Nzxt h1 review in Spanish (full analysis)

But the most interesting without a doubt is that it includes a pre-installed 140mm liquid cooling system and a SFX 80Plus Gold 650W power supply and a Riser cable to reach the PCIe connection to the GPU camera that supports full sizes. A highly studied mounting design at the level of pre-assembled computer towers.

If you want to see what this vertical ITX chassis offers, don't miss this review. But before that, we thank NZXT for their trust in us when they gave us their product for this analysis.

NZXT H1 technical characteristics

Unboxing

Right from the start the NZXT H1 shows its unique design feature, with a large , elongated, square-shaped rigid cardboard box. On all its faces we find a bright white print where all of the chassis are shown in all their splendor, as well as some of its characteristics. One of the most notable is the fact of supporting full-size graphics cards.

We then open the box at the top and extract what has been a complete sandwich mold manufacturer in high quality polyethylene foam. Inside, we have got the chassis completely closed and insulated by knocks and falls. This in turn has a plastic bag that protects it, while the accessory box is located inside the chassis.

The bundle of this product has the following elements:

NZXT H1 Chassis + Liquid PSU + AIO Power Cord Mounting Screws AIO Mounting Adapters on Intel and AMD Mounting Instruction Book

It should be said that the bundle is extremely complete, and because we have enough elements already mounted on the NZXT H1, the manufacturer has not forgotten the adapters and generic Backplate for mounts on both the Intel and AMD platforms. Later we will see it in detail.

For the rest, it is more or less what is expected in a chassis, with its corresponding screws, of which we have the just and necessary ones and their instructions, which in this case will be important.

Exterior design

We start as always with the exterior design of the NZXT H1, a very different chassis than what we are used to and that we have to tell many things about, especially its interior.

From the outside we can see that it is a tower with all the words, as it is very slender and narrow, cube-shaped with clearly square corners and even its corresponding tempered glass. Its measurements are 187 mm wide and also 187 mm deep, although it has a half centimeter more in this case. Finally, its height is 387.7 mm, that is, almost the height of a compact ATX.

In the NZXT H1 we see the hallmark of the brand, with very clean lines on all its faces and a sober appearance with a predominance of metal panels with dense holes to allow the passage of air in the most efficient way possible. It will be available in black and white as usual in NZXT.

We will start the analysis in detail with the upper part, which is occupied by a smooth metal plate attached to two sides. In one of the corners we have the I / O panel that has:

Power button with LED included

1x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A1 Port x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C Port 3.5mm 4-pole Jack port and headphone and microphone combo

Simple and minimalist panel like the rest of the brand's chassis. We would have liked a pair of USB Type-A better, since the board ports in this cassis won't be too accessible.

The face that we consider main of the NZXT H1 is logically the one with the window. Specifically, it is a tempered glass with a light smoked finish that is mounted on a steel chassis with a very solid structure and perfectly finished. The surrounding frames have an opaque finish to hide the anchors and the steel of the chassis, with the large logo on the bottom.

This panel is perfectly removable and also quite simply. Ball anchors have been used to fix it , fitting in a few clicks at all four corners. It seems like a secure enough mount to manipulate the chassis in any position without fear of it falling over.

If we go to the opposite side, just behind, we are going to find nowhere the port panel of the board or anything like that. In its place a completely perforated steel plate has been installed that occupies the entire area. Behind it we will find the hardware and in this case no dust filter, since the air will enter or leave through natural convection.

But at the bottom of the NZXT H1 a small hole of about 3 cm has been left whose function is to allow cables to be routed to the motherboard, because yes, the port panel is facing down. On the right we can see the plug for the power cable of the source, of the standard 3-pin format that has been brought there with a pre-installed extension cable.

We continue with the two sides of the chassis that this time form a single metal block next to the top. Both faces have perforations exactly the same as the ones we have seen before, but this time they are protected by a removable fine mesh dust filter.

One of the sides provides the air inlet for the 140mm liquid cooling system that is already pre-installed. This one has the filter inside, in a second layer that we will now see.

Meanwhile, the face that remains gives us access to the air inlet for the graphics card, which will be installed vertically in this area.

It only remains to know that the metal block that integrates the upper part and two sides will be easily removed by pulling it up. It is mounted on a rail system on each side, and only has the ability to be installed in one position so that the top holes match the port I / O panel. In turn, it will be fixed and immovable when we install the two remaining sides.

