Inside

Next, I pulled both of the side panels off to get a look at the inside of the H400i to see what makes it so special. With our black on black model it is a little harder to see but one of the main features of NZXT cases that almost no one else has tried is the cover that runs from the top of the case to the bottom near the right side that is designed to cover up wire management holes and add a unique style. I was surprised to find out that NZXT also used sheet metal for this as well, I just assumed front photos that it was plastic like what most manufacturers would do. The same goes for the large power supply shroud down at the bottom. This really ups the overall feel and construction of the case.

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Next to the stripe down on the PSU shroud NZXT slipping in one 2.5 inch mount where you can install and show off some of today's fancy SSDs. Normally you are just trying to hide all of these components, but what if you picked up an RGB SSD or just want everyone to know that you bought that 2TB SSD. This is the location to mount it, right up against the tempered glass side panel.

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So on the top left corner of the H400i inside the main compartment, there are a few things going on. For starters, there is a huge access hole to allow you to get at the back of your CPU for mounting your pump or heatsink. Above that, rather than one small hole for the CPU power to run through they just went with a slot about 6 inches wide. This should account for motherboards that have different locations on the power connector and for things like RGB and fan connections on the top as well. We can also see the included 120mm exhaust fan that was included with the H400i. It is an NZXT Aer F120 but a specific case version that doesn’t have the swappable rings for different colors. That’s kind of a shame because with the red and blue models it would look really good to match the fans. In this case, though the blacked-out look is perfect. We can also see that there is an inch of space above the top of the motherboard as well as how the fan mounts up top are offset to help with clearance for fans as well.

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Over on the right side of the case, the biggest thing we have are the two additional Aer F120 fans that are set up for intake. You can also see that the front is designed to support 140mm fans. In total the front supports a dual 140mm radiator with single fans or a dual 120mm radiator in a push-pull configuration. You will have to remove that stripe to fit that though. Speaking of, from the side angle you can see how the stripe allows room for the thicker 24 pin cable up at the top and has less room at the bottom to still get SATA and front panel connections in.

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Also up front, you will notice a black RGB connection wire hanging. This is pre-run if you plan on running the NZXT AER RGB fans but it is a standard RGB header so you should be able to hook any RGB lighting to it or tuck it away if you don’t want it right in front visible through the side panel window.

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With the H400i flipped around I can say without a doubt that this is the most unique looking back of a case I’ve ever seen. Layout wise it is about normal for a modern case. You do have the large access hole for the back of the CPU and the bottom is all open with the PSU shroud allowing for a hidden power supply and all of the wiring to be hidden. But it’s the wire management tracks that stood out to me and of course, the built-in CAM powered controller up top.

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So the controller up top comes already hooked up. We have three fan headers over on the right side that are hooked up to the three included fans then power, USB, and an LED hookup over on the left. I think they should have left a little expandability on the controller, especially with two more fan locations being unused. Not to mention in addition to the RGB header already available, one more RGB channel back here could open up even more control options, like how the Hue+ has two channels.

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So as I mentioned the wire management on the H400i is special. NZXT has installed plastic tracks that run up and down with Velcro to hold everything in place. In addition, the open area up the middle is covered by the metal stripe visible from the front so you have even more room there. What I like about the tracks though is they set your maximum thickness. They run all the way up against your side panel so when running your wires you can see right away if you need to make adjustments rather than waiting until the end and finding out the side panel doesn’t fit and you have to redo everything or smash it on. Overall you get ¾ of an inch here for wiring and the area up the middle has even more room.

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The tracks continue up and around the CPU bracket as well. This helps you hopefully not cover up the access hole and then later find out that you need to undo your wiring to install your new cooler.

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The bottom half has two SSD mounts that are attached with thumbscrews then down in the power supply compartment there is one more mounting location. You can actually mount a drive directly to the bottom and this is the only spot that supports a larger 3.5-inch drive. So keep that in mind, if you need high capacity spinning drives this isn’t going to be the case for you. But support for up to 4 2.5 inch drives isn’t bad, especially with a lot of today's builds only using SSDs if any SATA based drives at all.

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