Test System

Assembly

Adding a motherboard is done with traditional spacers and screws. As you can see, there is loads of space above the ATX board, which should make adding an ITX system or potent liquid cooling setup in the ceiling a breeze. Remember that GPU anti-sag bracket I mentioned? It goes behind the motherboard tray and pushes down on the tip of the GPU backplate on this side of the chassis. You place it and push it down, towards the feet, while securing it in place with two thumb screws. It works to some degree, but gravity wins out more often than with other implementations. While the vertical GPU position is usually just for showing off your main GPU, this one is also spaced to allow for this expansion slot to be used for your secondary ITX rig. Phanteks sells a 60 cm PCIe ribbon you may use to route the ITX's PCIe x16 slot into this spot.


Installing an SSD will require tools and included screws. Once filled and secured on the tray, simply put the tray back into the position you got it from.


Placing a 3.5" hard drive into the cool-looking metal trays follows the same principle, with classic screws holding the storage unit in place. Once filled, slide it into any of the positions below the shroud until it snaps into place. Alternatively, you could just mount it to one of six spots above the thermal barrier.


Adding the power supply is a two-step process as you secure the frame to the unit and then slide it into place, with the thumb screws securing it nicely. As you can see, there is loads of space with the HDD in the middle position, so you should be able to go for a 1000+ watts unit to power two systems within the Phanteks Eclipse P500A.


With everything installed, I made sure the covers inside the case hide the cable-routing holes as much as possible, which results in a nice and clean appearance. Things are a bit chaotic behind the motherboard tray, but in a very organized fashion because of the many Velcro strips.

Finished Looks

Turning the system on, the three ARGB fans gently glow through the white mesh front with their hub-mounted RGBs. You can clearly see all your hardware within the chassis, and even the gentle glow emitted from the front. A highlight is certainly the embedded ARGB strip in the shroud. Besides various multi-color modes, there are ten solid colors to choose from, which is more than most other cases offer, as those tend to have seven or eight. Below is a gallery of all those colors.

Phanteks SK PWM Fans - 120 and 140 mm

In old school Apple fashion: but wait, there is one more thing. Phanteks is also selling the Phanteks SK PWM fans you will find inside the Eclipse P500A separately. Available in 120 or 140 mm, you may pick between plain black or those D-RGB (ARGB) variants. The latter is available individually or in packs of three, while the LED-less variant is only available in a single pack.

They have the following MSRP:

• Phanteks SK 120 mm PWM Fan, D-RGB $12.99
• Phanteks SK 140 mm PWM Fan, D-RGB $14.99
• Phanteks SK 120 mm PWM Fan, Black $7.99
• Phanteks SK 140 mm PWM Fan, Black $8.99
• Phanteks SK PWM Fan 120 mm D-RGB 3-Pack $34.99
• Phanteks SK PWM Fan 140 mm D-RGB 3-Pack $39.99

We will be taking the 140 mm versions and installing these into the case for your viewing pleasure, but the benchmarks on the following page are with the out-of-the-box configuration to ensure you know what to expect when buying just the chassis.


Lots of cables are the first thing you see when opening up the three-pack. Most are firmly attached to the fans, but Phanteks also includes a 3-way PWM splitter cable and D-RGB to ARGB adapter lead. There is a small bag with four screws and eight silicone spacers for each of the fans.


The fan itself feels sturdy. The semi-translucent blades are important for hub-mounted RGBs to live up to their fullest potential, as they make for a great impression when lit up. Interestingly enough, the fan itself does not have the model information on its sticker, which I find a little odd. It could make buying more of them or being in the loop about the power draw for extreme scenarios a bit less organic.


There is a small label to let you know which way the airflow will go—important for installing these properly. The two leads out of the fan are a D-RGB pass-through to daisy-chain the lighting elements of these fans together and a standard 4-pin PWM plug.


Before installing them, you need to stick the silicone rings onto the fan, which is a step you won't have to worry about with some other fans for the same target audience, as anti-vibration elements come pre-installed. Having placed the three extra fans in the top (2x 140 mm) and rear (1x 140 mm), the Phanteks Eclipse P500A actually looks even cooler—yes, ARGB seems to be growing on me.