A Closer Look - Inside

To gain access to the interior, simply remove the screws holding each panel in place and pull them off. NZXT has gone great lengths to ensure as many elements within the white H5 Flow are actually white. The only aspects that are not are the 3-pin fan header, spacers for the motherboard, and Velcro strips. The interior seems to be a bit simpler than that of the H510 at first sight, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. The first big difference can be found on the shroud, which is now completely solid, with two openings for cable routing, unfortunately the opening to route PCIe power cables through is no longer present.

The signature feature of the H5 Flow is an angled fan that is set to blow cool air across the underside of the GPU. It will be interesting to see if this does lead to better thermals in this variant, as it is not the first time this has been attempted. That said, the implementation within the H5 Flow looks to be more than just a mere afterthought, which could make all the difference. On the backside, the layout looks quite traditional, but NZXT has made sure to include lots of hooks for zip ties so that you may keep your system clean and organized.


NZXT has moved away from the two individual plastic trays to a metal one for either two 2.5" drives or a mix of one 2.5" and one 3.5" drive. This new tray is necessary, as the H5 Flow can only hold a single 3.5" drive, since the front area where a hard drive cage can usually be found is now taken up by that special fan assembly. Gone are also the plastic trenches that NZXT has been employing, having been replaced by sturdy metal flaps to keep cables in place. While they did work well, the sheer amount of wires was a bit difficult to manage nicely. With the H5, there are three Velcro strips secured by a screw as well as a fourth one to the top left corner, for your CPU power lead.


An interesting tidbit are plastic bumps that cover the spacer screws for the motherboard. This seems to be to protect your cables and fingers from damage - certainly a nice little touch.


In the front, that aforementioned fan assembly takes up the area where you used to find a HDD cage for several drives, which feels like a significant price to pay to keep the GPU a few degrees cooler. Especially as most GPUs these days are quite excellent in terms of thermal performance vs. noise levels. Above that, NZXT still employs a removable mounting frame so that you may install your fans or AIO easily. Lastly, there is still that signature cable opening cover with the ability to mount a reservoir on it. NZXT has simplified this element as well and no longer allows you to adjust its horizontal position.


In the rear, starting from the bottom, the PSU bay is pretty standard, with loads of space for even the longest units. But, if you look closely, you can see breakout covers, which could be the perfect way to add some ARGB strips to the underside of the chassis. Above that, the seven expansion slots are protected by individually reusable covers that are held in place by traditional screws. A sliding cover allows for easier assembly, giving you some room to wiggle any expansion cards into place. In the very top, there is that all white F120Q, which NZXT also sell separately, meaning you could fit rest of the chassis with matching units bought at retail.


The ceiling of the H5 Flow is another area that was overly ripe in the H510 series. You now finally get that fully fledged, vented opening with the ability to install two 120 mm fans or a radiator setup of 240 mm in size. Unfortunately, there is still very little headroom above the motherboard, so 140 mm simply won't fit and even with 240 mm AIOs for example, they will make it rather hard to reach the connector at the top of the motherboard.


Every cable with the exception of the one for case power/reset/LEDs is of the default variety - including the full sized USB 3.0 connector for a single port. Unlike the vast majority of brands which make you connect four tiny leads, NZXT offers them up in a simple header. This is certainly something system integrators will love.