Final Thoughts
What do you get when you cross a mid tower case with a mini-itx computer motherboard? You get the Phanteks Enthoos EVOLVE case. Phanteks really did a fine job mixing the age old, tried and true way of computer building with next gen. Mini-ITX and Micro-ATX computers. This case can take any size video card and they made room for the builder to do a custom water loop or use an all-in-one cooler like we did or use any sized air cooler you might desire. The Phanteks family thought of everything and this is the “Best Mini-ITX case I have ever built with” and I have built quite a few and they are usually like doing a Rubic’s Cube.
My Editor once asked me when I got really excited about a product and, he said. “Derek, is it really a 10 of 10. Do you think that it’s perfect?” I will have to say yes. If there is a perfect computer case for Mini-ITX build I found it in the Phanteks Enthoos EVOLV computer case. I am not a pessimist but I really could not find anything bad to say about this case even when I was building into it and that is the time I call them every name in the book. This is as close to a perfect case and one that will surely be a classic of years to come. One reason it will be around a long time is that its almost indestructible, you can’t bend it or break it unless you use a really big sledge hammer.
Phanteks built the Enthoos EVOLV like a military all personnel vehicle and the price is perfect too, because if it were my company, I would ask $229.00 for this case instead of the $129.99 that is the real price of one of these cases. Overall ThinkComputers gives the Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV Case a 10 out of 10 score and our Editor’s Choice Award!
Pros:
– Hinged door side panels
– Plated steel construction
– Great filtration
– Awesome layout for building any way you want and variable mounting sliding slots
– Set up for dual video cards
– Smoked side panel window
– Too many others to mention
Cons:
– None that I noticed
Great case! What were noise levels and temperatures like? 🙂
Con: You can’t buy it anywhere in the US.
Sure it might be a nice case, but what about 5.1/4 inch bay drive, Yes people still use that by the way and for the record the Cooler Master Cosmos II Chassis will be the last Case I’ll never own. Of Course until something don’t fit, then again I’ll make it fit.
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It has a 5.25″ bay in the rear.
Not yet.
There are so many USB external drives the best way to use this 5.25 drive bay is by using it for a holder for a reservoir for a water cooling solution. Yes its strange these days to see newer cases with no 5.25 bays and there will surely be more to come in the future. This case is a trend setter.
The noise level will be according to what fans you choose or what pumps you decide to use and even what video card you use. Overall its built like a bullet proof vehicle so you won’t be getting any noise from the case itself at all.
ITs getting introduced now.
I like this case and will be buying one, but I’m a little bothered about the side ports. These would have been much better placed at the top of the case, allowing the user more flexibility to place the tower according to their side preference. Many people place their tower against a wall or a desk side panel and with the power button being on the right hand side, this makes the side window feature pointless if they plan on having access to the power button easily. Not to mention people who have desks set up that benefit from having towers on the right hand side will have to reach around for the power or at the very least bend down if they want to fiddle with the front USB/Audio instead of easily insert/pull from a top access port.
Internally I think the detachable SSD mounting panel could use a little better placement for the SSD SATA connections that are at the extreme top and bottom points. Why weren’t the brackets able to be placed horizontally for better management or have at least one one SATA connection point coming from the center of the plate? It also would have been helpful if this plate were hinged like the main side panels instead of freely detachable as you do need to remove the plate to have access to the other front panels components but with any attached SSDs there this looks to be annoying to work around. The Hardware Canucks video review points this out fairly well. (http://youtu.be/i_Mso3V5SAw?t=12s)
I do feel these points deserve a callout if a product is going to be listed as ‘perfect’ because something as basic as case orientation is something a consumer may have to take into account. Other than that, this is a case I’m excited for and only wish it were released sooner as the initial release dates from other hardware sites started claiming its availability back as far as June. Lets hope it actually appears soon now. Thank you for the very thorough review.