Phanteks Enthoo Primo Case Review

1. Introduction2. Phanteks Enthoo Primo: Packaging and Bundle3. Phanteks Enthoo Primo: Exterior4. Phanteks Enthoo Primo: Interior and Installation5. Testing Methodology6. Thermal Dynamics7. Acoustics8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

Today we are going to look at the first case from Phanteks – the Enthoo Primo, which is aimed at an audience who want a high-end full-tower case with plenty of room for water-cooling equipment.  Phanteks are adopting the same philosophy for the Enthoo Prime as they did with their first cooler, the PH-TC14PE … releasing a flagship product to compete with the very best models already out on the market.

We were very impressed with the Phanteks PH-TC14PE when we first looked at it last year. It dethroned the Noctua NH-D14 as the best performance air-cooler on the market.

The company have since down-filled their range of coolers, releasing a number of different models tailored to specific requirements and budgets.  We expect that this is their strategy in the chassis sector, starting with a flagship model – the Enthoo Primo.

Features

• Full Tower Chassis
• Brushed Aluminum Front and Top Panels
• Ultimate Water Cooling Solution
• Removable Dust Filters
• Dual PSU Capability
• Innovative Reservoir Bracket/ Cable Cover
• Modular HDD Cages
• Drop-N-Lock Double Stack SSD Brackets

The Enthoo Primo is supplied in a substantial box which is decorated in a simple but effective black livery.  The front of the box features a large image of the case, giving us an idea of what lies within.

Turning the box around reveals a series of product shots of the case which highlight some of the key features.  The box itself is fairly substantial and should provide a good level of protection for the case within.

Our sample was supplied within an external box for extra protection, however we expect that this will depend on where you purchase the case from.

Inside the box there is a fairly comprehensive bundle included with the case.  This includes a well-written user manual which guides us through the installation procedure very well.

One particularly impressive item included in the bundle is a ‘toolbox', which separates out all of the different screws required for installation inside a plastic case.  This makes it very simple to find the correct screws during installation.

It's quite clear the Phanteks have tried to differentiate the Enthoo Primo from the competition when it comes to aesthetics.  They have tried to avoid creating another plain black box, and we think the case does look rather beautiful.

It is worth pointing out that our sample arrived direct from the production factory and Phanteks were keen to point out that some of the ‘rough edges' would be sorted out before it hits retail.

The case itself is constructed from a combination of aluminium, steel and plastic.  The main chassis of the case is made from steel, however it's finished in brushed aluminium and plastic.  This gives it a very high-quality look and feel which rivals the best cases out there.

The front panel of the case features a door which swings open to reveal four 5.25″ drive bays.

Moving further down, there is a removable fan vent which conceals two 140 mm fans within.

We find the front panel connections located on the top of the case along the right hand edge. There are two USB3.0 ports, two USB2.0 ports and headphone and microphone jacks.  The power and reset buttons are also located here.

There is a large vent spanning the top panel of the case which can be popped out to reveal mounting points for up to four 120 mm (or three 140 mm) fans.  We will discuss the possible water-cooling options of the case later on in the review.

There are two large windows cut into the left hand side panel which give us a good view of the insides of the case.

Moving round to the rear we can see that this case has a number of interesting features, including a vertically orientated power supply bracket and water-cooling reservoir mounting holes.

There are also mounting slots for the rear fan which let you position it differently to suit your internal configuration.

There is a vast amount of room to work with inside the Enthoo Primo thanks to the large exterior dimensions.  The inside of the case is finished entirely in black which will complement most component choices well.

One of the most interesting aspects o the interior of the case is the isolated PSU design.  The PSU is actually mounted vertically behind the motherboard tray, meaning it's completely isolated from the rest of the case thermally.

This creates a lot of room in the bottom of the case, and there is a bracket supplied which lets you install a 240 or 280 mm radiator in this location.

There is actually room for a 480 mm radiator in the floor of the case, however this cannot easily be fitted without modifications.  Phanteks supply the case with a 140 mm fan in the floor of the case.

There are mounting points for a 480 mm radiator in the roof of the case, though, also supporting 420, 360, 280, 240, 140 and 120 mm radiators.  There is plenty of headroom above the motherboard for installing thick radiators too.  There should be just enough room for an 80 mm thick radiator with one layer of fans in the roof panel.  Phanteks include a 140  mm exhaust fan in the roof of the case.

