NZXT Noctis 450 ROG Review

Performance Analysis

The out-of-box cooling of the Noctis 450 ROG is undeniably excellent. As with all cases, we ran the fans at full speed, so what you see here is best-case scenario (get it?), and better than you'd see when utilising the PWM signal. However, the results speak for themselves, and the Noctis 450 ROG has the best out-of-box results of any case with our current hardware so far. The CPU delta T of 47°C has only been bettered by a case with eight aftermarket 120mm fans fitted to it, and the GPU dellta T of 46°C occupies the joint top position of the graph along with a few other offerings.

This isn't really surprising. There is ample ventilation in both the front and the roof. The trio of intake fans pull in a lot of air, which is helpful for the GPU, and the drive trays create minimal interference. A single exhaust fan takes care of the CPU, although as we mentioned before, there is also likely a positive pressure effect taking place that helps to exhaust more air through the porous roof.


Further good news is that even with four fans running at full speed, the NZXT Noctis 450 ROG is not particularly loud. Sure, you can hear the fans, but the noise output was a lot less than expected. This means you can expect very low noise in idle situations, as the PWM control will tame the fans to low speeds.

Conclusion

We were a little disappointed to learn that this wasn't actually a new edition of the Noctis 450 but just a version of it with a new paint job and some additional lighting. It's an understandable move, as it means that there are less alterations needed to the tooling and assembly processes, but still somewhat underwhelming given the significant price difference between the standard Noctis 450 and this one.

However, it's important to remember the role the weakened pound plays here, as goods are imported based on their dollar value. The Noctis 450 was a $140 chassis at launch and still is that price in the States. In the UK, it has risen from £110 at launch to £120 now, so it has been affected by post-referendum pricing, but less so than new cases would be. As such, a new $180 case like this one is sold for £180, and suddenly a $40 price difference between the older and newer cases becomes a £60 difference here. Does that change the fact that £60 is a massive premium to pay for a bump to aesthetics and lighting? No, and it doesn't make it much easier to swallow. However, the fact remains that new hardware is more expensive than it once would've been, and this applies across the board.


The other thing to remember is that this is really only a case for one type of customer: he or she who has a new build with an Asus Aura-enabled ROG motherboard and maybe even a graphics card to match, and that seems unlikely to us to be someone with a particular concern for value for money. You are, of course, free to use whatever hardware you choose in this case, but unless you're utilising the RGB lighting, it's somewhat wasted on you, and the ROG branding plastered onto the side panel makes it clear that consistency is the aim. As such, most of us can look right past this case, although the standard version is well worth a look if cooling performance is important to you, as this case truly excels there.

Meanwhile, if you are the sort of customer this case was designed for, it definitely won't let you down. It has excellent cooling and lighting systems, decent cable management and water-cooling support, and is easy to work with. Still, a few build quality niggles and the fact NZXT hasn't used the opportunity to upgrade the case anywhere else holds it back from an award - RGB headers and strips mean even novices can kit their case out with RGB lighting pretty easily now and probably for less cost, even if it's not quite as neatly integrated as it is here. Still, it's a great candidate for an RGB-tastic Asus build, assuming you love rather than hate the Marmite-flavoured aesthetics.