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James P.

James P.

Joined on 08/12/13

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 2
Most Favorable Review

Great case, exploding fan.

NZXT Phantom 820 Series CA-PH820-M1 Matte Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
NZXT Phantom 820 Series CA-PH820-M1 Matte Black Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: 1) This case is HUGE, plenty of room for all the things that I wanted to do, with much more cable management area than my previous case, a white/black Raidmax Agusta. 2) This case is quite a looker. Three spotless finishes, interior AND exterior hue-change lighting, rear I/O light and a small side panel window to show off some of those internals. The color change is a neat feature, during the day I can set it to a mean green to match my Razer peripherals, and at night I can set it to a fierce red to match all the AMD internals. 3) This case has a lot of wiggle room an options externally as well, with an astonishing 4 USB 2.0 ports and 2 USB 3.0 ports (giving me a ridiculous total of 10 2.0 and 6 3.0 ports with the rear ports-quite overkill), a SD card slot in the front, your HD audio outs, as well as a sophisticated 15 watt-per-channel fan controller right on the front/top of the case. 4) 4 external 5.25 inch bays (what I consider to be the perfect number, because 2 is too few if you want a nicer fan controller or external drives, and any more than 5 and it starts to look outlandish) cleverly hidden by a magnetic door, all following the original Phantom design.. 5) Airflow. This case provides insane amounts of airflow with an optional 4 200 mm fans and 3 140/120 mm fans, all with accompanying radiator mounts, and the mounts are elongated to provide wiggle-room with positioning. I honestly almost mounted a 120mm radiator on the angular fan mount, just because you can in this case. I didn't, because that would be silly, but you could if you wanted to.

Cons: The only con that I have is that my side mounted 200mm fan, which came stock with the case, just exploded in a 4 finned- massacre. Thankfully nothing else was damaged from this, but upon inspection the dust-screen for the fan was mounted upside-down, putting the plastic grill toward the fins; it was only a matter of time before the plastic flexed enough (from warming up and from the natural flex these grills have) before it hit the fans. No biggie this time, NZXT, it was just the fan. But be extra careful in the future, okay? (haha, as if they are going to read this.)

Overall Review: I keep seeing people post things as cons like "it's heavy" or 'it's too big" waaah. NO DUH PEOPLE. If you did anything short of inpulse buying this case-I will admit it is hard and that is pretty much what I did- you would see the specs. Solid metal with some plastic asthetics, the case alone ways in at what, 37 pounds or something? It lists ALL THE SPECS right on the page. It tells you "Hey, pal, I'm huge." It is almost your own fault if you got it and it didn't fit. Don't let the size prevent you from buying this amazing case, just double check first, do some homework and see if it is right for you, because if it is, there isn't much better you could do...maybe the Rosewill THOR.. maybe. An arguable case to say the least, pun not intended. Worth the buy, if it is what you are looking for.

11/14/2013
Most Critical Review

Absolutely Horrible

NZXT FN-200RB 200 mm Case cooler
NZXT FN-200RB 200 mm Case cooler

Pros: Listed as a high speed fan with adequate airflow and low noise. Speed adjustable. Very quiet...when they don't rattle

Cons: Burn out/rattle/lose power EXPONENTIALLY over the course of about a two month half-life

Overall Review: The whole reason I had bought these fans was that the similar NZXT 200mm fans PREinstalled into my Phantom 820 case had the dust-cover grill facing inward, causing two fans to essentially explode and scatter their fins throughout my system. Thankfully no damage other than this occurred, so I figured "Hey NZXT, mistakes happen and I get that, so I'm cool I'll just replace the fan." BIG MISTAKE. I got these because they are the "performance" versions of the fans that were already installed, claiming to move about, what, I think it says 160 or so CFM of air. It doesn't move that much, however they are quiet, so I still figure eh, I wish it would move what it said it does, but as it is it only moves about 90-110 CFM. Still not bad, but not what I wanted or I would have gone with different fans. Now, after only a few months, one fan has burnt out and the other rattles, and runs at only about 50 percent of its power. I CAN WATCH THE BLADES ROTATE WITH MY NAKED EYE, and compared to their other 200 mm fans that were pre-installed, just didn't measure up. I am quite disappointed overall, which is a shame because I like NZXT overall, and I love my case. But it looks like I won't be buying much of them anymore, and I should have gotten them to foot the bill last time.