Test – NZXT Noctis 450: Review | Specs | CPU | Hashrate | Config| Pros & Cons

Test – NZXT Noctis 450: Specs | Price | CPU | Profitability | Hashrate | best Coins | Config | Advantage (Pros) and Disadvantages (Cons) and other important features that will help you make better decision.

Back at NZXT which is clearly not idle with today the latest of the brand’s boxes, I named the Noctis 450! Inspired in large part by its big brother the H440 NZXT decided to improve the base, to erase all its small defects and to give it an aggressive look more in the spirit of what one usually finds at home (at the opposite of the H440 which is no longer sober).

When we find an H440 around 140 € the Noctis 450 meanwhile is not in the lace with more than 160 € at the checkout, it starts to sting but maybe the equipment and features can do drop the pill, that’s what we’ll see right away!

Specification: Hashrate – NZXT March 450

As its big brother the Noctis 450 does without 5.25 ″ slots, this could clearly put off some but the trend is to abandon this kind of peripherals, no more readers / writers and other external rheobus! For DVD / Bluray players it is true that this type of media has almost fallen into disuse on modern PCs, the lack of rheobus on the other hand could be more annoying for those looking to optimize their airflow / noise configuration, but NZXT planned the blow by installing a PWM rheobus inside the beast itself, an excellent thing.

The dimensions are clearly larger than those of the H440, 56.7 cm long by 54.4 cm high and 22 cm wide, we are in front of a beautiful baby of 9.5 kg who will take his place. Its dimensions logically give a lot of room for internal components, the graphics card can reach 40.6 cm in length (by removing one or more carriages for the hard disks) and 18 cm in height are allocated to the CPU cooler. .

The cooling capacity is very good with the possibility of installing up to 7 fans, 3 x 12 cm (or 2 x 14 cm) at the front, 3 x 12 cm (or 2 x 14 cm) above and 1 x 12/14 cm at the back. What sets the NZXT Noctis 450 apart from the competition (like the H440 for that matter) is the number of fans delivered as standard, which amounts to 4.3 x 12 cm on the front and 1 x 14 cm on the rear, NZXT is clearly not here to cut corners! The fans are FN v2 of the same brand which run at 1200 RPM for the 12 cm models and 1000 RPM for the 14 cm at the rear. All these beautiful people are directly connected to the PWM rheobus installed at the back, which will be controlled by the motherboard itself (an extension cable is provided for this purpose).

Of course the dust filters are part of the front and below (at the level of the power supply), the little extra of the chef resides in a light (with on / off button) at the back which will be used to illuminate the ports so as not to grope to plug something in (or use the flashlight of the cell phone, who recognizes it?).
Offered at a price of around 160 € NZXT does not hit the entry level here but with 4 original fans, a software-controllable PWM rheobus and a build quality that should be excellent, it could well be worth it, if the results are satisfactory!

NZXT does not go overboard at the level of the box, in fact on the front facade there is a photo of the front of the beast, with only the name of the brand, the model and a small mention “BOLD is back », No crappy marketing mentions that no longer fool anyone now (well I hope), simple and effective!
At the back a listing of the main functions of the box is present, rheobus PWM 8 fans, LED on the back, power supply cover, easy cable storage, 4 fans included etc.

On the sides we continue in the “clean” spirit with on the one hand a listing of the technical characteristics (dimensions, weight, ventilation, compatibility etc.) and on the other hand only a photo of the facade!

When opening, we find the case in its plastic bag and sandwiched between 2 polystyrene molds, a classic.

The bundle consists of:

• 1 x NZXT sticker
• 1 x leaflet showing the different NZXT products
• 1 x large handle of cable ties
• 1 x installation manual
• The necessary screws

As we can see the bundle is really very correct, everything is present in order to install the configuration without the slightest problem. In fact, it is in every way identical to its big brother H440.

