A Closer Look: Interior
When removing the side panels for a closer look at the interior, I was surprised by a small detail. That little detail was a simple rubber washer on the thumbscrews for the side panels. While that in and of itself may seem small, little details such as these go a long way into adding to the overall quality and presentation of a chassis. Here we can take a look at the side panels a bit more. Notice the removable filter on the power supply intake; it has magnetic strips making it extremely easy to remove for cleaning and then reinstall. The other two vents have both a filter and a vent cover installed by default to keep things clean looking until the user decides to install additional fans or a radiator.
Just to the right of the motherboard tray you will notice another vertical plate that serves two purposes: to conceal cables routing to the motherboard as well as an additional liquid cooling reservoir mounting location. No way! There is only one downside to this; the longest graphics cards out there will interfere with this. However, Phanteks was thoughtful enough to make this a removable plate secured by thumb screws for easy removal. Still, if you plan to install a reservoir here, measure your graphics card! Addtionally with the plate removed we find yet another routing hole with a rubber grommet. We will touch on this a bit more later. Now normally where we would find the typical HDD and ODD cages, Phanteks has fashioned a nice looking plate to conceal the mentioned area to complete the consistent clean appearance. The ODD locking mechanisms match the flow of the case aesthetically and the Phanteks logo plate is removable, possibly to allow for custom nameplates or anything else a user might dream up and show through the side panel window. I note here that this is the only company logo that remains visible and that says alot about how Phanteks wants their audience to have control over their custom creations. Well played, Phanteks. Well played! The front faceplate is easily removed, for cleaning or other purposes, with no cables or ports installed within.
The opposite side of the interior is just as intriguing as the other side. Now we can see the possiblities of the supreme cable management offered by the Enthoo Primo. The cut-out for accessing the CPU mounting bracket is large enough for any mounting system out there, which is excellent since AMD brackets are not taken into full consideration in most chassis. Check this out, Phanteks saves the user zip-ties and time by including their own labled velcro ties. Again, it really is the small details that begin to add up add add to the overall experience, usefulness, and value here. There is also the accessory box that we will cover in the next portion of this review.
Beginning towards the front we find two removable 3.5″ hard drives cages that utilize the sliding trays we have grown accustomed to seeing in most chassis available today. Phanteks has included an optional radiator bracket that allows the user to install up to a 240mm radiator here as well. The downside is that both HDD cages must be removed in order to install the bracket. However, if you plan on only running an SSD or two, or even three; Phanteks has included two locations for SSD installation behind the ODD cage and one behind the motherboard tray to balance things out. Towards the middle portion of the chassis beneath the motherboard tray is another interesting feature; a removable mounting bracket for installing a liquid cooling pump. Phanteks is really going the distance here! Beyond that we find the location for installing a power supply unit. The nice thing about having a larger chassis is that even the longer power supplies will have no trouble fitting here. With the power supply mounted in this location, cable management will be much easier and the aesthetics will be improved as well. Lastly, right in the center is a small PCB which acts as a fan hub. All of the preinstalled fans are plugged in to this by default, with an additional three headers available. The awesome thing about this device is that it powers your fans by using only one header on your motherboard, freeing the rest of them for additional fans or whatever the user requires.
Now that we have examined the interior of the Enthoo Primo from top to bottom, let us install some hardware and peek at the overall finished looks!
