NZXT Noctis 450 Review

NZXT Noctis 450 Review

Manufacturer: NZXT
UK price (as reviewed): £109.99 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $139.99 (ex Tax)

The Noctis 450 merges elements from NZXT's much loved H440 with a design that appears to take cues from the iconic Phantom range. The angular front and roof panels, with cutaway sections revealing lots of mesh, add visual interest and are also functional, giving the Noctis 450 a lot more ventilation than the H440 with its more solid, flat panels. The quality of the matt plastic used is decent, and the case stands tall on its high-grip rubber feet.


The pricing pushes the Noctis 450 towards the high-end case market, although NZXT generously equips it with four fans. One of these, the 140mm, acts as a rear exhaust, while the remaining three 120mm fans line the front panel – as with the H440, there are no optical drive bays, meaning more room for cooling.

The I/O panel is easy to access with the case on the floor, and there's plenty of USB connectivity as well as the usual audio jacks. Note that there is no reset button, however.


The trapezoid side window is large and clear, giving you and envious onlookers a good view of the clean interior. Its size does weaken the left panel, as it feels wobblier than the solid metal right one, but when they're attached to the chassis both are more than sturdy enough.

Around back, we find NZXT has stuck with a height adjustable fan mount, neatly allowing you to align the rear exhaust fan with your CPU cooler. There's also the usual seven expansion slots as well as a pair of grommeted external water-cooling holes.


Eagle-eyed readers may also have noticed the small button above the rear I/O panel cutout. This controls the case's lighting; there's a handy white rear I/O LED that allows you to better see the ports round back, two red LED strips along the bottom of the case that give it a pleasant underglow effect and finally an internal LED that lights up the red NZXT logo on the side of the internal PSU cover, which is visible through the window. Pressing the button on the back first turns on all the lights, before deactivating them one by one, allowing you to customise the look of the case. It might have been handy to have the LED control on the front I/O panel, although arguably it's not something you'll need to press too often. Note that the Noctis 450 is available in white too, in which case the underglow and logo LEDs are blue.

The final thing of note externally is the slide-out PSU dust filter. Thankfully, there is enough clearance for you to get a good grip on it to pull out, and it's easy to realign when replacing it too, with no need to lift or tilt the case.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 220 x 544 x 567 (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours Black with red LEDs, White with blue LEDs
  
• Weight 9.5kg
  
• Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3, 2 x USB 2, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays 6 x 3.5in/2.5in, 2 x 2.5in
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 2 x 140mm/3 x 120mm front fan mounts (3 x 120mm fans included), 1 x 140mm/120mm rear fan mount (140mm fan included), 2 x 140mm/3 x 120mm front fan mounts (fans not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 180mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 294mm (406mm without HDD cage)
  
• Extras Removable dust filters, rear I/O LED, under floor LEDs, internal logo LED, PWM fan hub