Here is the beast! The point that changes the most between the H440 and the Noctis 450, indeed the two boxes have absolutely nothing to do, when the H440 is really extremely sober the Nocti 450 as for him sports a futuristic look specific to the brand which does not will clearly not be indifferent, we love it or hate it! Having said that, the build quality is very good, the materials are thick and of good quality and the lacquer paint is very well done, there is really nothing to say about the quality of the whole.

The front, there are 2 grilles that will easily let air in (in addition to the hole below), unlike the H440 which suffers from a lack of air intake it should not have of worries here.

Once the front has been removed, we come across a large magnetic filter which covers the 3 12 cm fans supplied as standard. Note that there is nothing here (apart from the filter) that will hinder air circulation unlike some competitors, this can greatly affect performance and / or noise pollution. The build quality is once again very good.

On the side there is a large window showing the interior of the configuration, the entire motherboard as well as the power supply cover with the NZXT logo (which can be illuminated thanks to the button on the back). On the top are visible the ventilation holes if ever fans are installed. The lines are much more aggressive than the H440, as we can see the front and top covers are not flat, we like it or not, a matter of taste!

No need to hide from you that there is not much to say on the other side, a plain white lacquered panel and the same curves.

Above we take the design of the front with 2 triangles which will be used to help the heat dissipation if fans are installed in extraction, this can always help if the configuration is well loaded, on the other hand dust can unfortunately enter around here, although it won’t be in huge quantities.

A power button (with an edge illuminated in blue when lit), a reset button as well as 2 x USB 3.0, 2 x USB 2.0 as well as the eternal 3.5mm jacks for a headset.

Once all this is removed we access the locations for the installation of the 12 or 14 cm fans, the quality is very good here and the ventilation will not be obstructed by grilles as in the front.

Underneath is a removable dust filter located under the power supply. The 4 feet are plastic but rest on a large rubber pad, which will prevent the case from transmitting vibrations to the surface on which it is placed. The little extra compared to the H440 lies in the addition of light strips which will make your Noctis 450 unmissable at night!

At the rear there is the location for a 12 or 14 cm fan behind a honeycomb grille, black perforated extension brackets as well as 2 water-cooling pipe grommets. The location of the power supply which is equipped with a plate, it will be necessary to remove it using the hand screws, screw the power supply and put it in place with the plate then screw the latter back to the box. The little extra here is the button at the top left which turns on or off the LEDs on the back and inside the box (the NZXT logo on the power supply cover).

Note that all the hand screws present in the NZXT Noctis 450 are integral, that is to say that once unscrewed they will remain in place, a very good point for those who have an annoying tendency to lose the screws!

Here is the interior of the Noctis 450! The design is very clean here, rubber grommets, SSD carriages, power supply cover, holes to pass cables all over the place as well as a large plate that hides those ugly hard drives. Let’s see all of this in more detail. Let’s face it, the interior is 100% identical to what we find on the H440, which is not a bad thing though!

The plates used to install the SSDs are placed on the power supply cover, behind each of them a hole for passing the power and Sata cables, so as to keep everything as clean as possible. It goes without saying that people who like to display their gear will be in heaven 😉

Under the plates for SSDs there is a plastic strip with the NZXT logo, which will light up when the LEDs are on.

The brackets are painted black, removable and equipped with hand screws, the quality is very good and the vents will not block the air flow at the bottom of the case.

3 rubber grommets are present on the edge of the motherboard, they handle well and are of a reasonable size, no worries.

The fan at the back, a 14cm FN V2 running at a maximum speed of 1000 RPM, if it’s the same model as on the Kraken X41 (and H440) it should be really pretty good, especially at the level noise pollution (no engine noise, clicking noise, etc.).

We see the foam through the locations of the fans above, nothing out of the ordinary 😉

At the back we can see that it is still a little loaded, in addition to the cables of the front panel there are also PCBs for the fans and the LEDs. Note that there is between 1.77 cm and 3.25 cm for the storage of cables at the back of the motherboard, which should be sufficient if the job is well done! A lot of clips are available to tie the cables and thus make the whole thing cleaner.

