NZXT H500..... The new S340 for $70?

[TVwazhere]

NZXT released two new cases, the H500 and the H500i. People who remember the H700i will know the (i) included the smart hub and RGB controller. This time around NZXT actually put out two sets of the cases that allow you to buy the case without the smart hub, a very welcome edition in my mind (wish the H700 was a thing, but hey[UPDATE! The H700 is a thing! Along with the entire H series, you can now purchase them with or without the smart hub] ) These cases seem to be similar to the Phanteks P300 in design, however seem overall slightly more refined design wise. 

https://www.nzxt.com/products/h500-matte-black

 

Oh great. Another Closed off Front panel with sh*tty Airflow, right? Well.... Gamers nexus actually gave it a surprisingly good review, both in features like TG mounting method and thermals (relatively speaking)

Spoiler

(H500 stock- 39DBA)

Quote

The S340 and S340 Elite were never the best-cooled cases; we liked them because they were well-priced, well-built, and looked good. The H500 is a worthy successor to all those things, including the middle-of-the-road cooling performance: it’s fine, acceptable but not exceptional. GPU cooling is the highest priority for maintaining performance, and despite appearances, the H500’s stock fan configuration doesn’t suffocate the GPU. Anyone really worried about thermals shouldn’t be shopping for sheer-fronted cases anyway; consider a Fractal Meshify with some extra fans instead

This case comes out of the box with negative pressure, but in Gamers nexus's testing this actually worked well for the GPU and hurt the CPU (Those of you with i5 8400's and 1070+ GPU's, this case might be a good option)

 

Thoughts:

Great, now I gotta explain to people H500p and H500i are two completely different cases!  On a serious note. The H500 keeps a lot of what I like the H700i (cable management features) while staying true to the original's S340's good build quality an at extremely competitive price. Personally I think its fairly solid and doesnt have any major crippling flaws like the Corsair's 275r and it's TG mounting design for example.

 

Sources:

https://techreport.com/news/33674/nzxt-h500-and-h500i-cases-make-clean-builds-affordable

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3274651/computers/nzxt-h500i-review.html

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3309-nzxt-h500-case-review-thermals-noise-vs-s340

[iRileyx]

I'm slightly confused why they've still only put a single 120/140mm fan mount on the top, that's the one thing I dislike about my current s340  

[Wolf ~ IRONI]

7 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

NZXT released two new cases, the H500 and the H500i. People who remember the H700i will know the (i) included the smart hub and RGB controller. This time around NZXT actually put out two sets of the cases that allow you to buy the case without the smart hub, a very welcome edition in my mind (wish the H700 was a thing, but hey) These cases seem to be similar to the Phanteks P300 in design, however seem overall slightly more refined design wise. 

https://www.nzxt.com/products/h500-matte-black

 

Oh great. Another Closed off Front panel with sh*tty Airflow, right? Well.... Gamers nexus actually gave it a surprisingly good review, both in features like TG mounting method and thermals (relatively speaking)

  Reveal hidden contents

(H500 stock- 39DBA)

This case comes out of the box with negative pressure, but in Gamers nexus's testing this actually worked well for the GPU and hurt the CPU (Those of you with i5 8400's and 1070+ GPU's, this case might be a good option)

 

Thoughts:

Great, now I gotta explain to people H500p and H500i are two completely different cases!  On a serious note. The H500 keeps a lot of what I like the H700i (cable management features) while staying true to the original's S340's good build quality an at extremely competitive price. Personally I think its fairly solid and doesnt have any major crippling flaws like the Corsair's 275r and it's TG mounting design for example.

 

Sources:

https://techreport.com/news/33674/nzxt-h500-and-h500i-cases-make-clean-builds-affordable

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3274651/computers/nzxt-h500i-review.html

https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3309-nzxt-h500-case-review-thermals-noise-vs-s340

100 dollar*

[TVwazhere]

1 minute ago, Wolf ~ IRONI said:

100 dollar*

The H500i with smarthub is $100... the H500, which was the main focus of the news article, is $70  

[Murasaki]

Nice try NZXT, im going Meshify next.

[Ginger_]

3 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

smarthub

You spelled hardware-bloatware wrong

[ARikozuM]

Why can’t they give us the old 10x 3.5” bays and just turn it up to 11 (or 14)?

[Cheezdoodlez]

When I bought my H440 I was first like "omg awesome. that front panel is awesome. Clean and minimalistic!!"

Took me about one week before I started considering cutting holes in the front. Not that I've actually gotten around to it in the last four years but soon™

I will never buy a NZXT case with no proper ventilation on the front. All though this new one looks great!

[ERM64bit]

57 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

Thoughts:

Great, now I gotta explain to people H500p and H500i are two completely different cases!  On a serious note. The H500 keeps a lot of what I like the H700i (cable management features) while staying true to the original's S340's good build quality an at extremely competitive price. Personally I think its fairly solid and doesnt have any major crippling flaws like the Corsair's 275r and it's TG mounting design for example.

One of things I was hesitant of when I bought my S340 Elite was airflow since it has a solid front panel, so I did some experimenting with it. I mounted my Kraken x52 to the front of it and have two Aer 120mm on the rear of the case for my airflow setup. I established a benchmark of 62° CPU/71° GPU after 1 hour under full load, and it was only a 2° difference with the front plate on. 2° is what I would consider "not a big deal", and with a pretty sizable gap between the front panel and the filter, I feel like it gets sufficient airflow. Running most modern titles (Andromeda, Rise of the Tomb Raider) it rarely gets past 65° on the GPU, and the CPU rarely peaks above 50°. I would love to compare my S340 Elite to one of these cases to see what the difference is as far as building & thermals. 

