Kind-C header must assist this too if you happen to plan on plugging in an exterior SSD that gives the identical velocity. One omission right here is an audio jack, so that you’re out of luck if you wish to hook up your headset or microphone to the case entrance panel. You will want to make use of your motherboard’s personal port or a USB-based audio machine as a substitute – whether or not that is a USB headphone amp or a wi-fi gaming headset with a USB dongle.

If in case you have 2.5in SSDs or 3.5in onerous disks you wish to use, there’s house for as much as three of the previous or one of many latter right here. There’s one devoted 2.5in SSD mount on the rear of the motherboard tray and a shared mount beneath the PSU cowl that helps both two 2.5in gadgets or a single 3.5in onerous disk.

Design

It is a great-looking case, with our white pattern trying significantly clear and sensible, though if you happen to want black circumstances, there’s an possibility for you too. It feels well-made and, regardless of using push-pin panels, none of those appeared to rattle. Its 5kg weight comes largely from its glass panel and metal development, the latter of which you’d count on at this value, reasonably than dearer aluminum.

One other omission right here that you simply’d count on to see on extra premium circumstances is rubber grommets within the cable routing holes. This implies any PC’s constructed into this technique will significantly advantages from guaranteeing your cables are neatly secured, to stop them rubbing on these unprotected openings.

Cables can also pose a problem for house owners of rear connector motherboards akin to MSI Challenge Zero or Asus BTF, because the clearance behind the motherboard tray for routing cables these these methods could be very tight. Once more, you may must spend a bit of additional time right here clompared to circumstances with extra beneficiant cable routing areas, and it is doubtless why this facet panel makes use of thumb screws reasonably than push-pins, to take away the opportunity of the panel being pushed off by the cables.

Fortunately the case is in any other case simple to work with, whether or not you are constructing an air or liquid-cooled PC. It additionally has loads of house beneath the PSU cowl to stow cables and because of simply detachable panels and dirt filters, is straightforward to take care of too. The one snag we hit in constructing the PC is that there is not any point out of PSU orientation within the guide or product webpage. There is not any vent beneath and the PSU sits very near the bottom of the case, so we might be inclined to have its fan pointing upwards.

One other issue to think about is that the scale of this case imply it is not essentially the most compact mATX case round. At 15.75in (40cm) tall, it is solely an inch or two shorter than smaller ATX circumstances. The depth of 15.31in (39cm) is a bit more compact, however to take care of good CPU cooler compatibility, NZXT has made the case almost 9in (23cm) extensive.

Efficiency

To check the NZXT H3 Stream, we put in our normal take a look at system into the case to then take a look at it for cooling functionality and noise ranges. Our normal system consists of an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU, 32GB DDR5 6000 RAM, an Asus B850M-Plus WiFi motherboard, 1TB Samsung 990 Professional SSD, an MSI RTX 5070 Ti 16G Ventus 3X graphics card, and a Cooler Grasp Hyper 212 Black CPU cooler.

To keep up consistency between circumstances we repair the case, CPU, and GPU fan speeds. For the CPU, we usually discover our cooler’s fan will hit most velocity beneath load in some circumstances, so we preserve it at full velocity. We do the identical with the case followers.

For RTX 5070 Ti, it usually peaks at 60-70% velocity when left to its personal gadgets, so we lock its followers at 60% to stop them spinning up and skewing the ends in poor performing circumstances. To check the GPU, we have used Metro Exodus: Enhanced Version over a number of back-to-back benchmark loops. For the CPU, we load it at 100% utilizing Prime95.

The CPU temperature of our Ryzen 7 9800X3D reached 81°C, which is completely acceptable and even spectacular given the shortage of any entrance followers. The truth is, including one pointing on the CPU cooler solely dropped the temperature by one other 2°C, so general airflow clearly is not missing right here. The GPU temperature of 71°C was additionally first rate given how quiet the followers are at 60 p.c velocity, doubtless due to the well-ventilated entrance and facet panels, in addition to the ventilated PSU cowl under the GPU followers.

Permitting the followers to do their very own factor resulted in a noise stage of 40 dBA through the CPU stress take a look at, and it was very clear the case does permit a good quantity of noise to flee, which is anticipated given the quantity of mesh it has. Forcing the noise stage right down to a extra affordable 35 dBA on our sound meter noticed the CPU load take a look at rise to a really toasty 93°C whereas the sport take a look at noticed one other 12°C added to the GPU temperature. It is clear that to have a quiet system in such a porous case would require massive heatsinks or liquid coolers.

Worth

The NZXT H3 Stream’s value is $60 and we really feel NZXT has hit the nail on the top right here. It is a considerably fundamental case with few frills and only one 120mm fan, but it surely appears good, has zero points with construct high quality, has wonderful cooling potential whether or not you like air or liquid, and is tremendous simple to construct in and preserve too. The actual fact it has black and white choices means it gives sufficient versatility to go well with most construct kinds too.

There are alternate options for related costs such because the Lian Li A3-mATX and Phanteks XT M3, however these do not embody any followers as normal, whereas different choices typically embody RGB lighting and value noticeably extra. We would preferred to have seen an audio jack on the entrance panel, and ideally have 360mm AIO liquid cooler assist, however 280mm liquid coolers provide almost as a lot cooling and are a good choice for a construct of this scale.

Verdict

For $60, NZXT hasn’t actually put many ft fallacious right here because the H3 Stream is a handsome, sturdy, well-thought-out case that manages to supply a great deal of room for big graphics playing cards in addition to a number of mounts for liquid coolers and extra followers, plus its CPU cooler clearance is great. That is an inexpensive, compact case that may simply home a high-end gaming PC.

There are a number of drawbacks, although akin to the shortage of an audio port on the entrance panel, even when the Kind-C port impressively gives USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 20 Gbps assist. We would even have preferred to see rubber grommets within the inner cable routing holes and a little bit extra clearance for rear-connector motherboards around the again too. For an mATX case, it is also not significantly compact, but it surely nonetheless nearly stays smaller than typical ATX circumstances.

Total, then, this is a wonderful allrounder for these on the lookout for a PC case that is compact however not fairly as limiting as a mini-ITX possibility. After all, the mATX type issue has limitations of its personal, akin to a weak selection of high-end motherboard choices, however that is a good compromise for anybody contemplating shopping for a $60 PC case. Some causes to think about various circumstances are to permit for housing 360mm liquid coolers, if you happen to significantly need extra glass panel, or maybe in order for you out-of-the-box RGB lighting. In any other case, the H3 Stream ticks most bins and is great worth.

If you happen to’ve determined that is the case for you, why not full you system by trying out our greatest gaming motherboard and finest CPU cooler guides.