On the bottom and behind the power supply there is a significant place to put a whole bunch of cables, a non-modular power supply would be perfectly suited without affecting the final look of the machine, which is a very good point.

The cages are made of metal, all equipped with 4 rubber pads which should help to attenuate the vibrations, on the other hand they are only present on one side, on the other side the screw will directly touch the metal so it is very likely that that vibrations pass, we will see that during the tests!

Now let’s see a very interesting little part of the Noctis 450, the small PCBs on the back! On the right nothing exceptional, a PCB used to control the rear LEDs and the logo inside. On the other hand, the PSB on the left is a real leap forward compared to the H440, in fact it is able to control 8 fans simultaneously in relation to the temperature of the processor, and all of which can be controlled automatically by the motherboard. To do this, simply connect the processor fan (s) to the white socket, and connector on the motherboard the PWM cable which leaves from the rheobus, to be more precise here are the cables:

This will plug into the motherboard.

This one accommodates the processor fan (s), nothing could be simpler!

The configuration used during the tests is as follows:

A rather large configuration therefore due to its huge cooler and the 3 slots taken by the graphics card. The NZXT Noctis 450 will be tested once with the fans (including the 2 cooler fans) connected to the rheobus in “Silent” mode, once in “Full Speed” mode with only the SSD connected. Another test will take place in “Silent” mode with the Raptor hard drive connected, it being literally a hell in terms of its vibrations that will allow to see the effectiveness of silentblocs.

The assembly in the Noctis 450 went without the slightest problem, everything fits perfectly and there is enough room to work in excellent conditions. The rubbers of the grommets are malleable and do not come out of the slot instantly as in some other cases. It will also be very easy to hide unnecessary cables thanks to the space available in front of the power supply in addition to the many outlets around the motherboard.

The lights

Since the Noctis 450 is still equipped with a lot of lights, a quick glance should be given, the button on the back allows you to go through 4 lighting modes and 1 all off mode:

• Rear I / O panel on , light strips from below to maximum on , logo on
• Rear I / O panel off , bottom light strips at maximum on , logo on
• Rear I / O panel off , light strips from below at minimum on , logo on
• Rear I / O panel off , bottom light strips off , logo on
• All off

Some small photos to support it all:

There is therefore something for everyone, from the most flashy to the most discreet, it will be enough to press a few times on the back to change all that, we like it or we don’t like it but it is clear that the light in the back of the case will be more than welcome when going under the desk!

In order to test the box, I will carry out an OCCT Power Supply test for 30mins and then take the temperatures of the main components such as the processor (average of the 4 cores), the motherboard, the graphics card as well as the hard drive.
Regarding noise pollution, I will proceed as in the file on silent PCs namely 1 statement in front, right, left, rear and above.

The NZXT Noctis 450 will face the case used for the silent pc backrest, the Corsair Carbide 300R modified for the needs of the same backrest as well as the NZXT H440, Cooler Master Silencio 652S, the Fractal Design Define R5 as well as the Aerocool DS200. The choice of boxes is not random, all these boxes are rather silent so the NZXT Noctis 450 will have a lot to do!

Rest

As we can see at rest, the temperatures are very good, whether in “Silent” mode or with the fans on full blast. With 35 ° for the motherboard, 34 ° for the processor and 31 ° for the graphics card in “Silent” mode, the components therefore benefit from the superior ventilation of the Noctis 450 compared to its big brother the H440, even if at rest the difference is not huge.
Note that when you see the results fully, you have to count on the fact that the 2 fans of the Noctua NH-D15 are also running at full speed!

