NZXT is the first company that comes to mind when it comes to case companies that stick to scripts. The H5 has gone through a number of revisions since it hit the market in 2019, some better than others. But its silhouette has always remained boxy and minimal. Since then, the company has also keyboard When motherboardbut not so much with the new case design.
The new H5 Elite comes with tons of RGB, an attractive 45-degree bottom fan, and a familiar (and sound) cable management design for $140, and it’s available in white or black. Also, the H5 Elite is as impressive as it is airflow-focused H7 ProLet’s find out and find out if it deserves a spot on our list best pc case.
NZXT H5 Elite Specs
| type | ATX Mid Tower |
| motherboard | mini-ITX, micro-ATX, ATX |
| support | |
| Dimensions (HxWxD) | 18.3 x 9 x 17.6 inches |
| GPU max length | 14.4 inch |
| CPU cooler height | 6.5 inch |
| external bay | X |
| internal bay | 2.5″ x 2, 3.5″ x 1, or 2.5″ x 1 and 3.5″ x 1 |
| expansion slot | 7 |
| Front I/O | USB Type-C (10Gbps), 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A (5Gbps), audio and microphone jacks |
| other | mesh side panels |
| front fan | 2x 140mm fan |
| rear fan | none |
| top fan | none |
| bottom fan | 120mm fan x 1 |
| weight | 17.8 pounds |
| guarantee | 2 years |
Features of NZXT H5 Elite
The NZXT H5 Elite is a mid-tower chassis with a tempered glass front panel, a feature that has fallen out of favor over the past year or so. These days most case makers produce new cases with mesh front panels because modern hardware generates a lot of heat.And if airflow is important to you, the company also has the new H5 Flow (see right image above). The front panel is perforated and retails for $95.
However, the H5 Elite tries to provide the look of glass. When There is about a 1.5 inch gap between the front glass and the fan for good airflow. This allows for a good amount of air intake from the sides, and there’s a 120 mm fan at the bottom of the case at a 45-degree angle to help cool the GPU.
With these key features out of the way, the H5 Elite pretty much follows the recipe for success we saw with the H7 earlier this year.
That said, when the company launched the H7 and H7 Flow earlier this year, both of those cases had a similar gap up front for better airflow. Visually, the gap is more noticeable, probably because there’s only a fan and the glass doesn’t extend to the bottom of the case. I understand that more information needs to be taken in here, but some of the editors agree that the gaps seem awkward, like there’s a piece missing, or that NZXT inspired Kubrick. It may have built a 2001: A Space Odyssey mini-fridge of sorts.
The fans, which we will elaborate on later, are interesting, but the front IO is decidedly uninspired. It has one USB Type-C (10Gbps), one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A (5Gbps), and one audio and microphone jack. And while it’s nice that NZXT made some of the cables white to match the case, it doesn’t change the fact that none (or at least most) of the cables from the components are white.
internal layout
The NZXT H5 Elite measures 18.3 x 9 x 17.6 inches (HWD), slightly taller than its predecessor. The case comes with the usual H-series features like a cable management bar and his RGB controller, both of which are highly appreciated.
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If you like the M.2 (or have limited data needs), it’s because the H5 Elite meets your bare minimum requirements when it comes to storage. Behind the motherboard tray is a sled that can support up to two of his 2.5″ drives, but the 3.5″ space is limited to his one drive.
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The bottom 45 degree fan position severely limits storage drive space.
NZXT H5 Elite Cooling Options
It’s been a while since I’ve used a case with a tempered glass front panel, so I was excited to see how the cooling worked. can be removed. If this option exists, I hate screwing fans directly into the case (don’t start with radiators), so I’m glad more companies are doing this.
The front fan tray supports up to 280mm worth of radiators or fans, but the top is limited to 240mm. Up to 120 mm on both the back and bottom of the case, which is more than enough.
