NZXT Crafted Series ATX Full Tower Steel Chassis - Phantom White

End of last year when I did my new build I only ever had 1 case in mine and that was a white NZXT Phantom. A mix of cutting edge never seen before looks or the fact it wasn't black there was always something about it that even though I saw most other cases out from the first mention of my build it was always to be this case and I have to say after 1 year of solid use it has proven itself to be a great case. Lets start with the good things.

Positives
-It looks stunning. Where most cases are square and industrial looking this case steps outside the norm and looks like something straight out of a sci fi film. Although this look doesn't suit some I peronally love it and suits very well with my loop currently in it (pics on my account).
-The amount of fans and fan controller this thing comes with is also a big plus. The fan controller can power 7 fans and control 5 sets individually making this a great case for air cooling without having to spend any more money.
-The front 5.25" bay cover is very nice to hiding away the dvd drive and my res keeping that slick look of the case going. Although I could keep going on about the good thinks for yonks I should point out there are some bad points to this case as well.

Negatives
-The first is the fact that you cannot put any other 200mm fans into the case apart from NZXT ones which cost an arm an a leg and are not as good as other cheaper ones out though tbh you don't actually need any more 200mm.
-The feet. Where most cases are raised off the ground abit this case is barely raised at all and it has grip strips that are poorly held on so by now all mine have come off from transporting to lans etc.
-And on the topics of lans if you are looking for a lan box then look the opposite direction as this is not what you want. Although I told myself that I wont do it often moving it is still a hassle.
-The front and top of the case are plastic. This might disgruntle some people but all props to NZXT for making a very sturdy plastic and tbh it doesn't bother me one bit.

Overall though this case is one amazing case that if you are in the market for a mid priced pull tower that will make a statement then you should consider look no further than this case you will not be dissapointed.

As the title suggests, this is in fact one of the best cases I've worked with. And I've worked with quite a few cases in the last decade.

I've worked with an Antec DF-85, Twelve Hundred, the old Eleven Hundred, and many others in a computer build store.
Now I've got the Phantom, and I've had it for about a little more than two months, I think.
And I'm happy with it, but I'm just someone who likes to switch cases once in a while, like many people do with graphic cards. Very soon I'll have the Cosmos II and then this case will go to my brother, who's happy to have it.

But let me get started about the case itself. In comparison, it's about 10cm deeper (from the front to the back, I mean) than the DF-85, and that I do LOVE.

The whole case was covered in plastic sheets so as to protect it from dust, when it came out of the box.
I live in an appartment without escalators, just stairs, and I have to admit, it wasn't tiresome picking it up and going up two floors, not at all. Of course, it's a case, so it DOES weigh more than just a simple mouse, but still, it's light enough to be carried around.

Once out of the box and once every piece of plastic sheet was removed from every panel, the Phantom was unveiled to me. It looks gorgeous. I don't think the pictures do it enough credit.
Although, to be entirely honest with you, I was SOOO sad when the shop I bought it in told me the black version of it won't be delivered instead. So technically, the white version was merely my second choice, but man am I happy with it.

If you look at the front, you'll notice that there's a front panel cover, which opens very smoothly, and closes again using magnets. The cover itself is really thick, which gives me the feeling I'm dealing with quality, and I like that.
The area behind the cover reveals 5 5.25" slots covered with black see-through little panels, which slide open as easy as "pull a little lever softly and there we go". I personally have an external DVD burner, and my HDD is in the botttom area, so the whole 5 slots are just the way I bought them, which, as soon as you open the cover, results in an unexpectly pleasant and nice view of the motherboard and all its parts from the front, a view I haven't seen too often yet.

If we look at the top, there'll be 5 fan controllers, of which 4 will work (and the other one leads to a fan that's optional).

And there's a negative part, if you asked me. I think an increased price would still be worth it, if NZXT provided more case fans stock, instead of optional. I mean, in the front of the case, at the very bottom, you'll see that there's a black area. Behind that black area SHOULD have been a 200mm fan, but instead, we gaze into white steel...
Honestly, if the case would be black instead of wihte, I might not even have noticed it, but the black area in front of the white steel... that could've been done better, imo.

Also, another negative thing in my opinion, is that there are no easily removeable dust filters.
Agreed, it's easy enough to simply wipe the dust off with your hand on the outer side of the doors, but still, I like those easily removeable dust filters that cases such as the Cosmos II provide. You take em out, put em in the water, dry it and ALL dust is gone, as opposed to wiping the outer surface of the door with your hand, for example.

Also, me personally, I find the combination of a white case and black fan/air outlets on the side a bit ugly. I find it gooooorgeous on the top, especcially with the blue LED 200mm fan and the blue colored fan controller lights, but the sides, nah... And honestly, why those shapes? I mean, if it were rectangles, maybe, but what shapes are those?

OK, admittedly, I may be *****ing a little too much about little details there, but looks are extremely important for me.

Also, one of the doors has two fans attached to it. These fans would cool any HDDs that might be present in the bottom area, but at a price. Logically, those fans have little wires that need to be attached to wires coming from the fan controller, so that means that the door itself would be attached to the case and you'd need to have special care opening the door, which isn't something I like. If I wanna open a door, I just wanna open the damn door and not notice the door is getting a little stuck by a wire. They'd do a better job if they put those two fans right in front of the HDD cages, but right behind the side panel. If Cooler Master can do that, why not NZXT?

One immensely positive thing I have to say about the case, is that it runs immensively quieter than the DF-85. I mean, if I put on the DF-85 and put it in one end of the appartment, I could enter my appartment (through the door (obviously ) which is located at the complete opposite end of the appartment) and hear like: "oh, my PC is on".

That's impossible with the NZXT Phantom, it runs incredibly quiet. When I strike a key with my G15 keyboard, I don't even hear the case anymore.

The inside of the case is big enough to allow almost any GPU in it, as well as almost any giant CPU cooler, such as my noctua NF-D14. Speaking of which, this case in combination with the NF-D14 results in an excellent airflow, an airflow I've never encountered yet, so good. I mean, I've enabled the two fans in the side panel, from which air will be sucked in. The air gets sucked in, and comes across my NF-D14, which is positioned just so that all air will be blasted towards the top, where a big 200mm fan will be waiting for it. So, this results in two nicely cool fans in the side panel, and the higher you go, the warmer it gets, and when you put your hand on the top fan, you'll notice it's warm (well, warmer). I prefer to put my fan controller on silent, except for the top fan which I put on maximum. But it's all so logical, cool air gets sucked in from the side panel, it rises, and the top fan will blow all the warm air out. So nice to see.

I give this case a 4.5/5. Really a great case.