Having taken a look at a fair few of the Enthoo range so thought we'd take a gander at the brand new Eclipse P400
Phanteks Eclipse P400 Review
Phanteks Eclipse P400 Review
- Thread starter tinytomlogan
- Start date
Having taken a look at a fair few of the Enthoo range so thought we'd take a gander at the brand new Eclipse P400
Phanteks Eclipse P400 Review
Feronix
New member
The reason that it doesn't fit an additional radiator is quite simple business for Phanteks really. It's a £50 case. If they made if fit a reasonably thick 360mm AND a slim 240mm, then obviously a lot less people are going to buy their more expensive Enthoo Pro and Evolv ATX cases.
That'd be shooting themselves in the foot, especially since they've already outdone all the competition with this case anyway. It fits a bigger radiator than the S340 and has sound dampening materials, all while being a tenner cheaper. The S340 only fits a single 140mm fan in the roof as well, with a stupid little square vent that you can't cover up
The P400 is even a full 20 quid cheaper than the Define S, all while offering mostly the same features but it doesn't look completely empty and silly if you don't put 2x 360mm rads in it.
All in all, considering its price I really like this case and I think it's done a very good job of a balance between being both aircooling, and watercooling friendly. Besides, who in their right mind would do a full on £300 watercooling loop with 2 big radiators in a 50 quid case? No, I think this case perfectly targets the market, filling up a gap between the S340 and the Define S that has been missing so far, whilst being cheaper than both.
That'd be shooting themselves in the foot, especially since they've already outdone all the competition with this case anyway. It fits a bigger radiator than the S340 and has sound dampening materials, all while being a tenner cheaper. The S340 only fits a single 140mm fan in the roof as well, with a stupid little square vent that you can't cover up
The P400 is even a full 20 quid cheaper than the Define S, all while offering mostly the same features but it doesn't look completely empty and silly if you don't put 2x 360mm rads in it.
All in all, considering its price I really like this case and I think it's done a very good job of a balance between being both aircooling, and watercooling friendly. Besides, who in their right mind would do a full on £300 watercooling loop with 2 big radiators in a 50 quid case? No, I think this case perfectly targets the market, filling up a gap between the S340 and the Define S that has been missing so far, whilst being cheaper than both.
Thats my point in the review, it could have and should have been amazing. With this design its pretty easy they have done it on purpose.
It just doesnt sit right with me.
It just doesnt sit right with me.
Feronix
New member
Yeah they could've easily made it fit, but that's how business works unfortunately. If they made it as good as the Enthoo Pro at nearly half the price, they'd go out of business :lol:
Either way, imho it's still the best case your 50 quid can buy at this point in time, so it certainly is a worthy purchase.
Either way, imho it's still the best case your 50 quid can buy at this point in time, so it certainly is a worthy purchase.
Very different cases. Why not have a basic case people can grow into?
But no we will gimp the top on purpose and then end up with it effecting the entire case.
This had the chance to be THE BEST £60 case ever launched. But no. Coz bizniz.
Doomslayer
New member
I like the colour scheme. Other than that it just looks like a Fractal with a PSU shroud lol.
Thanks as ever for the review
Hey....Nothing wrong with Fractal
Tolemac
Active member
Interesting review here Tom for me anyway. Having just changed out from a Zalman Z11 Neo to an Enthoo Pro myself I would say that both you and Feronix have valid points in the thread discussion. The case could have been better if it wasn't for the top and would have made an awesome beginners case for anyone wanting to get into custom loops or fitting dual AIO'S for their cpu and Gpu on a budget. However the Enthoo Pro has so much more to offer i.e pump mount bracket and res mounts built in so it would be a business strategy as to why they didn't offset the top mounting holes so I would agree with both of you on this thread.
Dark NighT
New member
Yep i agree with this, It might push the enthoo pro a bit of a cliff, but a lot of people would just want a small case like this and if everyone promoted it because it clearly deserves to when they fix that roof, Phanteks would just make more money.
All cases were like this ~3 years ago and when ASUS strolled along with gigantic Formula armour and mosfet waterblock AIO compatibility took a big hit, at the time it was still growing in popularity so it was easier to overlook I guess. But it is a very bloated out board when you compare it to Maximus V Formula. Not saying you should review cases in the past, just that this happened in the past on cases double the price.