Case fans are expensive, especially if you want the RGB variant of a name brand. NZXT includes two of his F140 RGB fans here, priced at $27 each. The bottom fan is not RGB, but he is F120Q, same as H7 Flow. I like these fans because they are very quiet. We’ll quickly see how it translates in a test.
The H5 Elite supports CPU coolers with a height of 165mm (6.5 inches), enough to fit even the largest of the best CPU coolers. However, GPU clearance is limited to 365 mm (14.4 inches). This sounds pretty big, but it’s significantly shorter if you’re running a front-mounted radiator.
Hardware test
Our test hardware uses Intel’s 12th Generation Alder Lake platform. I have a Core i7-12700KF cooled by a Noctua U12s air cooler. The graphics card is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and the motherboard is an MSI Pro Z690-A WIFI.
NZXT H5 Elite Acoustic Results
Our acoustic tests consist of three scenarios. Run the CPU at full load, run the CPU and GPU at full load, and run in optimized mode. The CPU full load test runs the CPU and case fans at maximum speed. For the full CPU and GPU load acoustic test, we also put a load on the Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC and set the fans to 75% speed. This is because in games, the fan never runs at his 100% and is too loud when it does.
Optimized mode runs the GPU fan speed at 30% and the CPU and accompanying case fans at their lowest spinning speed.
Ironically, the H5 Elite was louder than the questionably quiet H7 Flow. However, the H7 Flow is equipped with two of his F120Q fans and is conservatively designed with a maximum RPM of 1,200. His two F140 fans in the H5 boast a maximum RPM of 1,800. This is necessary with such low forward airflow.
So, are the H5 Elite’s acoustic results disappointing? But when there’s less room for air, the fans have to spin faster to maintain pressure, which results in louder noise. Most people will find the 44 dB measured in the intermediate test to be acceptable.
NZXT H5 Elite Thermal Results
All case and CPU fan speeds are set to 100% for thermal testing. The Core i7-12700K is set to his 4.7GHz clock of 1.3v across all performance cores to ensure consistent power consumption across test scenarios. Having the GPU running at 75% fan speed allows us to maintain a power target while maintaining one set reasonable fan speed, so temperature becomes the only variable.
Instead of burying the H5 Elite’s thermals among all the cases we tested this year, we shared similar chassis temperatures. As you can see by comparing it to the H7 Flow, the Elite’s bottom fan improved his GPU heat, but not the CPU.
I wanted to know how the thermals are compared to the Hyte Y60 because the H5 is mostly glass and surprisingly Hyte wins in the CPU category but all the other category is significantly lower.
Finally, we included the Corsair iCUE 5000T, which has a similar PSU shroud design and a low-profile shroud. In my review, I theorized why iCUE’s low-profile shroud provides such good GPU heat, but in summary, the air is flowing from the shroud towards the graphics card’s fan. The H5 Elite doesn’t have that type of shroud, but it does have its own GPU fan more or less thanks to the angel-shaped lower 120mm spinner.
The H5 Elite’s thermals aren’t spectacular, but thanks to the bottom fan and front gap, this chassis seems to have more potential than most other tempered glass cases. For better thermal performance, like the ML120s, we recommend choosing a fan with a higher static pressure.
Conclusion
As PC hardware becomes more power hungry, the need for proper airflow is more important than ever. However, many still love the tempered glass front panel and his RGB. The NZXT H5 Elite takes us back to 2019, when RGB and tempered glass first came and Airflow was often an afterthought. NZXT has added some interesting additions that bridge the gap between the airflow and the glass front, creating a gap in the process.
And aside from the front gap, the angled fan on the bottom means drive storage is more limited than most mid-tower cases. Given the ever-increasing number of his M.2 slots on newer motherboards, that’s becoming less of an issue, but if you want to carry over one 3.5″ drive and two 2.5″ drives, Need to find another place.
Perhaps the H5 Elite’s most attractive feature is its $140 price tag. It’s actually $20 less than his previous H510 Elite. In a world where everything else seems to be rising in price, this makes the H5 Elite’s quirks feel much more bearable.
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