Okay Geek Farm
NZXT Phantom case and HALE90 850W PSU review
Jason Tsay
We all know that the most important part of a computer is what’s inside but how much would it suck if an uber powerful computer were shoved in a bland beige case? The NZXT Phantom is one of the coolest looking computer cases we’ve seen and it has a couple of cool features to back up its looks! Of course, no computer would be able to run without a power supply and the NZXT HALE90 is a damn good one at that. We decided to review the two alongside each other to guarantee intended results and also because their white paint jobs look great together.
Features (Phantom)
- High performance cooling advantages (7 fan cooling options, integrated fan controller)
- Simple installation (wire management, screwless rails)
- Extensive compatibility and expandability (vast space, up to seven hard drives, five 5.25” bays)
- Materials - steel and plastic
- Dimensions - 222 x 540 X 623 mm
- Weight - 11kg
Features (HALE90 850W)
- 80+ Gold certified
- Single 140mm two ball-bearing fan
- Strong single +12V rail design
- Modular cable design
- reliable 100% Japanese capacitors
- 550W, 650W, 750W, 850W, 1000W varieties
- 5 year warranty
Our Impressions
Phantom
The NZXT Phantom comes in a massive black cardboard box - and when I say massive, I mean gigantic. I felt a little sorry for the UPS guy who delivered the package. Inside the box you’ve got the case wrapped in a ton of plastic and sandwiched with foam. Although our box suffered some bruises in transit, the case was in pristine condition thanks to the packaging inside. A box of screws is tucked neatly with the instruction manuals inside one of the hard drive bays.
Unpacking the Phantom, we realized how big the case actually is. It’s no plain-Jane computer case and is rather stunning in person. The Phantom is one of the best looking computer case we’ve seen. Don’t expect to see any gaudy side windows or blinding LEDs here. Everything about this case screams high class. The glossy white exterior is reminiscent of a storm trooper’s suit or even something from Portal. The Phantom also comes in black and red, with either red lighting or the standard blue. We like the white version because it doesn’t pick up fingerprints as easily as the black and is less garish than the red.
Before we crack open the case, let’s talk about some of the exterior features of the Phantom. The front features a mesh area for an optional intake fan below a magnetic plastic door which conceals the disc drive bays. The right side has two black trapezoidal mesh areas for side fans (one 200mm and two 120mm) while the back leaves room for your motherboard ports, expansion slots, and power supply. At the top of the case, you’ll find a neat fan controller with five sliders on the right and front ports on the left - two USB 2.0, headphone jack, microphone jack, and eSATA port. Directly adjacent is the decently sized power button. The fan controller is extremely useful and allows you to independently adjust each one to fit your cooling needs. The easily removable top and front pieces of the case are made of plastic but the side panels and actual case are steel. Everything is given a nice glossy coat of white paint.
Sure, the outside looks great but the most important thing about a case is what’s inside. The side panels are very easily removed. Simply extract the thumbscrews from the rear and the two panels will swing out. The motherboard was easy enough to mount on the case although it was probably one of the only times we required the usage of screws. At the front, you’ll find five 5.25” tool-less disc drive bays. These are actually rather genius because you simply slide a piece of plastic to secure your drives - no screws needed. Five of the tool-less 3.5” hard drive cages are stacked under the disc drive bays while two are adjacent. All seven of them are also screw-free, requiring only a slight pinch to remove them from their metal frames. At the rear, you’ll find seven expansion slots and at the very bottom, four rubber feet under the PSU help to reduce vibration and increase airflow a bit. Fitting an Nvidia GTX 570 left plenty of space whereas other cases might have struggled with the large graphics card. Several holes in the wall of the frame allow you to easily tidy up all those cables. Overall, we found the interior to be a joy to work in; with the Phantom, you’ll have no shortage of places to stick your components.
A 200mm top fan, 120mm rear fan, and two 120mm side fans are included. We removed one of the side fans and reconfigured it to be and intake fan at the front of the case. We suspect this will greatly increase airflow and suggest you give it a try as well. Looking at the bottom of the case, you’ll notice that the case is slightly raised to increase airflow.
After installing our components and closing the case back up, we hit the power switch to fire up our new machine. The NZXT Phantom is actually not one of the gaudy cases that is covered with LEDs and a side window. It has just enough LEDs to let you know that everything is working and to look cool but it certainly doesn’t overdo it. In fact, if you feel that the illuminated top fan is too much, there is a button on the back to turn off those lights.
HALE90 850W
Now let me warn you that I’m not expert on the electrical aspects of the power supply but there were a couple of features that caught my eye while installing the HALE90.
The NZXT HALE90 comes in a large box containing the power supply, extra cables in a bag, thumb screws, and a manual. The PSU’s matte white paintjob gives it a unique look to match the NZXT Phantom while a black fan grill acts as a nice contrast. There’s no doubt that the HALE90 was intended to go inside NZXT’s very own Phantom.
Let’s go over the connectors that the HALE90 offers. You get one 20+4 pin ATX connector for your ATX motherboard, two 4+4 pin EPS connectors for your CPU(s), nine 4 pin peripheral connectors, ten SATA connectors, one 4 pin floppy drive connector, three 6 pin PCI-Express connectors, and three 6+2 pin PCI-E connectors. Five hardwired cables are wrapped in nylon sleeves with eight modular ports to power any other parts you may need. Installing the PSU was a simple matter of four thumb screws in the rear of the Phantom.
An 80 Plus certification guarantees that it’ll be running at maximum efficiency. While we didn’t test this in any scientific means we also didn’t feel that the PSU was giving off any excess heat. It also operates with minimal noise. Here is an efficiency chart off of NZXT’s site:
Overall
The NZXT Phantom is a very nice looking case that has more than enough interior space to fit all of the latest and greatest computer components. It has laudable features such as an integrated individual fan controller and tool-less bays. We do wish that the front USB ports could have been USB 3.0 since plenty of peripherals support it these days but if this isn’t of great concern to you and you don’t mind having a larger computer case, the NZXT Phantom is the perfect choice. The HALE90 complements the looks of the Phantom well and is pretty impressive itself. Boasting an 80+ Gold certified rating, it’s quite efficient and 850W is more than enough to power all of your components.
Pro’s (Phantom)
- looks great
- spacious interior
- individual fan controller
Con’s (Phantom)
- top and front are plastic
- no front USB 3.0
Where to buy (Phantom)
Pro’s (HALE90 850W)
- 80+ gold certified
- modular design
- white paint job
Con’s (HALE90 850W)
- None
Where to buy (HALE90 850W)
This review was done by Jason Tsay, who was provided the Phantom and HALE90 by NZXT.