There is also room for a 240 mm radiator in the front of the case, although there isn't going to be much room for thicker models without removing the drive bays.

The hard drive bays themselves can only be accessed by removing the right hand side panel, as they are disguised behind a large metal panel.

There is plenty of  provision for cable routing in the Enthoo Primo.  There are a series of holes cut in the motherboard tray for cable routing, in addition to a generous amount of room behind the motherboard tray.

Installing a motherboard into the Enthoo Primo is very simple, as the motherboard stand-offs are preinstalled and there is plenty of room to work with inside the case.  There is a large cut-out section in the motherboard tray to facilitate the installation of CPU coolers.

We did have some trouble installing our AMD Radeon 7950 graphics card, though, as the reservoir mount got in the way.  It's pretty easy to remove, though, so this isn't a massive issue.

Installing the power supply is also pretty simple, and it's very easy to achieve a tidy build as the majority of the cables are disguised behind the motherboard tray.

Phanteks have chosen to use fairly standard hard drive brackets which support both 2.5″ and 3.5″ drives.  There are six of these bays in total which should be more than adequate for most users.

For our tests we will be using a Noctua NH-U14S to cool the Intel Core i7-3930K CPU in the Phanteks Enthoo Primo. Our test system also features an AMD Radeon HD 7950 graphics card.

We manually overclocked the i7-3930K to 4.3 GHz by increasing the multiplier to 43x, leaving the baseclock set at 100 MHz.

Test System:

• Processor: Intel Core i7-3930K
• Motherboard: Asus P9X79
• Cooler: Phanteks Noctua NH-U14S
• Thermal Paste: Arctic Cooling MX-2.
• Memory: 16GB (4x 4GB) Mushkin Blackline 1600 MHz
• Graphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 7950.
• Power Supply: Seasonic Platinum 1000W
• System Drive: Intel SSD 330 Series 120 GB
• Monitor: Viewsonic VX2260WM.

Software:

• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit).
• CPUID Hardware Monitor.
• Prime95 64-bit.
• Furmark V1.10.6

To test the thermal performance of the Phanteks Enthoo Primo we loaded our test system for 15 minutes using Prime95 and Furmark and recorded the maximum temperatures reached using CPUID Hardware Monitor. We then restarted the system and left it for 15 minutes before recording idle temperatures.

Room temperature was maintained at 20 degrees C for the duration of our tests.

Some impressive temperatures here for the Enthoo Primo, showcasing it's excellent cooling performance.

To conduct our noise level tests, we replaced the graphics card in our system with a AMD Radeon HD 5550 Silence which was passively cooled. We also momentarily disconnected the fans on the CPU cooler so we were only taking into account the noise generated by the fans in the case.

An impressive score for the Enthoo Primo, showcasing it's ability as a low-noise case.

Overall we are very impressed with the Phanteks Enthoo Primo.  Phanteks have already earned a much-vaunted reputation in the cooling sector and this case is sure to cement their status as a company capable of creating some of the finest enthusiast grade products available today.

We are very impressed with the appearance and build quality of the Enthoo Primo and it presents a formidable challenge to competing flagship chassis designs.

The brushed aluminium finish looks marvellous and ensures the case will satisfy the high end enthusiast audience. It looks very expensive in the flesh, which is always a bonus.

The interior design of the case is quite unusual and has been suitably geared towards supporting water-cooling configurations. There is room for a vast array of different radiator combinations in various locations, for example you could fit two 480 mm radiators in this case.  There are also pre-drilled holes for mounting a water-cooling reservoir … sure to appeal to water-cooling enthusiasts.

The Phanteks Enthoo Primo will be priced at around £200 when it launches in September. We feel this is priced fairly competitively and will make a great alternative to the likes of the Corsair Obsidian 900D, which is significantly more expensive.

Pros

• Impressive water-cooling options.
• Interesting design.
• Innovative interior layout.
• Good value.

Cons

• Some users may want more than 6 hard drives.
• Reservoir bracket doesn't support long graphics cards.

KitGuru says: An excellent case for water-cooling which looks great and is built to the highest standards.

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