A Closer Look - Inside

Once the thumb screws are removed, the side panel comes off very easily. Turning it around, we can clearly see that the two 120 mm, white bladed fans are part of the side panel, while the larger opening is covered by a round dust filter. NZXT has put some effort into the interior layout. While all devices are placed at the usual locations, most of the tooling seems to be unique to this case. Turning the chassis around, we can see that some time has been spent into clean cable routing as well. NZXT seems to have all their bases covered so far.


All cabling within the chassis is black. The ones of the fan controller are also labeled in the same fashion as the slides on top of the Phantom, so you can easily connect the right fan to the appropriate cable, while the I/O is of the standard variety. NZXT has lined the entire edge of the floor with feet along with a foam layer instead of using simple feet. This should be fine if you are placing it on a perfect surface, but many older buildings have slight imperfections in their flooring, which may translate into a slightly wobbly case.


Now, let us take a look at the spacious interior. The seven hard drive bays hold plastic trays and you may remove the smaller one to give way to long power supplies. NZXT intends for the hard drive connectors to lead out the other side, so that you can take advantage of cable routing possibilities, while all hard drive trays are screw-less.


Moving on up, the external 5.25 inch bays do have a unique tool-less system in place. The plastic parts come with metal rods which replace the rear screws. You still have the option to use traditional means in the front openings, which is especially important when installing control panels which simply do no reach far enough into the chassis. There is enough space in the ceiling of the Phantom to add another 200 mm unit and NZXT included the required adapters for the option to add a radiator here as well. Once again - NZXT has everything covered.


Turning our focus to the rear, the bottom has four rubber bumps to kill any vibrations from the PSU. NZXT has steered clear of any half hearted approaches for a screw-less system and has opted for thumb screws to secure the mainboard expansion slots - a wise decision. The 120 mm fan utilizes a 3-pin connector and forces warm air out the back of the chassis. There are no LEDs embedded in it, so that you are free to place a different unit here without loosing any functionality.