The NZXT Streaming Plus BLD kit (opens in new tab) is not your typical off-the-shelf gaming PC. It's an absolute monster of a machine, but it's not as simple as most gaming systems; there are pluses and minuses to NZXT's approach, and in fact, NZXT offers a more traditional build for prospective buyers, which most PC gamers will find unwieldy It is not likely to be.

As the name suggests, this is a full PC kit, not a pure pre-build. It has everything you need for a fully functional machine, but unlike most machines, you actually have to assemble it yourself. In many ways, this is similar to what many PC gamers do, assembling a PC completely from scratch themselves, but NZXT has taken the hard work out of component selection. So you won't be frustrated halfway through assembly because the cables are too short, the cooling isn't good enough, or the graphics card won't fit.

Some readers will want to point out that this part of the recent build process is not too difficult, and they would be correct. However, receiving a box with everything you need (i.e., the components), along with clear instructions, and piecing it all together can be a lot of fun.

It's like Lego, but Lego can run Metro Exodus Enhanced at 60fps. Also, the price NZXT is charging is much more affordable than the actual pre-assembled system. For $1,500 you can get an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 (opens in new tab), whereas the RTX 3060 Ti (opens in new tab) is usually the upper limit outside of sales events.

Opening the BLD kit is a fun experience, with a mix of NZXT-branded boxes and brown boxes containing third-party parts such as motherboards and graphics cards. are mixed in with brown boxes containing third-party parts such as motherboards and graphics cards. Literally.

I have built several systems over the years and followed the guide as if I were a beginner. It's only towards the end when dealing with the wiring that the general nature of the manual makes things a bit tricky, but still not as frustrating. A full build takes about one to two hours, which is not bad.

A little more time could have been spent on cable management for the guide. If you want to spend an extra hour to make sure the back of the machine looks perfect, be my guest. Because building your own system means being just a little bit more particular about the final shape.

I was quite pleased with the end result, and the temperatures suggest that there was ample airflow in the case itself.

It is worth noting that NZXT has updated this kit since it was first acquired for review. This means that it has jumped up from a 6-core, 12-thread chip to an 8-core, 16-thread CPU; the 5700X's base speed is a low 3.4 GHz, but the maximum boost is the same at 4.6 GHz, and it runs at this speed for most of the time during gaming. Basically, it won't make a huge difference in gaming, but for more serious work, especially if the emphasis is on streaming games, the extra cores are definitely welcome. [1TB NVMe SSD with 16GB of DDR4-3200 We only saw a PCIe 3.0 SSD, specifically a WD_Blue SN570, but at least it has enough capacity to play with. The SSD has Windows 11 Home installed by default, and it is always a fun experience to see a new build boot up with Windows for the first time. The only work left for NZXT is to download and update the graphics drivers; there are also a number of Windows updates, but they are not onerous tasks.

There is no bloatware on the machine; in fact, the only thing preinstalled is the NZXT CAM software used to control the RGB lighting on the Kraken 120 all-in-one cooler. On that note, this may be a windowed case, but it is not overflowing with LEDs, just the aforementioned CPU cooler. I don't mind it at all, but it's worth keeping in mind if your new machine needs a little bling.

System Performance

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X on this machine is fine for gaming, although in some tests it lags behind competitors in the same price range, such as ABS Master (open in new tab) and Build Redux 'Good' Powered by an Intel Core i5 12400, this chip puts up more impressive numbers in both single-core and multi-threaded performance in the Cinebench R23 test. [The X264 video encoding test shows that AMD's Zen 3 architecture can still put up numbers. It recorded 39 fps in the same benchmark, which is slightly faster than both of these machines. However, for serious CPU performance, the iBuyPower SLMBG218 (opens in a new tab) is the way to go. This system is powered by a Core i7 12700F, and this chip delivers about twice the multi-threaded performance in Cinebench and X264.

Gaming Benchmarks

When it comes to gaming, the RTX 3070 is the star of the show. With most similarly priced machines shipping with RTX 3060 Ti at best, this NZXT system is simply an excellent choice for gamers. Its lead may be subtle at times, but it offers the smoothest experience in every game we tested.

It is the only machine in this price range that can achieve 60 fps on Metro Exodus Enhanced at 1440p Ultra settings. This game may be getting a little old, but it still looks great and shows off the machine's capabilities. Most of the other games are at 1440p, an approximate 10% improvement over the 3060 Ti-based machine.

Basically, you will be able to play most games at the top setting of 1440p without any problems. Also, the DLSS helps with ray-tracing-heavy titles, making it easy to show off the best games this machine can do and not feel shortchanged. 4K is not too demanding, making it a versatile choice for many gaming setups.

Overall, the NZXT Streaming Plus BLD Kit is easy to recommend and a great option for anyone looking to buy a gaming PC now. Of course, it takes time to assemble, but all components are guaranteed to work well, and you are likely to get to know your PC better in the process.