NZXT Phantom 630 Case Review

1. Introduction2. NZXT Phantom 630: Packaging & Bundle3. NZXT Phantom 630: Exterior4. NZXT Phantom 630: Interior5. System Installation6. Testing Methodology and Thermal Performance7. Acoustic Performance8. Closing Thoughts9. View All Pages

A very roomy interior for the Phantom 630 comes as a by-product of its ultra tower form factor. With its nine expansion slots and appropriate clearance, NZXT gives the Phantom 630 support for large XL-ATX and E-ATX motherboards.

Four main rubberised grommets, backed up by additional cut-outs, should make the Phantom 630's cable management system an effective one.

Expansion card clearance is 320mm with a fan installed in the internal mount (but not tilted), meaning that even the 305mm-long HD 7990 can fit inside the Phantom 630 without clearance issues.

NZXT's tiered motherboard tray presents users with cable management clearance of 28mm – a value which increases to 35mm directly behind the PSU. 37mm of cable room is located behind the hard drive bays, while the 5.25″ area gets 40mm of clearance. We are very glad to see NZXT equipping the Phantom 630 with a large amount of cable tie-down points.

A large CPU cooler cut-out should give access to the rear of many motherboards on the market.

By default, NZXT mounts the three hard drive bays on top of one another in a location directly behind the 200mm front intake fan.

As with many of NZXT's latest cases, the Phantom 630 loads its HDDs from the rear side, meaning that only one panel has to be removed in the process.

Thanks to their modular design, the hard drive bays can be quickly unscrewed and fastened in a new location. This helps to give users the flexibility that is required when using watercooling or other non-standard configurations. It can also make cable management an easier task and improve airflow.

The trays are fastened to a ‘drive rail' when mounted at the bottom of the case, or they can be secured from beneath the 5.25″ bays.

Removing this drive rail will give users access to a pair of 140mm fan mounts that can be used to house a thick push-pull radiator configuration.

Making additional use of the clearance behind the motherboard panel, NZXT also includes a pair of 2.5″ drive mounts. This unique location is convenient for users who want to go all-out with their watercooling efforts, as they are free to remove every drive bay and make use of just the 2.5″ mounts that don't interfere with radiators or reservoirs.

The Phantom 630 sees an updated 5.25″ tool-less securing method which I like very much. A lever controls the easy-to-operate metal mechanism that clamps 5.25″ devices tightly in position. Screws can also be used for further stability.

Even the largest power supplies on the market, such as Seasonic's excellent Platinum-1000, can be housed in the Phantom 630's 235 millimetres of clearance. If that isn't enough, the bottom drive rail can be removed to allow for even larger units.

Six rubberised feet damp noise-causing vibrations that exit the power supply.

NZXT includes a 140mm, 1000 RPM fan in the rear mount. This fan's location can be adjusted by a few millimetres, thanks to the mount's flexible design.

Nine vented PCI shields allow hot air to escape through them. We are perplexed by NZXT's decision to omit a tool-less fastening mechanism for expansion cards. This simply isn't good enough for a case of this calibre, especially when nine thumbscrews would have changed the cost by a handful of pennies.

As is shown in the above picture, the Phantom 630 doesn't feature a specific grommet for the 8-pin power and fan cables. Instead, the cables are routed up behind the motherboard tray. While this is a perfectly acceptable method of routing small fan cables, thick power cables will be harder to force through the small gap.

Situating the 200mm roof fan outside of the Phantom 630's internal compartment helps to free up 48mm of clearance above a motherboard. For watercooling users, this clearance will allow some of the market's thickest 240/280 and 360mm radiators to be mounted in the roof with its fans will residing above the case's internal compartment.

A 200mm, 800RPM NZXT fan is situated behind a dust filter. Removing the 200mm unit allows a pair of 120 or 140mm fan to be installed in the front location.

A 10-port hub connects 3-pin fans to the Phantom 630's controller. Rated for a 30W output, the included four fans draw just over 15 Watts of power. With 15W of power output remaining, users are free to install five to six high-quality 140mm fans, such as Be Quiet! Shadow Wings 1000 RPM.

The 30 Watt hub should be sufficient to power the Phantom 630's fans for an air-cooled build, just don't expect to daisy-chain fans to the unit when using push-pull watercooling configurations.

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