NZXT Phantom 820 Case Review

Featuring the same unique style that gamers and enthusiasts across the globe have grown to love, NZXT's Phantom 820 aims to prove that bigger IS better. Has NZXT created yet another worthwhile addition to its critically-acclaimed Phantom series? With the ability to house gargantuan XL-ATX motherboards and multi-VGA configurations, the NZXT Phantom 820 is able to tend to the requirements of extreme enthusiasts. Cooling capacity comes in the form of mounts for up to nine fans, four of which are included. Water Cooling enthusiasts will be pleased by the Phantom 820's ability to simultaneously house a 360 and 280/240 mm radiator, as well as additional single-fan units. Has NZXT repeated the recipe for success with the Phantom 820? Or is a large serving of overkill fresh on the menu? Specifications: Motherboard support: E-ATX, XL-ATX, ATX, MICRO-ATX, Mini-ITX. Expansion slots: 9. Included fans: 1x 120mm (rear), 3x 200mm (front, side & top). Fan mounts: Up to 7x 120mm, up to 6x 140mm, up to 4x 200mm. 5.25" drive bays: 4. Internal drive bays: 6x 2.5/3.5". Dimensions: 235mm (W) x 650mm (H) x 612mm (D). Special features: Integrated HUE LED lighting system, SD Card Reader, 4-channel 15-watt Fan Digital Controller. NZXT packages the Phantom 820 in a very large box which provides ample protection during shipping. An image of the case is located on the box's front, with specifications and features making appearances on the packaging's rear and left sides. Unlike many other case manufacturers, NZXT supplies the installation hardware and manual in a section which is cut into the packaging's protection foam. This is a simple, yet very effective, move that makes it easier for users to access the installation hardware and manual. We are very impressed by NZXT's decision to separate installation hardware into specific chambers. This makes it much easier to find the correct screw when installing components; one isn't forced to sift through a bag of randomly-packaging installation hardware. Cable ties and a piece of rubber material which covers the front panel USB ports are also supplied as part of the bundle. As was the case with all of its predecessors, the Phantom 820 is a striking design. NZXT has done an excellent job in balancing the curves and grooves to keep them at a level where they are attractive and eye-catching, not eyesores. An appropriately sized transparent window is located on the Phantom 820's main side panel. The window's location allows users to view their main hardware such as motherboard, CPU cooler, memory and graphics card, but hides the less attractive cables which exit a power supply and motherboard SATA ports. NZXT supplies a 200mm low-speed intake fan in the side panel mounting location, behind a dust filter. The Phantom 820 features a 'separation' line passing down the entirety of its front side. This helps to create an attractive head-on appearance by reflecting light from the angled areas either side of the line. A large mesh panel provides an area for air to easily flow through, allowing the front-mounted 200mm intake fan to do its job with minimal interferences. Opening the magnetised door reveals access to four 5.25" bay areas and the 'secondary' user area of the front panel. This 'secondary' area features a button which controls the rear IO light, another toggle button which controls the main LED system's activation, a knob which changes the main LED system's colour, and a SD card reader powered by an internal USB 2.0 header. NZXT seems to have increased the bearing friction of the door's hinge; this is a good decision which prevents it moving back and forth under its own weight. Up to three thumb screws can be used to secure each side panel door, or, if preferred, users can take advantage of the Phantom 820's quick-release mechanism which requires only the middle thumb screw to be used. Four watercooling grommets are provided for users that prefer external radiators. Towards the rear of the roof is a mesh area which allows air to exit the Phantom 820, thanks to the supplied 200mm NZXT exhaust fan. This mesh extends as far as the roof's IO area, meaning that objects such as screws will not fall into the chassis. A unique and very likeable 'dashed' pattern is used on the middle area of the Phantom 820's roof. We have to compliment NZXT for its ability to take a simple design method and successfully forge it into an eye-catching and attractive feature. A pair of USB 3.0 ports is backed by four USB 2.0 ports, giving even the most on-the-move of users plenty of easy-to-access connections. These six ports can be covered by the supplied rubber sheet, allowing them to be concealed by users that dislike the appearance of front panel ports. Power and reset buttons are located adjacent to the fan control system, 3.5mm jacks and LED strip. Oddly enough, the Phantom 820's power button doesn't feature any type of sticker or symbol indicating its function. The basic fan control system consists of + and - buttons which can manipulate speed, and a selector button that changes which fan is selected. This system is basic and slightly awkward to get used to, at first. It also relies on four brightness-varying LEDs (which are located adjacent to printed letters that indicate the specific fan channel) as speed level indicators. Viewing the five-step brightness level doesn't make identifying or setting a specific fan speed a quick and easy task. The