Phanteks P400, P400S Are Elegant With 'RGB' Lighting

Lately, we’ve been seeing heaps of RGB-lit devices, but not too many of them have been cases. Courtesy of Phanteks, we have a peek a couple of them, the company's new Eclipse P400 and P400S.

Both cases feature almost identical designs, with just a couple of subtle differences, but the basic construction, layout and features are the same. 

The cases are mid-tower units with space for up to E-ATX motherboards, graphics cards up to 395 mm long (or 280 mm with the hard drive cage installed), CPU coolers up to 170 mm tall, and ATX PSUs up to 270 mm long. The power supply sits in its own chamber to neatly hide away the cables. In the bottom area of the case there is also room for two 3.5” HDDs. Four more hard drives can be mounted at the front of the main compartment, and two 2.5” SSDs can be fitted behind the motherboard tray.

As far as cooling goes, the case comes with one front 120 mm fan and one rear exhaust fan. However, the front of the case supports up to three 120 mm fans (or two 140 mm units), and the top of the case has room for two 120 or 140 mm fans. For radiators, you’ll be able to fit a 360 mm or 280 mm unit up front and a single 120 mm at the rear. Phanteks did not indicate that the top of the case has room for a radiator, likely due to the proximity to the motherboard.

The front intake of the case has two dust filters – one at the top and one at the bottom. There is also a dust filter underneath the PSU that slides out easily. Additionally, the case also has a dust filter on the top exhaust location, which is particularly interesting because there aren’t many cases that have this feature. You could use it as an intake without worrying too much about dust, but it also means that dust won’t fall through there when the PC is switched off.

All the cases have the so-called RGB lighting, although calling it "RGB" is a bit of a stretch. The Phanteks logo at the bottom-front of the chassis can be LED-lit with one of ten colors.

Front I/O is handled by two USB 3.0 ports, the usual pair of HD audio ports, and power and reset switches, together with the LED control. The P400S also has a three-speed fan controller, and that’s where we get into the difference between the standard model and the S.

As you may have guessed, the S in the P400S’s name stands for "silent." Along its side panels, users will find dampening material. The top of the case where the exhaust vents are can be closed off with special covers.

The case’s chassis and body panels are made from steel, with just a couple plastic bits here and there where necessary. It measures 555 x 300 x 520 mm (HxWxD) and weighs roughly 7 kg.

In total, there will be nine versions of the case. The P400 will exist only as a windowed version, whereas the P400S will exist with both a side window and a uniform windowless side panel. Additionally, all three will be available in Satin Black, Glacier White and Anthracite Gray. Pricing for the black or gray P400 sits at $69.99, and the white version costs $10 more at $79.99. The P400S takes a $10 premium for the silencing materials over the P400. All the cases will be available in March.

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Niels Broekhuijsen

Niels Broekhuijsen is a Contributing Writer for Tom's Hardware US. He reviews cases, water cooling and pc builds.

  • Gam3r01
    I like the grey one, simple, clean, and well, its phanteks.
    Im assuming this is aimed to take on the H440, but the price also sets it to take on their own Enthoo ProM.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    Full tower Phanteks with RGB lighting and removable HD cages? For less than what I paid for my H440?

    Reply
  • DookieDraws
    Phanteks has made some very nice inexpensive cases. Nice to see all these great looking and well made cases for less than a $100. A few other manufacturers would probably charge $150 for this case- y'all know who I am talking about. :)
    Reply
  • rtware923
    Has anyone interacted with Phantek's customer service? I'm curious about how good that department is because from everything I have heard their products are excellent and VERY reasonably priced. I have bought two cases from NZXT and other than the great styling of the cases I have been a repeat customer because of their customer service. One time I scratched the front panel of my NZXT H440 and they sent me a replacement free of charge. And they are currently sending me an upgraded fan controller for my old version of the H440. Also free of charge. It is very obvious that it is Phantek's vs NZXT and Phantek's has won on price and from what I have been able to tell quality is a draw. What about customer service???
    Reply
  • rtware923
    Has anyone interacted with Phantek's customer service? I'm curious about how good that department is because from everything I have heard their products are excellent and VERY reasonably priced. I have bought two cases from NZXT and other than the great styling of the cases I have been a repeat customer because of their customer service. One time I scratched the front panel of my NZXT H440 and they sent me a replacement free of charge. And they are currently sending me an upgraded fan controller for my old version of the H440. Also free of charge. It is very obvious that it is Phantek's vs NZXT and Phantek's has won on price and from what I have been able to tell quality is a draw. What about customer service???
    Reply
  • turkey3_scratch
    17467648 said:
    Full tower Phanteks with RGB lighting and removable HD cages? For less than what I paid for my H440?


