Review 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 putting an ITX system or potent liquid-cooling setup into the ceiling a breeze. Adding a GPU in its traditional position is easily done, with loads of space, so you shouldn't run into any issues with even the biggest variants out there. Phanteks mentions 435 mm as the maximum length, further underlining that freedom of choice. The same goes for any air-cooling options, with a generous, all-inclusive 190 mm limit.


As the Phanteks Evolv X does not include 2.5" trays, you may simply free up a spot on the fold-out covers and screw it down. As these covers are easily removed from the case, adding drives here is a breeze as well.


Placing a 3.5" hard drive into a metal tray 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 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 going for a 1000+ watts unit to power two systems within the Phanteks Evolv X is an option.


Lastly, we opted for a 360 mm AIO in the ceiling. Owing to the removable frame, prepping it for final installation is really easy. On top of that, Phanteks includes metal clips which allow you to route the many cables of such a cooling unit to their intended positions nicely. You don't have to mess with long leads dangling all over the place during the final steps of the overall assembly process. As you can see, there is loads of space, so you won't ever have to worry about an AIO interfering with your hardware, either.


With everything installed, the all-white Phanteks Evolv X looks incredibly clean on the interior. This is quite important with this color variant since none of the cable mess would blend into these bright surroundings. In the rear, we did not have to use any zip ties at all. In fact, there is no need to spend a lot of time on immaculate cable management thanks to the covers. Once those are closed, you'd ideally not see anything except the CPU power cable. Speaking of which, we tried hiding as much of it as possible, but in hindsight, it is probably best to just run it up the rear edge of the case and use a few zip ties to secure it there. Phanteks could provide a little cover on that rear edge in future versions of this case to make this part of the build immaculate as well.

Vertical GPU Setup

While vertically mounting the GPU is usually just for showing it off, this one is also spaced to allow for this expansion slot to be used for your secondary ITX rig. To use it, you first have to install the plastic base in one of two possible positions. Once in place, simply attach the ribbon cable and plug in your GPU.

Finished Looks

Once turned on, the ARGB elements built into the Phanteks Evolv X make for a beautiful sight. The slim strip along the shroud has always been a nice unique element of these enclosures, which the backlit front panel adds to quite nicely. Throwing the hub-mounted fan lighting into the mix really tops everything off beautifully.


Looking straight at the front, you can still see the glow of the two ARGB strips, while everything in the rear is where you would expect it in a modern ATX chassis.


Thanks to the clear glass panels, showing off your hardware is easily done as well, and the covers on the backside of the Evolv X mean that side can confidently be shown off, too. As expected, you do notice where a 2.5" drive is installed, so those who are really picky will have to find themselves white screws, or buy the optional trays.

With the built-in controller, you may cycle through a ton of multi and single-color lighting effects. On top of that, there are 10 different solid color choices, which are shown below.

Vertical GPU Setup

Last but certainly not least, any vertical GPU installed within the Phanteks Evolv X is also perfectly shown off. With many graphics cards providing ARGB lighting of their own, that could be a really nice combination.