Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass Mid-Tower Case Review

[Crashman]

New tempered glass side panels give the Phanteks Enthoo Evolv an even showier look, but can it still outperform its rivals?

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ATX Tempered Glass Mid-Tower Case Review : Read more

 

[redgarl]

Almost make me want to swap my Fractal Design XL R2...

 

[Crashman]

Almost make me want to swap my Fractal Design XL R2...

This sample is so nice it almost makes it worth the wait! J/K, they should have sent samples before this. But it is pretty nice and nicely pretty.

 

[falchard]

There is no knocking the tempered glass. Nearly all cases using tempered glass look fantastic. Mine is the inWin 904. It looks absolutely gorgeous, although its liquid cooling options are limited on the initial production run.

 

[g-unit1111]

There is no knocking the tempered glass. Nearly all cases using tempered glass look fantastic. Mine is the inWin 904. It looks absolutely gorgeous, although its liquid cooling options are limited on the initial production run.

The In Win 904 is sweet. The price was the only thing keeping me from getting it over the Enthoo Pro that I have now. I really like this case though.

 

[detroitwillfall]

i didnt get the rgb led strips with mine, but i love it!

 

[Luay]

Tom I couldn't rap my head around the clearance for the second GPU.

So in a four slot Z170 ATX motherboard like the Asus WS or Asrock Formula with SLI/CF, the second card would go in the third slot;

How close is a double slot card to the PSU shroud? What about triple slot?

 

[Crashman]

Tom I couldn't rap my head around the clearance for the second GPU.

So in a four slot Z170 ATX motherboard like the Asus WS or Asrock Formula with SLI/CF, the second card would go in the third slot;

How close is a double slot card to the PSU shroud? What about triple slot?

I have no idea what you're asking, but I can answer a bunch of questions until I hit the right one perhaps?

There's only about 1/2" of clearance between the bottom slot cover and the PSU shroud. You'll never get a double-slot card in the motherboard's bottom slot. But that's usually the third or fourth GPU, not the second.

Your concern about the second GPU is mostly dependent on the location of the second-card's slot. If it's the third slot position from the bottom, you'll have about 2.8" of space for the graphics card. Add about 0.8" if it's one slot higher. Subtract 0.8" if it's one slot lower.

 

[G0nz0]

been waiting on a review for these cases fora long time. im happy they dont dissapoint. pricing really isnt that big of an issue when u factor in component cost aswell not to mention the amount of additional components they offer for the WC crowd to make your life exponentially easier. ill definetly be going with one of their cases for my next build. just cant decide between this one or the dual build case, both are tempting

 

[Luay]

Ok I did the math. What I meant was , On a full ATX board with 4 PCI-E slots, how close is the second card to the PSU shroud if installed in the third PCI-E slot from the top. The answer should be 2". I assume that would choke a triple slot video card.

 

[Nuckles_56]

That is a very nice case, I'm now very much considering it for my next build, especially if I decide to go with a full custom loop

 

[Crashman]

Ok I did the math. What I meant was , On a full ATX board with 4 PCI-E slots, how close is the second card to the PSU shroud if installed in the third PCI-E slot from the top. The answer should be 2". I assume that would choke a triple slot video card.

Probably, but hey that shroud is vented so you only need a little space to get reasonable airflow (1/8" should do).

 

[Crashman]

A big waist of space and the graphics card always blocks any air coming from the bottom!? They couldn't rotate the motherboard 90 degrese upwards to gather all the air from the bottom and release it from the top, stack effect? The front could be used for dvd, blue ray roms and the rear will also be more usefull this way.

OK, but most of us like our connectors on the back of the case. And you can move the fans around if you want more of the air blowing in at the top. And the space around the graphics card is too large to actually block airflow...and the power supply shroud does have those vent holes...and...well, you got the stack flow part right. I'm glad you're enjoying your Fortress/Raven

 

[Crashman]

OK, but most of us like our connectors on the back of the case. And you can move the fans around if you want more of the air blowing in at the top. And the space around the graphics card is too large to actually block airflow...and the power supply shroud does have those vent holes...and...well, you got the stack flow part right. I'm glad you're enjoying your Fortress/Raven

You don 't need more than 2 fans at the bottom this way the fan for the gpu can cool it from 2 sides and the 2nd fan can blow the air to the cpu cooler uninterraptable this way, one fan at the top and you done finaly all the problems could be solved much easier this way.

Mine would constantly be full of pet hair

 

[toddybody]

Proud owner of an ANTEC Enthoo Evolve ATX...and I have to say the tempered glass version looks great. Not a fan of the glass right panel (motherboard backplate/cablerouting), as few folks take the time to make the cable routing look as pretty as on the front. My only other gripe is that they show the PSU side...I like how they kept the entire shroud hidden previously.

 

[gunbust3r]

Having an OCD moment, they could have gotten the front USB not tilting to the side. It's a GD review sample after all,,,

 

[Chayan4400]

There is no knocking the tempered glass. Nearly all cases using tempered glass look fantastic. Mine is the inWin 904. It looks absolutely gorgeous, although its liquid cooling options are limited on the initial production run.

The In Win 904 is sweet. The price was the only thing keeping me from getting it over the Enthoo Pro that I have now. I really like this case though.

