NZXT hasn't had the best of times lately with its notorious Flex subscription program. That aside, the company is still responsible for some of the best PC parts in the business, including cases. The NZXT H5 Flow has been a staple since its release in 2022. This is the first revision with some subtle changes to help improve thermal performance and make it easier for just about everyone to build their dream gaming rig.

The NZXT H5 Flow is a solid foundation, which made it difficult for NZXT to mess it up with its 2024 update. The revised front panel is excellent and the all-new bottom mesh panel ensures enough cool air can be pulled into the chassis. There's solid radiator support on the front and top sections of the case and throw in excellent cable management and you've got a stunning sleek chassis for less than $100. Today, we're looking at the RGB version with preinstalled A-RGB fans.

About this review: NZXT provided XDA with a review sample but had no input to its contents ahead of publication.

Price, specs, and availability

For just $95, you can enjoy a premium PC-building experience. Purchasing a decent case with tempered glass for less than $100 was a challenge in earlier years but even affordable chassis are a great option now. We've seen premium features such as cable management and RGB lighting trickle down to cheaper PC cases. NZXT can offer the H5 Flow at this low price to take on healthy mid-tower competition.

Being constructed of SGCC steel and tempered glass and supporting motherboards up to E-ATX, there's plenty to appreciate with the H5 Flow. Graphics cards up to 410mm can fit inside the H5 Flow and although I recommend using M.2 slots to store your OS and data, there's one 3.5-inch and two 2.5-inch drive slots for expanded storage. Available in black and white, you can kit the case out with RGB lighting to create a showpiece.

What I like

If you've seen the H5 Flow before, you'll be familiar with this latest release. It looks almost identical to the outgoing H5 Flow but with an all-new front panel and a redesigned bottom section where cool air can be pulled through the bottom mesh. The case is available in either black or white, and both colors are matte as is the norm with NZXT hardware. Whether you go with no RGB or with some subtle lighting effects, this is one super-looking chassis.

The front panel is full of perforated holes that ensure the front fans have good access to cool air. Subtle branding can be found at the bottom of this panel. One of the weak parts of this case is the front-facing I/O, which I'll touch on later. A radiator up to 260 mm in length can be installed just behind this front panel, shielded by a fust filter. Being an NZXT case, the left and right sides of the case are bare, one being tempered glass and the other steel.

As for the rear of the NZXT H5 Flow, it's the usual ATX affair with a PCI slot, power supply, motherboard I/O cutouts, and a single 120mm fan mount. Although storage mounts are slightly on the weaker side with just three (two for 2.5-inch and one for 3.5-inch) motherboards these days usually come with at least two M.2 slots, even more affordable ones. SATA drives are becoming less common as NVMe pricing continues to drop and motherboards may only have two to four SATA 6Gb/s ports.

A flip side of unlocking more free space inside the H5 Flow means you can use larger GPUs, air coolers, and other components. Even the impressive passively-cooled Noctua NH-P1 behemoth will fit inside this thing. The performance was solid. Using Arctic's Freezer 36 A-RGB air cooler and the standard preinstalled fans from NZXT, we managed to keep temperatures in check with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X at around 54C in games. Intel's Arc B580 also had no trouble running just north of 50C under load (both temperature readings are delta over a 21C ambient).

What I don't like

The top panel plays host to the front I/O, consisting of a USB-A port, USB-C port, and headphone jack. This falls short of what we should see with front I/O. Many other cases have more than two USB connections and motherboards are released with multiple USB 3.x internal headers. Strangely, NZXT's own N7 B650E motherboard sports two USB-A 3.x headers but you can only use one with this case. The RGB version we reviewed today offers worse value since competitor mid-tower cases with RGB lighting with up to a 20% discount, if not more. You'll need to remove the internal cabling bracket for larger motherboards too.

The bottom fan mounts are welcome but with the power supply being located right below them, it renders part of the section useless. You could fit a fan between the PSU and panel, but this would be pointless as the PSU has to sit facing upward to draw cool air from within the case and through the side grill below the glass window. Either more space between the PSU and fans or the PSU located in a second chamber with a slighter wider H5 may have worked better here. It's not a deal breaker since these are largely optional fan mounts. The front, top, and rear are good enough for up to 7 fans.

Should you buy the NZXT H5 Flow RGB (2024)?

You should buy the NZXT H5 Flow if:

• You want a simple, good-looking PC case for a sleek system.
• You want excellent thermal performance for high-end builds.
• You have an AIO with a 360 mm radiator to install.

You shouldn't buy the NZXT H5 Flow if:

• You want to build your own open-loop water cooling solutions.
• You have an AIO with a radiator larger than 360 mm.

You should strongly consider the NZXT H5 Flow (2024) for your next PC build. This case has a stunning minimalist design that works well with other branded parts, such as the impressive NZXT N7 B650E motherboard. Some of the best cable management around is present inside the chassis, which allows anyone to create a clean-looking system. Multiple fan mounts are available to ensure you have ample airflow for cooling more powerful parts.

Whether you have an AIO liquid cooling kit or prefer air coolers alone, you won't have any trouble cramming everything inside this chassis. Even the largest GPUs are no problem. Many options are available for good-value mid-tower PC cases, but this is one worth shortlisting. Building a PC can be stressful, but NZXT's H5 Flow makes things easy without dumbing down the process too much and affecting the overall aesthetic.