We will be the first ones to tell you, that if you can’t spend a lot of money on a build, you can cut corners on the case. There are just so many decent, feature rich cases in the budget price range, it’s really quite easy to save money here. The question then is what case do you buy when you have enough extra cash to spend on it? Do you look for the best features or the best style and materials? What about a silent chassis? Those are all very fair questions. So today, we are going to look at the NZXT H Series H630 and see if it has the answers we are looking for.
Features and Specifications
The NZXT H630 comes with a lot to offer with a feature list that includes some surprises along the way. This is a full-tower case with support for ATX, Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, XL-ATX, EATX (347 x 272 mm) motherboards, room for up to eight 2.5/3.5″ drives, with additional room for two more 2.5″ drives, two external 5.25″ ODD bays, and room for up to eleven 120 mm fans. The fan ports, as you would expect, will also support up to nine 140 mm fans and/or four 200 mm fans.
While support for a large variety of building options is nice, it is also cool if the case comes with some useful goodies that set it apart. Sometimes, this could be extra fans, thus, the NZXT H630 comes standard with one 200 mm front intake fan and one 140 mm rear exhaust fan. The internal HDD system is broken into 3 HDD cages (two with 3 slots and one with 2 slots). The cages can be removed or reconfigured to fit your needs, whether you need room for an extra-large GPU, front mounted liquid cooling solution, or to minimize airflow restrictions.
The special features of the H630 do not become apparent until you remove the side panel. You will then see there is 0.25″ thick sound damping material on both side panels, front, and top of the case. There are also LED lights on the rear I/O and rear expansion slots. The H630 also has a 100% steel frame construction with plastic accents. The side panels, case frame, and all internal components are steel. The top and front panels have a steel outer hull with an internal molded plastic to accommodate the front I/O (two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, rear light switch, SD card reader, audio, power, and reset) and ventilation.
This no-nonsense approach leaves the H630 at a back bending 30.86 lbs empty (though still not quite as heavy as the mind bending 50 lbs of the CoolerMaster Cosmos II), but also is the foundation of a rock solid case. The NZXT H630 is the new flagship of the H Series and is ready for anything. You can find this case available now in glossy white like the one in this review, or in a matte black for as low as $129.44 USD.
Lets first take a look at what you are going to receive in the box and then get into building and testing.
What’s in the Box?
This time we actually have something to talk about when it comes to the included accessories. Of course you have your standard fare which includes the instruction manual, case hardware, and warranty information. In addition NZXT reinforces their brand with a small booklet of other items they offer that would match your new H630 case. This includes power supplies, cable kits, fan controllers, other cases, etc. We think all brands should be doing this.
There are a few additional hidden bonuses such as the 10 port fan hub pre-installed behind the motherboard tray. This hub comes with three 3-pin fan extension cables (two already in use) which are great for cable management in such a large case. The hardware pack is divided into several well labeled smaller zip lock bags. This makes everything easy to identify and organize. The hardware pack also includes nearly 2 dozen cable ties for cable management.
We love to see companies include the little extras with their products as it improves the whole experience. It is good to see a company take the extra step of pre-installing an accessory, including plenty of cable ties, and individual packing each set of screws. We will see if this attention to detail carries over to the case itself.
Closer Look at the Exterior
The H630 is a simple design, but hides a lot of nice surprises in the details. It has a sleek, clean design with rounded edges for a modern look which is something we love. The design is complemented by the mirror finish paint which is also fingerprint, scuff, and dirt resistant. It is extremely easy to keep this case looking great with a damp cloth once in a blue moon. The “Snow White” edition H630 we received has the same feel as a new car which is a damn good first impression.
One of the key features of the H630 is the high density sound damping material attached to the side, top, and front panels. The side panel is all steel, heavy, and has very little flex to it which gives it a quality feel. The front and top panel are dense plastic shells with an all steel face and side ventilation. The front vent doubles as a removable dust filter. Surprisingly the front panel does not house the front I/O which is actually attached to the case frame. We really like this choice as the front panel can be completely removed without fear of tearing out wires.
The I/O panel includes some nice goodies as we discussed, but still has a few more secrets. As we’ve found, the front I/O includes the addition of a built-in SD card reader (supports SDHC and SDXC) and a pop-out style switch for the rear lights. What you will not find is a power indicator light, at least not until you power up your computer. The power light is built into the power button and glows through it on the top of the case. We would have liked to have seen the front I/O placed on top as well since it can be difficult to reach if you sit to the left of the H630.
The NZXT H630 is our kinda of case with focus on the details and plenty to offer. It may not be the perfect case for everyone as the front ODD bay only houses two. This can be an issue for those using a front mounted water reservoir or a two panel fan controller, and may still want to keep space for an optical drive. We would really like to have had three bays here. There is also no side window, but in its defense, the H630 is about low noise. Besides, NZXT offers plenty of other options in this price range if you want a little more flash for your cash.
Closer Look at the Interior
NZXT keeps their attention to detail and high quality workmanship when it comes to the interior. You will find the high quality paint continuing throughout the interior with black accent pieces such as the steel ODD latches, motherboard standoffs, color of damping foam, cables, etc. All of the edges here are rounded as well with no sharp edges to be found.
Once again NZXT hides a few nice features in the interior design of the H630. There is plenty of space behind the motherboard tray for cable management which NZXT starts for you with the pre-installed fans already connected to the fan hub. There are slots cutout with rounded edges to guide wires around the case. The main wire cutouts have black rubber grommets to maintain a clean look when done.
