R&D
66 MAXIMUMPC HOL 2021
ZAK STOREY, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
THIS LAST BUILD of mine is a bit of a contrarian thing in
itself. On the one hand, this is my personal machine. On the
other, everything in it belongs to PRs and their respective
companies and as such, by the time you read this issue, it
will have returned in its entirety to the Maximum PC offices.
In many ways, the concept of this build is a moot point.
After all, a typical transplant like this is usually undertaken
because you intend to use the new chassis for some time,
and are curious as to how it performs day-to-day. That said,
as PC enthusiasts, as hobbyists, and as journalists, there’s
a natural curiosity inside us that needs to be sated. It’s why
we’re interested in building PCs to begin with. So, despite the
short time I’d have with this build, I knew I had to check it out.
NZXT cases have long been a favorite at Maximum PC.
The super-clean lines, and design language, combined
with a strong price structure have cemented these cases
as standout products. The only caveat has been access to
cool air. Many years ago, we built an SLI’d system in this
case’s forefather, the S3 40 Elite. It was a beast of a machine,
beautiful to behold, and powerful beyond all measure. But
give it a lengthy session in a graphically intense title, and
after an hour or so, the processors started to throttle, and
coolant temperature warnings popped up all over the place.
This has been an Achilles heel for NZXT ever since the
company reinvented itself with the Manta line of chassis, so
to see it ditch the clean smooth panels in favor of a bolder,
airflow optimized style with the latest Flow chassis was, er,
a breath of fresh air. So then, what’s the concept? If we take
our personal computer and transplant it from the Corsair
5000D Airflow build, (complete with nine 120 mm fans,
360mm premium AIO, and beefy RTX 3080 ), and move it into
the smaller H51 0 Flow, would the design changes that NZXT
implemented be enough to house all that power without
throttling under its own heat? Seems simple enough.
THE CONCEPT
LENGTH OF TIME: 1 - 2 HOURS LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: EASY
Going to a slightly smaller ATX chassis
