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Hardware NZXT H2 Review

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by arcticstoat, 3 May 2011.

  1. arcticstoat

    arcticstoat Minimodder

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  2. sleepygamer

    sleepygamer More Metal Than Thou

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    Been looking at one of these for a while. Decent looking cases, and seem really well built. It's just a shame the door cuts off so much airflow.

    I wonder how well this thing would manage if you stripped out the NZXT fans, and loaded it up with some Typhoons or something.
     
  3. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    I don't think what is on offer justifies the price. I'd rather buy a Xigmatek Utgard, providing the extra couple of inches in height wasn't an issue.
     
  4. Cei

    Cei pew pew pew

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    Dislike the styling of the R3? How is this even possible!?

    Some nice features on the case, especially the built in fan controller with the snazzy front fans (whereas Fractal give you an awful PCI bracket as a fan controller that just sits in the box or bin). Would definitely like to see somebody putting better fans in and see what happens to the temps.
     
  5. TWeaK

    TWeaK Minimodder

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    I have a bit of a phobia about magnets near hard drives... surely that magnetised cover over the 140mm roof panel is a little bit too close to the drive bay?
     
  6. Xir

    Xir Modder

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    Do the front fans have filters? (i can't see from the picture)
    Shame there is so little room between the foam and the fans with the door closed,
    Quietness is appreciated, though
     
  7. Material

    Material Soco Amaretto Lime

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    Really? The 140mm roof panel lives on the rear of the roof of the case and the hard disks will be in the opposite corner of the case - the lower front, near the intake fans.

    Yes, all the intakes on the case have individual dust filters.
     
  8. Kacela

    Kacela What's a Dremel?

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    I agree with TWeak - I question the inclusion of magnets as a cover mounting method. I would have liked a gaussmeter reading on the magnetic field around those mounting magnets.

    Not only for the drives' health that are living inside the case, but also a reading on top of the case - just as a warning to those who use the top of their cases as a shelf for crap - like their wallets with mag-stripe cards in them, or people like me who have used the tops of their cases as a temporary perch for conventional hard drives as they are either removed or added to a case.

    Also, at least a warning to those who still have the need to use floppy / LS-120 / Zip / tape / whatever -type of portable magnetic media technology is in order.
     
  9. SpAceman

    SpAceman What's a Dremel?

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    But what if you want a clean looking case? The Utgard is hardly a case to compare if you are interested in minimalistic styling.
     
  10. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    Fair point. I was thinking more along the lines of value, to be honest.

    I'm getting a little bored of these Antec P180 clones (externally). I had a P182se, and it was nice to look at but I think that style has had it's day.
     
  11. Instagib

    Instagib Minimodder

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    The last time i used a nzxt case, it used really cheap brittle plastic in it's construction of the door, meaning it eventually broke after 3 months or so. Is that still the norm? It put me off all nzxt cases sine.
     
  12. Saltire35

    Saltire35 Drunken Scotsman

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    I don't think the H2 comes near the Define R3 in terms of build quality.
     
  13. legoyoda

    legoyoda What's a Dremel?

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    A secondary hard drive bay right next to a magnet? Surely that's a huge design fail....
     
  14. Jipa

    Jipa Avoiding the "I guess.." since 2004

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    It's NOT going to be a problem. And how dare you place more than one hard drive inside the same case if you're afraid of magnets? Fans have magnets as well and those sit right next to the hard drives in most cases. How about them? And surely you don't have headphones, speakers or cable spools of any kind in the same room as the PC... :thumb:

    NZXT is a mixed bag, the review sample of Tempest I received was already broken (no physical damage to box, it hadn't been thrown around), while the Rogue and Panzer box have been very sturdy. The H2 really sits in the latter category, it is by no means flimsy.

    Have you had both cases? :wallbash:

    No. Just.. No.

    If you still think so, just grab a magnet similar to the one used in the case, and test/measure how much force it has at any distance.
     
  15. Tangster

    Tangster Butt-kicking for goodness!

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    Same here. I built a friend a PC and he chose a M59. The plastic used on the front was nasty and brittle and even though it was a steel case, it seemed to be much thinner than any other steel case so it managed to feel flimsy as well.

    Didn't give me a great first impression of NZXT cases.
     
  16. Eiffie

    Eiffie What's a Dremel?

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    I have those wireless fan contact plates on my Silverstone case. They make a world of difference when I want to give my case a good dusting. I wish more cases came with that feature.
     
  17. slothy89

    slothy89 MicroModder

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    Wow.. Magnets near HDDs? Bank cards? Has no one watched MythBusters?
    They found that any normal magnet you are likely to find lying around the home or work place is not strong enough to effect the data on a card strip.
    Same with HDDs. If they were that sensitive to magnets, cases would be plastic, and not use fans. Yes it probably isn't advisable to stick a magnet ON a HDDs casing, but that's just silly..

    Regarding the scoring.. Why would the case score 2/3 for cooling if it was only better than 1/3 of the competition. Which included a case very close to your fail threshold of 80*C delta? Something around 13-15/30 seems more reasonable.
     
  18. kzinti1

    kzinti1 What's a Dremel?

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    Your scoring still makes no sense. I would be hard pressed to give this turkey a 70 yet you give this poor cooling, ugly case with a flimsy door, an 81?
     
  19. SuicideNeil

    SuicideNeil What's a Dremel?

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    Quite.

    I imagine it has something to do with the NZXT advert that appears on the review summary page, right next to the giant 81% score mark.

    Luckily though we are all smart enough to read between the lines here and ignore the score for the most part as that is just for people who don't bother to read the review & skip straight to the conclusion/ scoring...

    FTR, I quite like the styling and the poor temps don't bother me too much- wouldn't take much work to introduce some better airflow, but the price is a bit steep for my liking really, needs to drop a good ~£20 or so.
     
  20. David

    David μoʍ ɼouმ qᴉq λon ƨbԍuq ϝʁλᴉuმ ϝo ʁԍɑq ϝμᴉƨ

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    If you're convinced that bit-tech are not impartial and review scores are influenced by advertisers, why are you even looking at the site?

    I think it has been said before - the ad space sellers have no input into the site or magazine content.

    Don't you think it'd be a little too risky to push a piece of trash as a good product? One sniff of impropriety and people would leave in droves.
     
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