Air Cooled NZXT H2 Flow Build
Hey guys. Looooong time lurker, first time poster on r/sffpc.
When I saw the NZXT flow for the first time a couple months ago, I knew I wanted to do a "cool" gaming build in it, meaning selecting parts that are interesting to me for one reason or another vs going for what's "meta". That's how I ended up with a Core Ultra 5 250k Plus and a B580 build. All I play is Overwatch on a 240hz 1080p panel, so as long as the build can handle that I'm happy!
I also recently saw this interview where the creators of the NZXT case were asked if they would consider making a mesh panel to replace the tempered glass that covers the CPU area of the case, and their response was:
"strapping on an air cooler at this point it just seems... y'know, the pros of it just dont seem all too great."
Okie dokie.
So anyway, I went ahead and designed a custom mesh side panel that matches the cases aesthetics. I didn't want or need a liquid cooler for this build. The 67mm tall Thermalright cooler is doing great in synthetic workloads and gaming with the chosen CPU at stock settings.
Also side note:
For those who have built into this case, is it just me, or are the factory intended cable tie-down points kinda stupid? I prefer my "automotive wiring harness" inspired cable management lol.
Specs
- CPU: Intel Core Ultra 5 250k Plus (New)
- CPU Cooler: Thermalright AXP120-X67 (custom mesh panel to allow this guy to breathe)
- Motherboard: ROG STRIX Z890-I GAMING WIFI (FB Marketplace score, used)
- Memory (RAM): 96GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 (Just what I already had)
- Storage (SSD): Samsung 970 500gb (Used)
- Graphics Card (GPU): Intel B580 (Bought it new 'cause I thought it was cool, but haven't had a chance to use it until now 😄)
- Power Supply (PSU): Lian Li Sp750 (Used)
- Case: NZXT H2 Flow
- Case Fans: Stock plus 2 random 140mm NZXT fans I had around