NZXT Phantom, any good?

FragTek

FragTek

New member
Someone mentioned that my case was starting to get dated and that I should upgrade....
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Cases - at least typically, for a good one - are expensive. I didn't want to break the bank so I started looking at every case I could find in the $100-150 category. After extensive research I have come up with the NZXT Phantom looking like it may end up as the replacement to my trusty Tagan/ABS Monolith.

Things that I liked about the Monolith that I didn't want to give up:

- Lots of 3.5" internal bays (i have lots of hard drives) with easy access (ie, facing the case side, not the mobo) and tool less mounting.

- Space in the mobo area for longer video card.

- Lots of airflow.

Things that I didn't like about the Monolith:

- No cable routing channels or space behind the mobo tray to hide cables.

- Dull grey interior

- Top PSU mounting

- Plain looking

Now from what I can tell, the Phantom will address absolutely all of these likes and dislikes:

- It has plenty of easily accessibly 3.5" internal bays

- Tons of space in the main compartment

- Lots of different airflow options, more-so than the Monolith

- Case bottom PSU mounting

- Cable cutouts in the tray with plenty of space behind the tray for cable management

- Solid black interior

- Looks pretty badass (less worried about external aesthetics than I am about true functionality and cooling)

- Only $125 shipped!

Is it just me or does this seem like a lot of case with a lot of nice features for not a lot of $$$?
 
The Phantom from personal experience handling it is a really good case. It's definitely a case to consider for the long run. I would also suggest looking at Fractal Design R3 and Define Mini for ease of use, great airflow if and when you need it, sound dampening material, and an overall clean and simple look.

Personally I'd go with a Fractal R3 any day. Something to note is that it's a mid tower and not a full tower chasis like the NZXT Phantom.

Worthwhile to take a look.
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http://www.fractal-design.com
 
FragTek said:
Tell me what you hated about it.
Click to expand...

twas really flimsy fare enough i had four rigs inside it but the side panels bend easily, the tooless optical bay locks break, the hdd caddies pins fall out too easily, cable grommets fall out, the plastic casing is crapola probably a few more things as well just cant think of them now
 
CocaCola said:
The Phantom from personal experience handling it is a really good case. It's definitely a case to consider for the long run. I would also suggest looking at Fractal Design R3 and Define Mini for ease of use, great airflow if and when you need it, sound dampening material, and an overall clean and simple look.

Personally I'd go with a Fractal R3 any day. Something to note is that it's a mid tower and not a full tower chasis like the NZXT Phantom.

Worthwhile to take a look.
happy.gif


http://www.fractal-design.com
Click to expand...

I missed this case completely in my research. Looking at it now, it looks to have everything I need on my checklist as well, with an even better price tag, and without such a funky design as the NZXT. Thank you for pointing this case out. It's definitely now my top contender after some of the things villain had to say about the Phantom.

Being a mid-tower, is it wide enough to fit a cooler such as the Silver Arrow or NH-D14 in it?

Edit: Looks like a SA just barely fits, sweet.
smile.gif
I really like this case!

What fans does it come with out of the box? Just an exhaust fan?
 
The Phantom honestly isn't that bad. I haven't had any issues using it for a friend's build/constant upgrades.

Yup, the Fractal R3 is definitely a brilliant case, and it's very very solid. It will fit the D14 with no problems at all. I'd pay a small extra for the white R3 just to look even nicer with the D14. The Silver Arrow should fit, but I have never used one before so you may want to check the specs to see whether it'll fit the R3. Just a bit worried about the height. I remember it belong just slightly taller than the D14.

I just finished a build for a friend in the black R3 with a D14 including 5 Noctua fans in the case and it's amazing how silent it is even with the side panels off. When you have everything closed you won't be able to hear much of anything except for the air exiting from the fan mesh areas.
happy.gif
 
I won't be too worried about noise with it, I don't mind noise.

I would plan on replacing the rear exhaust fan with an Ultra Kaze (~45db), 2 x 120mm 109cfm Slipstreams in the front (~39db), and then 2 undecided 140mm fans for the roof.

Someone noted that there's a place for a fan on the floor of the case but the pix I am looking at on Newegg suck. That same person mentioned you can only use it if using a REALLY short PSU. Can you chime in on this?
 
Also, where can I buy these awesome braided ATX / PCI / 8 pin mobo power extender cables I'm seeing in everyones builds these days?

picture.php


Edit: Found those @ FrozenCPU by a company called ModRight, and boy they aren't cheap... $52 + shipping for a complete set.
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Not sure I'd be willing to drop that kind of coin just for internal aesthetics for one picture I'd likely take to put online, haha.
 
Yup, the floor of the case does have a fan mount, but you'll have to remove the bracket that holds the fan in place to install a longer PSU. For example, a Corsair AX850 will fit nicely in the case without any problems. Truthfully, you don't need to mount a fan at the bottom. 5 fans fitted in the front, top, and back is more than enough for airflow. The Silverstone Air Penetrators AP121 are very good fans for front intake as they channel the air to all the right places in a consistent air channel. I'd recommend 2 fans in the front, 1 at the top as exhaust and the 1 at the back as another exhaust. You can add more fans if the air cooling still isn't sufficient for you, as the vents are covered for easy access or removal.
happy.gif
 
Bitfenix makes fantastic sleeved cables, but you'll have to look around as I haven't had much luck finding any availability locally in Canada.
happy.gif
 
Just had a look at the demo video they did for those AP121 fans, holy cow those things are AWESOME in comparison to any other conventional fan blade configuration.

You're just full of the good info today man, thanks.
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Thinking about these fans some more. It seems as if they would be better suited to be placed in areas where they would have a "direct path" to HSF fans or exhaust fans. It seems their effectiveness would be pretty shot having them dump air right into the hard drive cages as in the R3 design.

I'm thinking 2 x high cfm front intakes and one of these as a bottom intake would be sweet, it could shift a solid column of air straight up to the GPU's / CPU.

Just thinking out loud now.....
wink.gif
 
There is also the Factal Design XL, which is the R3's big brother. It has room for more hard drives and the top cage can be removed completely for better gpu cooling.

If you do get the R3, make sure that you get the new version that is just hitting the market. It has usb3 connectors as standard on the front, the old version only has usb2.

Have a look at bitfenix for those braided cables, they by far do more colours than everyone else.

http://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/search.php?substring=bitfenix+24
 
sheroo said:
There is also the Factal Design XL, which is the R3's big brother. It has room for more hard drives and the top cage can be removed completely for better gpu cooling.

If you do get the R3, make sure that you get the new version that is just hitting the market. It has usb3 connectors as standard on the front, the old version only has usb2.

Have a look at bitfenix for those braided cables, they by far do more colours than everyone else.

http://www.specialte...ing=bitfenix+24
Click to expand...

Newegg isn't showing the USB3 version yet, guess I'll have to find it elsewhere or wait for them to update their stock.
 
Ya, they're really good fans. I have 3 of the 14 cm version in the front of my case for intake. Top and rear fan are both Noctuas. My system is running cool even in the summer awhile ago. My room was nearly 30°C. The air penetratoes managed to efficiently push all of the warm air out of the case.

You're very welcome, and sorry if I'm not much of an expert...haha.
happy.gif
 
If you're in North America, there is an upgrade kit that supports USB 3.0 for both R3 and XL chasis.
 
Sheroo, thanks for the link. It's good to know Fractal released the USB 3.0 version. Too bad it hasn't reached Canada yet.
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