H700i First look **Now with completed system info and pics**

[KWelz]

Since there has been a lot of talk about this case the last couple weeks I though I would give my opinion of the case upon first look.  

 

I came home from work to see this on my door.

 

  

 

Nice box but not exactly subtle sitting on my front step!.  Also please forgive the condition of the concrete.  I know I need to pressure wash before it gets really cold.  

 

Opening the box I found it to be packaged pretty much normal for an NZXT case.  Open cell foam that is great to protect these in shipping and won't scratch them up.  Pretty sure you could have played rugby with it and been ok.  

 

Construction is extremely solid.  It feels more solid to me than the S340 for sure.  And while it doesn't feel bigger you have more room to work in it for sure.   

 

The first thing I really like is the top Radiator mount.   It is removable which makes mounting AIOs and other radiators much easier.

   

 

It is also recessed quite a bit, giving you over 1 1/2 inch from the top of the radiator mount to where the top panel will mount.This combine with the large and numerous air holes should provide plenty of ventilation.  I may see aobut mounting the fans or Rad above the mount, however I think that may end up choking off airflow.  

 

 

I am a bit concerned about Radiator clearance with large memory such as Trident Z, but wont' know still I start my build tomorrow.  

 

 

Distance from the back of the case to the Cable management/Res mounting bar is 10.5 inches. 

They advertise a maximum motherboard size of 272mm (10.7 inches) which means it should fit an EATX board like the Rampage and Zenith series from Asus.  But it looks like it is going to be a tight fit.  

 

 

It is worth noting however that there is just under an inch of clearance between the bar and the case.  Meaning that the board should fit under it.  Not sure how this will do with a GPU however.  

 

 

Radiator clearance on the front is good and with clean lines. 

 

Forgot to take a picture with the tape, but you get just under 3 inches between the fans and start of the internals of the case.  So plenty of room for even a thick Rad or push pull on a normal radiator.  

 

 

 

 

Also there is a well placed and modular Hard drive cage in the basement.  

 

This can be moved forward and backwards drastically.   And it appears you could fit a second drive cage in here if you wanted too by moving this one all the way forward and putting another next to it.   

 

 

I am not a huge fan of the Fan and Light controller location.  It is behind the Cable management bar at the top of the case.  Not visible butleaves a few cable showing that I feel could be hidden better.  I may move it eventually.   

 

The fan splitters are all 4 pin so you can control PWM fans unlike the old GRIDs.  I plan to switch all the NZXT fans out for Noctua Industrial models when I do the build.  Unlike a lot of people on here I am actually a fan of the CAM software so I see this module as a Plus.  

 

 There is a pre installed LED strip at the top of the case and it comes with a lead to install other NZXT LEDs, and since I used to run a Hue+ I have a number of those laying around.  I will note that at first glance this appears to be a single header LED controller unlike the stand alone Hue+ so you are more limited on how many strips you can control, assuming it has the same 4 strip restriction the old one did.  

 

 

 

 

Finally you have right at an inch of room in the back for Cable management.  Along with the very interesting cable routing channels I think even my cables will look good when I am done.  

 

Overall my initial impression are very good.  And if this case does indeed fit my board it may well be the case I have been asking manufactures to make for quite some time now. 

 

The last case to have me this Excited was the Phanteks Evolv ATX which ended up being a huge disappointment due to airflow constraints.  I don't see the same issue happening here due to the way NZXT has done the panels.  

 

I am going to start the system with an AIO cooled 6850K and an Air cooled EVGA 1080Ti FTW3.   I will then evaluate the case for open Loop water cooling and go from there.   If I think that it will work well I plan on doing a 360 in the front and either a 280 or 360 up top depending on the MB/RAM clearance.  

 

Sorry for the long post but this case seems to be getting a lot of attention so I though I would post my initial observations for others wondering about it.  

 

 

 

[ApolloX75]

Nice write-up, thank you. 

 

I've been looking for a good flowing replacement for my InWin 303 for a while now and this might fit the bill.

[TVwazhere]

I'm really happy to see good clearance between RADs/Fans and the front and top panels. I'm much less concerned about airfloe now than i was previously (It will be more like the Define C series, not H500P)

 

The only thing holding me back from whole heatedly recommending this case right now is it's price. If they can release a version that doesnt have the controller and shave at least $60 off the price, this goes on my recommended case list, so long as the reviews check out

[KWelz]

1 minute ago, TVwazhere said:

 

 

The only thing holding me back from whole heatedly recommending this case right now is it's price. If they can release a version that doesnt have the controller and shave at least $60 off the price, this goes on my recommended case list, so long as the reviews check out

This is a very Valid point.  200 is steep for a case in today's market.  I think they are banking on people who want an all in one solution for lighting and fans.  So instead of using up one or two motherboard light headers (if your board has them) and then a number of fan headers with cables going everywhere, you just have a single USB 2.0 internal header.  

 

My guess is that they will end up doing exactly what you said in 6 months or less, although probably at the 150-160 price point which would put it on the level of the 570X and similar cases.  I like the simplicity of a single point of contact for Fan and Light control. But one thing that would have been nice was a header to connect their Kraken AIOs into.  Make it truly a single point solution and not have to use another USB header.  

[KWelz]

And as an Update.   If you aren't an idiot like myself and actually RTFM, you will find out that the cable bar can be moved forward to accommodate larger Motherboards.  It is a single screw to do it.  

