Joined on 11/24/12
Outstanding
Pros: Fast plenty of data space
Cons: possibly more battery hungry
Overall Review: Put this into an old laptop (Asus Zenbook X31A). Required an adapter also purchased from Newegg (ZTC Thunder Board NGFF M.2 M or B Key SSD to 18Pin). What a difference in speed for this laptop. Boot from cold start to login screen about 5 seconds. Seems like it utilizes more power (can that be?) as the battery life seems a little worse, but totally worth it. Completely revitalized this old laptop.
Smaller than I thought
Pros: Price, and with the right equipment can fit a lot of drives.
Cons: Space and and supplied fan noise
Overall Review: I wanted to built a NAS media server on the cheap. I initially bought a used dual core Intel 3 Ghz used 8 bay Supermicro 1U rackmount for 130 samolians, but didn't realize how loud and LONG those cases are...sounded like running a vacuum cleaner! I put that bad boy on the shelf for use later (somehow...) and instead ripped apart an old unused desktop which had an ASUS FX ATX board with power supply and ICY DOCK FatCage...Not going to happen in this new case. Although this advertises ATX compatability, the ATX boards extend into the bay area, and since the FatCage takes all 3 bays, it was a no go. Also, a standard PSU with fan on the top is a bad choice for this case because the case cover is too close to allow air flow. Recommended for this case would be a PSU with posterior fan like the Antec EA-380D Green. Also, a traditional power supply would not work with the Icy Hot or other hot swaps that take up 3 bays because they all put fans in the back of the swaps which won't fit with a regular PSU. Also, the case is not tall enough (about 5 inches) for heavy duty CPU coolers so pay attention to height. I used a water cooler. Read further at your own risk... I HEAVILY modified this case for my ATX board and didn't really care if I destroyed the board (or the case). I removed all of it's innards, and took a wheel cutter to the top of the Icy hot swap as I never liked how it was ventilated anyway, and removed it's fan so I could use my traditional PSU (YES, with superior fan). I turned the ATX board sideways in the case. I ran a lan cable through one of the back card slots with a VGA cable, and the machine has 2 USB ports anteriorly which I use for mouse and keyboard access. I then jammed a water cooler in the back of the case which required bending the back of the mobo to the floor of the case. The fans that came with this thing were almost as bad as the Supermicro 60mm fans in terms of decibels. I replaced them with some fans I had. Antec, I think. I put FreeNas on a ssd, closed her up, and now it is quietly purring in my rack running my media distribution and backup using Plex utilizing 5 4Tb Hard drives. Shout out to ASUS for making an indestructible MOBO because what I did to it with that water cooler can be classified as abusive...
As advertised
Pros: Quiet, efficient, still operating
Cons: None
Overall Review: This runs a server 24/7 and has been operational for 3 years. Quiet, runs cool, no issues. I have two of them. Great product, highly recommend.
Decent case
Pros: Looks Airflow options Ease of access
Cons: Wire management tight if trying to hide all cables behind mobo Labelling of wires or any rational instructions SSD mounts are TIGHT Space for but no mounts for standard HDs Inferior USB location puts wireless mouse/keyboard on the edge of range if case is on floor
Overall Review: I think Phantek is the company to beat. I own the Phantek's Enthoo Pro TG PH-ES614PTG_BK which is one of the most versatile cases I have owned with very nice touches that included a plastic box of computer screws/ties for various components one might add. Really felt white glove. Respect for the engineers who put in a lot of thought about the ergonomics/efficiency of that case design. It is my workhorse home computer and one of the best I have owned going back to Zalman's classic ms800 plus, circa 2014. Well done! Not as much praise with this case although I like it. With glass sided cases, cable management, at least for me, is a priority beyond airflow as people look into your machine. I want it to look professional and minimalist. To hide cables adequately on the backside of the mobo in this case is tough. There is not a lot of space behind the non-glass side to pull this off and Phantek did not provide much hardware for cable managment (ie ties). No provided brackets or thoughts for an internal drive cage to install non-ssd drives, and only provided mount sites for 2 SSDs which were NOT easy to access or install. The instructions with this case were not helpful. Basically trial and error as to fan control, especially after adding a 240mm radiator cooler and trying to synchronize colors. In my build I put two generic 120mm fans on the bottom of the case pulling air into the case. I reversed the front fans so air is blowing out of the front instead of into the case, and attached the radiator internally to the two front fans supplied with the case. I did not put a fan backside, and left it passive, and I guess the superior mounted PSU pulls air up into it and out the back. Nice touch to have a filter on the bottom of the case that can be easily accessed for cleaning by removing the front of the case which pulls off with four tabs providing mild resistance. Other thoughts: I wish they put the front USB slots on either the top of the case or top front instead of bottom front. This case sits on the floor in my office, and that extra foot is just on the edge of my wireless keyboard/mouse range which is annoying. They are also very tight. Having a SDHC memory card slot also would have been a nice touch. Also, I didn't see it, but is there even a mobo reset cable that came with this case? I only saw the mobo power switch cable for initiiating mobo power. I don't see mobo 2 pin cables for power switch illumination or SSD activity which are usually bundled together with the mobo power and reset switch cables. Are they coiled somewhere inside the case and I'm not seeing them? I gave up, just plugged in the power switch cable and turned it on. Lit fans look cool behind that front screen, though, and hiding the USB low gives a nice minimalist appearance. Still, function should come ahead of form (in computer cases, anyway). My suggestion is to move the USB inputs to the top of or front side superior with enough recessed depth to fold down a door to hide the dongles.
Creative case
Pros: -Price includes PSU -wireless phone charger on top -fits full size gaming card -pretty RGB lights! -color choices black white and pink!
Cons: -PSU is not modular -Power to phone charger looks proprietary
Overall Review: Built this for my niece who LOVES it. Put a AMD RYZEN 7 3700X 8-Core 3.6 GHz CPU and a mid level AMD Saphire video card circa 2018 so she could game if she wanted. Some have complained of unexpected PSU shutdowns but hers has been fine. Cable management is tight in this case so take your time. Wish the PSU was fully modular to assist in this area. Still, what drew me to this case was the phone charger. How creative is that! She uses the desktop over her laptop. For a 15 yo THAT is saying something!
As advertised
Pros: Works as advertised
Cons: non
Overall Review: Bought 2 sets of these for family builds. No issues at all. Decent price point. Well done!
Professional
All drives arrived working. Second set of hgst drives I have bought refurbished. All of my previous drives now several years old still running RAID5 24/7. Backup in place with these ready to go...
Structurally a good company but disappointed
Asus Mobo arrived on time but DOA. By policy, the company doesn't accept returns (PS I'm a a Newegg Premier member). They did promptly respond to my query and sent the number for Asus and the Mobo is on its way for evaluation. 2 stars for policy. They told me they provide cheap prices because of this policy, but internet search of my Mobo cost indicates their price is average?