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
The Exterior of the Phanteks Enthoo Pro
Phanteks based the Enthoo Pro on a postmodern design, using basic geometric shapes and straight lines. It is a relatively simple and elegant case with a metallic brushed faceplate, coming across not too minimalistic but not extravagant either. Only the double window left side panel is spoiling the seriousness of the Enthoo Pro; users that want a more subtle appearance should opt for the version with the solid panel. Measuring 53.5cm tall and 55cm deep and with a volume of 0.0691m3, the Enthoo Pro is a rather large and bulky case, which is to be expected from a tower capable of housing EATX motherboards.
When seen from afar, the brushed metallic appearance of the faceplate and its 5.25" bay covers generate feelings of sturdiness and quality, making it perhaps the most important stylistic feature of the Enthoo Pro. Regrettably, that is nothing more than an illusion, as the faceplate is plastic that has been treated to look as if it is metallic for aesthetic purposes alone. Nevertheless it is fairly strong and sturdy and of quality on par with the price of the case. The faceplate of this sample was seriously damaged during its transportation, half due to the poor packaging and half due to the "overzealous" courier company.
Nearly half of the faceplate is covered by a metallic mesh, with extra ventilation holes at both sides. Four solid metallic 5.25" covers dominate the top half of the faceplate. There are actually only three 5.25" bays available for devices as the top 5.25" cover is a door hiding the front I/O ports (two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0 and 3.5mm headphone jacks) and the reset button. The oval power button is at the top of the case, near the front, surrounded by an LED light.
The rear of the case reveals the black chassis of the Enthoo Pro and that the PSU compartment has been moved to the bottom of the case, which is common for high performance designs nowadays. Thumbscrews with rubber rings hold the side panels in place and the reusable expansion slot covers are vented.
Nearly the entirety of the Enthoo Pro is focused on cooling - ventilation openings and fan mounts can be seen virtually everywhere. Six tall sturdy feet on the bottom elevate the case significantly, as the bottom of the case hosts the PSU fan intake and ventilation openings where two 120mm fans or a single 140mm fan can be installed. Separate nylon filters cover the PSU intake, the bottom and the front ventilation openings. Most of the surface of the top panel is covered by a metallic mesh as well, with three fan mounts behind it, but there is no filter. This is what we would expect to find as these openings are intended to function as exhausts.
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Haravikk - Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - link
Agreed. This case is incredibly unremarkable, and until more towers start ditching the obstructive and largely redundant up-front drive bays, we're not going to get much progress in the tower market.I don't know any gamers who really need more than two drives, or for whom 2.5" drives aren't sufficient. 4x 2.5" drive bays can squeeze in almost anywhere in a properly designed case, and would still let you have a pair of mirrored SSDs and mirrored HDDs (or striped if you prefer) which is about the most I expect anyone to have these days.
In terms of optical bays; so few people really use them anymore, meanwhile a slot-loading (or at least low profile) drive takes up hardly any space. The focus really does need to be on big fans up front with as little obstruction as possible.
Some people might mention fan controls, but any good pro case could include one with a custom fitting. But again, most people don't (or shouldn't) need a fan control, as any good motherboard can drive more than enough fans, so at most you might need a splitter cable, especially since most fans these days are pretty energy efficient, especially larger ones that don't need to spin very fast anyway.
So yeah, we're stuck with towers constantly being released with an obsolete internal design, and it's really hurting the market. Only smaller designs are really innovating at the moment, and even then some of them are making really weird decisions.
NLD - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
You don't know because you don't know anyone... I'm a member of a gaming community and know over 50 in our community alone.....NLD - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
get a laptop.Dug - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
Define R5 lets you take all of them out giving you many options for radiators.NZXT S340 has no bays at all making the case fairly small for an ATX design.
nmm - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
I would usually agree with you, but I tend to agree with some that the sentiment is more appropriate with compact cases. I just can't imagine there being a realistic need for a tower case with the entire front surface covered with radiators in addition to the top/bottom or whatever else. Just the same, I'd get more use out of a mini-fridge on the front of my case than 5¼" bays. That's because I'm not a person who has any need for a tower case, though. I'd rather build an efficient mini-ITX system than a 3 foot tall air circulator disguised as a computer.WithoutWeakness - Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - link
I think you're on to something with the mini fridge. Most cases with doors only have them to cover the ugly 5.25" bays. If we pull the 5.25" bays and replace them with a mini fridge that can hold a couple of cans then the door would actually have some functional purpose instead of just being for aesthetics.continuum - Tuesday, March 31, 2015 - link
Two went be plenty. Heck, lots of times, agreed that one would be enough, and zero is okay.Given it's an E-ATX case for $100 I don't mind seeing one or two (it's certainly big enough!) but yeah, three seems silly...
DanNeely - Wednesday, April 1, 2015 - link
Once you have a single 5.25 bay, you might as well have several, and a mess of 3.5" bays below, since you've stretched your case forward enough to accommodate them.The compact (front to back) single 5.25 bay case died when the market decided to move the PSU to the bottom and to use the top of the case for ventilation.
NLD - Wednesday, September 16, 2015 - link
5.25 bays are essential , Fan controllers, lighting controllers, Card drives, audio bays.... if you don't like them use the 100's of cases with no 5.25 bays.... I really think new cases need them, maybe more ascetics and innovation on how you can disguise or hide them is a good idea.Needless to say, fans of external Blu-ray players and DVD-HD writers etc... will not care but they are with good cases, 5.25 drive bays will live on.
nos024 - Monday, March 30, 2015 - link
I like my 5.25 bays...there has to be at least two. I am not ready to give up my ODD and swappable HDD bay. At least for large towers like this, I want to have 5.25 bays. I can see a mid tower case not having it. The point of a full tower case is that you can put ANYTHING you want in it.The problem with these large towers case is that the 8pin CPU power cord is barely long enough (and sometimes won't even reach). Given that the majority of PSUs are mounted at the bottom, I think it's time the PSU manufacture give you a longer cord...or the Motherboard manufacturers change it's location, or the case give you a better path. I see that this case has an opening at the top to route the cable to so it won't be a problem.