A Closer Look - Inside

The interior of the NZXT H5 Flow RGB sport the usual layout we have come to expect from modern mid-towers. Whereas the shroud is usually inside the case, it is a part of the case shell with its unique design and allows for two 120 mm fans to be installed. The one towards the front of the case has an alternate placement possibility to put a bit of a gap between the two units. This secondary placement also gives you the most venting space for GPUs to pull their own air in from the bottom of the case. There are two cutouts for cable management with the edges rounded nicely to avoid damaging your cables. That is nice, but it would have been even better if there were white grommets here as well.

On the back, the case feels quite bare as there are no SSD plates, or a fan hub/ARGB controller, but none of those things are really needed, especially thanks to the F360 fan setup.


NZXT covers the backsides of each screw with a plastic cover, which is a nice touch but feels a bit unnecessary. Having reviewed nearly 1000 cases, the motherboard standoffs were never the source of any damage. On the backside, there is one major opening for cable routing behind the signature cover which has been a part of NZXT cases for years. It may be moved over in case you opt to install an E-ATX board of up to 277 mm width.


At the center of the cable management area, you will find three white Velcro strips with NZXT branding. These are secured with a screw at one end, which makes it easy to tightly fit your cables. A fourth, simpler variant is tucked away between the CPU cooler backplate cutout and rear edge of the case.


In the front at the bottom, there is a unique looking HDD cage, which can hold two 2.5" and one 3.5" drive. Above that, there is that aforementioned single frame, three fan setup. This is certainly a really cool touch, and it is nice to see this employed in a case right out of the box as it makes for a very clean look. It is noteworthy that while these are also called F360, they should not be equated to the $80 unit you can buy in retail, as the included ones inside the chassis are not meant to be used on radiators. These are the so-called Case Version, which run at a slower speed of 1700 RPM, have a lower air flow of 50.1 CFM per fan and a much lower static pressure of 1.27 mm-H2O, and lastly use 3-pin RPM connectors instead of modern PWM. On the upside, these are a bit quieter than the retail version, with an advertised value of 23.3 dBA per fan - however this is simply due to the fact that the retail versions can run at up to 2400 RPM. To the left of the F360, you will find the metal cable cover with a clean NZXT logo on the bottom, which further complements the overall clean look of the chassis.


The PSU bay is as simple as it gets, as you do not need any venting on the floor of the case. In fact, there is simply no way to properly provide the unit with air that way, as the case sits snug on your desk, without any clearance. Above, that you will find those seven expansion slots, with the fourth all white fan set to push air out the back. This unit does not have any RGB elements but also uses an RPM interface instead of the more modern PWM.


In the ceiling, you can see the placement possibilities for the fans or an AIO. As you can see, there is a large empty area towards the front of the case. If NZXT had made the case even just taller or even just placed the elongated mounting holes for the rear fan 5 mm lower, a 360 mm AIO could have likely fit inside the H5 Flow RGB. So close NZXT, so close.


Another very nice detail is the all white case wiring. The USB 3.0 uses a singular flat cable as there is only one port. NZXT has also opted for the unified header for the front panel, which are just the power button and power LED. While you would initially also find a splitter adapter included in previous iterations of the chassis, it is clear that the industry as a whole is starting to feel confident that this unified header is the way forward. The F360 unit in the front has the benefit that it only has a singular cable to power the fans and one lead for the RGB components. That latter cable sports both the generic connector to plug it directly into your motherboard and the NZXT proprietary one in case you are using an NZXT controller.