NZXT Phantom 240 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Final Thoughts

Price

At just $69.99 from the NZXT web store, the Phantom 240 is great value for money, it’s one of the cheaper NZXT gaming chassis on the market and I expect it will become a little cheaper once it is available at the multitude of online PC retailers, who love to compete to offer the best value. The case isn’t without its flaws, but at this price range it’s very competitive on features and certainly gets extra points for its aesthetically pleasing design. Easily a good investment for anyone looking to build or upgrade their gaming system.

Overview

I have mixed feelings about the Phantom 240, it’s a great case, albeit one I don’t think I would ever buy. I find the front and top panels to be a little too curved, but at the same time I don’t think it looks bad at all, I just prefer a more angled design such as their H440 (which is why I own a H440). I’m not blind, this is a stunning case, especially for this kind of money and I bet the design is going to prove very popular with gamers who want to build a premium looking system, without spending premium levels of money.

Component compatibility is high, there’s loads of room inside this case for larger power supplies, long graphics cards, SLI/Crossfire setups, huge CPU air coolers, smaller water cooler units, lots of storage and optical drives and there is still plenty more room for cable management and other accessories.

The chassis has certainly been designed with air cooling in mind, it’s certainly not as water cooling capable as its bigger brothers, but you can expect to pay almost twice as much for the higher end NZXT chassis that have broader water cooling support. I was able to get a 120mm radiator in the back and for most users that will be more than enough for overclocking their gaming rig. It’s nice that NZXT has included two fans into the chassis, for a low-to-mid performance system they’ll provide more than enough airflow, more serious gaming rigs can take advantage of the additional fan mounts for improved airflow. I would have liked better air filtering on the front panel fan mounts, as its relatively open design will no doubt clog up with dust quite quickly and will allow dust to travel into the system.

The side panel window looks stunning, something that will prove very popular with those who like to install case lights. In fact, the NZXT Hue lighting kit would be an ideal addition to the Phantom 240. The only problem you may run into is that if your PSU has garish cables, you’ll have a hard time hiding them against that glossy white interior, especially since there are no rubber grommets to help tidy up the interior aesthetics of the chassis.

“The NZXT Phantom is a very competitive product, it’s got plenty of features, loads of style and a very attractive price tag. There are a few things I would have liked to see added, such as better filters and rubber grommets, but the increase in price extra features like this would bring would defeat the purpose of this being a more budget friendly model.”

Pros

• Great build quality
• Clean and stylish design
• Huge side panel window
• Good component compatibility
• Competitive price

Cons

• Metal and plastics have a slightly mismatched shade of white
• No rubber grommets on cable routing holes (understandable given the price)
• No proper dust filtering system on front intake
• Water cooling support is limited

Thank you NZXT for providing us with this sample.