By Meng Vang
Manufacturer: NZXT, Inc.
Product Name: NZXT H700i Mid-Tower Case with CAM-powered Smart Features
Model Number: CA-H700W-BB (black/black)
UPC: 815671013552
Price As Tested: $199.99 (Amazon | Newegg)Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by NZXT.
NZXT has brought a few new features to the table with their H-series computer cases. At the time of this review, there are three variants: the H700i (standard mid-tower ATX), H400i (micro-ATX), and H200i (mini-ITX). Aside from having tempered glass panels, a solid steel frame, and a sleek minimalistic look, each case features a CAM Powered Smart Device. The Smart Device optimizes fan noise and temperature through Adaptive Noise Reduction, meaning it will measure the noise level in the case to find the best optimal temperature for the system. These H-series cases also come with a pre-installed RGB strip at the top and a number of case fans with customizable options via the CAM software. In this article, Benchmark Reviews inspects the NZXT H700i in matte black.
- CAM Powered Smart Device to simplify installation and manage use of RGB lighting and fans
- Premium, all-steel construction with the sleek H-series design; available in four color combinations
- Tempered glass panel showcases custom RGB lighting
- System installation and expansion made easy with all-new cable management system
- Water-cooling installation simplified for both AIO and custom loop
- Adaptive Noise Reduction optimizes cooling and noise balance for best gaming comfort
| Dimensions | W: 230mm H: 494mm D: 494mm (without feet) W: 230mm H: 516mm D: 494mm (with feet) |
| Material(s) | SECC Steel and Tempered Glass |
| Weight | 12.27 kg |
| Motherboard Support | Mini-ITX, MicroATX, ATX and EATX(Up to 272mm or 10.7-inches) |
| I/O Ports | 2 x USB 2.0 2 x USB 3.1 Gen 1 1 x Audio/Mic |
| Filters | Front and PSU Intake |
| Smart Device | 3 x Fan channels with Max 10W per channel output* 1 x RGB LED port support up to 4 x HUE+ LED strips or 5 x Aer RGB fans Built-in noise detection module *Note: If a splitter is used, fan control is regulated depending on the fan connected to the 4-pin port. Do not use low-noise adapters. |
| Expansion Slots | 7 |
| Drive Bays | 2.5”: 7 3.5”: 2+1 |
| Radiator Support | Front: 2 x 140 or 3 x 120mm with Push/Pull Top: 2 x 140 or 3 x 120 |
| Fan Support | Front: 3 x 120/2 x 140mm (3 Aer F120 Case Version included) Top: 3 x 120/2 x 140mm Rear: 1 x 120/1 x 140mm (1 Aer F140 Case Version included) |
| Fan Specs | Aer F120 (Case Version) Speed: 1200 + 200 RPM Airflow: 50.42 CFM Noise: 28 dBA Bearing: Rifle Bearing Aer F140 (Case Version) Speed: 1,000 + 200 RPM Airflow: 68.95 CFM Noise: 29 dBA Bearing: Rifle Bearing |
| Clearance | Cable Management: 18-22mm GPU Clearance: Up to 413mm CPU Cooler: Up to 185mm Front Radiator: 60mm Top Radiator: 30mm Reservoir & Pump: Up to 224mm (Along cable bar) |
| Warranty | 2 Years |
| Model Number | CA-H700W-BB |
| EAN | 5060301693849 |
| UPC | 815671013538 |
| System Requirements | PC with open internal USB 2.0 port and Windows® 10 operating system recommended. Internet connection is needed to download CAM.Some CAM features require Internet access, a valid email address and acceptance of our current Terms of Service. |
The NZXT H700i is currently available online for $199.99 (Amazon | Newegg). Inside of the accessory box, we find an installation guide and plenty of mounting screws for the motherboard, storage devices, and the power supply unit. There are also a few zip ties and an additional RGB magnetic light strip.
Looking at the case from the front, we can see the H700i still maintains that NZXT minimalistic appearance. It looks very identical to the smaller S340 Elite with just the simple company logo towards the bottom.
On the main side of the case, there is a large tempered glass window held by four thumb screws on each corner. We can see around the top and towards the front of the case, there is about an inch of clearance for air ventilation.
The opposite side panel contains just a simple black steel panel, but the air ventilation gaps are still present in the same locations.
At the top of the H700i, there are no ventilation holes besides the ones mentioned earlier. Towards the front are the front I/O ports. This includes a large power button, two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and standard 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jacks.
The bottom of the case does have some similarities to standard gaming cases, like a dust filter for the power supply. Now the hard drive cage can move further or closer to the front of the case thanks to the adjustable rails. This is useful with a large radiator at the front of the case.
Now that we have seen a quick look, let’s go ahead to show more about the features the H700i has to offer.
Inside the H700i, we notice a modern design with no additional hard drive cages or optical drive expansion slots. Like the S340 Elite, there is a SSD mounting bracket on the side of the power supply housing. What is a bit different about the interior is the RGB LED strip at the top and the large bracket that connects the bottom to the top of the case. NZXT uses internal brackets like this in their previous cases, which can be useful depending on the build. I will explain more on the bracket in the next section.
