** PHANTEKS P400 & P400S SERIES - A TOTAL ECLIPSE OF YOUR HEART **

[ChugNorris]

Introducing the Eclipse P400 & P400S series of cases from Phanteks. These are the newest entries to the Phanteks range. There are 9 models in total, available in standard or noise dampened with or without window, in either Black, Gunmetal Grey or White. All models have RGB functionality with 10 preset colours, plus with the addition of a seperate cable from Phanteks (PH-CB_RGB4P - more info on that soon) they can be connected to the new Asus Aura RGB motherboards and controlled by the supplied software, making them the first Aura ready cases on the market.

To put it simply, these cases represent fantastic value for money. They are solidly made from steel throughout, with room for a 360mm front radiator, a PSU shroud for a tidy look, 2 fans installed as standard and with up to 395mm VGA, 270mm PSU & 170mm CPU cooler support, they give you plenty of space for most enthusiast hardware.

I make no secret of the fact I am a huge fan of everything Phanteks has released, however even with this in mind I will still say that I think the Eclipse P400 and P400S are going to be the BEST cases available on the market at this price. The level of features, build quality and aesthetics on offer for a product starting at £52.99 and topping out at £62.99 is phenomenal and is better value than anything else around this price that's currently available. We should have the Black and Grey models available at the start of March, with the white models following towards the end of March. Preorder now!


Phanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - Black Window @ £52.99 inc VAT

Only £52.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - Gun Metal Window @ £54.95 inc VAT

Only £54.95 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - White Window @ £55.99 inc VAT

Only £55.99 inc VAT.

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Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened Black Window @ £59.99 inc VAT

Only £59.99 inc VAT.

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Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened Gun Metal Window @ £61.99 inc VAT

Only £61.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened White Window @ £62.99 inc VAT

Only £62.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened Black @ £59.99 inc VAT

Only £59.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened Gun Metal @ £61.99 inc VAT

Only £61.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW




Phanteks Eclipse P400S Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened White @ £62.99 inc VAT

Only £62.99 inc VAT.

ORDER NOW

 

[MissChief]

Look fantastic and great value too. If I were after a case I'd certainly be looking at one of these.

 

[Sircles]

I did a little wee.

 

[archer_dan]

Love these, just jumped to the top of my list for next case

 

[Bickaxe]

Next build, will definitely consider one of these. Certainly sets a new bar for others.

 

[BuToNz]

Any word if they are fixing the top fan offsets? TTL was pretty upset in his review of this case about it, although I suspect it won't effect that many people.

 

[ChugNorris]

Any word if they are fixing the top fan offsets? TTL was pretty upset in his review of this case about it, although I suspect it won't effect that many people.

Doubtful. Not sure why such a big fuss has been made over it either. People planning a dual radiator watercooling loop won't be looking at using this case, so the fact it doesn't fit a 240mm at the top is fairly irrelevant. Out of interest, other reviews for the case are below: -

 

[Legend]

So you can't put a 240 AIO up top then? Only place for it would be up front?

 

[ChugNorris]

So you can't put a 240 AIO up top then? Only place for it would be up front?

Yes, up to 360mm in the front.

 

[Kurgen]

I like the black and grey ones, would be tempted if looking for a new case.

the white one though looks a bit to much like a fridge

 

[tinytomlogan]

Doubtful. Not sure why such a big fuss has been made over it either. People planning a dual radiator watercooling loop won't be looking at using this case, so the fact it doesn't fit a 240mm at the top is fairly irrelevant. Out of interest, other reviews for the case are below: -

Basically because it would have made the case pretty much THE perfect case at this price point. There clearly is enough room and they decided not to.

Maybe I did get a bit enthusiastic about my disappointment, but thats because I really had hoped that this was going to be a total slam dunk. Theres no reason not to offset the mount except to try and get people to buy the more expensive cases. If its purposely gimped for that reason rather than striving to provide the best case they possibly could it just upsets me a bit tbh. Id have gladly shouted from the roof tops how epic this case was otherwise.

 

[Krowzer]

SNIP

I've watched your review and pretty much all of your other videos over the years, and have great respect for your high standards and not being beaten down by the suppliers and vendors in order to only mention positive things!

Looking forward to your pg348q first look and review - if you can compare it to the common problems that have plagued the Acer x34 that would be wonderful.

 

[tinytomlogan]

I've watch your review and pretty much all of your other videos over the years, and have great respect for your high standards and not being beaten down by the suppliers and vendors in order to only positive things!

Looking forward to your pg348q first look and review - if you can compare it to the common problems that have plagued the Acer x34 that would be wonderful.

Happy to try and bring up points but Ive not used the Acer.

In respect to the P400 it is an awesome case, and Im only annoyed that they chose not to offset the roof because of "more expensive cases" rather than showing what could have been done since there is clearly enough room.

Why shouldnt someone be able to fit an AIO in the roof and then put fans or a GPU AIO in the front.

 

[Digital X]

They look nice and all, but isn't there a severe lack of airflow? I can see two openings, one top and one bottom. Unless I'm wrong and there is decent airflow but I cannot see it..

 

[Legend]

Wow, clearly that's been gimped if you ask me. NO WAY would Phanteks make a mistake there and not realise what they'd done. They have proven themselves to be VERY attentive to case details in all their products to date, so this screams 'gimp' in order to push anyone wanting to mount a rad up top towards one of their more expensive cases. I really fail to see any other explanation. It really would be a perfect case IMO otherwise.

 

[ChugNorris]

Basically because it would have made the case pretty much THE perfect case at this price point. There clearly is enough room and they decided not to.

