NZXT H700i Case Review

Hardware Installation and Test Configuration

Accessories for the NZXT H700i are located in a small white box secured in one of the two 3.5" hard drive bays. The box contains various screws, zip ties, and an additional LED RGB lighting strip and extension cable. The box also contains an owners manual.

Thanks to the recent popularity of relocating hard drive racks to the area under the power supply tunnel, cases like the H700i have an abundance of space in the main compartment for water cooling components. In fact, even though this chassis is equipped with a trio of 120mm intake fans, a 140mm exhaust fan, and a large cable management bar, there is more than enough room for a custom cooling loop, reservoir, and a multi-GPU set-up with room to spare.

While we are on the subject of space, it's worth mentioning that it's becoming increasingly common among case manufacturers to list support for E-ATX motherboards up to 10.7”. Although that sounds great, true E-ATX motherboards measure 12 x 13” deep. You can imagine how unhappy you'd be if you bought this case under the assumption it supported a full-sized E-ATX motherboard.

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In lieu of traditional cable pass-through holes in the motherboard tray, NZXT has opted for a 8.7” x 1.75” vertical slot for cable management. To keep things neat and tidy, you get a large cable management bar that, along with the PSU cover, help hide unsightly wires and cable clutter. The cable management bar is painted to match to the H700i's accent color.  There is a 10" x .5" opening in the upper edge of the motherboard tray that's designed to allow routing the 12V motherboard power cable or fan wires. A large hole in the motherboard mounting plate facilitates heatsink changes without removing the motherboard. Space behind the motherboard, although well designed, is extremely limited. NZXT has included a number of plastic routing blocks for cable management and plenty of tie down points, but even so, space is at a premium and requires careful planning.

There are mounting locations for a total of three 3.5” hard drives and seven 2.5” drives, two of which are convertible from the two 3.5" drive slots mounted under the PSU tunnel. Of the five dedicated mounting locations for 2.5" drives, two are located behind the motherboard tray and three are mounted to the outside of the PSU tunnel. The 2.5” drive caddies mounted to the PSU tunnel are plastic and are removed by squeezing them from the sides. Although both 3.5” drive racks are removable, you have to remove the top hard drive rack to access the bottom drive rack. Additionally, you can move the 3.5” hard drive racks closer to the front panel or rear of the chassis (toward the PSU).

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Cooling duties are handled by three 120mm front intake fans and a large 140mm exhaust fan behind the CPU socket area. The sheer number of fans installed in this chassis from the factory should provide more than enough airflow for even the most demanding system configurations.

Although some larger PSUs may require relocating the hard drive racks, the H700i can accommodate power supplies up to 250mm in length without moving the hard drive racks. You can use CPU air coolers up to 185mm tall and the case can accommodate multiple graphics cards up to 423mm in length.

Radiators and all-in-one coolers can be mounted in the top, front, and rear of this chassis. The mounting locations in the front of the chassis support radiators and liquid coolers up to 360mm. There is a total of 39mm clearance for radiators and coolers in the space above the motherboard and an additional 39mm for fans to be mounted in the area above the frame and below the top panel.

As with all cases of this size, most all-in-one coolers can be physically mounted in the front of this chassis, but because of the fixed length of the tubing, some coolers might not be able to reach the CPU socket. However, these locations are ideal for mounting radiators for water-cooled graphics cards.

Radiators and all-in-one liquid coolers up to 360mm can be mounted inside the main compartment of the chassis. The front of the chassis can easily support radiators sandwiched between fans in a push-pull configuration. The exhaust fan mounting location can be fitted with 120 and 140mm coolers in single and dual fan configurations.

NZXT bills the H700i as a “smart case.” The company employs the use of an Adaptive Noise Reduction algorithm that actively adjusts fan speeds based on measured noise and CPU/GPU temperature changes. This chassis is also equipped with a fan controller/LED RGB lighting controller with three 10W fan channels and support for up to four LED lighting strips or five RGB fans.

The H700i comes with one installed 12” RGB lighting strip and includes an additional 12” LED RGB lighting strip in the accessory box. LED functionality and fan speeds are controlled by the company’s proprietary CAM software. Lighting effects such as breathing, fading, pulse, alternating, and wings can all be selected from the CAM software user interface. Not a fan of NZXT’s CAM software? RGB lighting and fan speed can also be controlled via the software provided by your motherboard vendor.

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Test Configuration

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