NZXT H2 - A worthy successor for P180?

[bozar]

This case seem to have everything:
A good airflow path
Lots of options for fans
All intakes have dust filter
Dampened
Lots of space behind motherboard tray for effortless cable management
Well placed holes for cabling
A massive cut-out
Top USB-ports
Solid door
Easily replaced fans
Reasonable price at 100 $

NZXT is also renown for rather high build-quality and the fans they supplied with their Hush case was rather quiet so this case seems to be nearly flawless.

Videoreview in swedish:
http://www.sweclockers.com/recension/13680-nzxt-h2

[fumino]

given the price difference, and the features, i'd say its aimed more at undercutting fractal design than aimed at the p180 cases. i'll wait for more details before judging the performance, but from the specs it seems kinda light. we'll have to see if that translates to more pronounced vibration.

i like to looks of the door, but it doesnt do the 270* thing like the p180... not super important, but its a nice feature.

[bozar]

NZXT has always made cheaper cases than Antec but the Hush is a high-quality case. All included features including Hot-swap marks should be features of a higher priced case. From the looks of the side-panels they seem rigid enough and the dampening reminds me of Antec Solo vinyl. P182 was much cheaper before as well.

Besides, what does a 270 degree opened door do for a positive? My P182 door has lost the bad magnetics and it stands on the wide open all the time because it won't stay closed, not a positive thing for me. The P18X cases have quite a few issues themselves.

The reviewer had no negative remarks whatsoever, that has never even occurred since Sweclockers started to review cases.

[flemeister]

How is air supposed to come in through the front when the front door is closed? Doesn't seem to be enough ventilation holes on the door.

[bozar]

There are slim holes on the sides and in the lower part. I hope SPCR reviews this case.

[fumino]

NZXT has always made cheaper cases than Antec but the Hush is a high-quality case.

im not saying nzxt makes low quality cases, im just saying that they're kinda targeting a different market.

All included features including Hot-swap marks should be features of a higher priced case. From the looks of the side-panels they seem rigid enough and the dampening reminds me of Antec Solo vinyl. P182 was much cheaper before as well.

one mans feature is another mans gimmick. we can certainly hope that the side panels will be rigid enough. definitely would like to see an spcr review though.

Besides, what does a 270 degree opened door do for a positive?

it gets out of the way. i'd rather have a door that can open either direction, but the double hinged door is a good compromise. if you bump into it it just swings further. if you were to bump into this cases door you might damage those hinges.

My P182 door has lost the bad magnetics and it stands on the wide open all the time because it won't stay closed, not a positive thing for me. The P18X cases have quite a few issues themselves.

any door that loses its magnets will have a hard time staying closed. have you tried new magnets or anything? no case is perfect, it'd be ridiculous to expect there to be no issues with such a variety of configurations that people can shove into their cases.

The reviewer had no negative remarks whatsoever, that has never even occurred since Sweclockers started to review cases.

yeah, the written review left me with that impression, certainly thats a good thing when you have reputable reviewers coming to that conclusion.

[bozar]

NZXT has always made cheaper cases than Antec but the Hush is a high-quality case.

im not saying nzxt makes low quality cases, im just saying that they're kinda targeting a different market.

I don't really think they are in different segments, P182 was once in the same price-range, at least in sweden. Then it got much more expensive and I doubt it got much better.

one mans feature is another mans gimmick. we can certainly hope that the side panels will be rigid enough. definitely would like to see an spcr review though.

Yes, although I doubt the reviewer claims the case is sturdy if it wasn't.

Also there are different sorts of sturdiness as well. My Chieftec case is all 1 mm steel which even could withstand a large bulg after cable management, my cousins P180 was unfortunately not that lucky since one of the side panels broke because of the pressure. P18X might be sturdy in a way that dampens vibrations effectively but I doubt it's more durable than any other standard high quality steel case.

any door that loses its magnets will have a hard time staying closed. have you tried new magnets or anything? no case is perfect, it'd be ridiculous to expect there to be no issues with such a variety of configurations that people can shove into their cases.

No, the door isn't perfectly flat any longer because of the frequent "swings". But here we are different after all, I prefer to have my front door closed at all times. I never need to open more than 90 degrees. If I'd need that from the front then this case is probably not good for me.

Also love the idea of the fan controller with 2 free slots. Really hate my 5.25 Zalman controllers, they don't even fit my P182 and takes up to much space preventing HDD mounting.

[mkk]

Very promising. I don't quite like the front face on either of the two colors, but so far that's the only thing I'm sceptical of. Let's see what the sound dampening material is made of, probably foam going by the weight. I don't "love" the drive setup but since I do love the front fan mounting I don't mind the combined result.

[PMcG]

Does that front fan hot swapping mean that you can only use their fans? If so seems like a dealbreaker to me.

[sunefred]

Does that front fan hot swapping mean that you can only use their fans? If so seems like a dealbreaker to me.

The removable fan cages can hold any 3-pin 120mm fan. Source (40 seconds in): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wloZAdgd ... re=related

[Jipa]

Yeah the fans themselves still have 3-pin connectors (only short cables, though, which may make fitting longer cables a bit tricky). And yes, the side panel material is just foam rather than bitumen.

Full review up at MetkuMods: http://metku.net/index.html?path=review ... /index_eng

[fumino]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHcyWTorjdU

looks like my quality concerns were justified.

[bozar]

Yeah the fans themselves still have 3-pin connectors (only short cables, though, which may make fitting longer cables a bit tricky). And yes, the side panel material is just foam rather than bitumen.

Full review up at MetkuMods: http://metku.net/index.html?path=review ... /index_eng

Ridiculous HDD temps, how can they even be worse than bottom chamber of P180 without a fan? That door must be extremely restrictive. Cooling was displeasing, quality I'm not sure of.

[bozar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHcyWTorjdU

looks like my quality concerns were justified.

I'm sorry but that review was awful and totally unusable. Totally unprofessional, he break things, swears, slurs and praises R3 to the skies which, a case we all know is no high-quality case. Both cases are cheaper than P183 i agree but bashing the HDD cage for not being rotated (designed by choice) and not even mention R3 which probably has the worst HDD cages of all mid-end cases and lots of vibration in addition to being restrictive to airflow.

[fumino]

i'd sooner trust somebody that could find a bunch of things wrong with a case than a review that couldnt find anything.

[Jipa]

Yeah the fans themselves still have 3-pin connectors (only short cables, though, which may make fitting longer cables a bit tricky). And yes, the side panel material is just foam rather than bitumen.

Full review up at MetkuMods: http://metku.net/index.html?path=review ... /index_eng

Ridiculous HDD temps, how can they even be worse than bottom chamber of P180 without a fan? That door must be extremely restrictive. Cooling was displeasing, quality I'm not sure of.

The hard drive used on the rig is an old Seagate (7200.7 methinks) that always runs crazy hot. Looking back it was also 42 C in the Define XL and 35 C even in the Lanboy Air.



Just let me know if there's something else you want to know about the case..

[Tephras]

Another review here.

[kuzzia]

The absolute only negative to point out from a SPCR perspective is the hard drive holders. I doubt that they can reduce enough of the vibration before suspending the HD becomes a better option. Perhaps, if you remove those holders, you could suspend the 3,5" hard drives in the bays.

I can't emphasize enough how much I am anxiously waiting for SPCR to review that case ! !

[whispercat]

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