You may want to check out the In Win 805. Provided you don't have a very high powered build (Airflow issues), it's a good alternative. It isn't as sleek as the 904, but the wrap-around tempered glass makes sure it's different for sure.Combine it with Hue+ and a couple of LED fans in the front, and it's an absolute stunner. The new version's infinity mirror looks quite fascinating too.

 

[Neurodrive]

Sad day...I literally just purchased the standard Evolv last week and swapped my build over to it last night.

 

[JamesSneed]

Hey crashman any chance you can ask them if they have any USB 3.1 type-c front panel parts coming out? I'm going to be doing a HEDT build this summer and really want USB 3.1 type-c on my front panel since that is going to be a big push over the next 4-5 years.

 

[RedJaron]

There's only about 1/2" of clearance between the bottom slot cover and the PSU shroud. You'll never get a double-slot card in the motherboard's bottom slot.

The lack of the eighth slot is the bigger restriction to putting a double-slot GPU in a mboard's bottom slot, correct?

 

[hellwig]

Is it safe to drive 6 fans off a single port on the motherboard? It bugged me the first time I saw fan power on a motherboard all those years ago. Isn't that a lot of noise? Isn't that a lot of current draw? Even if the mobo has current protection on that port, won't you just have 6 really slow fans?

 

[RedJaron]

Is it safe to drive 6 fans off a single port on the motherboard? It bugged me the first time I saw fan power on a motherboard all those years ago. Isn't that a lot of noise? Isn't that a lot of current draw? Even if the mobo has current protection on that port, won't you just have 6 really slow fans?

That's not how fan controllers work. The hub connects to a Molex or SATA power lead directly from the PSU, which powers the fans. The cable to the mboard is just to get the PWM and fan speed control signals so that it can forward them on to the rest of the fans plugged into the hub.

 

[Crashman]

Sad day...I literally just purchased the standard Evolv last week and swapped my build over to it last night.

Then you got convenience of a hinged side panel

Hey crashman any chance you can ask them if they have any USB 3.1 type-c front panel parts coming out? I'm going to be doing a HEDT build this summer and really want USB 3.1 type-c on my front panel since that is going to be a big push over the next 4-5 years.

You know there are technical reasons why case manufacturers don't have USB 3.1 and it's the same reason MOST motherboard manufacturers don't offer an internal header with the spec: Cable length requirements mean that the case would need a repeater, and motherboard manufacturers worry about signal degradation between the header and port. That's why you're seeing USB 3.1 front-panel adapters with a built on controller, using either a PCIe slot or the PCI Express part of the SATA Express header.

So, you should go above their heads, to the USB-IF

There's only about 1/2" of clearance between the bottom slot cover and the PSU shroud. You'll never get a double-slot card in the motherboard's bottom slot.

The lack of the eighth slot is the bigger restriction to putting a double-slot GPU in a mboard's bottom slot, correct?

It could be, depending on the layout of the ports and the cooling method. We've seen cards with no connectors on the second row, which could physically fit over a "missing slot". And we've even seen liquid-cooled cards thin enough to mount there, except for the double-slot bracket. But it's been a LONG time since anyone has produced a single-slot bracket for those liquid-cooled cards, and the extra HEIGHT of a double-slot bracket would cause it to be blocked by the power supply shroud, even if it didn't actually need the physical hole for any connectors

Is it safe to drive 6 fans off a single port on the motherboard? It bugged me the first time I saw fan power on a motherboard all those years ago. Isn't that a lot of noise? Isn't that a lot of current draw? Even if the mobo has current protection on that port, won't you just have 6 really slow fans?

No, it's not safe to drive six fans off the motherboard, that's why this fan hub drives them off an SATA power cable. PWM from the CPU fan header triggers the on/off cycle on the controller through a coil, to control fan speed using the full available current of an SATA power connector.

 

[JamesSneed]

"You know there are technical reasons why case manufacturers don't have USB 3.1 and it's the same reason MOST motherboard manufacturers don't offer an internal header with the spec: Cable length requirements mean that the case would need a repeater, and motherboard manufacturers worry about signal degradation between the header and port. That's why you're seeing USB 3.1 front-panel adapters with a built on controller, using either a PCIe slot or the PCI Express part of the SATA Express header."

No I didn't realize there were electrical limitations. Thanks I learned something new today. I had just assumed I would want at least one type-c connector for a new build this year as that should be more common over the life of the case. I guess I have some researching to do now on the various options.

 

[Crashman]

"You know there are technical reasons why case manufacturers don't have USB 3.1 and it's the same reason MOST motherboard manufacturers don't offer an internal header with the spec: Cable length requirements mean that the case would need a repeater, and motherboard manufacturers worry about signal degradation between the header and port. That's why you're seeing USB 3.1 front-panel adapters with a built on controller, using either a PCIe slot or the PCI Express part of the SATA Express header."

No I didn't realize there were electrical limitations. Thanks I learned something new today. I had just assumed I would want at least one type-c connector for a new build this year as that should be more common over the life of the case. I guess I have some researching to do now on the various options.

You'll probably see cases with USB 3.0 to a Type C connector, and EVGA boards have USB 3.1 to that header, so fingers crossed that this specific combo gives you something faster than USB 3.0 data rates