Thermal performance is an essential factor for any PC case. Your system may look fantastic and seem silent from the outside, but all of that is for nought if your PC has the internal temperature of an oven. Your PC case needs enough airflow for your components to remain cool under load and to prevent any form of thermal throttling. For our test, we used the following hardware using fixed fan speeds (so that only the case and its included fans can influence thermal performance). The H7 Flow’s bottom panel features slide-out filters for both the power supply and the intake gap. While the front filter and its corresponding hole seem unnecessary on a case that has a fully vented face, the same underlying chassis also fits the unvented face panels of its two sibling models. We’ve updated our testing hardware to use Intel’s 12 Gen “Alder Lake” platform, which has shaken up the desktop landscape (and taken prominent spots on our best CPUs for gaming list). We’re now using a Core i7-12700KF, which is being cooled by a Noctua U12s air cooler. Our graphics card is a Gigabyte RTX 3070 Ti Gaming OC. Acoustic Results for the NZXT H7 The H7 flow offered the best CPU temperature thanks to its open front end, but was only a degree ahead of the H7 Elite, which had three front fans to aid cooling despite its front section being closed. After unscrewing and removing the second and third slot cover, our ATX build slipped right into the H7 Flow with zero issues. Placing the radiator on the top panel while using its fans as exhaust provides voltage-regulator cooling benefits, though at some cost in CPU temperature.

The NZXT H7 is in quite the predicament. The H7 Flow is by far the better PC case. It has better thermals, is the same price, has all the same features and has a completely clean side panel thanks to the large intake vent upfront. If you want something a little fancier, the NZXT H7 Elite has more tempered glass than you'll know what to do with. The new NZXT H7 comes with a new side vent for the front panel to aid in providing the up to three fans with more airflow. Then there's the perforated top panel, which helps exhaust fans more easily blow out hot air. All this should provide a small improvement to cooling performance. Then, our testing of GPU thermals. The HAF 500 fed our GPU the coolest air, followed by the H7 Flow without the top exhaust filter fitted in place, and then the H7 Flow with top exhaust filter... At the bottom of NZXT’s H7 lineup is the standard H7, a model that features a plain front panel design that will be familiar to most NZXT users. When compared to the higher-end H7 Elite model, the only major differences are the H7 Elite’s tempered glass front panel, the Elite’s inclusion of additional fans, and its inclusion of a fan/RGB controller.As its name suggests, the H7 Flow also has a large mesh on its front panel and in the roof section, so it’s geared towards offering high airflow with low fan speeds. There are a few useful features on the case’s exterior, such as tool-free side, front and roof panels that simply pop into place. Impressively, the NZXT H7 can contain not one but two 360mm radiators. This won't be needed as even the more power-hungry Core i9 and Ryzen 9 processors will only really require a single 240mm or 360mm radiator, making this case ideal for AIO liquid coolers. With up to seven fans to install, it's possible to offset the restricted airflow. A one-piece front-panel button/LED connector, HD Audio, USB 3.x Gen 2 (for the Type-C port), and USB 3.x Gen 1 (for the Type A ports) complete the front-panel cable selection. Obviously, the H7 Flow has a perforated front panel, allowing the case’s front fan (or fans) to intake air directly from the front. This maximises the H7 Flow’s air intake, making it the best performing H7 chassis in terms of cooling performance. Aesthetically, some users may prefer the H7 or H7 Elite, but for those who want the best cooling, the Flow will be the way to go. While this case comes with the usual NZXT cable routing trenches, it has all of the front panel connects grouped together into one cable, which saved me so much time and I wish more companies did this.