To make a small criticism, we do not see much sense in having placed the glass facing the source, since we see absolutely nothing relevant inside. It would have been better to place it in front of the graphics card to admire its design.

We agree that in the current way it is more efficient for cooling, but with such open sides we believe that there would be no problem in glazing the GPU.

Unrivaled interior and mounting

We will almost have to go face to face to see the interior of the NZXT H1, since it is extremely peculiar and presents us with a very well studied assembly and worthy of the custom chassis for computer towers.

We remove all the sheets and what we find is a very strong metal structure with just enough space to work. The interior can be divided into 4 areas that we will see right now.

Central part where the liquid cooling system is already mounted and ready to connect to an Intel or AMD board. It will necessarily have to be standard ITX size as there is no room for more. This will be placed upright with the port panel facing down.

We can also consider the lower area as one more area, since it has a large hole to put and connect the cables for peripherals and others. Obviously it is not the most comfortable for the user, but it supports pen drive sizes of about 4 or 5 cm in length.

Then we have the graphics card area, not completely isolated, but with its own space where sizes of 305 × 128 mm or 265 × 145 mm are supported, with a maximum thickness of 2.5 slots. We can really fit a thickness of 2.7 slots if we want to, but the fans will be glued to the sheet.

A huge and great detail is also having the pre-installed Riser cable that transfers the PCIe x16 connection from the board to the GPU compartment. And the truth is that it is one of great quality in its cables and two reinforced PCIe headers and with connection lock. The system is quite discreet and well implemented.

We have space for the PSU, which will be placed in the upper area of the NZXT H1 in a corner and will inevitably be SFX size. The vent is facing the same face as the AIO's radiator, which we have just below.

As we have said, the dust filter is directly located on this radiator which is installed in a frame with a removable and folding hinge that is very comfortable and manageable to carry out its assembly or disassembly.

It does not make much sense, but if we remove the cooling we will have space to fit a 140mm fan only and a heatsink of approximately 3 to 5 cm depending on the thickness of the fan.

Low storage capacity

The storage capacity of the NZXT H1 is going to be a little scarce as you could have imagined in a chassis with these measures and distribution. And is that leaving space for full graphics card makes it possible to only install 2 2.5-inch HDD or SSD units, yes, in a metal cabinet.

The protagonist will have it precisely in the previous capture, with a pair of removable plastic trays where you can place them without major problems. It is located just behind the power supply.

So we will not be able to install 3.5-inch hard drives, a notable loss for those who would like to reuse their drives. On the part of M.2 units we will not have major problems in the capacity of the motherboard, since both in front of the plate and behind it we have free space for the slots.

Pre-installed power supply

The NZXT H1 has an excellent pre-installed power supply, in fact, considerably better than could be expected, both in power and in efficiency certification. Many computer towers already pre-assembled do not even measure up to this generally generic chassis.

It is a NZXT S650 Gold SFX-L power supply. This PSU has a power of 650W and 80Plus Gold certification. A great detail to keep in mind is that it is 100% modular so we can exchange these cables for CableMod if we wish.

In total we have double output for PCIe power, 2 power cables for SATA, 1 cable of 4 + 4 pins for CPU and the corresponding ATX for the motherboard. Its modularity allows expansion, although only cables already installed come. 650W is more than enough for powerful graphics cards and CPUs.

Integrated liquid cooling

The most interesting part of this section will be the liquid cooling system that is included in the NZXT H1. This is a NZXT M43, a liquid AIO variant with 140mm mount and NZXT Aer P fan installed in air suction mode.

It seems to us a good quality system judging by its construction, since we have an aluminum radiator with rigid metal frames and even a purge and fluid change system.

The tube sockets are made of plastic and metal, allowing them to be rotated to adapt them to the final position on the chassis. Finally, the tubes used will be made of rubber, an acceptable thickness and with enough length to work comfortably in the hole in the plate.

The pump for its part is quite thin and with a polished copper cold plate and abundant layer of pre-applied thermal paste. Supports rig mounts:

Intel: LGA 1150, 1151, 1155, and 1156 AMD: AM2 / +, AM3 / +, and AM4

It would not make any sense to offer compatibility with LGA 2066 or TR4 platforms since there are no such format boards. Obviously, it includes the generic Backplate for Intel boards in a bag included in the bundle. Also the two pump grips for AMD and Intel which are interchangeable just by pulling the one that is placed on the head. We warn that it is quite hard, so be careful. In general it is a fairly simple installation system for all platforms, using AMD's own grip system without removing the backplate.

