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The front of the case does feature a tempered glass panel that snaps right in, but I don’t understand its purpose. The glass panel is heavily tinted and seems forced. What I would like to have seen is another airflow panel instead.
If you're not familiar with its predecessor, the NZXT H1 V2 looks like any other NZXT PC case from afar. It's only until you analyze the dimensions and take a look around the sides would you notice something different. It's incredibly small, even compared to the NZXT H210i. The revised H1 is a little larger than the original, but it's still small enough for most ITX PC builds.
NZXT H1 V2 Review: The final verdict
But that's basically a CPU stress test. In real-world environments and with effective fan control using CAM software from NZXT or the motherboard BIOS, it's not too bad at all. What impressed me most were the temperature readings. Idle, the Ryzen 9 3900X sits at a comfortable 30C (86F), while in-game you're only looking at around 53C (118F) playing Grand Theft Auto V. Stress tests pushed the CPU to hit 68C (154F), though the cooling solution was more than able to keep up, and it blows air across the motherboard. The ambient temperature was 20C (68F). With NZXT's H1, however, both come preinstalled, with cooling and cabling pre-routed in the optimal way for the case, so you just have to connect it all up. And it's a genuine joy to build into, in a way which other mini-ITX cases generally aren't. Even the Hyte Revolt 3, which almost apes the H1, is a far more fiddly place in which to build a rig. With the cooler lifted up and away there's so much elbow room to work with that dropping the heart of your system into the chassis is simple. And that is pretty much it for changes, as NZXT has kept the 120 mm AIO cooler and pre-routed cables that make building in the H1 super easy. One of the two pieces of extra component hardware that come with the H1 V2 is a 140 mm all-in-one liquid cooler. I understand that some people prefer air cooling over water cooling. Still, water cooling is arguably more practical here because of the case’s size. Plus, with a radiator oriented to exhaust, the heat from the CPU can be pushed out more efficiently than with an air cooler. This time around, NZXT includes a 92 mm exhaust fan to help expel any heat generated by the other components.
The changes made to the NZXT H1 are welcome. I'm glad the company made an effort to ensure the PCIe riser is safe to use for everyone, though I'd much rather it be removed altogether and the GPU connected to the motherboard directly. The 750W Gold PSU allows one to install more powerful NVIDIA RTX 30-series GPUs, and the additional fan helps with thermals. This is the same with the new H1 v2. However, NZXT has made some small but very important revisions to the case which means that users have much more choice when it comes to which graphics card to install. The original H1 only allowed for 2.5 slot cards with a maximum length of 304mm which meant that several high-end Nvidia RTX 30 series and AMD Radeon 6000 series cards were incompatible due to their size. The 650W power supply included with the original H1 could also be running on the limit with this new generation of cards which is an issue too. An additional fan was installed to help direct air through the enlarged chassis. We didn't have an issue with heat when running an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X in the first version of the H1, but the better thermal performance is always a good improvement. This added internal volume even allowed NZXT to install a fan controller, which can be managed by NZXT CAM software. The front panel is tempered glass, allowing you to peek inside at installed components. The two sides have numerous larger perforated holes and have dust filters to pull in cool, clean air. The rear has the same hole array and is used as the sole exhaust. It's a good design, allowing the CPU AIO cooler on the left and GPU on the right to get direct access to air in such a tight space. The sides of the case feature the same airflow design that we saw on its bigger sibling: the NZXT H510 Flow. Yet, we saw this on the previous version of the H1, and when it comes to cooling, NZXT could benefit from a redesign.Compared with the original NZXT H1, the revisions applied to the new v2 version are individually quite small, but when combined they add up to a worthwhile improvement. The ability to install bigger, more powerful graphics cards is a welcome addition and having the extra 100W available from the power supply ensures that high-end GPUs have enough juice to run. I really liked the original NZXT H1, and I'm glad the company kept most of what made it so good for version 2.0. This is a well-designed compact PC case with a preinstalled PSU and AIO cooler, allowing you to get up and running in no time at all. There's also integrated NZXT CAM software to control fan curves and more. Just make sure your motherboard will fit. I guess it also helps that it's just a little larger than its older sibling, which, as well as aiding the cooling, also allows you to install longer graphics cards, too.
Likewise, the PCIe Gen4 riser and increased chassis airflow are essential to ensure that the latest generation of graphics cards is running at their absolute maximum performance, you can clearly see that this was a priority with the NZXT engineers when designing the H1 v2 and it hass paid off because the revisions work together very well. We measure the thermal performance with the case in its default configuration, so all exterior panels are installed and fans in the default locations. We then transfer the system components to the original H1 and run the thermal tests again to measure whether the new H1 offers any thermal improvement over the original. It’s usually hard to tell if we just got a rare defective part or if the issue is more widespread. That’s the case here as well. But given the fact that the previous H1 was recalled due to an electrical issue, it’s hard not to worry at least a bit when the followup case has its power supply randomly expire just a few hours into active use. Underneath the case is where your motherboard’s IO, GPU and PSU connect, and I don’t like this at all. I’m able to give the power supply cable a pass since you’re probably going to plug it in and leave it. But video cables are often stiff, which can make the right turn necessary here a pain point for the cable, and any USB device swapping later on that you don’t want to plug into the top ports will mean having to lift up or tip down the whole case to plug things in.For the uninitiated, the NZXT H1 is a small form-factor case targeted at those who want to downsize their PC without compromising on power. It has a small footprint, making it ideal for sitting on a desk, but is tall and so accommodating of full-size graphics cards. Building inside the NZXT H1 is relatively straightforward. Firstly, the front tempered and rear metal panels are removed by unclipping them from the main chassis. Then the single piece of metal that comprises the two sides and top can slide up and off the rails. Then you have open access to all corners of the case. Our acoustic test consists of three scenarios: We run the CPU at full load, the CPU and GPU at full load, and an optimized mode. The CPU full load test runs the CPU and case fans at their maximum speed. For the CPU and GPU full load acoustic test, we also stress the Gigabyte RTX 3070 TI Gaming OC and set the fans at 75% speed, because in gaming the fans never run at 100 percent and are far too loud when they do. Other changes made to the V2 include an additional USB Type-A port on the front I/O which is greatly appreciated. I often find myself needing to temporarily plug in USB drives or Bluetooth dongles and that is much easier to do via the USB ports on the top, as the others are on the bottom with the motherboard I/O facing downward. This makes for an overall cleaner aesthetic that I’m still a big fan of, but it does mean you have to tilt the system to access the I/O while powered up.
Getting access to the inside of the H1 V2 is as simple as popping off the side panels and sliding the steel body off. Granted, this is a similar layout to many vertical SFF towers, including the Revolt 3 and the Ssupd Meshlicous. But there’s no denying you’re giving up a lot of convenience in terms of port access for the sake of a system with a small footprint. Just keep that in mind if you’re considering any of these cases.The V2 model of the H1 is actually a little larger than the original, with 15.6 L of capacity instead of 13 L. This has been done to allow for better compatibility with modern Nvidia and AMD graphics cards, as well as to increase cooling potential. Unless you put them side by side, however, the size increase is unnoticeable. Improvements inside I would also have liked to have seen NZXT go one or two steps further with the revisions. An alternative solid or vented steel front panel for users who don’t like the look of the tempered glass would have benefited the new case, as the inside of the H1 isn’t pretty to look at once the system is built. Squeezing in a bigger AIO cooler would have been a priority for me too, as the thermal demand of modern-day CPUs seems to be on the rise.
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