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To start the build process we install our motherboard standoffs. NZXT provide black ones for the Phantom. The we placed the I/O shield where it belongs and then laid the motherboard in place before properly securing it. Next we install the PSU in it's bottom mounted position and hooked up the necessary cables to attach the drives.
When it comes to add our hard drives we use the provided drive caddies and then just slide the drive into place. Below we have pictures of the caddy on our WD 500 GB storage drive and our 64GB Kingston SSD and the WD drive being inserted into their drive bay.
The cables that connect to the hard drives attach on the back side as they did in the Vulcan, again helping with cable management.
When it comes to optical drives NZXT have managed to refine the method they use to secure these drives. In many of their other cases there was a small removable locking device. This method worked but it was something that they felt could be improved on.
The procedure is as follows: We depress the portion of the mounting device that is rippled while lifting the tab. This unlocks the mechanism, then we insert our optical drive into the available bay and depress the tab to lock the drive in place.
Our first thought on this approach is positive, however it will be interesting to see how they hold up over time. It does a far better job securing the drive so we give it 2 thumbs up and hope it is a durable solution.
Next we have a shot with all the components in and cabled. As you can see it was easy even for me to keep the interior quite tidy. NZXT will score big points with both gamers and system builders for the excellent job on the cable management features of this case.
