NZXT Phantom Review

Testing:

To test the NZXT Phantom, temperatures will be recorded for the CPU, GPU, chipset, hard drives, and the overall system temperature during load and idle phases. Load will be simulated by Prime95 small FFTs and HD tune for one hour with maximum temperatures recorded by RealTemp. The GPU load will be the maximum value recorded by Rivatuner after five loops of 3DMark06’s Canyon Flight test. Each case is tested as is from the factory, including the fan configuration. As stated earlier, the fan configuration for the Phantom is 2x120mm side intake, 1x120mm rear exhaust, and 1x200mm top exhaust.

Testing Setup:

• Processor: Intel i7 920
• Motherboard: MSI Eclipse SLI
• Memory: Mushkin Ridgeback 12800 6-8-6-24
• Video Card: nVidia GTX260
• Power Supply: Mushkin 800w Modular Power Supply
• Hard Drive: Seagate 1TB SATA
• Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD-RW
• OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
• Ambient Temperature: 23° Celsius
• CPU Heatsink: Stock Intel

Comparison Cases:

• Thermaltake Armor A90
• Antec Sonata Proto
• Raidmax Quantum
• Xclio A380 Color Plus
• Raidmax Skyline
• IN WIN Maelstrom
• NZXT Lexa S

Overall, the temperatures exhibited by the NZXT Phantom are a little bit on the high side for the chipset and GPU temperatures, but in the middle, for the most part, in the other categories. The higher chipset and GPU temperatures are surely due to the lack of a fan blowing inwards from the side panel over the motherboard components. Adding a 200mm or 230mm fan on the sidepanel would be a very powerful addition to the Phantom. The hard drive temperature was a littler higher than the average of the other cases, but that may be due to the fact that the hard drive was installed on the top bay where there would be less airflow over the top of the hard drive. On the next page, I will wrap up my thoughts and this review in my conclusion.