Phanteks NV9 Review – 3 radiators and 12 fans, easy peasy!

KitGuru has previously reviewed the Phanteks NV5 and NV7 cases, however nothing quite prepared us for the even larger Phanteks NV9. This behemoth of a case supports up to eleven 140mm fans or twelve 120mm fans along with three radiators. That said, it is not a workstation tower but instead sports elegant glass panels along with ARGB lighting. Let's find out what it can bring to the party.

Time stamps

00:00 Start
00:48 It's heavy! a close look
02:41 Cooling support
04:21 Flip and rear side – storage support
05:11 I/O Panel
05:46 RGB support
06:36 Hardware for the build
09:23 Cooling install
10:56 Wigidash
11:55 Thermal and Noise Testing
13:31 Leo’s Closing thoughts

Main features

• Near-seamless glass panels for a perfect view of all your system components.
• Unique layout with the mainboard at the centre and fans all around it.
• Ultra-fine performance mesh design for high airflow with good dust filtration.
• A total of twelve fan positions and simultaneously triple radiator support for high end cooling performance.
• Revamped 2-channel D-RGB controller that is plug-and-play.
• Adjustable GPU support bracket included.
• Extensive cable management system behind the mainboard.
• LED cover along the top and side edge of the mainboard to highlight the hardware components.
• Optional Upgrade for US$60: NV9 Premium D-RGB Kit available with additional D-RGB lighting strips all around the case.

Specification:

• Motherboard support: E-ATX up to 280mm wide, ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
• Power supply support: ATX
• Expansion slots: 8
• Included fans: None
• Fan mounts: 3x 120mm/140mm roof, 2x 120mm/140mm rear, 3x 120mm/140mm floor, 3x 140mm/4x 120mm side
• Radiator mounts: 360mm/420mm roof, 240mm/280mm rear, 360mm/420mm floor, 480mm/420mm side
• 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None
• Internal drive bays: 2x 3.5-inch/2.5-inch, 3x 2.5-inch
• Front I/O ports: 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Type-C, audio
• Dimensions: 615mm (H) x 575mm (D) x 280mm (W)

Testing
To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X CPU, Sapphire Radeon RX 6950 XT graphics and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Phanteks NV9‘s cooling capabilities.

Test System

• Processor: AMD Ryzen Threadripper 7970X
• Motherboard: Gigabyte TRX50 Aero D rev 1.0
• Memory: 64GB Kingston Fury Renegade Pro DDR5-5600 in Quad Channel
• Graphics card: Sapphire Nitro+ Pure Radeon RX 6950 XT 16GB
• Power supply: Phanteks Revolt X 1000W Platinum
• SSD: Crucial T700 Pro PCIe 5.0
• OS: Windows 11

Custom Loop Cooling

• Pump/Reservoir: EK Quantum Kinetic TBE 300 D5 PWM
• CPU Block: Watercool Heatkiller IV
• Radiator: EK Quantum Surface X360M
• Fittings: EK Quantum Torque STC-10/16
• Soft Tube: Mayhems 10mm/16mm
• Coolant: Thermaltake P1000 White

Thermal Testing

Thermal Testing Overview

We explain in our video how we tested the Phanteks NV9 with eleven 140mm be quiet! Silent Wings 4 fans that have a maximum speed of 1,100rpm and do indeed live up to their name by being lovely and quiet. Furthermore, the combination of 3DMark's Speedway Stress Test and Cinebench R23 means our test system was drawing 960W at the wall socket with 350W going to the CPU and 300W for the graphics card. Despite that horrendous level of abuse, the Phanteks NV9 performed like a champion and worked very well indeed.

Closing Thoughts

At first glance you might think the Phanteks NV9 is aimed at the workstation market but that rather misses the point. It is large enough to support any CPU or graphics card along with a huge amount of cooling, including up to three radiators installed at the same time. Heck the NV9 can accommodate a 280mm radiator in the rear (which is the limit of some small cases) and you still have space for two 420mm coolers.

Realisation dawned on us during the build that the Phanteks NV9 is geared towards clean design and in particular the way those glass panels butt together seamlessly in the front corner. It looks glorious but requires you to work hard on the details to keep everything neat and tidy. Then, when you finish your build, you'll have the task of lifting your PC into place. We recommend you ask a friend to assist as we guarantee it will weigh plenty.

You can buy the Phanteks NV9 for £199.99 from Overclockers UK HERE.

Discuss on our Facebook page HERE.

Pros:

• Stylish good looks, especially where the glass panels come together.
• Massive scope for air and liquid cooling.
• Final price is much more reasonable than we expected.

Cons:

• Front IO is down at the bottom of the case.
• NV9 is supplied without any fans.
• Cable management is tricky around the integrated RGB covers.
• Very large and heavy.

KitGuru says: The Phanteks NV9 supports triple radiators and eleven 140mm fans!

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