NZXT Phantom 820 Full-Tower Case Review @ [H]

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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NZXT Phantom 820 Full-Tower Case Review - The NZXT Phatom 820 Full-Tower case is chock full of enthusiast features; multiple fan placements with consideration for chassis airflow, designed for custom water cooling as well as fully contained water cooling solutions, rear panel I/O lighting, room for plenty of wiring, a sleek window, all literally on a pedestal.
 
Steve said:
Ummm, hello....DVD tray ;)
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Optical drive is so last decade. All is on the Cloud now. There will sure be either an usb based or iCoaster (for the iCultists) available on the internet that keeps your beverage either cold or warm (for pre-Programming Beer or overtime Coffee).
 
I love my NZXT 810 which seems functionally very similar to this. I have a 2x120 radiator in the bottom and a 3x120 radiator in the top with plenty room to spare. There is even room for a couple more 120 radiators if I wanted them. With all the cable hiding options this is the cleanest build I've ever had.
 
I used a one of the PHAN-002 cases to build my son's computer on labor day and while I didn't care for the appearance, when I saw the pictures, in person it looks much nicer and the entire thing is nicely constructed, even the plastic pieces are much firmer and more solid then any I've seen on other cases,

The only dealing I had with NZXT support was due to very minor damage to a door panel (the folded edge was bent on the backside) and I emailed them and although in the email I told them I was able to bend it back out and correct the issue they still offered to send me a replacement door panel.
 
Aarg! This, or a silverstone FT02... I know they are very different, but I want to upgrade in the next six months or so and keep seeing better and better cases. MB/Processor is supposed to be the hard part to select, right? :eek::p
 
Makes me want to get rid of my Xigmatek Elysium and get this. The 820 is a bit wider than the elysium and will accept very large heatsinks. The elysium will not unless you remove the side 200mm x 30mm fan.
 
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If you mount a rad onto the hard drive cage, will it not interfere with these really long video cards?
 
This is great case, as the internals are basically 810 Switch, which I have seen alot of great rigs in. Personally I think I would prefer the 810, but yea, this is a really solid and nice case with a ton of features and cooling potential.
 
savagepagan said:
If you mount a rad onto the hard drive cage, will it not interfere with these really long video cards?
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Depends on what you men by really long. We had three 10.5" cards in 3-way SLI with a standard thickess radiator and 120mm fans ...and we still had 1" or more to spare.
 
Wish I needed a case - nice article, this case is definitely 'One with The Lot'..:confused::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Typical [H] review, and when I say typical when referencing a [H] review, it just means " insanely in depth and thorough." :)

Great review, thank you for putting so much time into it.
 
The only thing that would have made the review complete would have been to load it up with a high end custom water cooling setup - then do a [H] give-away =)
 
One day, just one day I'll be able to afford putting together a rig with awesome components like this. Thanks for the review. :)
 
This is the case I won from NZXT in their sweepstakes bundle giveaway with techPowerUp. They saved me $250 and then some! Thanks NZXT!

Nice review like always!
 
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I bought this case and sending it back today.

Just dont like how you have to take the front and top off to clean fans/filters compared to my switch 810.

And the intergrated HUE isnt the same as the one you buy, But still nice.
 
fantomau said:
I bought this case and sending it back today.

Just dont like how you have to take the front and top off to clean fans/filters compared to my switch 810.

And the intergrated HUE isnt the same as the one you buy, But still nice.
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Really? I found the front filter to be much easier to take off, even if you have to remove the front panel. It takes like 5 seconds to remove the front panel and the filter (which is not screwed in, unlike the S810).

I'm much happier with this than I was my S810. I think both are great, the best cases NZXT has ever released, but, the 820 is way more convenient.
 
You dont have to take off the complete front of the 810 to access the front fans unlike on the 820
You dont have to take off the complete top of the 810 to access the top fans unlike on the 820

The front takes a sec or 2, a push and a remove. Same with the top with the vents.

How can that not be easier?

Dont get me wrong, I think the 820 is an awesome case, But the price is alittle higher. If it was like $200 or so, It'd be that much nicer :)

The only things I see different between the 2 are the cages (Which I like on the switch that both are removable (I didnt mess with the 820 to see if both are, So sorry if I am wrong), The intergrated HUE and fan controller and that its raised up some w/ the pedestal (Which I like).

I didnt care too much for the what seemed like endless amount of cables for the controller, I was like damn, Why soo many lol. I guess thats good to have enough, But sometimes more is too many.
I just disconnected them from the panel on top as I used my own controller and didnt used them and made cable management alittle easier and easier to make things tidy.

All in all, I do like the case, But alot happier with the Switch 810 and I decided not to make the SWITCH :)
 
Well, I removed all but one of my fan connectors, the rest are powered off of my Aquaero unit. The Front filter on the 820 is also clip-in, not screwed in, which makes it far easier to remove and clean. Plus, watercooling support in the 820 is much better and more well-thought out.

Different strokes for different folks I guess.
 
Ya, The front of my switch is cut out w/ a mesh, I just take it off, blow it out and put it back on :)
 
I bought this case and used the Noctua NH-D14. The rear case fan is making loud higher pitched noise. I turned it off for now but do you think the problem is the case fan or is there an issue of the heat sink fan being too close to the rear case fan?
 
Left side of the circuit board has short circuited for some reason and now the light strip outside the case on the window side doesn't lite up no matter what I do.
Where can I get a new circuit board? I tried going to their site but they have no contact number.
 
