NZXT H510 Elite Case Review: Making Things Worse
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Date: 2020-05-06
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Comments and reviews: 10
Juan
I have the H510 elite, I also noticed the turbulent noise coming from the fans, specially the front top one at 100% PWM. It kind of sounds like it's choking or like the RPM is fluctuating. I even thought that it was failing, but the noise went away when I opened the case. I also noticed that spinning the fans faster than 20%, didn't make any difference in the air coming out the back and in temperatures. The rear top exhaust fan also made a weird noise when spinning at 100%, it sounded like a low pitched vibration. I replaced the rear and top fans with AER P static pressure fans and it made a big difference in temps and noise. The turbulent noise is gone and there's way more air blowing out the back and top of the case. Temps dropped about 5 to 6 degrees in average too. I think NZXT should have these fans as default on their cases. In my opinion, looks like the stock AER F fans cannot push air through the case's exhaust holes.
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I have the H510 elite, I also noticed the turbulent noise coming from the fans, specially the front top one at 100% PWM. It kind of sounds like it's choking or like the RPM is fluctuating. I even thought that it was failing, but the noise went away when I opened the case. I also noticed that spinning the fans faster than 20%, didn't make any difference in the air coming out the back and in temperatures. The rear top exhaust fan also made a weird noise when spinning at 100%, it sounded like a low pitched vibration. I replaced the rear and top fans with AER P static pressure fans and it made a big difference in temps and noise. The turbulent noise is gone and there's way more air blowing out the back and top of the case. Temps dropped about 5 to 6 degrees in average too. I think NZXT should have these fans as default on their cases. In my opinion, looks like the stock AER F fans cannot push air through the case's exhaust holes.
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Maverick
Kind of disappointed GN doesn't do optimized fan setups in their reviews. I've seen it in reviews in the past and on this. I want to see them move the front fans from inside that glass section to the other side of the mount which would put it inside the case and would give it another inch from the front panel. Would love to see a category of testing just labeled as optimized where they look at the case from the standpoint of a typical builder that's going to REMOVE the stock fans and buy their own. I want to see both ends of the spectrum, not just this is how the case ships
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Kind of disappointed GN doesn't do optimized fan setups in their reviews. I've seen it in reviews in the past and on this. I want to see them move the front fans from inside that glass section to the other side of the mount which would put it inside the case and would give it another inch from the front panel. Would love to see a category of testing just labeled as optimized where they look at the case from the standpoint of a typical builder that's going to REMOVE the stock fans and buy their own. I want to see both ends of the spectrum, not just this is how the case ships
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Giovanni
Thanks for the testing. Why do Case companies continue to do this? Constrict air intake to the detriment of the expensive components inside. I could understand if they were restricting airflow in some areas to 'duct' to other areas but. I also notice that you haven't reviewed too many Phanteks cases - is that because they are 'average' or is the company not providing review cases? I purchased a 'Phanteks Enthoo Pro Black Full Tower Gaming Case' and as far as I can tell - with use - it seems to do quite well keeping things cool for a budget case. Any thoughts?
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Thanks for the testing. Why do Case companies continue to do this? Constrict air intake to the detriment of the expensive components inside. I could understand if they were restricting airflow in some areas to 'duct' to other areas but. I also notice that you haven't reviewed too many Phanteks cases - is that because they are 'average' or is the company not providing review cases? I purchased a 'Phanteks Enthoo Pro Black Full Tower Gaming Case' and as far as I can tell - with use - it seems to do quite well keeping things cool for a budget case. Any thoughts?
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Ten8yp
This case is NOT good. But I'm not really surprised coming from NZXT. They've been around for years yet still cant figure out how to make a decent case. Newer companies like Phanteks and Fractal do it better, for less money, with more features. The problem here was the original case/design. The H500 was never good. It looked ok but that's where the positives stopped. NZXT - if you are watching, you need more top fan mounting, better air intake in the front, cable grommets, and better quality components. Yeah, I guess a complete overhaul and entirely new design.
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This case is NOT good. But I'm not really surprised coming from NZXT. They've been around for years yet still cant figure out how to make a decent case. Newer companies like Phanteks and Fractal do it better, for less money, with more features. The problem here was the original case/design. The H500 was never good. It looked ok but that's where the positives stopped. NZXT - if you are watching, you need more top fan mounting, better air intake in the front, cable grommets, and better quality components. Yeah, I guess a complete overhaul and entirely new design.
