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Those changes to the panels are welcome, however they fix problems that should never have existed in the first place. When we dug in further and found the specification of the fans made little to no sense it felt like 2019 all over again. As its name suggests, the H7 Flow also has a large mesh on its front panel and in the roof section, so it’s geared towards offering high airflow with low fan speeds. There are a few useful features on the case’s exterior, such as tool-free side, front and roof panels that simply pop into place. It was clear from the first moment the three models of H7 have been improved, starting with the addition of a Flow model that has a front panel that clearly has the potential to work well. In addition we were delighted to find the panels are tool-free as that makes life considerably easier. The dust filter at the bottom of the intake duct wouldn’t make much sense if the face panel didn’t also have a filter, so NZXT equips the H7 Flow’s snap-off front with a snap-in plastic-framed filter that covers the entire ventilated section. Sadly, when looking at the H7 and H7 Elite, thermal results were less impressive, especially with regards to the Elite. Even with its additional fans, the H7 Elite does not run much cooler than NZXT’s standard H7, with both cases exhibiting GPU thermals that are 5 degrees hotter than the H7 Flow. If you want low system thermals, the H7 Flow is clearly the case you should be buying.
What stopped them from launching meshed versions alongside the older cases? For a comparison, Fractal has their Define and Meshify(recent Pop Air too) series. Then, our testing of GPU thermals. The HAF 500 fed our GPU the coolest air, followed by the H7 Flow without the top exhaust filter fitted in place, and then the H7 Flow with top exhaust filter... Practically speaking, the thumbscrew that secures the drive cage is what limits power-supply length to 233mm. A second set of tab holes and screw holes allows it to be moved about 19mm farther forward, but placing it there reduces the lower portion of the front radiator mount by the same distance. The 3.5-inch cage’s optional 2.5-inch mounts aren’t even included in the H7 Flow’s official specs, as those specs instead refer to a second set of 2.5-inch trays that we’ll cover momentarily.The NZXT H710i measured in at an average of 73 C for gaming on the aforementioned CPU. Stress testing through benchmarks saw temperatures approach 90 C at bursts before settling in the mid-80s. The NZXT H7 saw a reduction in the temperature of about 5% across the board. Gaming saw an average of 71 C, which is better than the outgoing case, but still short of the N7 Flow. Last year, we took a look at the NZXT H510 Flow, which delivered good thermals. However, the perforations on the top panel were limited to one 140mm fan. With the H7 Flow, we get a perforated top panel that extends far enough for 3x 120 or 2x 140mm fans, or one 360mm radiator. The fan support in the front has also been increased from the H710, from two 140 to three 140mm fans (or up to three 120mm). The rear supports either one 120mm or one 140mm fan. The H7 flow offered the best CPU temperature thanks to its open front end, but was only a degree ahead of the H7 Elite, which had three front fans to aid cooling despite its front section being closed. The NZXT H7 is in quite the predicament. The H7 Flow is by far the better PC case. It has better thermals, is the same price, has all the same features and has a completely clean side panel thanks to the large intake vent upfront. If you want something a little fancier, the NZXT H7 Elite has more tempered glass than you'll know what to do with.
We'll map the results against some recently tested large ATX cases, some of which have at least a modicum of EATX support: Cooler Master's HAF 500, Corsair's iCUE 5000T RGB, Lian Li's O11 Dynamic EVO, and In Win's N515. There is a ton of information in these charts and the obvious takeaway is that the Flow front panel works best when combined with the 140mm fans running at high speeds. That will come as no surprise but when you refer to our video you will hear the huge changes in noise levels and there are times when the H7 can be very noisy indeed. In other words, the H7 can work well however you will need to strike a balance between noise and cooling. Closing Thoughts Voltage regulator temperatures show why this builder prefers to put the radiator (and its extra fans) on top, as the N515 fell well behind the H7 Flow’s clear win... The H7 Flow’s bottom panel features slide-out filters for both the power supply and the intake gap. While the front filter and its corresponding hole seem unnecessary on a case that has a fully vented face, the same underlying chassis also fits the unvented face panels of its two sibling models. Our starting point for this review of the H7 family starts in 2019 with the H510 and H710, which were interesting cases that leant heavily on looks and styling, and rather less on performance.While NZXT’s H710 chassis has proved to be popular over its lifespan, the PC market has changed a lot since this case was introduced. For starters, CPUs and GPUs are more power-hungry than before, making airflow a greater concern for PC builders. This change to the PC market has forced NZXT to include more fan mounts on the top of their H7 series cases, adding support for top-mounted 360mm liquid cooling radiators while redesigning their front panels to enable increased system airflow.
When letting each case run with their maximum out of the box fan RPMs, the H7 and H7 Elite deliver identical thermal results, proving that the Elite’s additional fan do nothing to lower overall system temperatures. This is a poor showing for the H7 Elite, and highlights the real strength of the H7 Flow. It bests the Elite with fewer fans and a lower price point. There are MANY other cases like this to choose from, and they are MORE AFFORDABLE. Some of them are preinstalled with more fans; this case comes with 2 fans, when the older H710 came with 4. NZXT can fix the H7 with some tweaks that fall far short of an overhaul but right now they still have work to do.If you were looking at the front of the H7 and though “but where’s the airflow going to come from?”, the H7 Flow is the case for you. The H7 Flow is the same case as the standard H7, including the same fans out of the box, internal layout, and price point. There are only two differences between the H7 and H7 Flow, and those differences are the case’s front and right panels.
I've gone into some detail about the NZXT H7 series refresh in my NZXT H7 Flow review, but the goal NZXT's designers had in mind was to keep the same look but refine the cooling performance. This was carried out by adding a new side vent for the front fans to gain access to more cool air, as well as a redesigned top panel. At 1000 RPM fan speeds, the H7 Flow continues to impress. Again, it sits towards the bottom of our graphs, delivering results that are amongst the best cases that we have tested. Again, this is a huge achievement for a chassis that ships with only two fans out of the box, and adding additional fans could result in further improvements to the H7 Flow’s cooling performance. With the front panel being perforated, the H7 Flow’s right side panel can be completely closed off. Unlike the H7 and H7 Elite, the H7 Flow does not require a perforated right side panel for airflow, allowing NZXT to ship this model with a plain right side panel. After unscrewing and removing the second and third slot cover, our ATX build slipped right into the H7 Flow with zero issues. Placing the radiator on the top panel while using its fans as exhaust provides voltage-regulator cooling benefits, though at some cost in CPU temperature. The H7 Flow hangs in with the HAF 500 for middling noise levels, beat only by the O11D EVO’s reduced fan set. But that’s with all cases being measured from the front-left and front-right corners. What’s not shown in these numbers is that the H7 Flow became noticeably louder from above the top panel after removing its top filter, which is an angle that we didn’t have other data to compare.In all, the H7 is slightly smaller than the H710, and it is significantly lighter. The H710 was 12.1 kg, and the new H7 is 10.26kg. That said, both cases support the same levels of CPU clearance, front fan/radiator clearance, and cable management space. The only compromise with the new H7 is that is has 13mm less GPU clearance, not that 400mm of clearance isn’t enough for practically all modern GPUs. Removing all the panels exposes just how open the H7 Flow is internally, with its forward fan mounts a full 2 inches behind the front panel. Even with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor, you'll see a good 5% reduction for average temperature in games. It's still not quite as good as some other PC cases, namely the be quiet! Silent Base 802 or NZXT H7 Flow, but it's good to see lower temperatures all in keeping the same overall look of the existing H710.
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