NZXT PHANTOM 530 Review

 

Up Close:  Exterior, Roof, Rear and Base 

Phantom case roofs have always been sleek minimalist affairs, and the 530 is no different, in fact we think it might be the most minimalist yet with just 2 buttons and a fan controller stealthily secreted about it’s surface there’s little to break up the slippery lines                

    

 

The metal grill on the roof of the 530 is one of the finest we’ve ever seen, and by that we mean the mesh is of such a fine weave as to be almost transparent when viewed from certain angles.  While there is a strength to it, we suspect it won’t stand up to well to having anything dropped on it, or a bit of ham fisted lifting perhaps

     

 

See the buttons?  Yeah we had trouble finding them too.  It’s not just the photography, they really do blend in that well.  On the left of the case we have a sliding fan controller and a small button which turns on and off the handy dandy rear I/O LED.  Over on the right along with the power button we have a brace of USB3.0 (there’s no USB2.0) and the usual audio sockets

    

 

Round the back of the case there’s a quite gargantuan rear fan grill, bulging slightly out from the rear panel and with slotted holes enabling both 120 and 140mm fans to be mounted here, their positions altered to best suit the internal hardware.

       

 

Further down there’s a pair of rubber grommeted tubing holes (please stop doing this, it’s not 2005 anymore).  These are flanked to the left by 8 expansion bays.  The bay covers are vented and finished in a black to nicely counterpoint the white.  At the very base of the case we do of course find the PSU cut out. 

     

 

Flipping the chap over onto it’s side allows us a good look at the underside.  To the front there is a pair of 120mm fan cut outs to allow air in for any base mounted rads or fans, and to the rear there’s a slatted area providing the same service for the PSU.  Both of these areas are awarded their own easily removable mesh fan filters