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Inside the case there is plenty for room for installing the motherboard, graphics card(s) and CPU cooler.
The quality of the steelwork is excellent and there are seven cable holes all round the motherboard tray that are neatly finished with grommets. Phanteks supplies the Enthoo Pro with the motherboard stand-offs installed which means the case is ready for action.
One point that stands out like a sore thumb is the location of the drive tower. It stands directly between the 200mm intake fan and the interior of the case and the stack of 3.5-inch hard drive cages looks like a solid barrier to cooling air.
This sequence of photos shows the difference that it makes when I removed the cages and you'll note these are empty cages without any drives in the bays.
You may think a drive cage is a dull item that doesn't merit a closer look but the amount of work that Phanteks has invested in these items is impressive.
For one things the cages feel sturdy and strong and for another they have key ways on the top and bottom that engage with the drive tower so they slide easily into place. On the back of each tower there is a rubber pad that reduces vibration and ensures the cage doesn't take a knock as it slides home.
Each cage has a pull out holder at the top that makes life very easy when you want to get a firm hold on the tower before you slide it out of place. Remember, hard drives are delicate items and you don't want to cause them any shock damage.
Installing the drives in their cages is another point that Phanteks has considered. Many Tool-free drive cages require you to flex the cage and then slip the drive into place. The design here uses two latching wings that hinge outwards. You place the drive in position and then clip the wings home to hold the drive securely.
The back of the motherboard tray has been thought through carefully. You've got a minimum of 25mm clearance for tucking away cables but there is a bigger point here.
Phanteks has clearly designed the Enthoo Pro somewhat like a theatre where the audience sits in front of the stage and sees one aspect while around the back there is all manner of activity going on out of sight.
Cable management is assisted by six Velcro straps that carry the Phanteks logo. In the course of my PC build for these photos I used precisely two cable ties to route the PCI Express power to the graphics card. The Velcro straps sufficed for everything else. Another feature that helps keep things neat and tidy is the PWM hub.
I'll tackle this later in the review but the idea is that you connect all of your case fans to the hub and then route a single cable to a PWM header on the motherboard so all the fans work in unison. To continue my theatrical analogy, perhaps I should say the fans operate in concert.
The drive cages slide into place from the back of the PC so the power and data cables are kept out of sight.
The PSU cover is held in place with three thumbscrews. If you intend to install cooling in the floor of the case you'll need to remove the cover but honestly, I wouldn't go down this route. The PSU cover really helps the installation and there are so many cooling options that you can leave the floor out of the equation.
You can see the mounting holes on the floor and the two filters that slide out of the front and rear of the case for cleaning.
Enthusiasts will love the way you can pull the Enthoo pro to pieces in a matter of minutes.
With the side panels, front panel, top panel and roof removed you are left with a bare skeleton and this will take you about ten minutes to achieve.
If you really want to go to town you can also remove the hard drive tower and the optical drive bays, thanks to the way Phanteks has screwed the case together and that in turn is a real vote in favour of the steel construction.
