A Look Inside
The main thing that catches the eye when looking in the main compartment is the included PSU shroud. Phanteks has an ear to the door of the mod scene and this is one place they’ve shown it. A fantastic touch for an entry level case.
At both bottom end of the case you will find removable dust filters. In fact all the intake and exhaust points have dust filters and most of them are easily removed.
Moving to the back side, we get into the guts of this beauty. You will find that the cable management options on the Pro are second to none. In addition to 8 cut outs with grommets, there is a dedicated pass through for the 5.25” bays. Beyond that there is a plethora of wire management tabs to attach zip ties to and of course there are also the 8 pre-installed velcro tie downs. You really won’t find this level of cable management support at this price range anywhere else.
Also on the back panel is the fan board. This is a scaled down version of the one found on the Primo. It has support for up to 6 fans, and can be powered by a SATA power connector or PWM controlled by the motherboard using the CPU_FAN header.
For storage, you will find no shortage of options here. The Pro has support for up to six traditional hard drives or seven compact SSDs or 2.5” drives. One of those mounting locations is a dedicated SSD bracket that mounts snuggly right behind the motherboard or optionally behind the PSU.
And for those that find they are not filling all six bays they can be easily removed to create space to increase airflow or add other cooling components such as radiators or pumps, etc. These drive bays come out completely without tools. Simply remove the thumb screws by hand and pull the bays out by their tabs.
Back to the PSU shroud that we mentioned earlier. You will find that unless you are dismantling the case this is the only part that will require a screwdriver. It’s a very simple set of three screws accessed from the back panel and you can lift the shroud up and out.
When I said you can basically take the thing apart without tools, I meant it. Starting with the front panel simply pull forward on the edges and the plastic cover pops right off. Repeat for the top panel. Removing the front panel gets you access to the front 200mm fans screws as well as the ability to remove the front dust cover and the covers on the 5.25” bays.
Under the plastic top panel you will have access to the leds and power switch. Also you will need to remove the cover if you want to mount a top radiator or additional fans.
With those simple steps you now have the case completely down to it’s skeleton. The rest of it is held together by screws and can be easily dismantled if you find the need. Next to the many times more expensive Case Labs line I’ve not seen a case this easily broken down and modded. Phanteks is truly doing wonderful things here.
On to the accessory box. Inside you will find four items. A well put together user manual is included with instructions for everything from removing the dust filters, to dismantling sections of the case. There is a small bag of zip ties and an additional velcro tie down. I love that even with the Pro, Phanteks has included a complete set of screws in a handy toolbox just like big brother Primo. And finally there is panel that can be installed below the 5.25” bays for mounting a watercooling reservoir.
Interested in how the Pro matches up to the Primo? Well it’s just your lucky day we happen to have both on hand!
As you can see, although both are marketed as full tower, the Primo is larger in volume by almost 30%. So what does this mean to those of us with big dreams for our smaller Pro case? Lets put everything from our Primo into the Pro and find out.
