(^1)
The PSU is neatly cradled
inside this metal shroud
attached to the roof of the case. It
can be replaced with a different
SFX power supply, but be warned:
It’s a laborious process.
2
This particular GPU fits
snugly in the allocated
space, but those Founders Edition
fans are certainly quite noisy
when they’re working hard.
3
Making the rear I/Os
virtually inaccessible during
normal use is a bold move on
NZXT’s part, but if you prep your
workspace well enough it
shouldn’t be a problem.
1
2
3
Although it wasn’t bad, the bandwidth
tested in AIDA64 was lower than we had
hoped for, and the real-world latency
wasn’t exactly impressive either. Our
memory was running at full speed (as
confirmed by CPU-Z) and we double-
checked that the MSI motherboard was
definitely capable of fully supporting this
RAM. This is our first time using a B550
board, and an ITX model at that, so it could
be that these new budget boards just don’t
handle high-capacity memory too well.
Alternatively, the problem could lie with
the memory itself; broadly speaking, we’d
recommend you buy a proper kit of two.
HyperX did actually send us our two in a
single box, but we couldn’t find such a kit
available anywhere online.
In any case, overall performance was
solid. This system has all the hardware
necessary to handle even the most
demanding videography tasks from
the comfort of your home office, and
it certainly won’t take up much space.
Compared to the previous machine on
our test bench (read: dinner table)—
last issue’s audio-recording build—the
difference is night and day. The H1’s smart
routing means that the cables for our
peripherals and monitor neatly run from
the rear of the base. The OS boot speed is
delightfully fast.
This system runs cool, too; pushing the
processor to the limit didn’t see much time
spent in excess of 6 0C. That single-f an A IO
is clearly working some serious overtime,
doing plenty to justify the H1’s overall
price. The metal outer casing felt ice cold
even after we’d blown through multiple
repeated benchmarks, demonstrating
that NZXT’s dual-chamber airflow design
really works.
While we did play around with
overclocking, the best option is simply
to use AMD’s Ryzen Master software for
auto-overclocking. We were just about
able to hit a stable 4.2GHz overclock
manually, but the automated alternative
reliably gave us 4.3GHz at load and
is gentler on the processor. Auto-
overclocking did still see a significant
temperature increase, but nothing to be
concerned by. Ryzen Master’s primary
benefit was in single-core performance,
which is effectively lost if you choose to
overclock manually.
LOOK TO THE FUTURE
There’s some potential for upgrades here
too. While a 2TB M.2 drive is nice, anyone
who works with 4K video will know that
it likely won’t be enough in the long run,
especially if you’d like to keep a few
games on your system too (looking at you,
Call of Duty). There’s one extra aspect of
the NZXT H1 we’ve yet to mention: The
toolless SSD tray. This makes installing
an extra SATA SSD or two a cakewalk,
and with Samsung promising cheaper
8GB 2.5-inch drives in the near future, we
might consider calling time of death on
HDDs in high-end systems.
Upgrading the graphics card is also
a straightforward process, as it’s only
secured by two thumbscrews and a small
clasp on the PCIe riser. The 2080 Super
is a fairly future-proofed choice of GPU,
but should you feel a burning desire to
upgrade once the inevitable RTX 3000
series arrives, it won’t be difficult to do so.
The S650 power supply means that there’s
a reasonable amount of headroom when it
comes to power.
Changing components like the SSD
and processor will likely prove more
challenging, but both are high-quality
choices so we feel confident that they’ll
last a while. If you do need to upgrade the
PSU to allow sufficient wattage for your
upgrades, brace yourself for a challenge.
The plastic frame of the case needs to be
partially disassembled in order to detach
the PSU shroud and access this compact
power brick.
As a finished build, it doesn’t look like
much. The window of the H1 matte black
edition is tinted, providing very limited
views inside, but there’s not much to see
when it’s removed anyway: Just the edges
of the GPU and motherboard, and the solid
black metal of the PSU shroud, with some
black cables packed tightly around it all.
That’s perfect, though; this system oozes
clean professionalism, and would look
equally good in a small home study or an
open-plan office. Mission accomplished.
maximumpc.com SEP 2020 MAXIMUM PC 27
BUILD IT
antfer
(Antfer)
#1