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Francisco
Does our thermal design suck? Don't worry about it; we'll just add another fan. We're sure our customers wouldn't try to do that. In all honesty. I would have expected a review to do a stock fan test and a lets test what this case can do test that would fill in any empty fan slots that would improve airflow, so I don't consider adding an extra fan to the stock configuration as a change in how well the airflow was designed in the case itself. I might consider that as an improvement in the airflow use, but not design.
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Does our thermal design suck? Don't worry about it; we'll just add another fan. We're sure our customers wouldn't try to do that. In all honesty. I would have expected a review to do a stock fan test and a lets test what this case can do test that would fill in any empty fan slots that would improve airflow, so I don't consider adding an extra fan to the stock configuration as a change in how well the airflow was designed in the case itself. I might consider that as an improvement in the airflow use, but not design.
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Jason
I just picked this case up open box at a good price. Almost returned it after watching this review but decided to forge ahead and try it out. I've got an AIO on my CPU and a hybrid 1080ti so not apples to apples. Case cools great with my configuration, 2 x 120 intake in front, 1 x 120 exhaust rear. Just gamed for 2 hours and my 9700k never breached 70c, while the GPU stayed below 62. I'm sure the airflow is as bad as the review showed, but for water cooler parts it seems to do fine and looks fantastic.
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I just picked this case up open box at a good price. Almost returned it after watching this review but decided to forge ahead and try it out. I've got an AIO on my CPU and a hybrid 1080ti so not apples to apples. Case cools great with my configuration, 2 x 120 intake in front, 1 x 120 exhaust rear. Just gamed for 2 hours and my 9700k never breached 70c, while the GPU stayed below 62. I'm sure the airflow is as bad as the review showed, but for water cooler parts it seems to do fine and looks fantastic.
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jeff
Haven't bought an nzxt case, since I went from nzxt s340 elite to fractal meshify c and saw how much better my temps were, with identical fan setups. This is sad, cus nzxt makes some beautiful cases, but it's blatantly obvious that aesthetics is on top of their list and airflow is in the bottom of their list. I even asked them on facebook when are you gonna make a case with a mesh front? . Their reply: Probably never.
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Haven't bought an nzxt case, since I went from nzxt s340 elite to fractal meshify c and saw how much better my temps were, with identical fan setups. This is sad, cus nzxt makes some beautiful cases, but it's blatantly obvious that aesthetics is on top of their list and airflow is in the bottom of their list. I even asked them on facebook when are you gonna make a case with a mesh front? . Their reply: Probably never.
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Uriah
It must suck to have to give reviews that have a negative vibe when you're already in direct contact with the manufacturer and know that they, to one degree or another, truly value your feedback. It takes guts because you know that, no matter how objective you are, your review will have some sort of a bad guy vibe. But the upside is if the manufacturer listens to your advice, everyone eventually wins. Kudos!
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It must suck to have to give reviews that have a negative vibe when you're already in direct contact with the manufacturer and know that they, to one degree or another, truly value your feedback. It takes guts because you know that, no matter how objective you are, your review will have some sort of a bad guy vibe. But the upside is if the manufacturer listens to your advice, everyone eventually wins. Kudos!
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John
Oh god do I hate these glass boxes. A computer case is supposed to provide EMI shielding. This is even worse than a 5 diy carboard case. And it doesn't even allow the user to install external drives. What's next, no HDD cages? Ridiculous. We're going backwards in PC case development. Now even most basic features are missing, instead you get large removable pieces of glass and plastic. Wow.
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Oh god do I hate these glass boxes. A computer case is supposed to provide EMI shielding. This is even worse than a 5 diy carboard case. And it doesn't even allow the user to install external drives. What's next, no HDD cages? Ridiculous. We're going backwards in PC case development. Now even most basic features are missing, instead you get large removable pieces of glass and plastic. Wow.
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john
In my opinion nzxt is not too focused on just producing a momentarilly good fan cooling, instead they might have been trying to tread and balance all the factors that affect pc case all around which includes dust build up. If you look closely although the h510 uses negative pressure, I am thinking that this still results into a case with a decent cooling and dust filtering capability.
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In my opinion nzxt is not too focused on just producing a momentarilly good fan cooling, instead they might have been trying to tread and balance all the factors that affect pc case all around which includes dust build up. If you look closely although the h510 uses negative pressure, I am thinking that this still results into a case with a decent cooling and dust filtering capability.
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