bottom of the Phantom 820 is split into two separate sections; a pedestal base to the front, and a more standard one to the rear. The unique design resembles a military Half-track vehicle, in this editor's opinion. Rubber tips dampen the effect of noise-causing vibrations. NZXT has left an adequate amount of clearance between the bottom area of the Phantom 820's internals, and the surface that the case will be sat upon. This clearance allows air to access the power supply and bottom-mounted intake fans, if required. An easy-to-remove dust filter is located at both the back and front sides of the Phantom 820's bottom panel. One protects the power supply's fan, while the other prevents dust entry via the bottom fan mounting location. They use an easy access system which requires them to be pushed in before popping out of their secured state. A roomy interior allows the Phantom 820 to house XL-ATX motherboards, Quad-VGA configurations and multiple watercooling radiators. The large cut-out gives users easy access to the rear of their motherboard; this makes removing a CPU cooler a quicker task. NZXT supplies a black, braided 8-pin extension cable with the Phantom 820. Its roles are to assist CPU power cable routing for PSUs with shorter leads, and, thanks to the black braiding, to improve a finished system's aesthetic appeal. A total of ten cut-outs with grommets and a further two routing holes give users plenty of options when undergoing the task of managing cables. The holes are appropriately positioned for ATX and XL-ATX motherboard users, but m-ATX systems will be less tidy due to the grommet placement for front panel cables. NZXT ensures that the same high quality design and appearance is present inside the case by giving the internal materials an identical Gun Metal colour coating. A pair of drive cages can house up to six 3.5/2.5" devices. Removing the lower, two-bay drive cage opens up additional room for a thick 240/280mm radiator with fans. If extra space is required, the upper, four-bay drive cage can also be removed by modders, but this isn't a simple procedure and could potentially void the case's warranty. Secured to the upper drive cage is a 120/140 mm fan mount which can swivel. Using a fan in this location can help to provide the expansion slot area with the extra air that may be required by multi-VGA configurations. The drives cages are loaded from behind the motherboard tray, meaning that only one side panel requires removal when installing a drive. Six rubber feet help to dampen the noise-causing vibrations that exit the power supply. Units up to 230mm in length can be used without interfering with a bottom-mounted 140mm fan. If no fans are installed in the bottom mounting location, the NZXT Phantom 820 will house any ATX power supply on the market. Five rubber grommets are located within inches of the power supply area. This makes cable routing a far simpler and more effective task. Nine tool-less, vented expansion slots indicate the Phantom 820's ability to house XL-ATX motherboards, or four-way graphics configurations on ATX boards. The 140mm rear exhaust fan can be moved up or down the mount, allowing users to situate it in their preferred location. The adjustable mounting location also gives additional flexibility when using a 120/140mm radiator in the rear location; interferences can be avoided. NZXT provides another of its 30mm-thick, 200mm exhaust fans in the roof mounting location. This area can hold up to two 140/200 mm or three 120 mm fans. The fans are actually mounted in an area outside of the case's internal compartment, directly underneath the exterior roof panel. Thanks to the unique fan mounting location, 70-75mm of internal clearance above the motherboard area, and removable upper 5.25" bay, the Phantom 820 can easily house thick radiators with a push/pull setup. Mounting intake fans in the roof area won't be a problem either; a pair of 200mm filters will prevent internal dust build-up. Removing the front panel is a procedure that NZXT has made more difficult than it needs to be. Users are forced to remove both side covers and unclip the front panel from the inside. Once unclipped, the front panel can be placed out of the way, thanks to the fact that the IO cables are mounted to the case itself. Thankfully, the front panel doesn't have to be removed every time a 5.25" device is installed, but it does provide access to the front fan's filter, making removing the dust an inconvenient chore. If removing the front panel was bad, the roof removal procedure is even worse. NZXT forces you to remove the front panel before the roof. This leaves us with both side panels and the front panel removed. While removing the roof for hardware installation may be an intermittent task, as with the front panel, cleaning the dust filters is a chore that is made far more laborious due to the awkwardness of accessing them. The NZXT Phantom 820 uses a plastic drive tray which is capable of holding both 2.5" and 3.5" drives. 3.5" variants can be installed using the tool-less method, although it would be advisable to use screws for extra security. 