    One thing I notice though is, the H440 comes equipped with 4 fans from the get-go. This one only has 2. But still, a darn nice case.
    Reply
  • ak47jar3d
    Well done Phanteks. One good case after another buy them.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    17469303 said:
    Has anyone interacted with Phantek's customer service? I'm curious about how good that department is because from everything I have heard their products are excellent and VERY reasonably priced. I have bought two cases from NZXT and other than the great styling of the cases I have been a repeat customer because of their customer service. One time I scratched the front panel of my NZXT H440 and they sent me a replacement free of charge. And they are currently sending me an upgraded fan controller for my old version of the H440. Also free of charge. It is very obvious that it is Phantek's vs NZXT and Phantek's has won on price and from what I have been able to tell quality is a draw. What about customer service???

    Extensively. Not, as one might first assume because I have had a lot of problems, but .... well see below:

    1. I had planned on using a Corsair D series, but when I saw previews of the Enthoo Pro, it was all over for me. I delayed my build several months till it was released and when it was , there was little information available. Over on overclock.net, there was a host of potential users also waiting and a thread where information was shared as it developed. Once here I had a host of questions related to fit, potential mods, how the Fan PCB worked, potential availability of additional pump mount temples, availability of accessories (additional SSD mounts, morre fan PCBs etc. All requests were handled promptly, tho understandable, the tech support folks never could be sure when new products would be available.

    2. My front case face was extremely difficult to remove and I was concerned about the spring loaded clips .... they sent pair of new ones, just in case I had an issue.

    3. The aftermarket fans come with adhesive rubber vibration isolators on each corner. The stock fans in the case do not have these. This will become an issue if ...

    a) you are mounting a radiator on a mix of the two... obviously, the ones with the pads are thicker (2mm extra on each face) and you want an even mount
    b) When mounted horizontally, gravity will keep the fan in place unless the fan spins at high speed pushing air in the direction of gravity. If not secured tightly, the lift created by the fan blades can lift the loose fan and it will rattle against the case.

    I called Phanteks and they sent me 80 rubber isolators, no charge.

    4. We have done a lot of Phanteks builds. We usually keep 3 or 4 case models on our recommended list for users in each of the budget, mid priced and high end builds. Never before have we had the same manufacturer in all 3 categories. Till now. And users have been selecting the Phanteks overwhelmingly. My son had an issue with a fan on his build. It was mounted horizontally on top, next to his H240-X. The fans use a modified rifle bearing allows the blade assembly to ride along the shaft. Best i could determine from our phone discussion was that at the upper end of the rpm range, the blades pushing air down were lifting the blade assembly up at the higher rpms. As rpm went up and down so did the fan blades and there was a light tapping sound, which I presumed came from the blade assembly hitting the shaft stops. Of course this wouldn't happen if the fan was used as exhaust.

    I called Phanteks to see if this might indeed be the case, next day the sent me 2 fans overnight mail. I called my son and he had already switched the fan for the rear one and mounted vertically, it didn't make any noise. I called and asked if they wanted them back and they said don't bother.

    The overclock.net thread has many, many stories along a similar vein.

    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    I wish new PC case designs came with usb 3.1 type-c front panel connectors. Also this case really screams for a big air filter in the front. Would be a nice case to setup as positive pressure with filtered air to prevent dust bunnies.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    17472981 said:
    I wish new PC case designs came with usb 3.1 type-c front panel connectors. Also this case really screams for a big air filter in the front. Would be a nice case to setup as positive pressure with filtered air to prevent dust bunnies.

    The front intake of the case has two dust filters ....
    .

    Reply