NZXT Didn't Want to Send the H510 Flow: Case Re-Re-Refresh
video description
The guys at NZXT make some good products, but I would never trust them enough to actually buy anything from them.
Date: 2021-10-06
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Comments and reviews: 9
Phoenix
I think the focus on airflow performance in cases is important, but it s being focused too much in reviews now. It s easy to point to a number and say this case has better thermals than another , but it s not so easy to assign a grade to aesthetics. A lot of the time, the thermal performance rarely affects performance by much, if at all (ignoring extremely bad performance since those would indeed be bad cases). Furnishing is important in some people s homes. So just having great thermals doesn t mean it s an important metric if it fails in the design criteria. Indeed, the lack of performance/maintenance impact of thermals by case (a few percent at max on average) - looking good may be a more important criteria than just thermals in someone s house. The way I see it, outside of enthusiasts that care nothing more about cases than performance, fitting in more setups in homes visually can be far more important than negligible performance. And that means, just because another case may perform a few percent better, it should be at least considered a worse case if it s design is poor. Also, I do not think this design is great, just middling. I just thought to bring this up for consideration at least.
Which brings me to this point. GN, you guys do a fantastic job of measuring performance and holding companies accountable. I truly appreciate that about you guys. However, this feels less like a review but more of a technical breakdown of a product. The review should encompass more than just if this performs better than that. Tangentially related being your dedication to pointing out physical flaws of, say, screws and paneling - which aren t numerical data point to compare. Design should also be considered a point in review, though I 100% agree that it s rather subjective and difficult. But no, I do not consider a case to be a good recommendation even if it costs, say, 10 less, performs better by a 1-degrees, but looks hideous. I think recommending to different audiences makes more sense, rather than treating all viewers as a homogenous group with one singular recommendation/review for a case. If it performs well but looks bad, I can see it as a good budget or performance only recommendation. One of the reasons I m being this up is a lot of people get stuff based on others recommendations. Hearing such and such reviewer recommends this more than the other may deter a buyer from a perfectly acceptable case. They may end up with one they don t like, and never understand the small performance improvement they got. It s important to call out outliers, and be harsh where it counts. But to dismiss a piece of functional furniture s aesthetics in a review is troubling.
I don t mean to sound like I am dismissing all your hard work. At most I can ask is your time to consider this at least a bit. Thank you for all your hard work regardless. You guys are truly a fantastic source for information and news, and my most trusted one in PC hardware.
I want case designers to make cool stuff too. I m just afraid that something that happened to the audio industry (an actual good in most cases thing for them), may become a bad thing for PCs, which has an added function of potentially being a small furniture. The focus on performance in the audio world has lead so many manufacturers to make basically the same thing. While the performance is incredible now, the market is so much more boring. I hope cases are willing to trade between 0-5 degrees of performance for some designs. While keeping excellent build quality and ease of use of course, among other things.
Also, I don t think the Corsair case really competes in the same category regarding looks at all. Looks like a completely different design language, even having more of a 3D depth design as well. It also doesn t look great to me, though others may differ of course.
reply
I think the focus on airflow performance in cases is important, but it s being focused too much in reviews now. It s easy to point to a number and say this case has better thermals than another , but it s not so easy to assign a grade to aesthetics. A lot of the time, the thermal performance rarely affects performance by much, if at all (ignoring extremely bad performance since those would indeed be bad cases). Furnishing is important in some people s homes. So just having great thermals doesn t mean it s an important metric if it fails in the design criteria. Indeed, the lack of performance/maintenance impact of thermals by case (a few percent at max on average) - looking good may be a more important criteria than just thermals in someone s house. The way I see it, outside of enthusiasts that care nothing more about cases than performance, fitting in more setups in homes visually can be far more important than negligible performance. And that means, just because another case may perform a few percent better, it should be at least considered a worse case if it s design is poor. Also, I do not think this design is great, just middling. I just thought to bring this up for consideration at least.
Which brings me to this point. GN, you guys do a fantastic job of measuring performance and holding companies accountable. I truly appreciate that about you guys. However, this feels less like a review but more of a technical breakdown of a product. The review should encompass more than just if this performs better than that. Tangentially related being your dedication to pointing out physical flaws of, say, screws and paneling - which aren t numerical data point to compare. Design should also be considered a point in review, though I 100% agree that it s rather subjective and difficult. But no, I do not consider a case to be a good recommendation even if it costs, say, 10 less, performs better by a 1-degrees, but looks hideous. I think recommending to different audiences makes more sense, rather than treating all viewers as a homogenous group with one singular recommendation/review for a case. If it performs well but looks bad, I can see it as a good budget or performance only recommendation. One of the reasons I m being this up is a lot of people get stuff based on others recommendations. Hearing such and such reviewer recommends this more than the other may deter a buyer from a perfectly acceptable case. They may end up with one they don t like, and never understand the small performance improvement they got. It s important to call out outliers, and be harsh where it counts. But to dismiss a piece of functional furniture s aesthetics in a review is troubling.
I don t mean to sound like I am dismissing all your hard work. At most I can ask is your time to consider this at least a bit. Thank you for all your hard work regardless. You guys are truly a fantastic source for information and news, and my most trusted one in PC hardware.
I want case designers to make cool stuff too. I m just afraid that something that happened to the audio industry (an actual good in most cases thing for them), may become a bad thing for PCs, which has an added function of potentially being a small furniture. The focus on performance in the audio world has lead so many manufacturers to make basically the same thing. While the performance is incredible now, the market is so much more boring. I hope cases are willing to trade between 0-5 degrees of performance for some designs. While keeping excellent build quality and ease of use of course, among other things.
