NZXT Phantom 530 Case Review

by Dustin Sklavos on 7/18/2013 12:00 PM EST
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  • Jumpman23 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    I had my eye on this case and seems to be everything the 630 is but shrunk. I really like the front door on the 530 over all the other Phantoms. It just doesn't look as flat. My only complaint is that the side fan mount just looks odd there especially without a fan.
  • crimson117 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    > the fan controller goes a long way towards making things easier. NZXT opts to use a 4-pin molex power connector for it to ensure enough power is available.

    I was more than a little peeved that I need to plug an entire molex cable into my modular power supply /just/ to power the fan controller.
  • crimson117 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    on my Phantom 630, that it.
  • Dustin Sklavos - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    The problem as I understand it is that the SATA power lead isn't rated for as high a wattage as the molex is, so the molex becomes a necessary evil.
  • Death666Angel - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link

    The SATA power connector has 3 12V pins (and 3 5V and 3 3.3V ones). Each pin is able to deliver 1.5A as per the wikipedia entry and 2 other sites I found via google. That is 54W for the SATA power cable for the 12V rail only (22.5W and 14.85W for the 5V/3.3V rails). Numbers for the Molex/4-pin connector are bit hard to come by. The most common number is 13A maximum (rated by Molex for the connector) and 5A for PC use. So it is between 60W and 156W from the 12V rail (25W/55W for the 5V rail). So, just comparing the 12V rails (which will likely be the only ones used), you have a power delivery advantage of the 4-pin Molex connector of ~6W to 102W. Considering that even the 6 pin PCIe connector is only rated for 75W and that is with more ground and 12V connections, I doubt anything above 5A is save or reasonable. So the actual difference as far as I can tell, is fairly small, with some variation possible. However, apart from some Delta fans, I doubt anything plugged into that control uses more than 5W when fully powered (many fans even use less than 1W if they are 120mm or below). So you can safely run at least 10 average fans off a SATA cable. I'm sure they could have handled it with a SATA connector. Unless they give me a specific reason that would go against it or invalidate my quick calculations. :)
  • JDG1980 - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    Any chance we'll see a Silverstone FT04 review sometime soon? Newegg already sold out of their first batch...
  • kwrzesien - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    The silver is still in stock: $229 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...
  • Giffs - Thursday, July 18, 2013 - link

    This case looks awesome, but so does the Nox Hummer Zero usb 3.0

    A review on the Nox would be great.
    Thanks
  • justaviking - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link

    Looks like a Star Wars stormtrooper.
  • xbaronjagerx - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link

    Funny you say that... I actually own this case and guess what my computer name is... STORMTROOPER!!! Also, I would like to add something to the review. The reason I'm reading this article is because I just broke the front panel audio jack, due to it being mounted on the front, I went to reach behind the pc and broke it... Just want to throw out there that I'm not happy with the usb and audio in/out being on the top of the case... other than that, the case is fantastic.
  • xbaronjagerx - Sunday, November 24, 2013 - link

    Mounted on the TOP... not front.
  • Ammohunt - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link

    $129 is a pretty steep price point for me personally i feel that $50 is the sweet spot between chintzy and useful features. Of course a case for me houses my components under my desk not into fashion statements.
  • Peroxyde - Saturday, July 20, 2013 - link

    I thought that too ... until I got a Fractal Design R4 on sale for $80. Now I can say I will never buy low end case. You can't imagine what you miss trying to save $30 / $50 on a case. In my opinion, the Fractal Design R4 beats by far Corsair & Antec cases of comparable price. Wait until you get a sale and get one good case. You will not regret it.
  • Death666Angel - Friday, July 19, 2013 - link

    AT needs a "report spam" button.
  • versesuvius - Saturday, July 20, 2013 - link

    What an ugly case.
  • fluxtatic - Sunday, July 21, 2013 - link

    Holy crap - can we get some mods up on these comments?
  • MustarDude - Sunday, July 21, 2013 - link

    Hey. I would love to get this case. It's an absolute beauty with ten-million features, but I need to know the exact dimensions. It says, here and at NewEgg, "235mm x 572mm x 543mm", but I can't tell from the pictures whether it goes w x h x d or w x d x h (i'm almost certain its the first), and if that is measured with the plastic coverings at it's widest point. I know 3 cm might not matter to many, but for me it's a matter of "will it fit in my desk or not?" (and I know it's a great injustice to put this in a desk, but I have no choice). If you can help me out at all, it'd be greatly appreciated!
  • Hawx - Friday, January 24, 2014 - link

    Hi All,
    Greetings !!

    Just wondering ,
    Do I need to place any type of screws or pins before mounting a MOBO onto it.
    Also is it better to install CPU and FAN and then put them in the case or fix the MOBO and then install the cpu and aftermarket cooler FAN.
    Please suggest
  • molex problem - Thursday, March 20, 2014 - link

    Guys I need help
    I am making a new build and I have completed building it but when connecting the molex connector to power supply I found out that out of 4 pins , 1 pin is missing.
    My case nzxt phantom 530
    What should I do without the molex connector in built fans don't work
    I have water cooling h100i.
    So what should I do ?
  • palixander - Thursday, July 21, 2016 - link

    I was wondering if anybody here had installed an LED strip into this case before? I bought an asus maximus viii formula MB, and was just wondering if LED strips lit up well with this case.

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