Maybe I did get a bit enthusiastic about my disappointment, but thats because I really had hoped that this was going to be a total slam dunk. Theres no reason not to offset the mount except to try and get people to buy the more expensive cases. If its purposely gimped for that reason rather than striving to provide the best case they possibly could it just upsets me a bit tbh. Id have gladly shouted from the roof tops how epic this case was otherwise.

So, here is my understanding: -

1) The case has been solidly marked down from your top award down to silver because of a lack of support for a top 240mm radiator, when there theoretically is space for one.
2) You believe this is a deliberate decision by Phanteks (it's not, but I'll get to that) to encourage users wanting to employ a dual radiator setup to buy a more expensive Phanteks case
3) Other than that, you think the case is excellent value for money and ticks almost all the right boxes.

Here is Phanteks reply on the situation: -

We have taken on board the feedback provided, and while we stand by the Eclipse P400, its current design and feature set, we will look to take these points into consideration for any future projects.
Due to the current manufacturing processes and tolerances, we are unable to match modifications based on the feedback to the current revision of the chassis.
For those looking for further compatibility, we suggest the Enthoo Pro M case which allows up to 360mm radiators in both the front and top, and has also been recently released with a full Acrylic side panel.

The main things to take from this quote is that Phanteks are recommending the Pro M as an alternative to the Eclipse if you want more radiator space, a case which retails at £59.99 e.g. within the price range of the Eclipse series, not really more expensive at all. In fact, the way I see it, the Eclipse has been brought in alongside the Pro M to offer something different around a similar pricepoint. Furthermore, the offset required to allow a 240mm radiator to fit would cause a lot of issues in the stamping process for the fan grills, so it wasn't viable.

Lets be honest, the Eclipse series has been introduced at a pricepoint where it will compete directly with the current king of the hill aka the NZXT Source 340. Based on the base model, the Eclipse offers better front radiator support (360mm vs 280mm), RGB functionality, more room for hardware and although somewhat of a personal preference looks better too, whilst being cheaper. Despite this, the Eclipse managed a lower award than the S340 (which also didn't support 240mm radiators at the top)

Whilst I totally respect your opinion and agree with most of what you've said/written when it comes to chassis in the last several years, I do feel like you've made a issue here where there really isn't one, and I feel a little bad for Phanteks who have put a lot of work into bringing out a stunning case.

 

[ChugNorris]

Wow, clearly that's been gimped if you ask me. NO WAY would Phanteks make a mistake there and not realise what they'd done. They have proven themselves to be VERY attentive to case details in all their products to date, so this screams 'gimp' in order to push anyone wanting to mount a rad up top towards one of their more expensive cases. I really fail to see any other explanation. It really would be a perfect case IMO otherwise.

As mentioned, the 'alternative' is the Enthoo Pro M, a case in the same price range.

 

[Simon Belmont]

As mentioned, the 'alternative' is the Enthoo Pro M, a case in the same price range.

I have the Enthoo Pro M Window Edition and I've had no issue fitting a 240 rad on top. The case is my favourite. This new P400 series is a bit smaller then Pro M

 

[tinytomlogan]

Hey dude thanks for the reply.

Im really not trying to cause problems or tell people not to buy this case, its awesome for the money. Going from Gold to Silver isnt that big a step IMHO. Ive marked this down because it could have had the option for a roof mounted AIO but it hasnt. There is clearly enough room.

I think all I have done is say "hold up this had the ability to be the best £60 case EVER released. Someone somewhere thought theres room but it might impact other ranges so lets not make this the best it possibly could be, we need to hold it back a little bit"

Hell Id give this the gold if they offered a better roof as a £9.99 cost option you had to fit yourself.

My whole angle on this is disappointment and while that maybe founded because of a very small point it is still there never the less.

 

[ChugNorris]

Just to clarify, here's a full statement from Phanteks on this point: -

Due to production tolerances/limitations it’s simply not possible for us to offset the top fan mounts enough to accommodate (at least) a 120/240 AIO radiator without conflicts with the motherboard and keep the current case dimension. If we would offset the fan mounts more, it would’ve complicated the pressing tooling and it would only free up less than 10 mm of extra space (There is production tolerance to how close we can press the mesh area to the edge of the panel). And even with 10mm extra space, it would still cause conflicts between most radiator and motherboards. So we decided to keep the 140mm mounts centered, with the 120mm mounts slightly offset to create some extra space for cable handling. This way we’re able to keep the aesthetics, fix the production cost as currently and offer the P400’s for its current retail price.

To allow installation of AIO radiators in the top, we could’ve:
- Increase the case width and/or sacrifice the cable management space behind the motherboard tray
- Integrate our radiator bracket used in the Pro M/ Evolv ATX / Evolv ITX cases (which were clearly wider)
These options would’ve increased the production cost and not enabling us to reach the P400 current price point and put it almost next to our bigger case products.

We position the Eclipse Series as an entry-level case line and we believe the Eclipse P400 will offer a great experience for starters who wants to build a straight-forward gaming system with AIO watercooling or aircooling. Users who are looking for more water-cooling flexibility we offer other alternatives such as the Enthoo Pro M from the Enthoo Series, which is available for a price that’s not a lot more expensive than the Eclipse P400.

Whilst I appreciate the disappointment that a 240mm radiator will not fit, I just want people to know that Phanteks would never knowingly 'gimp' a case, it's not in their ethos or interests. Maybe Phanteks will offer a product around the £65 mark that has better watercooling support but maintains the Eclipse looks further down the line.