[orbitalbuzzsaw]

Seems like something good to finally replace the S340. TG too and decent thermals, nice! Might pick one up next time I do a build.

[Gullerback]

perdy,  But i happen to like ventilation 

[Kamina]

Probably a decent for someone who runs on low-to mid range components. Just imagine the thermal throttling on high end components while overclocked. 

[BurnedPriest]

9 hours ago, Cheezdoodlez said:

When I bought my H440 I was first like "omg awesome. that front panel is awesome. Clean and minimalistic!!"

Took me about one week before I started considering cutting holes in the front. Not that I've actually gotten around to it in the last four years but soon™

I will never buy a NZXT case with no proper ventilation on the front. All though this new one looks great!

I wasn't that patient with my P400

 

[TVwazhere]

11 hours ago, Kamina said:

Probably a decent for someone who runs on low-to mid range components. Just imagine the thermal throttling on high end components while overclocked. 

12 hours ago, Gullerback said:

perdy,  But i happen to like ventilation 

I've always recommended mid range and below builds in S340's (i5/R5 and GTX1060/RX580's) both from personal experience and users on the forums having issues with high end builds. However, Gamers Nexus's used a 1080 and a 6700K @4.4ghz. Not the hottest components in the world, but still definitely heat producing. And to see the GPU temps be fairly solid was cool to see

 

For me, what's more exciting is the Tempered glass mounting method, and how companies are starting to get innovative with it. 

[LoekF]

I saw a video about the case today. I am going to build a pc soon and first wanted to go with the S340 Elite and was planning to get the Hue+ RGB controller. Now that i see that you can get this case with the smart hub (which is basically a Hue+ and a fan controller in 1) for the same price as an S340 Elite, i am definately buying the H500i! Awesome case and a great job again by the NZXT team!

[potoooooooo]

BTW, the H700 does exist now. Ditto for all the Hxxxi cases.

[Agonizel]

10 hours ago, LoekF said:

I saw a video about the case today. I am going to build a pc soon and first wanted to go with the S340 Elite and was planning to get the Hue+ RGB controller. Now that i see that you can get this case with the smart hub (which is basically a Hue+ and a fan controller in 1) for the same price as an S340 Elite, i am definately buying the H500i! Awesome case and a great job again by the NZXT team!

The smart hub does not work well. I suggest you get the non-i version and go for a Hue+ and a Grid V3. At least you'll have full control over your fans

 

To see in detail how it works, check my guide

[TVwazhere]

17 hours ago, potoooooooo said:

BTW, the H700 does exist now. Ditto for all the Hxxxi cases.

I just saw this too. Man does this make me happy. On top of that, they hit that $150 mark I was hoping they could on the H700. This is a good day. 

[Misanthrope]

On 5/22/2018 at 5:51 PM, Gullerback said:

perdy,  But i happen to like ventilation 

Burke said that negative air pressure works well enough on this case for the GPU at least. It's mediocre for the CPU so don't expect to be able to sustain an 8700k at all.

 

Seems to basically prioritize the budget gamer: Someone who gets a Ryzen or an intel chip without an overclock and a midrange GPU that goes up to about 180 TDP at the most for a 580 (theoretical still I know, but the closet Nvidia card is the 1070 at 150 TDP so they're covered)

 

This is also a midrange price at just 70 bucks.

 

It works, it just happens to have a bit of the look of the more expensive cases that are intended for higher end hardware of course.

 

But honestly....I still think the Define C outclasses this so I still wouldn't bother. But well some might prefer the looks on this but as I said the Fractal case just doesn't compromises on ventilation as much

[ZakierB]

How do you guys rate this vs the Phanteks P350X?

I see that also just came out and at 70 bucks as well, 2018 version of P400S vs S340 Elite? 

[Vacras]

4 hours ago, Misanthrope said:

It's mediocre for the CPU so don't expect to be able to sustain an 8700k at all.

It’s not like a 8700k requires a custom loop and 10 fans in the case to not throttle. (Aside from the whole delidding thing).

 

People make way too much out of case airflow imo. 

I’d be perfectly fine with slapping a 8700k oced with a 1080ti into that case. Those 5-8° difference in temps won’t kill anything.

 

[Misanthrope]

29 minutes ago, Vacras said:

It’s not like a 8700k requires a custom loop and 10 fans in the case to not throttle. (Aside from the whole delidding thing).

 

People make way too much out of case airflow imo. 

I’d be perfectly fine with slapping a 8700k oced with a 1080ti into that case. Those 5-8° difference in temps won’t kill anything.

 

I would agree for other cases but there's literally no intake by default here and no way to get anything over 120 with airflow: it's doable but an extremely bad choice for an overclocked 8700k

 

Sure you can let it run 80 to 90c and it wouldn't throttle. Or you can also literally spend 0 dollars extra and just get a better fucking case anyway, like the Define C

[Vacras]

6 minutes ago, Misanthrope said:

I would agree for other cases but there's literally no intake by default here and no way to get anything over 120 with airflow: it's doable but an extremely bad choice for an overclocked 8700k

 

Sure you can let it run 80 to 90c and it wouldn't throttle. Or you can also literally spend 0 dollars extra and just get a better fucking case anyway, like the Define C

That’s totaly right, I would never recommend this above the meshify C ever, but it’s not like it’s going to explode upon you 

[TVwazhere]

18 hours ago, ZakierB said:

How do you guys rate this vs the Phanteks P350X?

I see that also just came out and at 70 bucks as well, 2018 version of P400S vs S340 Elite? 

I havent even begun to look at that (been to busy this week) but did see it released around the same time NZXT released there. The side ventilation looks promising.

[Castdeath97]

A bit too "boxy" for me taste but still looks neat.