When it comes to cable management from the factory, the H700i is the best I have seen so far. There are plenty of straps and cable tie down points around the motherboard tray. Cable channels are in place to improve cabling, but they are also removable.
Underneath the front panel, a dust filter is present to filter dust particles from entering the system. The filter is magnetic and removable for cleaning. Installed at the front are three Aer F120 Case Version fans with the front being able to accommodate up to a 360 mm radiator with push/pull configuration.
On the power supply chamber, there are many ventilation holes to allow additional airflow to the power supply unit. There are also two more SSD mounting brackets that are re-adjustable to fit anywhere on the ventilation holes.
In the next section, we will look at a few more features the H700i has to offer.
The internal bracket has had some mixed reviews from many computer users. Those who do not mind the bracket can leave it, but it is removable if it causes installation problems for the build. It does cover up the cable cutouts on the motherboard tray, but during the build process it is best to remove the bracket to feed large cables from the back to the motherboard.
Also, the internal bracket is adjustable to about one centimeter. Doing this can relive a bit of space for other components, but it may reveal the naked cable cutout holes on the motherboard tray.
Do keep in mind there are no rubberized grommets on the cable cutouts on the motherboard tray. It is just one large cutout for the internal bracket to cover up. In a finished build without the bracket, it may look a bit funny seeing all the cables coming from the back of the motherboard tray.
To aid with cable management, behind the motherboard tray is a small version of the NZXT Puck. This is a nice little addition that can be useful for wrapping uneven fan cables from the top fans. It is removable just by undoing the center screw.
I love the concept of a removable top fan mount. This makes installation so much easier overall by doing most of the work outside the case. This bracket can accommodate the same number of fans/radiators as the front but no push/pull configuration.
The last feature I want to point out is the side panel release button. Pressing the button will release the locking mechanism and allow the side panel to fall off the case. Just be ready to catch it. This makes removing and replacing the side panel so much easier than a traditional design.
In the next section, we will take a look at the CAM software to see the capabilities of the Smart Device.
Upon opening the CAM software for the first time, the software will ask us to log in or create a new NZXT account. The reason for this is so the software can store all fan profiles and lighting settings in the cloud. We could continue as a guess, but doing so will limit us to only a few setting we can play with as most of the CAM settings are stored on an account.
Once we have successfully created an account, the software brings us to the dashboard where we can monitor the core components and their real time data.
There is also an overclocking section for tweaking the GPU. We can set power limits and adjust GPU and memory frequencies just like other GPU overclocking software.
In the cooling section, we have the option to control up to three different fans. The H700i does come with a few Y-cables for adding more fans, so we do not have to limit ourselves to only three. We are able to customize the fan levels using the New Custom Profile option, which makes it easy to perfectly tune each fan according to CPU temperature.
There are a lot of options to choose from within the lighting section. We can select between a number of presets to tweak their settings, or we can select from Smart, Custom, Audio, or Games. Smart lets us adjust the different colors relative to the CPU or GPU temperature and frame rate. Custom allows us to customize fixed, breathing, and wave effects, and Audio changes the colors of the lights depending on how loud or quiet the sound through Windows is. The Games tab can animate lighting effects through games, although CS:GO is the only one currently supported.
There is much to talk about the CAM software, so let’s look more into it in the next section.
The Smart Device section in the CAM software allows us to set up an adaptive cooling to balance fan nose and temperature. This calibration may take up to an hour depending on the noise levels around the computer. The best thing to do is to keep outside noise to a minimum for the most accurate readings.
Starting the calibration, the software will first spend a few minutes calibrating the idle fan noise level and temperature of the CPU and GPU. Once that is done, it will calibrate noise and temperature when a game is running. Playing a demanding game is ideal for most systems, but I had to run a few more programs to bring up the load. If the system load is too low, the software will take a very long time to complete.
Once both idle and game calibrations are complete, we can look at the data and compare our results. We can also select between Idle and Load to see the variance between the two modes.
My system always ran under cooler temperatures even with the fans turned down, so there is not much variance between the preset and adaptive modes in terms of idle. Now when it comes to load, the temperature to both CPU and GPU have decreased about 10 degrees each. The fans did run at full speed, bringing up the noise level to 64.6dB from 62.5dB. Computer systems that run warmer and louder may see even better results than what I have here.
With CAM Overlay, we can use it to display useful information in game, like FPS, temperatures, and other information. This is useful for benchmarking purposes, but it is not supported by all games, as I soon found out.
Now that we have gone over the CAM software, let’s dive into the build.
- Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4
- System Memory: 4x8GB 2666MHz DDR4
- Processor: Intel Core i7 5820K @ 4.5GHz
- Audio: Creative Sound Blaster Recon3D
- Video: MSI GeForce 780 Ti
- Disk Drive 1: Crucial MX100 256GB SSD
- Disk Drive 2: WD Blue 3TB HDD
- Enclosure: NZXT H700i
- PSU: EVGA 850P2 850W Modular
- Monitor: HP 23bw 23″ IPS display
- Operating System: Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit
I did not have any major problems during the build process with the H700i. I was a little iffy about installing my radiator at the front with the tubes at the top, but the internal bracket had no problem with that. To make installation easier, I removed the internal bracket just to feed my wires through to the motherboard. Without doing that, squeezing that 24-pin motherboard cable would have been very difficult.