Ambient sound level: 31dB

Like the H440 the results in “Silent” are really very good, the fact of connecting the fans in PWM even makes the Noctis 450 quieter than its big brother. With 34 dB maximum with the Raptor installed and 33 dB without the latter in “Silent” mode, it is clear that the box will not disturb very much, apart from the most picky among us because due to its ventilation, however, it lets out more. noise than the H440, although this is not visible on the readings. Note that like the H440 the vibrations of the disc are propagated and the difference with and without is very marked in the ear.

However, here we are facing a real wind tunnel, the 2 fans of the Noctua not helping of course! With 50 dB maximum at the back it is better not to have it next to your ears otherwise it may drive you crazy. The readings are however only indicative really, the PWM rheobus is there to ventilate just what is necessary, not to have a permanent wind tunnel.
Note that the fans on the other hand do not really emit any parasitic noises, whether it is clicking or purring coming from the motor, they are really very pleasant to the ear and it really pleases.

Charge

In load, we can see that the Noctis 450 does a bit better than its big brother H440, but the ventilation mode is different because while managed automatically by the PWM rheobus, the fans circulating air in relation to the needs of the processor. In “Silent” the processor rises to 65 °, the graphics card to 72 ° and the motherboard remains at a very good 40 °, there is really nothing to say the components are very well cooled.

Once all the fans in the tower are fully up, however, the processor is delighted and goes down to 57 °, the graphics card does not complain at 65 ° either, and the motherboard also goes down to 36 °! No need to have an IQ of 160 to see that the performance of the Noctis once the fans are working is very good, no wonder with 4 fans!

Ambient sound level: 31dB

The results of noise pollution under load are very interesting, we can see that despite the PWM management of the fans of the box (and therefore they do not remain at the minimum compared to other boxes) the Noctis 450 is clearly not noisy! The fact of having a dynamic air flow allows the fans of the cooler to run slower and therefore to reduce the main source of noise pollution, which means that once charging the Noctis 450 is one of the most quieter in the comparison, and even ahead of the H440! The raptor as usual on the other hand very slightly increases all this (1 dB on all measures).

With the fans at full speed, on the other hand, the noise generated does not logically change compared to the results obtained at rest, namely very noisy 😉

Here we are at the end of this test, what about the NZXT Noctis 450?
NZXT took its baby the H440 and decided to do a complete overhaul of the exterior design, finished the sobriety that qualified the latter and place the futuristic look of the brand, like it or not! In addition to the aesthetic change, the airflow has been revised upwards thanks to larger vents, the fan hub has been updated to operate in PWM depending on the temperature of the processor and lights have been added!

The positive points of the H440 are still there, namely very good quality of manufacture and finish, the fans are always excellent and the assembly is easy thanks to the available space.

Some negative points of the H440 have been erased, the air flow and the rheobus for example, but the Noctis 450 still suffers from the transmission of vibrations from the hard disks to the carcass, we are here almost in front of a faultless!
Offered at a price of around 160 € the Noctis 450 is more expensive by 20 € compared to its big brother but just the addition of a rheobus of much better bill would justify this increase for me, there are always the 4 high-end brand fans and LEDs which are not free either! Considering the features and equipment present, it is still quite difficult not to recommend the NZXT Noctis 450 for a high-end gamer config, as long as of course we like the look 😉

Advantages

• Manufacturing quality / finish
• Equipment
• Very good quality fans
• Rheobus PWM
• Performance

Disadvantages

• Loud ventilation
• Hard drive vibration

A big thank you to NZXT who allowed me to do this test.

Where to find the NZXT Noctis 450?

Related posts:

7-nanometer Nvidia GPU, TSMC will handle most of the production ASRock X299, a new BIOS allows you to install 2 TB of memory MSI Prestige X570 Creation Review: Test | Specs | Hashrate Radeon RX 5500 XT, PCI Express 3.0 castrates performance? An overclocker ran 1TB of RAM on an X299 motherboard limited to 256GB Best Review 2021: MSI MPG X570 Gaming Edge WiFi Under $250 ($200)