NZXT Phantom Case Review

Performance Analysis

With its fans at maximum speed, the Phantom gave an admirable showing, recording a CPU delta T better than the Cooler Master HAF X. It managed to cool the graphics card well too - this was just 3°C hotter than it was inside the HAF X, which recorded the lowest GPU delta T we've seen so far with our new test system. The only other case to beat it was the Antec Dark Fleet DF-85.

Switching the fans to their lowest speed settings saw the CPU delta T rise by a substantial 6°C, although this is still cooler than both the Xigmatek Utgard and Cooler Master CM 690 II at their minimum fan speed settings. The GPU delta T only rose by 3°C when we slowed down the fans and was again cooler than the Cooler Master CM 690 II. Even the Antec Twelve Hundred proved to be 1°C warmer - not a huge amount but given the Twelve Hundred is a high airflow case, the fact the Phantom managed to keep up is no mean feat.

Conclusion

The NZXT Phantom is a breath of fresh air in terms of colour scheme, features and performance. It coped well with our hardware and would make a great case for an overclocked high-end system.


Having five independent, variable fan speed controllers is a real boon too, especially as they're within easy reach on top of the case for fine tuning. It's an easy case in which to install hardware with plenty of tool-free fittings and general space to work with. Cable routeing is provided in abundance - in fact the Phantom excels here and we can say without a doubt that building a neat system inside the Phantom is very easy indeed.


It doesn't quite have the cooling prowess of the HAF X or Darkfleet DF-85, mainly because there are several empty fan mounts, most notably the 200mm monster in the roof whereas the Darkfleet DF-85 fills all its mounts so goes some way to justifying its higher price tag. As a result the Phantom suffers if you lower the fan speed, although the results here weren't terrible by any means and filling the empty fan slots, albeit meaning more outlay, will improve performance further.

We think it looks better than both the HAF X and Darkfleet Df-85, though, even in the white colour scheme our review sample donned. It might also look a bit like a storm trooper but the Phantom is a brilliant effort and the best case we've seen from NZXT.

At time of writing, the Phantom was just starting to trickle into shops in the UK but going on the price NZXT quoted us of £109 inc VAT - not bad but it would have been nice if it was the new sub-£100 king. It tips the scales a bit more than this though and taking into account some other cases we've seen recently in our lab, it would be worth waiting to see what we have in store next week.

• Cooling
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Features
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Design
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Value
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

• Overall
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• x
• -
• -
• 8/10

Score Guide