NZXT Phantom 530 Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on July 18, 2013 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- NZXT
- ATX
Assembling the NZXT Phantom 530
I'm sure it's not going to surprise anyone to learn the NZXT Phantom 530 is a very easy case to assemble. NZXT has taken pains to ensure the case is as modular as you need it to be, and the reality is that unless we're looking at a radical redesign on par with what SilverStone tends to do, convenience should be expected in a modern enclosure by now.
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About the only thing NZXT is missing for the motherboard is an alignment stud for the center mounting hole of the board itself; they have the motherboard standoffs pre-installed for ATX boards, and snapping in the I/O shield then lining up the board didn't take a whole lot in the way of effort. NZXT also includes all of the different types of screws in individual baggies to make sure you don't have to waste time flitting through one big pool of screws looking for what you need.
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Two of the three modular drive cages are held in place with four thumbscrews each; the third, single-sled cage just uses two. It's good to have a power screwdriver handy to expedite the process and get you down to just what you need. From there, snapping a hard drive into one of the 3.5" trays is a breeze and these trays at least feel like they may be a bit stronger than the ones NZXT normally uses. A 2.5" drive can be installed in a sled behind the motherboard tray; it'll run hotter than usual due to proximity to the motherboard but still well within spec. Finally, the toolless clamps on the 5.25" drive bays are as sturdy as they've ever been.
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Honestly, the assembly of the NZXT Phantom 530 is incredibly uneventful, and that's a good thing. Expansion cards go in easy, as does the power supply which is amply supported from beneath. Cable routing holes are where they need to be, and the fan controller goes a long way towards making things easier. NZXT opts to use a 4-pin molex power connector for it to ensure enough power is available. Headroom around the power leads for the motherboard proper is plentiful, too. My only real complaint is that because of the way the drive sleds are designed, it can make routing power cabling between multiple 3.5" drives a little bit difficult.
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Jumpman23 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
I had my eye on this case and seems to be everything the 630 is but shrunk. I really like the front door on the 530 over all the other Phantoms. It just doesn't look as flat. My only complaint is that the side fan mount just looks odd there especially without a fan.crimson117 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
> the fan controller goes a long way towards making things easier. NZXT opts to use a 4-pin molex power connector for it to ensure enough power is available.I was more than a little peeved that I need to plug an entire molex cable into my modular power supply /just/ to power the fan controller.
crimson117 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
on my Phantom 630, that it.Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
The problem as I understand it is that the SATA power lead isn't rated for as high a wattage as the molex is, so the molex becomes a necessary evil.Death666Angel - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link
The SATA power connector has 3 12V pins (and 3 5V and 3 3.3V ones). Each pin is able to deliver 1.5A as per the wikipedia entry and 2 other sites I found via google. That is 54W for the SATA power cable for the 12V rail only (22.5W and 14.85W for the 5V/3.3V rails). Numbers for the Molex/4-pin connector are bit hard to come by. The most common number is 13A maximum (rated by Molex for the connector) and 5A for PC use. So it is between 60W and 156W from the 12V rail (25W/55W for the 5V rail). So, just comparing the 12V rails (which will likely be the only ones used), you have a power delivery advantage of the 4-pin Molex connector of ~6W to 102W. Considering that even the 6 pin PCIe connector is only rated for 75W and that is with more ground and 12V connections, I doubt anything above 5A is save or reasonable. So the actual difference as far as I can tell, is fairly small, with some variation possible. However, apart from some Delta fans, I doubt anything plugged into that control uses more than 5W when fully powered (many fans even use less than 1W if they are 120mm or below). So you can safely run at least 10 average fans off a SATA cable. I'm sure they could have handled it with a SATA connector. Unless they give me a specific reason that would go against it or invalidate my quick calculations. :)JDG1980 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
Any chance we'll see a Silverstone FT04 review sometime soon? Newegg already sold out of their first batch...kwrzesien - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
The silver is still in stock: $229 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...Giffs - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link
This case looks awesome, but so does the Nox Hummer Zero usb 3.0A review on the Nox would be great.
Thanks
justaviking - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link
Looks like a Star Wars stormtrooper.xbaronjagerx - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link
Funny you say that... I actually own this case and guess what my computer name is... STORMTROOPER!!! Also, I would like to add something to the review. The reason I'm reading this article is because I just broke the front panel audio jack, due to it being mounted on the front, I went to reach behind the pc and broke it... Just want to throw out there that I'm not happy with the usb and audio in/out being on the top of the case... other than that, the case is fantastic.