NZXT H5 Flow (2024) review

The name “H5 Flow” may sound familiar to observers of the PC DIY market, and that’s because the original is a popular chassis option in builder circles. This familiar PC case even made a cameo in the 2023 model of NZXT’s high-scoring Player One gaming PC. But if you’re familiar with the name, don’t assume that this new H5 Flow ($94.99 as tested, or $124.99 in an upgraded RGB version) is exactly the same: this 2024 version has some tweaks. More ventilation and support for a larger radiator up front (important in these days of hot-running Intel Core CPUs) make a solid NZXT offering a very capable, if not revolutionary, refinement.

Design: Air and fluid flow are the name of the game

The new H5 Flow iteration has a much larger vent section across its one-piece front panel and has been redesigned to hold a third front fan. In fact, with a 60mm-thick radiator space 410mm long behind the fan mount, mounting a close-to-360mm all-in-one won’t be a problem.

Front panel connections are on the front right side of the top panel: a headphone/microphone combo jack, a USB 3.x Gen 2×2 Type-C port, and a USB 3.x Type-A port. A power button with an illuminated power-indicator ring adorns this section. It’s a sparse set of ports; We’d like to see at least one more USB-A.

The rear has a 120mm adjustable-height fan mount for a single factory exhaust fan, a stretch-bracket expansion panel with seven slots, and a power-supply mount that only fits power supplies with upward-facing fans. (That last condition is probably NZXT’s way of dealing with the lack of airflow under that part.) Also seen here, the bottom of the right side panel is fully ventilated.

One less flattering thing about the H5 Flow’s PCI Express expansion-slot panel is that it’s flush with the back of the case, which means you have to slide one card’s screw tab back through a hole to align it with the corresponding one. Case bracket. The 1-inch access hole that NZXT hides behind the removable plate is certainly wide enough to avoid the issues mentioned in some other cases, but we’ve seen many cheaper cases whose manufacturers were able to avoid this cost-cutting design.

Although the top panel has three fan mounts and its mounting slots are spaced for 120mm or 140mm fan sizes, the overall length is enough to support three 120mm fans from front to back or just two 140mm fans. The location is so close to the back that there’s no room for a 360mm-format radiator end cap, and it sets your radiator so close to the motherboard that it eliminates most 280mm radiators from connecting to the fan. This leaves 240mm-format radiators as the best choice for this location.

We noted that the lower part of the right side panel has flowed, but the left side has become more interesting: its perforated section is three-dimensional to provide more hole space. Also notice the tabs outside the bottom panel in the image below, the functionality of which we’ll describe momentarily

Behind the motherboard tray, we can see a gaping hole that allows quick installation of back-of-the-board support brackets for your CPU cooler, plus several cable guides. At the front of the power supply tunnel is a drive cage, and at the back is the opposite side of a ribbon-shaped panel that hides the cables from the other side. The H5 Flow’s drive cage has two 2.5-inch drives internally and one 3.5-inch drive on top.

Tabs sticking out of the bottom of the case are part of the internal drive cage, and its additional slots allow you to slide it 15mm closer to the power supply. Doing so reduces the power supply space from 254mm to 239mm, but NZXT only makes that space 200mm, anyway.

Building with NZXT H5 Flow (2024)

The H5 Flow includes six bags of installation hardware, with the last two screw sets threaded for the plastic fan frame (above) and radiators (below).

Once the motherboard is screwed down, the case’s simplified header-cable set lets you connect the front-panel power button and indicator LEDs, the headset combo jack, and the single Type-A and Type-C ports. That end benefits from a Gen 2×2 (Type-E) internal header connection. Most recent motherboards nowadays have one of those.

With our parts installed, it’s easy to see how the ribbon-shaped panel hides the cables from direct view from the side, and how the shape of that panel allows it to fit under the front edge of the tall graphics card.

As mentioned, we got the base ($94.99) model of the 2024 revision. The black interior of this H5 Flow is beautifully illuminated by our components Those who want more light will find the RGB version available for $125, and both versions are also available in white.

Testing the NZXT H5 Flow (2024)

Here’s a brief description of our current suite of standard case testing parts…

We stacked up the new NZXT H5 Flow against a field of ATX challengers in the same rough price range: the Corsair 3500X ARGB, the Montech Air 903 Base (our current budget ATX case Editors’ Choice), the NZXT sibling H7 Flow (which was also revamped this year), the Color and the cheaper Thermaltake View 270 TG ARGB (another Editors’ Choice winner), and the Cooler Master MasterBox 600.

Although it’s only cool enough to reach third place, the tight clustering of the H5 Flow 2024 puts it in league with similarly priced competitors…

On the other hand, anyone expecting a case where only one intake fan and one exhaust fan would be quiet will be in for a bit of a surprise. Here the moderately loud sound level is probably down in all ventilated areas that allow sound to escape as much as wind.

Verdict: A solid if by-the-numbers DIY option

Lacking any real standout features beyond its sleek design, the biggest up-selling point of the 2024 version of NZXT’s H5 Flow is that it makes good on the 360mm-format front-radiator support that was missing from its previous iterations. On the other hand, it looks slick enough (and, for many buyers, will prove affordable enough) that its design will and should find its place on or under many gamers’ desks. If you like the look, it won’t disappoint in a mainstream, well-executed ATX chassis.

About Thomas Soderstrom

Contributor

A few years ago, when a small website called for product-review editors. I jumped at the chance: I had just finished a four-year stint as a systems supplier. That experience provided the credentials I needed to transition from industry supplier to industry observer. For one thing, I was the first source to publish the capacitor plague (“got juice”) on EDN

By then, I had already self-published some guides on hardcore PC stuff: pin-correcting processors to compatibility tests and overclocking to beat non-overclockable systems. I saw an opportunity to get paid for my knowledge, and wrote over a thousand pieces (many of them for the seminal tech site Tom’s Hardware) before finding my latest opportunity: with PCMag.

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