The Phanteks Enthoo Pro Case Review
by E. Fylladitakis on March 30, 2015 8:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Full-Tower
- Case
- Phanteks
It would seem that many companies are trying to diversify towards computer cases lately. Most of them originally are manufacturers of power and cooling products, but there are companies that began as GPU and RAM manufacturers as well. However, marketing case products can be very tricky. Functionality and value might not as important as aesthetics, depending on who you talk to. Today we are going to have a look at a case from Phanteks, a Dutch company whose high performance cooling solutions quickly made them very popular.
The Phanteks Enthoo Pro
Phanteks made a successful entry into the case market with the Enthoo Primo that we reviewed a year and a half ago. The Enthoo Primo was an excellent high-end case, although it came with a very hefty price tag. After their first successful attempt the company released a few more designs aiming to move a greater number of customers. All of the cases share the same series name "Enthoo" - not an actual word or name in any language based on the Latin alphabet but actually half the pronunciation of the word "enthusiast" (en-thoo-zee-ast). Today we are going to have a thorough look at their currently most popular case, the Enthoo Pro. The Enthoo Pro is a case designed for maximum cooling and versatility but retails for $90 (solid side panel) / $100 (window side panel), less than half the retail price of the Primo.
| Phanteks Enthoo Pro Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Size | EATX, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX, SSI EEB | |
| Drive Bays | External | 3 x 5.25" |
| Internal | 6 x 2.5"/3.5" (internal drive cages) 1 x 2.5" (SSD Bracket) |
|
| Cooling | Front | 1 x 200mm (included) 2 x 120mm/140mm (optional if stock fan is removed) |
| Rear | 1 x 140/120mm (one 140mm included) | |
| Top | 3 x 140/120mm or 1 x 200mm (optional) | |
| HDD | 2 x 120mm (optional) | |
| Bottom | 1 x 140mm or 2 x 120mm (optional) | |
| Radiator Support | Front | Up to 240mm |
| Rear | 120mm/140mm | |
| Top | Up to 360mm/420mm | |
| Side | - | |
| Bottom | Up to 240mm/140mm | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 193mm |
| PSU | - | |
| GPU | 347mm (472mm if HDD cages are removed) | |
| Dimensions | 535 mm × 235 mm × 550 mm (H×W×D) 21.06 in × 9.25 in × 21.65 in (H×W×D) |
|
| Prominent Features | - Extreme cooling capacity - 2 included Phanteks’ premium fans - The PWM hub makes it possible to control all the connected fans (also 3-pin fans) with PWM function through 1 PWM connector and create a better cable management. - Extensive water cooling support. Provides up to 4 different installation areas for slim and thick radiators varying from single to triple (120mm and 140mm form factors). Clearance for push-pull fan configurations. - Innovative liquid cooling mounting systems: radiator brackets for easy installation - Closed HDD panel strengthens the chassis’ rigidity, even when both HDD cages are removed. - Removable Drop-n-Lock SSD bracket that can be installed on 2 different locations. (1 bracket incl.) - Removable dust filters for easy maintenance. - Pre-installed cable management tools behind the motherboard tray that can be fastened and released. - 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, microphone, 3.5mm audio jack |
|
| Price | $90 (solid side panel) / $100 (window side panel) | |
Packaging and bundle
The packaging of the Enthoo Pro is simple with just a basic schematic of the case printed on the brown cardboard box. Inside the box, a nylon bag and astonishingly thin polystyrene foam slabs provide protection. Although we believe the aesthetics of the packaging to be unimportant, the functionality is in contrast quite importiant. Unfortunately, the packaging is far too basic for a case of this size and weight. The sample for this review received significant damage on its way to us, as the thin foam slabs had crumpled and the case was literally floating inside the box. The purchaser should always check the condition of the case before accepting its delivery.
Phanteks did an excellent job with the bundle of the Enthoo Pro. It may not be overly rich but is very well presented, with the screws and mounting hardware in a compartmentalized box. There also is a plate for the mounting of cooling systems, a few cable ties, two cable straps of different length and a very good manual.
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mr_tawan - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
This case has a (Samsung-designed) home button on the top :-).Babar Javied - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
I really wish more cases would loss the 5.25 inch bays. Not only can you then add larger radiators but they will not interrupt the sleek design.Zak - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
Not just that. I want more cases that completely ditch anything beyond 2.5" bays for SSDs.I know there are few like that but I happen not to like the designs overall.Samus - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
Say hello to the ancient FT03-mini, ahead of its time in many ways.Impulses - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
Or the Corsair Air 540, tho you could argue there could be a second 2.5" cage in the mostly empty right hand compartment (cause who doesn't want 8 or 10 SSD!). The current Silverstone Raven would've been brilliant if they just top mounted a single 5.25" bay instead of an oddball sideways laptop slot drive.Gigaplex - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
Having a ton of SSDs in a single case is very niche. It's not cost effective and SATA based SSDs are going to be superseded by PCIe very soon.Samus - Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - link
But 2TB laptop 2.5" drives are pretty cheap (not as cheap as 3.5" but still relatively cheap) so unless you need a lot of space (in which case, NAS?) a pair of 2.5" bays made out of one 3.5" bay works quite well for an SSD+HDD. With most high end boards equipped with M2 now, only a single bay is necessary on higher-end builds. I think the days of people putting a bunch of drives in their case is nearing an end. Definitely niche. But at the same time, for some reason, so is ITX. And it shouldn't be. ITX is perfect for 90%+ computer users, most of which will likely never even use the PCIe slot (basic home and office PC's)Jorgisven - Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - link
NAS doesn't work as well with the gaming community. If you've got a slow connection, downloading those 40GB games (that you have a dozen or two of, plus 30-50 other smaller games) is a process you only want to do once. While it's theoretically possible to do with a NAS, it gets really complicated in a multi-computer network that shares a steam library via library sharing. Niche, to be sure, but not unreasonable.Haravikk - Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - link
How many of those games need to be installed at once? A 1tb 2.5" HDD costs what… £40? Or £65 if you opt for the slightly faster SSHD, that's enough for 20-25 games at 40gb each. I can't imagine anyone really needs all of those installed at once, and with digital downloads you can just clear some space and download a title overnight ready to play the next day, if your connection is too slow to handle that, then why is that the case?There are also 2tb drives coming soon, and if you still have to you could stripe two 2.5" disks together for extra capacity (and performance) and just use the NAS for backup.
NLD - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
Get an imagination, I have over 100 installed....But I do have 12 TB of storage...
Before you ask I'm a video editor and store GB of data in edit, 12TB is a puppy to me....