NZXT Hades

A case is very important when buying a new computer. An efficient case design can lower the temperature of your components considerably, and give them a longer life.

Introduction

When building a new computer many people overlook cases. A great case design can not only help in the building of the computer, but it can also help with the cooling. Airflow is very important in a case since it can lower the temperatures of the case, and thus allow your components to run cooler. It is a proven fact that when you lower your component temperatures the lifespan of the parts go up. This will allow your computer to have a much longer life.

The Hades aims to provide optimal cooling to keep your components safe from high temperatures. The case hopes to accomplish this with a large amount of fans blowing air through the case. This is similar to the HAF922 from Cooler Master. Lets take a look see at how it plans to keep your components cool.

Features

• Expansion galore: Nine 5.25″ bay setup or Five 5.25″ and Four 3.5″
• Latest Hardware Support: VGA clearance room for 300mm cards like the ATI 5970
• Dual 200mm intake Large air system: 200mm front fan, dual top 140mm fan, Side 200mm fan, rear 120mm exhaust. NZXT includes the chassis with all fans except for one top 140mm fan
• Control the flow: Gaming, overclocking, or office work the dual 8W per channel fan control allows control over the dual 200mm fans that spin up to 150 CFM each
• Monitor your system: A three C/F temperature display at front panel allows the user to see temperatures inside the chassis even with the door closed. A slant on the door allows for easier viewing from above.
• Punched side panel: Besides aesthetics, the side mesh and extrusion allows for even greater and ease of wire management on the right side panel
• Meshed front: 5.25″ meshed bays, meshed door, and meshed bottom panel allows for air to flow into the system with ease.
• Wire Routing: Motherboard punched holes allows for quick CPU bracket removable and optimal wire routing.
• NZXT Solid State bracket allows for two SSD drives to be installed
• Pre-drilled water cooling holes on the backplate
• Front mounted 2 USB, Audio, and E-SATA ports
• Mounting holes for dual radiator at the top
• Removable filter at the bottom PSU

This case happens to have enough clearance for an ATI 5970, which is saying a lot for a mid tower chassis. The case also supports a ton of fans, which should get the air in the case moving around pretty quickly. The ability to mount a dual top radiator is something that many people will enjoy.

Specifications

NZXT was pretty generous with the fans. You have the option of adding one more 140mm fan if you so choose, or you can replace all of the fans in the case if you have a preference of fans.

Pictures & Impressions

The box is like just about every other case box we see here at Bjorn3D. The box gives you a basic list of features and specs, and a couple images of the case itself. This will help you decide if you actually like the product before you take it out of the box.

The case is packed up nice and tight with a couple of styrofoam end caps. These keep the case from moving around and becoming scratched or dented. The plastic over top the case also helps with scratching.

Here we have a nice side shot of the case after it has been pulled out of the box. Upon further inspection no scratches or dents where found, which is a good thing.

Right after I opened the case I was greeted with some cables strewn about. These are for the front panel connections, as well as the power LED’s, ect. The motherboard panel and drive bay being painted black is a nice touch, since many cases do not feature this. The drive bay knob like things are to secure your items in the bay. All you have to do is give them a simple twist, and whatever is in the drive will be secure.

Here we have the vent for the PSU. Remember that if you are mounting your PSU on the bottom of the case be sure that it is not sitting on carpet which essentially blocks the PSU from getting any air.

We have a quick shot of the front fan here. The drive bays are designed for the air to easily flow through them. This definitely helps get in fresh air from the front intake. Most cases have a sideways HDD bay in front of the fan, which blocks most of the air from getting further into the case.

These are the included accessories. The things in the bags to the left are so you can convert the 5.25″ drive bays into bays that will hold your HDD’s. In the bottom left hand corner we have the motherboard risers, and an assortment of screws. Next to the bag is a

This is the side panel removed from the case. NZXT has mounted the fan in the middle of the case towards the back. This will provide fresh air to both the CPU, and graphics cards.

The back of the case has plenty of room for cable management. NZXT also puts little rubber flaps so you only see what is poking through them, and not what is running behind them. There is a cut out on the back so you can easily install a new CPU cooler if you so choose.

The Hades certainly isn’t the prettiest case we have seen here, but its not the worst. There is a huge vent in the front on the case, so no air should be blocked from being sucked into the fan. The screen at the top will display temperature, but more on that in a minute.

When we open the door we can see the four 5.25″ drive bays. The two holes on the left middle side are LEDs for the power, and HDD activity. On the other side is the power button.

Methodology

To test the case we moved the entire computer between the different cases. We then let the system sit idling for 30 minutes, and recorded the temperature as the idle temperature. We then booted up Prime95, and waited 30 minutes for the machine to heat up. The highest CPU temperature was recorded. Furmark was then run on the system for 30 minutes to find the highest GPU temperature, which was then recorded.

Test Rig

Results

The temperatures are pretty close to eachother, but the Hades manages to squeeze out a small victory. This is probably due to its superior airflow to the other cases here. The Hades also has the most room out of these other cases, so its really a win win.

Conclusion

The NZXT Hades is a great addition to NZXT’s excelent line of computer cases. It was able to cool better than the competition. This is in part due to the large fans included with the case. The side 180mm fan constantly feeds cool air into the case which keeps all of your componets at the lowest possible temperature. The NZXT not only cools great, but it also has some of the best cable management. There are cut out holes so you can easily route your cables behind the motherboard tray. These cutouts also have rubber inserts to help hide any clutter that may be on the other side of the cutouts.

To supliment the cooling and cable management, the included fan controler is a nice feature. It is not everyday you see a case that includes a fan controler. This is certainly a blessing for someone with a loud fan on their CPU cooler. With the fan controler they can turn it down when they are not doing a CPU intensive task. This will save the buyer a fair amount of money if they planned on buying a fan controler for this very purpose. Another feature that you rarely see in cases is an included temperature monitor. You have the freedom to put the temperature sensor anywhere in your case.