NZXT Phantom 530 Case Review
by Dustin Sklavos on July 18, 2013 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- NZXT
- ATX
Conclusion: It Just Works
However I feel about NZXT's too frequent recycling of the Phantom aesthetic and design, it's still very hard to argue with results. I'm reluctant to fawn over the Phantom 530 because it feels extremely iterative instead of progressive. When the Phantom 630 was released, it was almost directly superior to the Phantom 820; NZXT created a great case in the 820, and then boldly obsoleted it not long after. It's too much to ask that they do that again going from the 630 to the 530, but the 530 itself has no sizzle. You were already essentially able to buy this case, now you can just buy it cheaper if you're willing to sacrifice a feature here and there.
All my can't change the fact that at $129, the Phantom 530 is practically bulletproof. NZXT was able to execute effectively on a very tenuous balancing act in bringing the 630 down to a very accessible price point. Thermally it nips at the heels of Corsair's wonderfully outlandish Carbide Air 540, but acoustically it surges past. Anyone who feels like the ATX design standard is long in the tooth, and I include myself in that lot, would probably do well to give the Phantom 530 a second look.
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Of course, there's a fly in the ointment. Despite the Phantom 530 review samples being out to media right now, the case itself doesn't actually become available in retail for a month and a half. NZXT runs the risk of losing business in the interim; users who are willing to make some compromises can get an Antec Eleven Hundred for $99 on NewEgg right now, while people looking for something with great performance that they can tinker with will be able to snap up the Corsair Carbide Air 540 at the end of the month. A month and a half is a long wait, especially for a component that's not easily upgraded, and NZXT may have seriously jumped the gun here.
Either way, though, when it does come out, the NZXT Phantom 530 is going to be tough to beat for the money. I wish they'd taken the design a little further, but if you're looking for performance and features, this is pretty much it.
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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.