2.5" devices are fastened to the plastic tray via four screws, but we could only get two screws to tighten. Thankfully, this isn't much of a problem with small 2.5" drives. While the installation method is simple and quick, although not tool-less for 2.5" drives, the tray itself is built from a very flimsy plastic material that could easily snap when exposed to a moderate force. We would prefer a more secure method of drive installation which is brought about by sturdier trays. Building a system into the Phantom 820 was a straightforward task. NZXT pre-installs the relevant stand-offs that are required for ATX motherboards, hence reducing installation time. The tool-less installation method for 5.25" drives was simple, but not very secure. If you are going to be moving the case regularly, we would definitely recommend using screws to fully secure a 5.25" optical drive. Using ATX-sized hardware, the NZXT Phantom 820 is left with plenty of room to install additional graphics or expansion cards while still ensuring that cable management is effective and tidy. CPU cooler clearance is almost 200mm, meaning that the NZXT Phantom 820 won't run into problems when paired with one of the market's largest air coolers, such as the Phanteks PH-TC14PE. Seasonic's excellent Platinum-1000 power supply is a very large unit, but the Phantom 820 had no problems securing it in a position which provides it with effective cable routing access. The Phantom 820 has the ability to house graphics cards up to 370mm in length. With a fan installed in the interior swivel point and in the fully tilted orientation, the graphics card clearance will decrease to around 280mm at the most confined point; this is still enough room for a Radeon HD 7970 or GTX 680 to be housed. Cable management is a very simple task, thanks to the NZXT Phantom 820's excellent routing options and conveniently positioned grommets. Two rubber grommets located beneath an ATX motherboard's bottom edge are positioned perfectly to allow them to hide front panel and USB cables. 22mm of cable clearance is allocated behind the motherboard tray, a figure which increases by up to 15mm in the case's lower segment, thanks to the protruding side panel design. Data and power cables can be stored in 35mm of room which is present behind the HDD/SSD drive trays. Each of the fan controller's four, 15W channels is supplied with plenty of headers, allowing users to install multiple units on a single speed-controllable input. Combined with the braided 8-pin extension cable that NZXT supplies with the Phantom 820, a conveniently positioned hole makes routing and hiding the CPU power cable and fan connectors a simple task. The easy-to-remove 5.25" bay covers can make way for an optical drive installation procedure which doesn't require front panel removal. Also located behind the Phantom 820's hinged door is; a SD card reader, an LED power button, an LED colour-control knob, and an IO lighting power button. A lengthy LED strip spans a large proportion of the Phantom 820 front panel's left side, terminating in a location adjacent to the roof-mounted USB ports. Recessed PCI slots and IO panel make it easy to connect long cables when the Phantom 820 is situated near to a wall or interference. Lighting A strip of LEDs located inside the case helps to create a subtle illumination which allows light to seep through the side panel window. The LEDs are situated in a section of the case's roof, just above the side panel window's position. Utilising the front panel-mounted control knob, the LED colour can be changed to an individual's preference, or to fit a specific component theme. Another colour-changeable strip is positioned adjacent to the power and fan control buttons. A further four light indicators are housed inside the strip so that their white colour which varies in brightness can be used to indicate the current fan speed level. NZXT's rear IO light is a simple yet effective implementation which makes it easy to connect cables in low-light environments. The Phantom 820 actually features an additional LED strip running down the front panel's left side (when looking head-on). Unfortunately, the strip on our sample didn't work. Hopefully this is an issue which is related to products of a sample, not retail, origin. To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an Intel Core i5 3570K, Radeon HD 6870 and multiple storage drives. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the NZXT Phantom 820's cooling capabilities. For stress testing we use a mixture of Prime95 and MSI Kombustor to create the maximum heat output. Prime95′s ‘Small FFTs’ setting allows us to stress our CPU. MSI Kombustor’s ‘GPU Burn-in’ mode creates the maximum amount of load our GPU is ever likely to see. Test System: Processor: Intel Core i5 3570k. Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V. CPU cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX (100% fan speed). Memory: 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1333MHz. Graphics card: Radeon HD 6870 1GB ('auto' fan setting). Power supply: Seasonic Platinum-1000. Storage drives: 128GB Kingston V100 (OS), 1TB Samsung F3, 300GB Western Digital Caviar. OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. Thermal Performance Test Procedures: The case’s default fan configuration is used to give an accurate interpretation of the out-of-the-box performance. The NZXT Phantom 820's default fan configuration is: 1x 200mm front intake, 1x 200mm side intake, 1x 200mm top exhaust, and 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans. The fans are operating at full speed. We allow the system to idle for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures. We allow the system to operate under extreme stress