Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi-Tower Chassis Review




/ 8 years ago

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Introduction


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Building a high-end gaming system or workstation calls for an equally high-end chassis, something that is capable of meeting your demands for high-end cooling and the best hardware you can afford. The Enthoo Pro M follows in the footsteps of the Enthoo Evolv ATX, but swaps out a few of the design features for something with more airflow, making it a premium solution for those wanting to install high-end water cooling hardware, or air cooling solutions.

“The ENTHOO PRO M focuses on delivering great design without compromising price. Water-cooling builds will be a simple task with the help of our innovative radiator bracket and pump mounting locations. Whether you are a system builder or water-cooling enthusiast, the PRO M will give you unlimited possibilities.”

As you can see from the specifications, this is one extremely capable mid-tower, with support for everything from mini-ITX right up to E-ATX motherboards. You’ll find room for multiple expansion cards, which can be up to 420mm long with the hard drive brackets removed. There’s extensive cooling support too, with up to 280/360mm radiators in the top and front, as well as a 120/140mm in the rear. The cooling support is expanded further with dedicated spaces to mount pumps and reservoir hardware.

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First impressions of the chassis are very good, just lifting it out of the box, it becomes apparent that it’s a robust chassis and the steel construction means it’s got a good bit of weight and strength to it. The matte black finish looks nice and stealthy too, giving the chassis a nice and uniform appearance. There’s a large window on the side panel, which is big enough to show off the internal hardware while hiding things like cable routing and storage bays.

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Tucked down the left of the front panel, you’ll find a pair of USB 3.0 ports, HD audio jacks, and a reset button. Here you can also see the false brushed aluminum effect on the front panel plastics, which I think looks rather stylish.

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The right side panel is just a blank panel. Both the left and right side panels are held in place with thumb screws, allowing for relatively easy access to the chassis interior.

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The front panel is nicely designed, with a single 5.25″ drive bay with a removable cover at the top, and a huge ventilated section at the bottom, allowing huge amounts of airflow to any front mounted cooling, albeit at the cost of some noise suppression.

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Around the back, you’ll find a lot of passive airflow, as well as a pre-installed Phanteks 140mm fan as the main exhaust. Further down, there are seven expansion slots, each fitted with a reusable ventilated cover and finally, at the bottom, a slide out dust filter for the PSU air intake.

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The top has even more ventilation, perfect for any optional fans or radiators.

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The comes fitted with a huge dust filter, which is fitted with magnets, allowing you to quickly remove it and clean it.

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Ample ground clearance on the bottom courtesy of four large feet, each fitted with rubber grips.

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Interior


Inside the Pro M, you’ll find a design that’s very much the same as the Enthoo Evolv ATX model, which is no bad thing! There’s a huge CPU cooler mounting cut-out at the back, pre-installed motherboard standoffs, a huge amount of clearance for expansion cards and room at the front for hard drives or cooling hardware.

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In the top, you’ll find a universal cooling mount, which will support 120/140mm width hardware, with up to 280/360mm in length.

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Remove a few screws and you can slide out the cooling mount or take it out completely, making it super easy to clean/install your fans and radiators.

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There are no pre-installed fans in the front of the chassis, actually, the only fan that comes with this chassis is the rear 140mm. Now, this isn’t such a bad thing, as if you’re buying this chassis, you’ll likely be installing your own aftermarket fans, radiators, and other hardware, so why add more waste fans to the setup anyway.

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Tucked away in the bottom right, a hard drive mount for a 2.5″ hard drive, as well as a cable routing grommet that’ll be handy for passing through GPU power cables.

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There are two cable routing holes to the right of the motherboard mounting area, both are slightly angled towards the motherboard to allow easier cable pass-through.

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Around the back, you’ll find a good amount of cable routing space, with even more space courtesy of the false floor which hides the PSU.

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There’s a stealth 2.5″ hard drive mount tucked behind the motherboard, handy if you’ve filled the front of the chassis with cooling hardware.

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There are cable ties included in the box, but also some pre-installed velcro straps, which are great for making quick cable swaps.

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Up top, you’ll find a few more cable routing holes, handy for any top mounted cooling.

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The stealth 2.5″ drive is a handy addition, especially if you’ve used the front drive mounting space for water cooling.

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There’s a huge amount of space in the base of the chassis for the PSU, as well as any excess cables, so cable management should be super easy.

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The final build looks spectacular, with pristine cable management throughout, leaving unobstructed airflow throughout. It’ll also look great for those that like to show off their hardware, especially with that large side panel window.

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The wide design of the chassis means you have no issue with large expansion cards or high-end air cooling towers; there’s also a good amount of clearance for rear-mounted water cooling.

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The cable routing grommet on the cable shroud is very handy, especially if you have a GPU with side mounted power connectors, as it keeps things looking neat and tidy.

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Our Sapphire R9 270X graphics cards aren’t exactly small, but as you can see, there’s a vast amount of space available. Of course, this space can also be used for hard drive mounts or front mounted water cooling hardware.

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All panels back in place, this is a great looking chassis that as great for performance as it is for showing off your new hardware.

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Complete System


Are you ready to have your mind blown? When I reviewed the Enthoo Evolv ATX, I thought it was a great chassis and worth every penny of the £139.99 price tag. The Pro M swaps out the aluminium for steel and plastic, changes the external design a little, but the interior is still every bit as great as and actually identical to the Evolv ATX, yet it only costs £59.99 from Overclockers UK. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know the price until I wrote this section, I’d have guessed it was a little over £100!

Overview

The build quality on this chassis is premium throughout, sure they’ve used “cheaper” materials than the enthusiast grade Enthoo Evolv ATX, but they’ve not skipped on the finish, the features or anything really. The design is superb, with great support for enthusiast cooling solutions and while it may only come with a single 140mm fan pre-installed, this is really the kind of chassis you buy when you want to install your own cooling products.

There’s room for large water cooling radiators in the top and front, as well as a smaller one on the rear mount, dedicated fitting spaces for a reservoir, as well as pumps, so you shouldn’t have much trouble building a high-end custom loop. Those seeking an air-cooled solution will find room for 120/140mm fans while the perfect cable routing and management means that you’ll be able to build a clean system with unobstructed airflow.

It’s easy to get the kind of build you desire with this chassis. There’s room for plenty of storage, with modular drive bays in the front, lots of cooling hardware, high-end graphics cards, large PSUs and more; it’s unlikely you’ll run into

There’s really little else to say about this chassis, its build quality is great, is looks great and its price is an absolute bargain! If you buy a chassis for £60 that isn’t the Pro M, you would have to be crazy.

Pros

  • Excellent build quality
  • Room for long graphics cards
  • High-end water cooling support
  • Slide out top panel fan/radiator mount
  • Side panel window
  • PSU shroud
  • Fantastic cable routing
  • Modular storage

Cons

  • None

“Affordable is certainly this chassis most defining factor, but when it’s backed up with excellent build quality, component compatibility, and a stunning design, it quickly defines its self as one of the best chassis on the market today.”

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Midi-Tower Chassis Review

Thank you Overclockers UK for providing us with this sample.

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