Also, I don t think the Corsair case really competes in the same category regarding looks at all. Looks like a completely different design language, even having more of a 3D depth design as well. It also doesn t look great to me, though others may differ of course.
reply
Reg
They are all computer cases with fans. Some have better airflow than others. Some also have useful compartments and better ease of access. But they are still mostly rectangular steel boxes you hold your computer parts in that they have been making for the last 40 years. Variants give reviewers something to make money on I guess. I don't know why Gamers Nexus don't just design their own case and give it to a manufacturer to make up for them and then there would be no need for any more case reviews :-)
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They are all computer cases with fans. Some have better airflow than others. Some also have useful compartments and better ease of access. But they are still mostly rectangular steel boxes you hold your computer parts in that they have been making for the last 40 years. Variants give reviewers something to make money on I guess. I don't know why Gamers Nexus don't just design their own case and give it to a manufacturer to make up for them and then there would be no need for any more case reviews :-)
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Dominic
So if the re-release of a revision is for cost saving purposes why are NZXT cases all without exception ridiculously expensive? Before I arrive at the price category of the H510 Compact, the cheapest H510 on the market, I see at least fourteen different ATX cases with better specs I'd buy first, like the BE QUIET! Pure Base 500, the PHANTEKS ECLIPSE P300A Mesh Edition, or the AEROCOOL Aero One TG, some of which fit triple radiators at the front no problem.
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So if the re-release of a revision is for cost saving purposes why are NZXT cases all without exception ridiculously expensive? Before I arrive at the price category of the H510 Compact, the cheapest H510 on the market, I see at least fourteen different ATX cases with better specs I'd buy first, like the BE QUIET! Pure Base 500, the PHANTEKS ECLIPSE P300A Mesh Edition, or the AEROCOOL Aero One TG, some of which fit triple radiators at the front no problem.
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MrGrimsmith
For a long time I was a big fan of NZXT cases, starting from the original Lexa way back when (glorious when LAN sessions were still a thing. Light with a carrying harness!) to the H440 I'm still using but I've been leaning further and further away from them in the last few years. They gain a little credit back with this one but I'm still most likely going for either a BeQuiet or Fractal Design next. Assuming I don't just build my own that is.
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For a long time I was a big fan of NZXT cases, starting from the original Lexa way back when (glorious when LAN sessions were still a thing. Light with a carrying harness!) to the H440 I'm still using but I've been leaning further and further away from them in the last few years. They gain a little credit back with this one but I'm still most likely going for either a BeQuiet or Fractal Design next. Assuming I don't just build my own that is.
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Vincent
It doesn t matter one bit, NZXT is simply trying a PR thing that seems to work for others. Being a bit controversial generates more attention. :) In the end they will make whatever may sell better. What I do miss in these reviews is the effect these temps would have on the components. My H500 is doing totally fine, overclocked and stable at around 60-65 oC. As chips do fine even at 90-100, being at 65 and lower is totally fine right?
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It doesn t matter one bit, NZXT is simply trying a PR thing that seems to work for others. Being a bit controversial generates more attention. :) In the end they will make whatever may sell better. What I do miss in these reviews is the effect these temps would have on the components. My H500 is doing totally fine, overclocked and stable at around 60-65 oC. As chips do fine even at 90-100, being at 65 and lower is totally fine right?
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beetooex
Why aren't cases designed so the GPU can suck fresh air in purely using their own fans on the heatsink? Many cheap mATX Ryzen boards have the GPU slot so low down that it's only an inch off the case floor. With a mesh bottom couldn't it get all the air it needed? Obviously you couldn't have the PSU down there but that's not a problem if you get creative.
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Why aren't cases designed so the GPU can suck fresh air in purely using their own fans on the heatsink? Many cheap mATX Ryzen boards have the GPU slot so low down that it's only an inch off the case floor. With a mesh bottom couldn't it get all the air it needed? Obviously you couldn't have the PSU down there but that's not a problem if you get creative.
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Enrico
Steve: let's keep kicking the same weakspot of this company until it becomes a meme
again Steve: that company released a new product we usually review in details nobody else does, and didn't send even a memo, unespicably.
lol
(jokes aside, the first Steve is kinda right to kick 'em so any new viewer is aware of the problem until it's solved)
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Steve: let's keep kicking the same weakspot of this company until it becomes a meme
again Steve: that company released a new product we usually review in details nobody else does, and didn't send even a memo, unespicably.
lol
(jokes aside, the first Steve is kinda right to kick 'em so any new viewer is aware of the problem until it's solved)
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praack
still building in my NZXT Appollo case, thing is built well, can handle the thermals and overall looks good. Dated? well a bit- Front door, 1394 port only usb 2 on side panell. but still good. got thhis and a decent Corsair mid tower. a lot of others i have botten over the years have not been worth the scrap metal they eventuallly were turned into.
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still building in my NZXT Appollo case, thing is built well, can handle the thermals and overall looks good. Dated? well a bit- Front door, 1394 port only usb 2 on side panell. but still good. got thhis and a decent Corsair mid tower. a lot of others i have botten over the years have not been worth the scrap metal they eventuallly were turned into.
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Bill
My first NZXT case was the Lexa S (a cut-down door version of the Tempest EVO). Steve, you should reach out to viewers to see if you can get your hands on an NZXT Tempest EVO. I would love a GN review on it since it's a very functional focused case. Man...back then NZXT released some really cool cases like the Switch 810, what the hell happened? XD
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My first NZXT case was the Lexa S (a cut-down door version of the Tempest EVO). Steve, you should reach out to viewers to see if you can get your hands on an NZXT Tempest EVO. I would love a GN review on it since it's a very functional focused case. Man...back then NZXT released some really cool cases like the Switch 810, what the hell happened? XD
reply
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