for 15 minutes and record the stable temperatures. The NZXT Phantom 820′s default cooling configuration of 1x 200mm front intake, 1x 200mm side intake, 1x 200mm top exhaust, and 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans was used. Room temperature was maintained at 22.5°C. The Phantom 820 has good component cooling potential, thanks to NZXT's generous inclusion of four fans. An adequate supply of cool air allowed CPU temperatures to remain low, and GPU temperatures to remain acceptable (due to 'auto' fan speed settings). It is clear that, due to the case's design, the upper HDD cage receives the majority of the front 200mm intake fan's airflow; by comparison, the lower bay receives a small amount of cooling air. This is definitely something that NZXT needs to take note of as intense HDD loads will cause temperatures to increase to an undesirable level. Acoustic Performance Test Procedures: We placed our Digital Sound Level Meter one metre away from the case. Only the case fans and our power supply are active to accurately isolate the acoustic performance of the case fans. The case fans are set to maximum speed. The NZXT Phantom 820's default fan configuration is: 1x 200mm front intake, 1x 200mm side intake, 1x 200mm top exhaust, and 1x 140mm rear exhaust fans. Please refer to our KitGuru noise guide for a comparison between the noise levels of this case and everyday scenarios. KitGuru noise guide 10dBA - Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves 20-25dBA – Whisper 30dBA – High Quality Computer fan 40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refrigerator 50dBA - Normal Conversation 60dBA - Laughter 70dBA - Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer 80dBA - City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal 90dBA - Motorcycle or Lawnmower 100dBA - MP3 player at maximum output 110dBA - Orchestra 120dBA - Front row rock concert/Jet Engine 130dBA - Threshold of Pain 140dBA - Military Jet take-off/Gunshot (close range) 160dBA - Instant Perforation of eardrum With four fans operating at full speed, the NZXT Phantom is a clearly audible chassis. Fortunately, the built-in controller allows users to manipulate fan speeds, and therefore noise output, to a desirable level. The NZXT Phantom 820 is a chassis which is built from the ground up with enthusiasts in mind. Excellent cooling capabilities, support for enthusiast-grade hardware configurations, and a powerful style are all strengths for the Phantom 820. Enthusiasts can build an extremely powerful system inside the NZXT Phantom 820. The case has the ability to house XL-ATX motherboards, 4-way graphics configurations and plenty of storage drives. Large dimensions and a sensible design ensure that clearance options aren't a problem; the Phantom 820 can easily house the market's largest CPU coolers, graphics cards and power supplies without interference issues. Unique in its design, the Phantom 820 shows resemblances to the original Phantom - a case which was well-respected for its distinctive angles and curves. NZXT has carefully balanced the case design's exclusivity with a sensible appearance that will still be appreciated by consumers. A choice of three attractive colours and an integrated LED lighting system further add to the Phantom 820's positive aesthetic appeal. Cooling performance is a particular strength for NZXT's Phantom 820. The chassis features nine fan mounts which can be used to hold a mixture of 120, 140 and 200 mm variants. Four supplied fans give the Phantom 820 impressive out-of-the-box cooling capacity. Watercooling support is equally as impressive with space for roof-mounted triple and bottom-mounted double radiators. Both of these mounting locations are given enough clearance for push/pull configurations, while further single-fan units can be installed in the rear and interior positions. NZXT has made the Phantom 820 a feature-rich case by supplying it with worthwhile add-ons. The four-channel, 15W fan controller allows users to control their system's noise output and cooling capability. Six USB ports and a SD card reader located in the front IO area can help to save time when making quick file transfers. A number of colour-definable LED strips are thoughtful features which can boost a system's attractiveness. The Phantom 820 does have some shortfalls. Flimsy drive trays struggle to secure and protect a SSD or HDD during movement, never mind shipping. The fan controller is a unique system but has also been made overcomplicated by the LED brightness indication method. Fortunately for NZXT, these inconveniences are minor enough to be overlooked by users that won't post a system or can adapt to the unique fan controller. At £198.60 from Scan, the NZXT Phantom 820 is a solid contender in the high-end chassis market. The Phantom 820 is priced appropriately to make it a viable purchase to enthusiasts building a high-end, multi-VGA powerhouse. Pros: Plenty of fan mounts. Four fans included. Good watercooling options. Very good expansion options. Sensible side panel window positioning and size. Excellent cable management options. Attractive and unique style. Cons: Very flimsy drive trays. Fan controller requires patience and practise. KitGuru says: Extensive expansion options, good watercooling support, impressive cable management, and a unique style make the Phantom 820 an excellent choice to an enthusiast wanting one of the best cases that money can buy.