NZXT Phantom Case Review

The inside of the NZXT Phantom has lots of spaces and holes that make it much easier to make a clean PC build.  Not only are there ample holes, but many of them are grommeted with black rubber to prevent wires from becoming frayed on the case’s metal edges.  There is also a cutout for the underside of your motherboard’s CPU area, so you don’t have to remove your motherboard if you decide to switch heatsinks.

The drive panel has been given a few features to make installation rather tool-less.  The five 5.25″ externally facing drive bays have been given plastic tension mechanisms so that all you have to do is pull them pack, insert your drive, and return the tension mechanism back down.

 While this is a quick and easy method, I have never been a fan of this shortcut.  The drives feel a bit wobbly, and are never as secure as using screws.  If you do use screws ( which I totally recommend), then I would use rubber or vinyl grommets between the screw and the case.  Not only does this help prevent vibration, but will prevent the nice paint job from getting marred or otherwise scratched.

The five internal 3.5″ drive bays have been given black plastic screwless trays to rest in.  The trays come with rubber and metal pegs to secure the drive.  You first place the drive in the tray and then visually line up the drive’s screw holes through the tray’s “window”.  You then insert the rubber plugs into the tray and then shift the drive up to lock the plugs into place.  This is actually a nice design, as the drive is floating on rubber and has natural vibration resistance.

   The case also comes with a small 2.5″ drive bay for securing any SSDs (or laptop drives) you may have.  The installation method is the same as the internal 3.5-inch bays.