The manufacturer has done an excellent job of integration on this NZXT H1, easily installable and also removable, since the radiator mounting frame has a hinge to rotate them out and free up the space to fit the board and cables. At no time do we have to remove it to work so the effort is reduced to removing two screws.

Installation and assembly

We will proceed to carry out the relevant assembly on the NZXT H1, for this case we have used the following hardware:

AORUS B450I Pro Motherboard AMD Athlon 3000G 16GB RAM DDR T-Force Dark Z-Alpha MSI Radeon RX 570 Armor Graphics Card

A mounting based of course on ITX board with high profile memories that at no time have bothered for mounting liquid cooling.

Yes, we have had some small inconvenience when mounting the motherboard, since we cannot put the screwdriver straight because it bothers the upper frame, leaving this one right in the middle. It is not worrisome, but it will be better to use a small screwdriver.

The Riser cable can also be easily handled on the board, since it is perfectly installed and oriented towards the place where the PCIe slot is. Also, get perfectly to the place where we put the graphics card, with the right measure, no more and no less.

Another aspect that makes life a lot easier is that we practically do not have to make any effort in the power connections, since all the cables are routed to the places where they are going to be used. The assembly remains quite clean and without cable in between, although it is true that the glass window will not show anything interesting inside.

Final score

With the assembly perfectly done and the system working, we can see a very clean result. The NZXT H1 has continued to bet on a minimalist and sober aesthetic like the H range with its peculiar compact and elongated format. Apart from the distances, the most similar chassis that we have tested has been the Silverstone LD03, although this one is larger and comes completely empty.

In this case it is a chassis that does not include any type of integrated lighting or SmartDevice microcontroller. After a while with the equipment on we have not seen signs of heating in the components, due to we have 3 of the 4 faces open for the air inlet and outlet.

The cooling system has also turned out to be very quiet, with a pump that is barely noticeable and the fan doing the same. Finally, the fan of the power supply does show itself, although much less than ATX sources due to its small size, something that is acceptable and normal.

Final words and conclusion about NZXT H1

Taking stock of our analysis, there is no doubt that the NZXT H1 is very different from what the manufacturer had accustomed us in terms of structure and assembly. Of course, the personality is still intact, with simple, sober lines and a clearly continuous aspect with respect to the H200, H500 family, etc.

If we are tired of ITX chassis in typical formats, this breaks that trend by betting on a very compact elongated cube design and very adjusted to the measurements of an ITX plate to make it one more element of decoration on our desk. We would only change the face occupied by the tempered glass and place it in front of the graphics card, since it would show something more interesting and would not excessively damage the cooling.

Speaking of refrigeration, the capacity for fans can be said to be nil, and not for that reason bad, since three of the 4 faces are open to the outside, two of them with filters. But most importantly, we have a pre-installed 140mm AIO liquid cooling system. Very good performance, quiet and exquisitely integrated, compatible with mounts for Intel and AMD in a very simple and intuitive way.

We also recommend our article on the best chassis of the moment

And to save us the trouble, NZXT has also added a 650W 80Plus Gold SFX power supply. With enough cables and capacity to mount graphics cards of great power and size up to 305 mm long and 2.5 slots thick. And since its assembly is so peculiar, it also includes the Riser PCIe extension cable, which also has not delighted both in construction and design, at the level of systems that are worth 30 or 40 euros.

Little details like a somewhat awkward mounting of the board screws or a fairly basic port panel should be mentioned, but they're not serious at all. NZXT offers a 3-year warranty on all chassis components except the PSU, where the 10-year warranty is extended, which is not bad for reliability.

Finally, the price of this NZXT H1 chassis is 350 euros in its official store. It is a fairly high price, but it must be understood that we have three extra elements installed that together can be around 200-230 euros, leaving the chassis at around 100 and little. We think that it is not a chassis for everyone, and we recommend it for those who plan to mount a computer from scratch.

ADVANTAGE	DISADVANTAGES
+ DESIGN AND ORIGINALITY	- THE LOCATION OF THE GLASS IS NOT THE IDEAL
+ ASSEMBLY WORKED AND INTERESTING	- DO NOT ALLOW AN EXTRA FAN
+ GOOD EXTERNAL COOLING	- DOES NOT SUPPORT 3.5 ”HDD
+ INCLUDES 140 MM AIO SYSTEM FOR INTEL AND AMD
+ INCLUDES 650W GOLD PSU AND QUALITY RISER CABLE
+ VERY SILENT AND EFFICIENT