A
lthoughNZXT’sH700ihasbeenthe
company’sonlyextra-largetower
caseforthepastyearortwo,it’sstill
massivelypopular.Partoftheappealwiththe
H700iis thatit’savailableina rangeofcolour
schemestosuita varietyoftastes, which
combinethebasecolourofblackwithseveral
colouredhighlights.
Whichevercolouryouchoose,thepaintfinish
onthecaseis excellent.It addsa unique,clean
styletotheH700ithatmakesit oneofthebest-
lookingchassisontestthismonth.Youcanpick
it upinversionswithred,whiteorbluedetails,or
inanall-blackscheme.
Thepaintfinishisn’ttheonlystand-out
featureoftheH700ithough.Anotherkey
bonusisits3-channel,software-controlled
fancontroller,whichisalreadyhookedupto
itstrioofAerF120frontfansandAerF140
rearfan.
NZXT’sCAMsoftwarealsoallowsfor
completecontroloverthefanspeeds
accordingtoCPUtemperature,withseveral
presetsavailable.There’salsoa custommode,
whichenablesyoutotweakthefanresponse
curve.YoucancontroltheincludedRGB
lightingstriptoo.
NZXT H700i/£155 inc VAT
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.ukThe case has solid panels
all round except for the base,
but large side vents are
present in the roof and front
to allow air in or out
depending on your setup.
The tempered glass side
panel detaches by removing
four thumbscrews, but the
rear panel benefits from a
push-button on the rear of
the case that pops open the
panel with a single press.
Beneath it we were met
with one of the most
elaborate cable-routing
arrangements on test, with
large cable channels and Velcro ties guiding
your PSU cables to their targets. Inside the main
chamber is a steel plate that hides these as they
pass through the motherboard tray, but we found
this a little fiddly to work around.
There’s a decent amount of storage options
as well, with three 3.5in hard disk mounts and
up to seven 2.5in SSD mounts. These are dotted
around the case, with some of them positioned
in the main chamber, where they’re visible
through the side window.
Unlike the Lian Li PC-O11 Dynamic Razer
Edition, the H700i is just as at home as an air-
cooled PC as it is with water cooling, with
185mm CPU cooler clearance and space for
360mm or 280mm radiators in the roof and
front fan mounts.
With reasonably powerful 1,200rpm fans up
front, the H700i powered it’s way to the top of the
CPU delta T graph with a result of 54°C, which
was 5°C clear of the next best case.
The Cooler Master SL600M was better at
dealing with our graphics card, coming top by a
margin of 3°C, but the H700i was still in a solid
second place and remained very quiet, even with
the fans running at full speed.
At low speed, the CPU delta T rose by 4°C and
the GPU delta T went up by just 1°C, but as the
noise difference was minimal, we recommend
using the high-speed mode anyway.Conclusion
The NZXT H700i is reasonably priced, has
plenty of space for a high-end air or water-
cooled PC and comes in snazzy colours too.
The software control is a boon, but you can
save some cash by opting for the standard
H700 if you’d prefer to use your
motherboard’s fan control. Even so, with
excellent cooling and great features, it’s the
best all-rounder this month by a long way.SPEC
Dimensions (mm) 230 x 494 x 516 (W x D x H)
Material Steel, tempered glass, plastic
Available colours Black, black/
white, black/red, black/blue
Weight 12.27kg
Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3,
2 x USB 2, audio jacks
Drive bays 6 x 2.5in/3.5in, 2 x 2.5in
Form factor(s) Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX
Cooling 3 x 120/140mm front fan mounts ( 2 x
140mm fans included), 3 x 120/140mm roof fan
mounts (fans not included), 2 x 120/140mm base
fan mounts (fans not included), 1 x 120/140mm
rear fan mount (1 x 140mm fan included)
CPU cooler clearance 185mm
Maximum graphics card length 440mmVERDICT
Brilliant out of the box and a superb,
good-looking all-rounder.NZXT LEVEL
+ Good water-cooling
support
+ Snazzy aesthetics
+ Software fan and
lighting controlNZZDS WORK- Cable routing
can be fiddly - Water-cooling
potential not as good
as the competition - Only three hard
disk mounts
COOLING
28 / 30
DESIGN
23 / 30FEATURES
15 / 20
VALUE
17 / 20OVERALLSCORE
83
s mPP
CCP
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