Another neat feature in the H1 V2 is the layout of the AIO. I love how the AIO’s tubes bow outward when this case is closed– it reminds me a lot of Cad Bane’s breathing tube from Star Wars.Did NZXT intend on having the tubes sit this way? I doubt it, but I like it. An issue once the motherboard is installed is available space for RAM modules and other components. Have some fancy Corsair Vengeance RGB RAM? It won't fit once you've closed everything up, due to how much room the AIO radiator and 140mm fan requires, forcing the motherboard to bend out of shape, so be aware before installing your components. I would also have liked to have seen NZXT go one or two steps further with the revisions. An alternative solid or vented steel front panel for users who don’t like the look of the tempered glass would have benefited the new case, as the inside of the H1 isn’t pretty to look at once the system is built. Squeezing in a bigger AIO cooler would have been a priority for me too, as the thermal demand of modern-day CPUs seems to be on the rise.

With NZXT's H1, however, both come preinstalled, with cooling and cabling pre-routed in the optimal way for the case, so you just have to connect it all up. And it's a genuine joy to build into, in a way which other mini-ITX cases generally aren't. Even the Hyte Revolt 3, which almost apes the H1, is a far more fiddly place in which to build a rig. With the cooler lifted up and away there's so much elbow room to work with that dropping the heart of your system into the chassis is simple. I guess it also helps that it's just a little larger than its older sibling, which, as well as aiding the cooling, also allows you to install longer graphics cards, too. The pre-installed PSU is located at the top, alongside two 2.5-inch drive bays. This power unit is an SFX NZXT 650W model with an 80Plus Gold rating. It's a decent PSU that's capable of supplying stable and reliable power to the rest of the components. You can switch it out for another SFX PSU, just be sure the cables will reach. And that is pretty much it for changes, as NZXT has kept the 120 mm AIO cooler and pre-routed cables that make building in the H1 super easy. I notified NZXT and the company shipped us a new case. We started the testing over and the PSU in our second H1 V2 review unit worked fine–and is still working without issue as of this writing. Still, given the history the H1 line has, it’s hard not to see a random PSU failure as a red flag.

But can this case escape the shadow of its predecessor?

We measure the thermal performance with the case in its default configuration, so all exterior panels are installed and fans in the default locations. We then transfer the system components to the original H1 and run the thermal tests again to measure whether the new H1 offers any thermal improvement over the original.

The front panel is tempered glass, allowing you to peek inside at installed components. The two sides have numerous larger perforated holes and have dust filters to pull in cool, clean air. The rear has the same hole array and is used as the sole exhaust. It's a good design, allowing the CPU AIO cooler on the left and GPU on the right to get direct access to air in such a tight space. Speaking of fans, NZXT has managed to squeeze in a rear exhaust fan to help exhaust hot air coming from the GPU. This works well in tandem with any potential undervolting (more on that later). All temperature measurements are presented as Deltas – meaning the ambient temperature has been deducted from the CPU temperature giving us a Delta. Data shown in the charts represent the average component temperature over the length of the test as measured by HWiNFO and then calculated to get the average. Ambient temperature during thermal tests is between 18-22⁰C. If you're not familiar with its predecessor, the NZXT H1 V2 looks like any other NZXT PC case from afar. It's only until you analyze the dimensions and take a look around the sides would you notice something different. It's incredibly small, even compared to the NZXT H210i. The revised H1 is a little larger than the original, but it's still small enough for most ITX PC builds.

Customer reviews

Even with more powerful processors, the AIO cooler supplied by NZXT is good enough and you could even swap out the bundled blower for an aftermarket solution, should you have a personal preference on 140mm fans and know you could reduce the sound output slightly. As a mini PC, the H1 works for low-power builds as well as high-end, enthusiast gaming rigs. The NZXT H1 V2 had a lot of potential, given its similarities to the well-liked design of the previous model, plus the addition of an exhaust fan and a higher-wattage PSU and a little more space for today’s beefy graphics cards. But the demons that haunted the first model may have carried onto this version as well, given that the PSU on our first review unit unexpectedly died in the middleof our testing. Or maybe I just got a lemon. Who knows? After receiving the second sample, the case worked as intended. The sides of the case feature the same airflow design that we saw on its bigger sibling: the NZXT H510 Flow. Yet, we saw this on the previous version of the H1, and when it comes to cooling, NZXT could benefit from a redesign.