It's understandable from a manufacturing, aesthetic, business and structural standpoint why the roof panel is pressed the way it is and if AIO's still fit in the front it's not like it's a useless case. Holding full watercooling support against a £60 case is very harsh the cost is just insignificant at the side of nice kit. Watercooling clearly isn't for people remotely concerned with price/performance, they literally want to spend money and have something to play with and this isn't the case for them, it's £60 who expected that. I think for someone buying a cheap black and white motherboard, a normal AIO and some other cheerful items this would be a top pick still.
JR
It's understandable from a manufacturing, aesthetic, business and structural standpoint why the roof panel is pressed the way it is and if AIO's still fit in the front it's not like it's a useless case. Holding full watercooling support against a £60 case is very harsh the cost is just insignificant at the side of nice kit. Watercooling clearly isn't for people remotely concerned with price/performance, they literally want to spend money and have something to play with and this isn't the case for them, it's £60 who expected that. I think for someone buying a cheap black and white motherboard, a normal AIO and some other cheerful items this would be a top pick still.
JR
You couldnt use an AIO with any motherboard that has anything above the CPU dude, including an 8pin power connector.
"because more expensive cases"
Its not a mistake, its cheap. The decided to not support it.
Apparently Im making a fuss over nothing.
Feronix
New member
But you can put it in the front, like on the £10 more expensive S340. And the P400 supports 360mms and thicker rads.
Not disagreeing with you, it was a crap move of them to deliberately leave it out. But, from a business standpoint I can also understand why they did it. And despite the fact it doesn't support a radiator in the roof, to me it simply seems like the best case in its price bracket.
How many other £50 cases even support a 360mm radiator, an option for a silent version, a window this nice and a PSU shroud? Nevermind all these features on a single case. Gotta admit I'm quite a fan of this case.
S340 is over a year old now. There is enough room in the roof of the P400 and they chose not to
Excalabur50
Well-known member
I agree with you Tom it's 2016 and cases SHOULD support an AIO in the roof, it's become virtually standard practice for them now and was a major oversite on Phanteks behalf not to allow it to fit one
Thelosouvlakia
Classy-Fried-Chicken
Meh, that's normal business for Phanteks, although they could, they don't give you enough space for push pull configs on the top of the Enthoo pro, which is kind of dissapointing. -But it's brother case the entoo luxe does- ...
AlienALX
Well-known member
The problem is they have completely ruined it. So yeah, you can fit a 240mm AIO in the front right. So basically your GPUs then cook by swallowing the hot air being fed to them.
I really don't know whether to laugh really loudly or face palm. Actually by sitting here waiting for around ten seconds I actually laughed, so I got the answer to that.....
Edit OK so thinking about it more. You mount a 240mm rad in the front and using the fans as intake you then feed the GPU warm air from the rad. You could fit two fans in the roof as intake, but that would only blow down onto the back of your top GPU and bounce off. There is no way to fit a 240mm AIO and cool your GPUs safely and properly.
The problem is unlike water cooling AIOs are very very easy to fit and are pretty much the weapon of choice right now. If you make a case it absolutely must at least take a 240mm AIO in the top.
I don't want to sound drastic but yeah, not even meeting that criteria these days is an absolute joke. Why not just make it work and charge another tenner or something?
I really don't know whether to laugh really loudly or face palm. Actually by sitting here waiting for around ten seconds I actually laughed, so I got the answer to that.....
Edit OK so thinking about it more. You mount a 240mm rad in the front and using the fans as intake you then feed the GPU warm air from the rad. You could fit two fans in the roof as intake, but that would only blow down onto the back of your top GPU and bounce off. There is no way to fit a 240mm AIO and cool your GPUs safely and properly.
The problem is unlike water cooling AIOs are very very easy to fit and are pretty much the weapon of choice right now. If you make a case it absolutely must at least take a 240mm AIO in the top.
I don't want to sound drastic but yeah, not even meeting that criteria these days is an absolute joke. Why not just make it work and charge another tenner or something?
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TPC
New member
That the GPU's will cook is really a misconception, their Temp will rise by maybe 5°C. I have it tested similarly but only having a R9 295X2 once blowing hot air into the case and once having the rad mounted to the fan mount facing outwards. My CPU temp went from 55°C to now 62°C. That's really marginal also if you consider that a CPU will never put out 500W like the 295.
