NZXT H630 Silent Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on May 14, 2013 10:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- NZXT
- ATX
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Introducing the NZXT H630
I had a chance to check out the NZXT H630 in its prototype stages a couple of months back, and I was suitably impressed. It seems simple to think about, but understand that breaking with accepted tradition can be a very unusual thing. Companies like SilverStone have their own traditions in and of themselves, and they live on the fringe of design, and NZXT is slowly plotting a course to those same outer reaches. What I'm getting at here is something I don't feel like other vendors have seriously considered: a silent case...without a door.
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It's kind of a funny thing to think about. Nanoxia's Deep Silence 1 heavily tweaked the whole "door" concept by splitting it in two, but NZXT's new H630 eschews having a door entirely, and their logic is sound. If you ask why a door is needed, it's hard to come up with a really good answer. The door will certainly block noise from a spinning optical drive, but optical drives themselves are a dying breed, and gamers largely don't even need them anymore.
There's a lot of that "why didn't anybody think of this before" kind of mentality going on with the H630, and when you couple it with an incredibly striking modern aesthetic, you wind up with something that's fairly familiar at first but is remarkably progressive in the details.
| NZXT H630 Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, XL-ATX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 2x 5.25" |
| Internal | 8x 2.5"/3.5", 2x 2.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 1x 200mm intake fan (2x 200mm fan mounts, or 2x 140mm, or 3x 120mm) |
| Rear | 1x 140mm exhaust fan (supports 120mm) | |
| Top | 2x 200mm/140mm or 3x 120mm fan mounts | |
| Side | - | |
| Bottom | 2x 140mm/120mm fan mounts | |
| Expansion Slots | 9 | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 2.0, 2x USB 3.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic, 1x SD card reader | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 190mm |
| PSU | 280mm | |
| GPU | 354mm | |
| Dimensions |
9.65" x 21.54" x 22.32" 245mm x 547mm x 567mm |
|
| Weight | 30.9 lbs. / 14 kg | |
| Special Features |
USB 3.0 via internal header Integrated SD card reader Multiple removable drive cages Integrated fan hub Rear I/O lighting Sound-suppressing foam |
|
| Price | $149 | |
With NZXT there has been a gradual evolution in terms of feature sets. Many Taiwanese manufacturers make the mistake of just including a boatload of features regardless of whether or not they add value to the product, and oftentimes they'll shortchange the actual design of the enclosure in the process. NZXT's cases have been more frequently integrating authentically useful features, and there's a clear train of thought that goes into these inclusions. The switchable I/O lighting around the expansion slots and I/O ports in the back is unique to NZXT but seems like a no-brainer, and the integrated SD card reader is so obvious it's mystifying why other manufacturers aren't including it.
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Blibbax - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
How is it louder at load stock than it is overclocked?Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
Margin of error.hero1 - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
This is the case for me even though I already own the FDD XL R2 atm. I had posted on another site months ago asking for this exact type of case 3x120 front and top and 2x140 at the bottom, fewer front bays and sound dumping materials. Looks like NZXT listened and delivered. The acoustics are not a problem considering that I, and many others, will buy this case for water cooling builds. One thing I wish they did is have perforations on both sides of the door and get air from both directions.Trefugl - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
I'm also interested in this case for use with watercooling. I was having a hard time trying to figure out how much room there is for a 3x120 on the front though... Can anyone comment on radiator mounting in this case?Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
You can pull the drive cages and mounts entirely to install a 3x120.hero1 - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
And that's what I intend to do with it. I wonder when we are going to see this beast in stock.hero1 - Thursday, May 16, 2013 - link
One thing I don't like about the FDD XL R2 is the thin sound deadening materials. I want something like 5mm thick. That way I can use a 5mm thick acrylic panel for a window mod. I hope they have thicker materials for this one!JDG1980 - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
The Nanoxia DS1 would be a stronger competitor to the H630 if you could, you know, actually buy one.I understand that Anandtech can't test cases in every possible configuration, but I think results might have been better if the top drive cage had been removed (as was done on the Fractal Design Define R4 review), and the 200mm front fan moved from the bottom mount to the top. This would enable the intake airflow to cover a large portion of the motherboard, including the graphics card (if installed). In the configuration you use, the airflow mostly blows at the back end of the PSU. I have no idea why NZXT put the fan in the bottom mount by default; it doesn't make much sense to me.
I'd love to see how this does with the top drive cage removed and a Silverstone 180mm Air Penetrator in the top mount. (You might need zip-ties or extra holes drilled for this one, though.) The AP182 has its own analog fan controller, which would also help with noise.
Subyman - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
Did anyone else think the top of the front panel looked like a giant hinge for a door? I was surprised when the author noted that it did not have a door. I thought those two openings on the front folded down when the optical drive came out. I really like my 550D, door and all ;)angryblanket - Tuesday, May 14, 2013 - link
Very subtle and not flashy, just how I like em. Out of my price point though.