Even with an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X processor, you'll see a good 5% reduction for average temperature in games. It's still not quite as good as some other PC cases, namely the be quiet! Silent Base 802 or NZXT H7 Flow, but it's good to see lower temperatures all in keeping the same overall look of the existing H710. However, it’s a shame the case doesn’t have full E-ATX support, with the width limit set at 272mm. The main holes at the front of the case have a large cover to hide them as well. Overall, it’s an easy case to keep tidy, with plenty of stowage for excess cables, lots of anchor points and cable ties. Build quality is also excellent throughout, with minimal panel gaps and all the parts fitting snugly together. With the top filter installed, the H7 Flow’s CPU temperatures are a close match to those of Corsair’s iCUE 5000T, beating both the Cooler Master HAF 500 and Lian Li O11D EVO. In Win’s N515 leads in CPU temperatures due to its different radiator placement, but the H7 Flow almost caught it when we removed the exhaust filter from our configuration.In all, the H7 is slightly smaller than the H710, and it is significantly lighter. The H710 was 12.1 kg, and the new H7 is 10.26kg. That said, both cases support the same levels of CPU clearance, front fan/radiator clearance, and cable management space. The only compromise with the new H7 is that is has 13mm less GPU clearance, not that 400mm of clearance isn’t enough for practically all modern GPUs. If you’re looking to add a bunch of hard disks, sadly there’s just the basic two 3.5in mounts in a removable cage in the base of the case, which can also be used for 2.5in SSDs, in addition to four dedicated mounts for the latter behind the motherboard tray and on top of the PSU cover.

This mid-tower is perfect for a minimalist build while keeping the process simple and intuitive, utilizing widened channels, hooks, straps, and toolless entry. The graph below showcases Delta temperatures with a controlled ambient temperature of 20 degrees Celsius. Last year, we took a look at the NZXT H510 Flow, which delivered good thermals. However, the perforations on the top panel were limited to one 140mm fan. With the H7 Flow, we get a perforated top panel that extends far enough for 3x 120 or 2x 140mm fans, or one 360mm radiator. The fan support in the front has also been increased from the H710, from two 140 to three 140mm fans (or up to three 120mm). The rear supports either one 120mm or one 140mm fan. With the front panel being perforated, the H7 Flow’s right side panel can be completely closed off. Unlike the H7 and H7 Elite, the H7 Flow does not require a perforated right side panel for airflow, allowing NZXT to ship this model with a plain right side panel. NZXT can fix the H7 with some tweaks that fall far short of an overhaul but right now they still have work to do.I've gone into some detail about the NZXT H7 series refresh in my NZXT H7 Flow review, but the goal NZXT's designers had in mind was to keep the same look but refine the cooling performance. This was carried out by adding a new side vent for the front fans to gain access to more cool air, as well as a redesigned top panel. The first thing that we will note with our 600 RPM fan tests is that NZXT’s H7 Elite would not let its fans run at speeds of below 750 RPM. This is a quirk of the case’s fan controller and software, and for this reason we have not placed data for the H7 Elite into our 600 RPM fan graphs. Simply put, adding 750 RPM fan speed data would be unfair to the other cases that we have tested. When letting each case run with their maximum out of the box fan RPMs, the H7 and H7 Elite deliver identical thermal results, proving that the Elite’s additional fan do nothing to lower overall system temperatures. This is a poor showing for the H7 Elite, and highlights the real strength of the H7 Flow. It bests the Elite with fewer fans and a lower price point.

This mid-tower case is ready to bring the cool. Featuring a perforated front and top panel, alongside widened channels, hooks, straps, and toolless entry, this sleek case will keep any build cool and comfortable while offering plenty of space. The H7 Flow hangs in with the HAF 500 for middling noise levels, beat only by the O11D EVO’s reduced fan set. But that’s with all cases being measured from the front-left and front-right corners. What’s not shown in these numbers is that the H7 Flow became noticeably louder from above the top panel after removing its top filter, which is an angle that we didn’t have other data to compare. Voltage regulator temperatures show why this builder prefers to put the radiator (and its extra fans) on top, as the N515 fell well behind the H7 Flow’s clear win...

At 1000 RPM fan speeds, the H7 Flow continues to impress. Again, it sits towards the bottom of our graphs, delivering results that are amongst the best cases that we have tested. Again, this is a huge achievement for a chassis that ships with only two fans out of the box, and adding additional fans could result in further improvements to the H7 Flow’s cooling performance. Practically speaking, the thumbscrew that secures the drive cage is what limits power-supply length to 233mm. A second set of tab holes and screw holes allows it to be moved about 19mm farther forward, but placing it there reduces the lower portion of the front radiator mount by the same distance. The 3.5-inch cage’s optional 2.5-inch mounts aren’t even included in the H7 Flow’s official specs, as those specs instead refer to a second set of 2.5-inch trays that we’ll cover momentarily. As we demonstrate in our video the three models of NZXT H7 are based on the same core chassis and they are defined by the front panel and the configuration of the fans. The showstopper is the H7 Elite which has three RGB fans at the front of the case that provide an impressive lightshow. Cooling Performance