NZXT H440 Review

Hi All

I was Lucky enough to win one of the H440 Cases in the recent Forum Competition so please see my review of it Below , i have never reviewed anything so feel free to ask questions or offer feedback i do have pictures but cant work out how to attach :)

i have moved all of my setup from my Fractal Design r5 case to the H440 and my first worry was the lack of any 5 1/2 inch bays (i have a nzxt fan controller as well as an internal CD Drive) however i continued to set up.

Because there is no need for any frontal access the front Panel is a Single Piece that is connected by 4 plugs that simply Push in to the main case . removing the shows the 3 factory Fitted fans as well as a filter that is magnetically attached to the case this allows for easy removal and cleaning as well as a quick replacement should you need to change the fans.

the side panels are connected via the standard 2 screws and then slide off with one side window and the other side padded for sound proofing. the power supply is hidden by an enclosure that has the NXXT name lit up when the machine is switched on to install the PSU you take the rear cage off and screw this to the PSU before then inserting and screwing to the Case be careful if you have a modular one as once installed getting access to the connections is tricky. cables are then fed to the side of the tower behind the motherboard and allow multiple exit\ entry points to the motherboard side. also at the rear there is a built in fan controller that allows up to 8 fans to be connected.

Fitting the motherboard was easy as the riser screws are pre fitted however there is a small screw head that you can put over the risers if you need to remove them and re position. the case will allow you to fit 6 3.5" hdd as well as another 2 2.5" drives with the larger hard drives fitted directly behind the front fans and taking the space normally reserved for the cd drive bays. to fit these it is a slide tray that you un click then you fit one hard drive underneath and one on top. there is space above the psu enclosure for the smaller drives and enough space below the HDD enclosures to store the excess cables.

As far as cable management goes there is multiple places where you can add get cables through from one side to the other with all then held behind the motherboard however be warey that you may need to be a bit creative when putting the side panel on this is where a quick release catch could come in handy as to slide the side on whilst holding down the cables and tightening the 1st screw can be tricky.


there is space at the top of the case to add a 240 mm radiator with the fans or a 360mm if you remove some of the HDD bays however depending on the size of your motherboard it may be a tight fit for both radiator and fans, the screws supplied also don't seem to provide a secure connection and i needed to add washers to them. there are 7 expansion slots that can be utilised and these are closed of with re attachable plates.

Airflow wise i have the 4 fans at the front which pull in air from the sides of the front panel then over the HDD enclosures into the case and exhaust at the rear of the case and at the top via mesh at the sides of the top Panel whilst for the PSU this also has a filter underneath and is raised around 1 inch from the ground by the feet of the case.

once the case was fully setup the noise level is very low and is on par with my previous case, due to the feet it is slightly taller then the R5 was so be aware if space is limited, with the side window on the case looks very stylish and the light coming from the side and rear of the case is a nice touch

Pros

Solid Construction
Good filtering for Dust protection
excellent cable management

Cons

Side panels could use Quick release
top fans need washers for security

Summary:

on the whole this a solid case that looks stylish whilst remaining functional the connections and cable management are easy and intuitive to allow even the basic setup to be tidy, the Built in fan controller allows multiple fans to be connected without having to have these all other the motherboard and the lights and psu enclosure create a very Tidy appearance