The H630 hard drive cage is a little more unique than we first expected. It is designed as three separate cages in a 3-2-3 configuration. You can remove any of them to fit your needs, like accomodating extra-large graphics cards, water cooling systems, or improving airflow. It is also inverted so you have to remove the right side panel to access the plastic drive trays. While one of the few plastic parts in the H630, they are very strong, easy to use, and fit snuggly into the cage slots. Thanks to rubber grommets, vibration from HDD noise is reduced.
Every aspect of the design focuses on minimizing noise. For example, the power supply sits on top of foam tipped rests above the case wall to avoid vibration noise and prevents airflow restrictions. The fan slots at the top, bottom, and front of the case have no grill which minimizes air restriction. The only fan slot with a grill is the rear one which also creates the most noise in the case. We’ll get into this more in our testing.
Speaking of testing, it’s now time to put a system in this box and find out more about its performance characteristics.
Test System Setup
The test system here will be a little different from the one you are used to seeing in previous reviews. I am introducing some new goodies sent to me by Be Quiet! that you will be see in future reviews including another one I am working on now. For this review though, I am using my personal system for the testing of the NZXT H630. This also gave me the opportunity to live with the case for a few weeks and really get to know it.
Hardware:
- CPU: AMD FX-8350 Vishera 8-core
- CPU Cooler: Gelid GX-7 with Dual Fans and AMD Stock Cooler
- Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD7 AM3+
- RAM: G.Skill Ripjaw X 8 GB 2133 MHz (9-11-10-27)
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 770 2GB
- PSU: Antec HCP 850 Watt 80+ Gold
- SSD: OCZ Agility 4 (512 GB)
- HDD: Western Digital 2 TB Black (WD2002FAEX)
- Case: NZXT H630
Software:
- Windows 7 Pro 64-bit with all latest updates
- Battlefield 4
- Metro 2033: Last Light
- OCCT
- FurMark GPU Stress Test
- AIDA64 Extreme Edition
- Nvidia Drivers 331.40 Beta
Now that we have the formalities out-of-the-way,we’ll be going into both noise and temperature tests that help define whether this case, as a whole, will be a good home for your next build. Especially if you are looking to justify spending a little more cash on a case like this. Is there really a big difference compared to budget cases from NZXT or anyone else for that matter? Lets find out.
Acoustic Performance
Performance here needs to be taken with a grain of salt. The new Nvidia GTX 770 is louder than the AMD HD 6850 that we’ve been using for quite some time. Everything else about this build is the same including using the AMD stock cooler for the FX-8350. Lets see how the NZXT H630 holds up.
The NZXT H630 manages to keep the noise under control at full load with little change in audible noise. In fact, we could not tell a difference in the noise at idle and full load at all. After further investigation we found almost all the noise was being generated by the rear exhaust fan, which we had mentioned earlier. The case noise actually drops 10 dBA when the rear case fan is disconnected. We think NZXT should consider including silicone grommets for this fan to reduce vibration. Another option is to include a quieter fan that moves more air.
Thermal Performance
Many cases designed for low noise do so by sacrificing cooling performance. Lets see if the NZXT H630 falls into this pitfall.
Comparing the temperature of the CPU at full load shows the NZXT H630 coming in on top when compared to all the previous cases I have reviewed. On the other hand the motherboard temperature falls into the middle of the road which is not good or bad. While we included the figures for GPU temperature, the comparison is not really fair. The H630 does allow the Nvidia GTX 770 to stay within normal operational range (below 80°C) at stock though.
The NZXT H630 doesn’t have the best temperature management, but clearly has not cut any corners here either. It is good to see you can still include parts that generate a lot of heat and the H630 can help you tame them. It is just an added bonus that it also keeps the noise level down at full load.
Final Thoughts
The NZXT H630 is not the quietest case we have reviewed but it is definitely one of the most well built. We initially did not believe the sound damping material was working as there was a low mellow, but noticeable noise when I first turned the system on. It is not until the system is under a heavy load that the H630 has a chance to shine when you notice that the sound coming from it has not changed at all.
The only things we can complain about is that NZXT should have included some silicon grommets for the rear fan to lower noise (or included a quieter/higher airflow one). We would have also liked to have seen three 5.25″ ODD bays. The latter would have opened up a lot more options for the H630 even if it cost us 1 internal HDD slot. A loss no one would miss with the two additional 2.5″ drive trays behind the motherboard for your SSDs or the new generation of hybrid drives which combine a true SSD with a platter.
The MSRP of $149.99 and current pricing as low as $129.49 at the time of this writing puts it in league with a lot of great cases that have graced our pages over the last year. The NZXT H630 will have no trouble holding its own as it is very well-built with few weaknesses to speak of. If you are in the market for an Ultra tower case, this should be at the top of your list. Especially if you are looking for a quieter one.
Pros:
- Quiet at Full Loads
- Very well constructed
- Quality Paint job
- White Glossy case is finger print resistant
- Easy to work with
- Versatile internal design
- Plenty of Cable Management options
- Room for everything
Cons:
- Only two external 5.25″ bays
- Rear LED light rarely Useful
- Very heavy
- Only two fans included
Overall Score: 9.5 / 10.0
Help Us Continue to Improve Our Reviews By Leaving a Comment Below!