[TVwazhere]

I just watched HardwareCanucks "first look" at the case, and I didnt know the PSU shroud was entirely holed out for not only infinite SSD positions, but also ventilation for a lower GPU for those doing multi GPU configs, something most people dont consider when buying a case with a PSU shroud and putting in 3 + gpu's.

I'm very happy to see SO MUCH ROOM FOR AIRFLOW, aside from an entirely mesh front panel, I couldnt ask for better ventilation (especially if you use static pressure fans)

Also the rear (right) panel button is neat!

I wouldnt be totally upset if this case was $150. I'd love to see it at the H400 price of around $130, but they probably wont go that low yet.

[KWelz]

So I have finished up my build for now.  Until I have done a bit more testing I am not going to switch over to a Custom loop.  However initial impression on using the case for a few days is favorable.  

 

I am having a bit of an issue with the Smart Device controlling my fans.  However I had the same problem with a Grid+ V2 back in the day so I think it might be something I am overlooking.  So for the moment I am controlling all the fans off the Kraken X62.  I have already reached out to NZXT and we are diagnosing where the issue is.  

 

Build looks ok for a non custom system.  I am not going to finalize the cable management and cable training until I decide on the final loop.  I did go ahead and replace the fans with Noctua Industrial versions as I said I planned too.  And eventually I will order white corners for them as well.  

Biggest single annoyance is that I have to bring the 24 pin cable over the Bar to reach the board.  I may be able to fix this by removing the bar, then installing the cable and then replacing the bar.  But I will figure that out later

 

 

I really prefer the Hue+ lighting over MB controlled lighting.  You have individually addressable LEDs and can do a bit more with it.  Plus I think the light just looks a bit better than my Cablemod strips in my other build.  

 

CPU is a 6850K and GPU is an EVGA 1080Ti FTW3.

 

 

 

Temps in the case have been good.  So far this is my Max Temp on the CPU and GPU. 

 

 

This was after about 2 hours of playing FF14 right into an hour or so of Wolfenstein 2.  So not too bad for an air cooled system.  

 

 

So far I am thinking this is THE case to go with if you don't want a huge case but want a lot of components and an EATX Mobo.   It is tight but not so much so that you can't do the build easily.  

[TVwazhere]

8 minutes ago, KWelz said:

So I have finished up my build for now.  Until I have done a bit more testing I am not going to switch over to a Custom loop.  However initial impression on using the case for a few days is favorable.  

-snip-

So far I am thinking this is THE case to go with if you don't want a huge case but want a lot of components and an EATX Mobo.   It is tight but not so much so that you can't do the build easily.  

This might be the case that everyone wanted the Evolv ATX to be...

 

I'm assuming the 6850k isnt OC'd?

[KWelz]

5 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

This might be the case that everyone wanted the Evolv ATX to be...

 

 

That is my feelings on it right now.  It lacks a bit of the external styling that I prefer on the Evolv but makes up for it in spades with the airflow and temps.  

 

Honwely I would give it about a 7.5-8/10 on external looks and a 9.5/10 on internal layout and overall build quality.  And don't forget you have the ability to put 5 SSDs and 2 3.5 HDDs or 9 SSds in the system.  That is a lot of storage in a case this sized.  

 

5 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

 

 

I'm assuming the 6850k isnt OC'd?

4.4Ghz at 1.35 Volts.  

GPU is set to increase power and thermals but not currently OCed.  

[Gaspari]

Nice! Im standing between this and the darkbase 700 and i have a couple of questions! 

 

Are you able to do push/pull with the radiator in top?

Is the glass tinted?

Is that 140mm fans in the front? Is it possible to put the fans higher upp? I am going to put a 280mm H115i in the front. 

 

 

[TVwazhere]

47 minutes ago, Gaspari said:

Nice! Im standing between this and the darkbase 700 and i have a couple of questions! 

 

Are you able to do push/pull with the radiator in top?

Is the glass tinted?

Is that 140mm fans in the front? Is it possible to put the fans higher upp? I am going to put a 280mm H115i in the front. 

 

 

Push pull should be possible without RAM issue in this case (in theory, not sure though)

The glass is not tinted

The fans in the front of his case are 120mm, and the 140mm mounts sit lower than the top of the 120mm fans, shown here

[Gaspari]

8 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

Push pull should be possible without RAM issue in this case (in theory, not sure though)

The glass is not tinted

The fans in the front of his case are 120mm, and the 140mm mounts sit lower than the top of the 120mm fans, shown here

 

Thank you so much dear sir!

[andrewmp6]

On 10/27/2017 at 5:03 PM, KWelz said:

This is a very Valid point.  200 is steep for a case in today's market.  I think they are banking on people who want an all in one solution for lighting and fans.  So instead of using up one or two motherboard light headers (if your board has them) and then a number of fan headers with cables going everywhere, you just have a single USB 2.0 internal header.  

 

My guess is that they will end up doing exactly what you said in 6 months or less, although probably at the 150-160 price point which would put it on the level of the 570X and similar cases.  I like the simplicity of a single point of contact for Fan and Light control. But one thing that would have been nice was a header to connect their Kraken AIOs into.  Make it truly a single point solution and not have to use another USB header.  

Yeah 200 is high when other cases in its price range offer more things,But its a new case it will come down in time they all do.