Mine also is doing the same thing not lighting up at all. I can still control the fan speeds so not a huge deal but I should probably also get it fixed if it's something that should be working. I'll try contacting them and report back.
 
Both of you can PM me if need be, but let's try and troubleshoot.

Smokepiece, did you connect the SATA power cable for the lighting, and the Motherboard Power LED wire to the motherboard? I'd also advice removing the fans one at a time to see where the noise is coming from. I've never had an issue with fans making a noise in the rear of any case, so I think one of your fans may be dead.

Infospace, make sure that your SATA connector for the Hue control hub is connected.

We've had some people complain of the same issue, only to find that they had inadvertantly loosened a connection on the Hue, or didn't have the SATA plugged in. Troubleshooting guide is here: http://nzxt.com/support/index.php?/...ntom-820-integrated-hue-lighting-isnt-working
 
SATA power cable was indeed my issue. I thought it was for an eSATA that my motherboard didn't have. The instructions didn't specify that. Thanks a ton XNine.

I turned on the rear fan again and will see if it continues to make "noise." So far so good though.
 
Does this case have the same issue as the original phantom where the USB3.0 wire is super short? The one on my case doesn't even come close to reaching the USB3.0 header on my motherboard.
 
XNine said:
Both of you can PM me if need be, but let's try and troubleshoot.

Smokepiece, did you connect the SATA power cable for the lighting, and the Motherboard Power LED wire to the motherboard? I'd also advice removing the fans one at a time to see where the noise is coming from. I've never had an issue with fans making a noise in the rear of any case, so I think one of your fans may be dead.

Infospace, make sure that your SATA connector for the Hue control hub is connected.

We've had some people complain of the same issue, only to find that they had inadvertantly loosened a connection on the Hue, or didn't have the SATA plugged in. Troubleshooting guide is here: http://nzxt.com/support/index.php?/...ntom-820-integrated-hue-lighting-isnt-working
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That's the way I like it.

Looking to you guys for my next case for sure.
 
Anticommon said:
Does this case have the same issue as the original phantom where the USB3.0 wire is super short? The one on my case doesn't even come close to reaching the USB3.0 header on my motherboard.
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Nope, I was able to have mine run from the side it's on, down the back of the 5.25 bays, loop around my reservoir and still have enough length to spare, lol.
 
I am very happy with mine. The only thing i am disappointed with is the rear I/O LEDs don't work which isn't a huge deal. Other than that it's been fantastic.
 
I also have a few quick question,

1) on the review, it says the tower is composed of plastic and steel. But it doesn't say if the tower is composed of multi-layer on the case surface. For e.g., in an Antec case, it's sheet metal on layer 1, some carbon fiber on layer 2, then another sheet metal on layer 3. By comparison, how does the above case constructed?

2) Also, at the top left corner of the case, there is some hallow latches holes, how much noise is leak out from that small area? what if we use sound absorption material to block that area? Would there be enough exhaust fan to suck out the hot air in that case?

3) All those cooling fans, are they all Scythe fans?
 
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Evil_Furby said:
I am very happy with mine. The only thing i am disappointed with is the rear I/O LEDs don't work which isn't a huge deal. Other than that it's been fantastic.
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PM me, we'll see if we can figure out what's going on with that.

Happy Hopping said:
I also have a few quick question,

1) on the review, it says the tower is composed of plastic and steel. But it doesn't say if the tower is composed of multi-layer on the case surface. For e.g., in an Antec case, it's sheet metal on layer 1, some carbon fiber on layer 2, then another sheet metal on layer 3. By comparison, how does the above case constructed?
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It's solid steel construction. No layering (defets the purpose).

2) Also, at the top left corner of the case, there is some hallow latches holes, how much noise is leak out from that small area? what if we use sound absorption material to block that area? Would there be enough exhaust fan to suck out the hot air in that case?
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Not much, but then again, I have 6 120mm fans and 1 200mm fan in my rig with a full custom loop. You mileage will very.


3) All those cooling fans, are they all Scythe fans?
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They are NZXT fans.
 
Happy Hopping said:
If I use Asus dual xeon with the Noctua NH-D14.on both Xeon, would I be able to close the case, or would the 200 mm side fan blocks it?

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Intel_Socket_2011/Z9PED8_WS/#CPUS

as this guy said it's a tight fit w/ less than 1 mm to spare on the phantom

http://forum.overclock3d.net/showthread.php?t=33640
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The link you posted, is to an original Phantom, which is 1/2" less in width than the 820. As for Dual Xeons with dual D14s and the side fan, I couldn't tell you for sure as I have neither a dual Zeon board, nor D14s to test it. They will definitely fit without the side fan, with it, however, I'm not entirely sure.
 
While I love what this case is doing and the direction its going, NZXT's lack of a full side panel window is a major flaw for me. Which is why I'm so happy with my switch 810! It itself is (soon) going to have a 420 up top and 280 down below, plenty of cooling for the CPU and a pair is GPUs.
 
The S810's panels fit on the P820, as well, you could always do what I did and replace the mesh with Windows. There's a buildlog of mine here where you can see it.
 
The fans that does NOT c/w the cases, where do you buy them? And is there a list of those extra fans part no.?
 
1 other some what unrelated matter: is any of the NZXT power supply c/w silent fan? for e.g., the HALE82N 550W, and is there any power supply less than 550W?
 
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