NZXT Phantom 530 Chassis Review

NZXT has a rock solid legacy when it comes to the chassis market, this is only backed up with even further success in the PSU and AIO water cooling markets, where there HALE and Kraken products are currently some of the best on the market. For me, this all started with the original Phantom chassis, it set a high standard that has been adhered to for years now and it even kick started many other chassis manufacturers to pick up their act and compete with NZXT on high-end products, so the question is, have NZXT learnt anything new since the launch of the original Phantom and is this one “better” that the original?

Cable management has been greatly improved, there is even more room behind the motherboard than ever before, the cable routing holes are significantly larger than the original phantom and there are more cable tie loops behind the motherboard. It wasn’t hard to get a great looking build on the old model, but now its super easy and there is more room than ever before for extra cables, which means extra components.

Cooling is greatly improved too, larger fan mounts, better air filters, more extensive water cooling support and a gargantuan area in the top of the chassis for 200mm fans or custom radiators. NZXT has all of their trademarks in place, with modular HDD bays that allow for more extensive front panel cooling, base cooling, height adjustable rear fan mount, HDD side panel fan mount, 140mm internal mount and that 360mm mount at the top that all add up to some seriously heavy-duty airflow. The only gripe I have is that without extensive cooling fans or radiators installed, the 530 looks empty, you can see through the mesh, there are mounting holes unplugged and generally it looks baron, especially the top panel.

This chassis has a purpose, high end or extreme system builds that are focused on performance and cooling, anything less isn’t going to do it justice. Sure you can stick a moderate system in here but you run the risk of the chassis looking hollow and bare, much like our build does today from some angles. The clear side panel window and see through mesh panels just beg you to put the effort into making the build perfect and unless your planning on a SLI/Crossfire configuration, extensively cooled monster rig you may as well get the original Phantom, it’s still great, it’s now cheaper and it looks fantastic. Yet if you want the biggest and the best Phantom yet and plan on building something spectacular, then the new Phantom 530 will blow you away.

Personally I don’t think you can make a bad choice with premium NZXT chassis designs, they’re all fairly similar internally and are highly focused on high performance systems, water cooling and more, the Phantom 530 is just another extension of their already very competent chassis ranges.