Phanteks Eclipse P300 Case Review

By Steven Lynch
published

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Benchmarks & Final Analysis

[Note: This is a different test platform from the one used in our other ATX case reviews, so we re-tested the BitFenix Nova to keep the comparison fair. This is indicated by the "test #2." Readers who are good with numbers should be able to make comparisons that way between the cases tested here, and those tested at our other lab.]

As you might expect from a chassis with a single 120mm exhaust fan and a tempered glass side panel, the Eclipse P300 performed poorly during thermal testing.

Temperatures on our budget quad-core i5-7500 processor running at 3.8 GHz ran as high as 68°C under load with ambient temperatures as low as 25°C during testing. Graphics card temperatures suffered the most from the lack of an intake fan. GPU temps were upward of 83°C, a full 58°C over ambient temperature.

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Thanks to the tempered glass side panel, a front fascia with no forward-facing vents, and a single case fan, this chassis generated very little noise at just 33.4dBA under load. At idle, the Eclipse P300 was extremely quiet at 29.6dBA.

Determining acoustic efficiency, also referred to as cooling-to-noise ratio, is a matter of averaging all five of our tests to determine a base value. Phanteks Eclipse P300 generated very little noise partly by eliminating intake fans. Sure the tempered glass side panel helps, because it reflects sound back into the chassis, but we believe the the addition of one or more intake fans would almost certainly negatively impact these acoustic results.

Unfortunately, the higher temperatures compromises the Eclipse P300's value score in our performance-to-price comparison, despite its low asking price. Its competitors also have low asking prices. And they also perform better.

Our value results are a bit misleading, even now. Most people who buy this chassis will undoubtedly want to add at least one or more intake fans to the system build. Obviously, that is going to add cost. And while those fans will enhance cooling performance, it will come at the expense of overall system noise. If Phanteks were to add a fan and hold the price steady, it might be hard to pass up. For now, there are better choices.

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Steven Lynch
8 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ark.4264
    This is the best case at low price <3
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    Nice! Good to have some competition for the NZXT S340!
    Reply
  • jhanschu
    Although it would add a significant amount of testing, I would think that adding an intake fan to give users a better idea of the performance capabilities of this case. I understand out of the box testing, but also testing all cases configured similarly. For example, a single fan for intake and exhaust.
    Reply
  • JackNaylorPE
    One of the things that would have made this article a bit better is "apples and apples". When I look at CPU cooler reviews. I think, well didn't they go a bit overboard because the manufacturer did decide to supply this cooler with the fans they did, and it's unreasonable to make a consumer buy a cooler but to get it to work right, they need to replace the fans.

    On the other hand, a case manufacturer may supply a case to hit a certain target price point ... but, as in this case, they also provided (4) additional fan mounts. So, in order for me to evaluate the viability of this case, when you choose too compare it with two other cases, both of which have (2) fans installed, I'm left typing "Eclipse P300 Case Review " in the web search window looking for a review that is relevant and comes the cases on equal footing.

    Yes, out of the box testing is relevant, but w/o a standardized platform (2 intakes / 1 exhaust) for apples and apples comparisons, it doesn't tell me anything I need to know. And yes, we want more inatkes than exhaust because w/o that, the resistance from the air inlet filters will mean less air in that out. And that means not only dust carrying in dust but that dust will most likely be carried in by PSI and GFX card exhaust thru the rear case grilles.
    Reply
  • wifiburger
    i like my kingwin aluminium, 3 window case, it's about 15years old I refuse to trow it out :-)
    Reply
  • Xajel
    No Type-C now in 3Q17 !!, it should be already there in early 2017 not to mention now with both Ryzen and Intel's 8th gen natively support USB 3.1 g2..
    Reply
  • machinegunkenny
    I purchased a phanteks enthoo pro for my last build a couple years back and fell in love with it immediately. Phanteks makes a clean build easy to do and I was able to fit everything with room to spare. Went with a MSI z97 gaming 5 mobo, i5-4690k OC'ed that is air-cooled with an master cooler 212 EVO, MSI GTX 970 and 16gb 1866mhz RAM. I also put a red LED strip on bottom and added 2 red LED phanteks 140mm fans to the top. Everyone who sees it compliments me.
    Will most likely purchase phanteks cases from here on out.

    My one and only complaint is with the power button design. It is very common for it to get stuck when pressed and cause boot errors. This is because it is elongated and if you push off center, it can catch. I have to always press it with both index and middle finger to ensure it goes down evenly. This entry level tower looks to have the same button design. Don't let that deter you though...just be aware. The MANY pros out-weigh the one con.
    Reply
  • sandraa9513
    Not listed in the best PC cases?? That's easily the best case for 60$ ! And who really wants those ugly pre-installed fans anyway?..
    Also, since when is i5 a budget CPU? C'mon...
    Reply