There is a lot of room for cable management. Routing cables behind the motherboard tray was a breeze thanks to the cable channels and the many tie-down points. Cable tie-down points were located at almost every corner making it very convenient to manage oddly placed cables. The puck was a great little addition for routing those top fan cables, but I did not use it as I worked my way around it.
Even though the internal bracket of the H700i provided it with its iconic look, I thought it was going to snap a few of my cables in half when I reinstalled it. Luckily for my motherboard, the 24-pin plug was just at the right spot. Any lower and I would have had trouble getting it to bend. I could have adjusted the bracket a little more towards the front of the case, which would allow about a centimeter of room for the cables. But doing so would reveal the absence of rubber grommets on the motherboard cable cutout.
A few NZXT cases prior to the H700i do have a similar internal bracket over the motherboard cable cutouts. There are a number of mixed reviews from different people about whether NZXT should stick to having this bracket, or exclude it from their future cases. It really all depends on your build, whether you are installing a custom water cooling loop or going with standard air cooling. A custom loop may require some tight 90 degree turns, but an air cooled system is a better choice if you just have to have the internal bracket.
The CAM software and Smart Device really improves on gaming functionality. For computer systems that do not have good fan controls in their BIOS, the Smart Device is a solution to optimize noise and temperature. Modern motherboards include their own fan control settings that allows flexible customization. If you are able to obtain low noise and temperature with your system through the motherboard, the adaptive preset may not do much of a difference. As for RGB lighting, I would have liked to see smoother lighting transitions when changing between different colors. Also during the calibration process, a notification to notify the user that game calibration is complete would be useful.
Let’s go into my final thoughts and end this review with my conclusion in the next section.
Building in the H700i is very easy and the cable routing channels do help a lot. The case itself is very solid and the large non-tinted glass panel has a lot of surface area to show off the internals. As for the CAM software the Smart Device, the adaptive mode was able to lower my load temperatures quite significantly with just a little more noise. Looking back, I find that to be somewhat funny because the fans connected to the Smart Device no longer turn on even with a heavy load. Switching back to my preset mode had the fans running again, so maybe it could be a small glitch or a mistake I made during calibration.
The H700i may lack a most standard front and top grill for air intake, but the side ventilation does provide adequate airflow to cool the internal components. My system still runs normally under load even with a 4.5GHz overclock on the Core i7 5820K. Out from the box, the case already comes with four fans; three 120 mm fans at the front, and one 140 mm fan at the rear. This means the H700i is ready to cool out from the box in case you do not have extra fans.
I personally like the matte black finish and tempered glass side panel. This makes the case look almost like the S340 Elite, just larger in size. The additional RGB LED strip really enhances the appearance, and NZXT includes another LED strip in the accessories for additional lighting and customization. The CAM software works well with the Smart Device as I had no problems adjusting different settings and playing around with the lighting effects. If the lighting transitioned smoother, that would have been a nice extra touch.
In terms of construction, the H700i is built mainly from steel. The frame feels solid even without the tempered glass side panel, and the little extra features do go a long way. The glass panel sits on a lip to prevent it from falling off the case, and the rear side panel is removable from a push of a button. Having the rear side panel bulge out does give room for cables, and reinstalling the panel is very simple as it just snaps back into place. Sound dampening materials would have been nice, but I have an extra roll of Dynamat I can use to install on the panels.
Functionality wise, the H700i makes a great gaming case without the aggressive gamer-like designs. The Smart Device is like the HUE+ and Grid+ V3 combined together, which allows for a cooler running system at the quietest noise level possible. The CAM GUI looks modern and pretty straight forward to understand, but having the lighting and fan profiles run through the software is not my cup of tea. Since the beginning of RGB peripherals, most companies require software to run for lighting effects and other things to work. Unfortunately, that is just how most things are nowadays where each peripheral requires its own software.
As of March 2018, the NZXT H700i is available online for $199.99 (Amazon | Newegg). To some people, this may be a bit too high to ask. Now assuming you already have a method of controlling your RGB and fan settings, the H700i may not be for you. Something like the S340 Elite would be a better alternative. But if you are looking for a new case and have no RGB lighting or fan controls, the H700i does make more sense. This stops the need to purchase a HUE+ and Grid+ V3, which comes to around $100 for both.
+ CAM Powered Smart Device
+ Excellent cable management system
+ Customizable RGB lighting/fan profiles
+ Ready to cool out the box with four pre-installed fans
– Expensive for most people
– RGB lighting/fan profiles are not stored on the Smart Device
- Performance: 9.00
- Appearance: 9.75
- Construction: 9.25
- Functionality: 8.75
- Value: 8.25