Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
Consistent with its exterior, the interior of the NZXT H710i is also nicely decorated with all surfaces painted matte black. If you have the Matte Black/Red version, the strap in the middle used to hide cables runs from the top to the bottom of the case along with a few other surfaces will be painted red to accentuate its color scheme. Our Matte Black version is, well, all black, which has a much subtler look. As with all modern chassis, there are no front 5.25" drive bays for clear, unobstructed airflow. The conventional layout has the power supply mounted at the bottom in a separate chamber with lots of room allocated for the motherboard. Generally speaking, the layout is mostly standard as far as ATX computer cases are concerned.
The H710i can accommodate mITX, mATX, ATX, and EATX motherboards. To call this an ATX mid-tower may be a bit of a misnomer since you can fit in an EATX motherboard, but it is not necessarily incorrect to call it an ATX mid-tower if classified by physical size. The riser mounting holes are labeled for ATX, mATX, and ITX motherboards, but not EATX models. ATX motherboard risers are already pre-installed for you. One 140mm pre-installed rear exhaust fan is situated around the CPU socket area of a standard ATX motherboard. The stock fan is a 1000 RPM Aer F140, and features a 3-pin motherboard header connected to the new Smart Device v2; more on this later. One RGB LED strip is pre-installed at the top, with the second RGB LED strip behind the cable strap. Three 120mm or two 140mm fans can be installed at the top of the case or a radiator of equivalent size with a clearance of 30 mm. As mentioned on the previous page, all upper vents are side ventilated to maximize airflow without worries of dust settling in.
As shown in our photo above, we can also spot a large rectangular opening on the motherboard tray for easy aftermarket heatsink backplate installation without removing the motherboard itself from the chassis. The opening is actually large enough to accommodate pretty much anything. I mean, with something this big, unless you have some wacky motherboard, it is hard not to get it right. The perimeter of the opening is not lined with rubber, but the edges are well rounded off, so you do not need to worry about your cables being stripped accidentally.
Because the NZXT H710i features a bottom mounted power supply bay, the chassis platform is raised about two centimeters off the ground to accommodate units with fans at the bottom. Inside the H710i, metal rails with rubber toppings at the top elevates the power supply up a further half centimeter just to ensure enough air is made available to your PSU. The slit grille has an externally removable dust filter pre-installed, so you will not need to worry about nasty stuff clogging your fans down the road. Two large opening for routing your PSU cables is appropriately placed adjacent to the expected location of your power supply, as shown in our photo above.
Since the shroud separating the main chamber and the power supply chamber is fully ventilated, there is only one thermal zone inside the NZXT H710i. Here, you can mount two 2.5" drives and are located next to the large openings at the back for easy cable routing. A third SSD can be installed vertically on the shroud. The vertical SSD tray is immediately adjacent to the cable strap, which makes routing and hiding cables easy to accomplish. All SSD tray mounts are modified compared to the NZXT H700i for easier removal. However, the old mechanism feels better. The vertically mounted SSD tray can now be removed with no visible holes left behind, but it come at the expense of feeling much flimsier as it is now made out of thin plastic.
As I have mentioned earlier, the NZXT H710i features no drive racks in this area; it is left completely blank to maximize airflow. This means if you want to install an optical drive, you are out of luck, but realizing it is 2020, I am not complaining. That said, the H710i can still take five 2.5" drives plus two 2.5"/3.5" drives, which you see in the photos throughout this page. You can put an additional two 3.5" drives if you really try. The back panel is not ventilated, so there is not going to be a whole lot of airflow in this area. Up to three 120mm or two 140mm fans can be installed in this location to draw cool air into the system from the front. The chassis can also accommodate radiators of equivalent size up to 60mm thick. Out of the box, three 1200RPM Aer F120 fans are installed here. The longest video card you can fit in the H710i is 16.25", if such a card exists, of course.
Behind the cable strap at the top is the Smart Device v2 controller module. This updated controller module has a faster microprocessor compared to the first generation and adds a built-in noise detection module. It has three independent fan channels and two RGB LED ports for up to four strips or five compatible fans. The module connects to your motherboard via an internal USB 2.0 connection and requires an auxiliary SATA plug from your PSU, which in turn powers all the fans and LED lights inside your system. Up to 10W of power is supplied per channel. One three-way fan splitter is included for each channel, and connected in a way such that the three fans in front are on one channel and the lone rear fan is on another out of the box. Both 3 and 4-pin fans are compatible. All settings are to be adjusted via NZXT's CAM software program, which is ubiquitous in controlling everything from the NZXT HUE 2 Ambient Lighting Kit v2 to the CRYORIG H7 Quad Lumi.
Here is a look at other side, where most people do not usually pay much attention to. In the NZXT H710i, this area is of critical importance, because here is where you can install two SSDs and route most of your cables. The company placed tons of tie-downs underneath the two SSD trays to keep cables flowing nice and tidy. For those with 3.5" hard disks, a small rack for up to two drives is located in the lower chamber. You can put an extra one on top and one on the floor if you have four hard drives. With the rack installed, you can fit a power supply of up to 250mm in length. With it removed, we can have something 400mm or so long. Of course, this is just a trivial fact, because I do not believe something longer than 250mm exists in the world, haha.
The back of the motherboard tray is also quite fundamental to good cabling. This is especially held true with the NZXT H710i, since it is normal practice to run cables through this section. In this model, the company kept the gap a little narrow; the amount of room between the side panel and motherboard tray is only between 18mm to 22mm. Users may experience problems if you own a power supply with very thick cables. That aside, there is a pair of parallel integrated cable guides; multiple Velcro straps in each cable guide allow for easy organization in this area. Lots of openings can be found within close proximity so you can fish your cables through, and they are large and wide to carry everything you need, especially the one in between that is covered by the cable strap. There are no rubber grommets anywhere though.
Lastly, the I/O connector cables come in a block and are bundled into a flat black cable to improve the usability and aesthetics. This is probably the first time I have seen a case that does not have separate I/O connector cables. In case you need to separate it, the company includes a splitter. It is clear why the NZXT H710i tips the scales at 27 lbs. This is no doubt an excellent quality case with small but key refinements compared to its predecessor. There is an exceptional amount of detail that no doubt added to the weight, and all this is well worth it in my opinion.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
