This new model from the NOX HUMMER series is a mid-tower type tower compatible with ATX, ITX and Micro ATX cards. The chassis is made of 0.6mm and 0.5mm SPCC steel, while the rest of the tower parts are made of ABS plastic, which provides great strength and very controlled weight.
This tower has space to install two 3.5-inch hard drives or 2 2.5-inch drives. It has enough space for larger heatsinks, up to 185mm, and graphics cards up to 395mm. It can also accommodate up to 10 fans and several possibilities for liquid cooling systems. Concretely, you can configure the cooling in the following way:
Fans:
- Upper part: 3 x 120 mm / 2 x 140 mm.
- Front part: 3 of 120 mm / 3 of 140 mm.
- Rear: 1 of 120 mm (included)
- Bottom: 3,120 mm.
Liquid-cooled radiators:
- Front: 240, 280 or 360 mm radiators.
- Rear: 120mm radiator.
- Top: 240, 280 or 360 mm radiators.
At the rear there are also 7 expansion bays.
The front of the tower, in addition to the LCD screen, is made of plastic and steel and features a mesh design to aid airflow. The right side is also a tempered glass panel. As for the power supply hole, it is compatible with standard ATX power supplies.
Concerning the connections found there, we can highlight:
- Two USB 3.0 ports.
- A USB 3.1 Type-C port.
- HD audio connector.
- Microphone connector.
- Power button.
- Reset button.
The size of the tower is 230mm wide by 456mm long and 470mm high. Its weight is 5.9 kilograms. And its official price is 119.90 dollars.
Unboxing and external analysis
The tower is delivered in a cardboard box, very well protected inside. On the front we find a photo of the tower itself, with its screen, while on the sides we will find the technical specifications of the semi-tower in question.
When we remove the chassis, we find a plastic bag that protects the tower from dust and possible scratches, as well as two pieces of polystyrene that are responsible for protecting it from transport shocks.
The first thing that logically catches our attention is the facade. A third of this surface area is taken up by the characteristic 8-inch LCD screen. The rest of the facade is occupied by a mesh which lets air pass through to improve ventilation.
The upper part of the tower is protected by a magnetic dust filter, which will help us keep the inside of the tower clean from dust. We also have the connection ports and power and reset buttons for the tower.
The left side is made of a tempered glass plate. This side opens like a door thanks to the two hinges that we have on the back of it. This makes the task of accessing the interior of the tower easier, since we save ourselves the hassle of seeing where to place the glass side so that it doesn't break.
At the back we find the power hole, the 7 expansion slots, the motherboard hole and the space for the fans.
The right side is a steel plate, but it has ventilation slots, which is always useful.
And finally, we find the bottom of the tower. There is a ventilation slot with a dust filter to prevent dirt from entering the interior of the tower, as well as 4 feet, with rubber finishes, on which the tower itself will rest.
Internal analysis
The first thing we will do is dismantle the facade of the tower. To do this, simply pull it outwards from the bottom to release it. We see that the front doesn't have much, just a cable, which connects the LCD screen to the motherboard, and a dust filter.
In the front connections, we find the cable which goes to the USB port of the motherboard, as well as a USB-C port, delivered without cable.
The left side of the tower opens like a door. Simply remove the hole on the right of the glass to open it. Thanks to the hinges on the back of the tower we can open this door to over 225 degrees, so it won't bother us at any time during assembly.
On the back we also have two screws that allow us to remove the right panel of the tower. We loosen them and remove them to access the interior.
In this rear part we find all the wiring for the tower, the space for the power supply and all the spaces for the wiring channeling. We like that there is space behind the motherboard socket so that if we need to change a backplate, we don't have to take the entire PC apart.
The power supply space is prepared for ATX power supplies. In addition, it also has an adapter for placing hard drives, 2.5 inches and 3.5 inches. We can use the rest of the space to store the remaining wiring.
On the front we can also see that it is a very spacious tower, with good channeling and space to mount any component we want without problem.
The wiring comes out of the top of the tower and is typical: USB 3.0 cable, USB-C cable, HD Audio, the power and reset buttons and, in addition, it is USB 2.0 for the LCD screen.
We also have a bag with the screws necessary to carry out the entire assembly.
PC assembly
As usual, the first thing we did was install the power supply in the tower. This fits perfectly from the back, and once inside you just need to tighten the four screws. It left us with a bit of a bittersweet taste that we didn't have rubber mounts to reduce vibration, but that's not critical either.
Once the source is mounted, the next step will be to mount the motherboard. The tower, inside, is quite wide, so we will have no problem placing it. Once in place, tighten the screws until it is perfectly anchored.
In our case, we noticed the same problem as in the NOX HUMMER ELEMENT range. And despite the fact that the tower has excellent channeling, our base plate goes over the holes. It is true that in this model they are a little larger (slightly), and also the plate is a little higher, so the cables fit better. However, the ideal would be to use a source with flat cables.
Once the motherboard was assembled, we installed the heat sink, one of the tallest on the market. And, as we can see, it fits perfectly into the tower, so we won't have any problems whatever heatsink we mount.
All we have to do now is finish the wiring. We had no issues handling the cables and connecting them to their respective connectors. The only complicated thing, as usual, is powering the CPU, which we recommend doing first to avoid having space issues to maneuver later.
We already have the tower assembled and the computer ready to go.
This is how the LCD screen works
The LCD screen has two connectors. On the one hand, we have the USB port which connects directly to the motherboard, and which is necessary for its operation. And on the other hand, as we have already seen in the photos, we have a USB-C port. We tried everything with this port, and found no use for it. Windows detects it as a corrupted USB device and there is no way to do anything. The screen works best by connecting the USB port to the motherboard.
Of course, you must first download the NOX HUMMER software. This software is responsible for installing the driver on the PC so that the screen works, and it will be responsible for reading the information from the sensors and customizing the appearance of what appears on the screen.
As soon as we open the program, the first thing we find is a summary of the status of the PC, with the usage of each component, its temperature and other relevant information.
If we enter the “Settings” section, we can adjust the sensors we want the program to read.
And, at the bottom we will see an “8 inch” section where we can customize the appearance of the LCD screen. We can see that several themes are preinstalled, so we can choose the one we like the most. For example, we had to change the screen rotation to 180º, because the image appeared upside down.
For any changes (theme, appearance, typography, resources, etc.) we will have to stop the service with the “Stop” button, then restart it from the same button.
The LCD screen now works. The truth is that, although the possibilities it offers seemed a little limited to us (it could have become, for example, a second screen for the PC, or offer the possibility of displaying other types of information, like music streamed on Spotify), the image quality and brightness are very good.
Conclusion, is it worth it?
Looking for a different tower? Look no further. While many manufacturers are betting on the inclusion of small LCD screens in components (like in liquid cooling), NOX has gone further and integrated an 8-inch screen on the front of the tower itself.
The NOX HUMMER BIOS opts for a clean and minimalist design, without RGB as standard, to give a sober and professional look. The screen on the front is undoubtedly its main feature, a plus that, now that we have tried it, we hope to see more often from now on in high-end towers. As standard, it comes with 27 different designs, but if you have time, you can create your own thanks to the theme editor included in the program itself.
Otherwise, we are dealing with a high-end tower at a mid-range price. Good materials, good construction and space for very easy assembly. Although not everything is good, because we cannot ignore some of its handicaps, such as the fact that it does not include any fan as standard, or some minor details that should be present in this tower, such as the rubber grafts at the back. of the power supply.
For all these reasons, we have decided to award the NOX HUMMER BIOS our gold medal, particularly highlighting its design.
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