INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   SECC steel (Electro galvanized, Cold-rolled), aluminum and plastic have been the three primary materials used in the manufacture of PC cases since as far back as i can remember (actually in the old days there was just steel and plastic). Tempered glass however is now also used by quite a few popular (and some not so much) names in the industry with impressive results. As a matter of fact 2016 was the "golden year" for tempered glass based PC cases and although many people are still skeptical about the endurance of tempered glass the majority of the market seems to have welcomed them with open arms. Phanteks is far from the oldest manufacturer in the market today but thanks to the quality, performance, features and design of their products they've managed to come very far. Today we'll be taking a look at their latest Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition Full Tower.

   Phanteks was founded from a group of engineers with a total of 20 years of international experience in thermal solutions. They paired up with a Dutch design team and established Phanteks in 2007. Phanteks venture into the CPU cooling industry with two goals in mind, “High-end quality and innovative products in thermal solutions.” As a relatively young company, Phanteks strives to develop top quality and superior products. The first product, PH-TC14PE, was a great success in the overclocking community. With the success made, the passionate in developing new and better innovative cooling solutions was greater than ever. Phanteks Design Team is situated in the Netherlands and consists of creative researchers, designers and developers whose only desires are to bring the latest cutting edge technology to you. Remaining focused on the PC enthusiast, Phanteks released their first line of computer cases, the Enthoo Series. The Enthoo series offers the watercooling community features not available from most other manufacturers. Phanteks will continuously pursue excellence in developing new products to bring satisfaction to PC enthusiasts and computer users everywhere. Our goal is to be the best in the industry in all that we do and our motto is “no job is impossible”.

   Phanteks makes two versions of the Enthoo Luxe currently the regular one that has a sand-blasted aluminum side panel with two plexi windows and the tempered glass side panel edition which we have here with us. The Enthoo Luxe towers may not be among the largest ones in the market today but they still have enough room inside for E-ATX mainboards (ATX/micro ATX/mini ITX/SSI EEB are also supported), up to 10 drives (6x2.5/3.5" - 4x2.5"), 3 optical drives (5.25"), 7 fans (7x120mm and/or 5x140mm) and/or three radiators (2x240mm and 1x360/420mm), 347mm long graphics cards, 193mm tall CPU coolers and 318mm long power supply units. Phanteks also equips the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition with 4 side RGB LED strips (compatible with mainboard RGB headers), 6-way fan hub and a total of four 140mm fans (front/rear/top) which means you don't have anything to worry about regarding its airflow levels.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition arrived inside a black box that has a picture of the grey color variant at the front.

 

 

Detailed specifications are listed on both sides of the box (on the left side they are printed in 9 languages).

 

 

Several pictures placed at the rear of the box are used to showcase the main product features.

 

 

The tower is placed inside a plastic bag and between two thick foam spacers dressed with cardboard pieces.

 

 

A small cardboard box placed inside the tower contains a reservoir bracket, internal pump bracket, 10 cable ties, two Velcro straps, plastic box with screws and standoffs, RMA process paper and the user's manual.

 

 

THE ENTHOO LUXE TEMPERED GLASS EDITION EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to its very elegant and clean design the 560mm tall, 550mm wide and 23.5mm deep Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition can be used by all consumers.

 

 

The entire left panel is made out of tempered glass so you can see everything inside the chassis.

 

 

Here we see the two left RGB LED strips placed horizontally and vertically.

 

 

A nice feature is the two hinges that hold the tempered glass panel and thus you don't have to worry about it falling once you release the screws holding it in place.

 

 

The front has a total of three 5.25" optical drive bays and a perforated section taking most of the lower half.

 

 

As you can see the I/O is hidden inside a compartment right over the 5.25" optical bays and it includes 2 USB 3.0 ports, 2 USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone ports, reset button and the LED strip button.

 

 

The on/off power button and the power LED are both placed at the top of the tower.

 

 

As you can all see the perforated lower half of the fascia allows plenty of air to reach the two 140mm intake fans.

 

 

These fans can be either replaced with two 120mm fans (three if you remove the optical bays) or a 240mm radiator (you should be able to install a 280mm radiator without the optical drive bays).

 

 

Behind the fascia Phanteks has also placed a removable air-filter.

 

 

The top panel is perforated and features a push to release mechanism (also doubles as an air-filter).

 

 

Here we find a single 140mm fan which can either be accompanied with two more 140mm fans or can be replaced with three 120mm fans (you can also mount a 360/420mm radiator here).

 

 

Turning the chassis around we see a 140mm exhaust fan (can be replaced with a 120mm fan), 8 PCI expansion slots, perforated section where you can place the reservoir mount and the PSU area.

 

 

There are two large removable air-filters at the base of the chassis (can be pulled from the front and rear) along with six small rubber feet.

 

 

THE ENTHOO LUXE TEMPERED GLASS EDITION INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As mentioned earlier the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition may not be among the largest towers in the market currently but it has quite a bit of available interior space.

 

 

All three 5,25" optical bays feature tool-free mechanisms (this drive cage is also removable).

 

 

Two vertical 2.5" SSD brackets (tool-free) are placed right beneath the 5.25" drive bays.

 

 

These brackets are made out of aluminum and are very sturdy.

 

 

Aside a very large CPU cutout the mainboard tray also has a total of 7 rubber grommets for cable management purposes.

 

 

All of the available PCI expansion slots use typical thumbscrews (you can mount the reservoir right next to them by using the bundled bracket).

 

 

Phanteks also used a PSU cover (also has a single rubber grommet) to hide all the cables.

 

 

For an empty PC case the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass sure has quite a few cables on the other side.

 

 

There are two drive cages here capable of holding a total of six 2.5/3.5" drives.

 

 

The trays used are also tool-free but certainly not the sturdiest around.

 

 

There's also a six-way fan hub placed behind the mainboard tray.

 

 

Both drive cages can be removed just by releasing the 6 thumbscrews holding them together and with the rest of the chassis.

 

 

Once you do that you can access the two 140mm intake fans and the place where you can mount the bundled pump bracket (bottom).

 

 

Two extra 2.5" SSD mounts are placed beneath the mainboard tray but for reasons unknown Phanteks decided not to bundle two extra brackets (you can still use the front ones).

 

 

To install a power supply unit you will need to remove the cover and to do that you will need to release the three thumbscrews that hold it in place.

 

 

Once the cover is removed we see the PSU area with its 6 rubber feet and another rubber grommet.

 

 

Here we see the top area from inside the chassis.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Our ATX sized mainboard leaves quite a bit of space on the right and the bottom (as expected really).

 

 

Since you can mount CPU coolers up to 193mm in height there’s nothing keeping you from using even the largest ones in the market (although you will probably opt for a water cooling kit).

 

 

The vertical SSD brackets are very convenient and they also allow you to see the drive.

 

 

With enough room for 347mm long graphics cards you should have no problems using any card in the market.

 

 

Here you can see five of the six available colors you can choose for the LED strips from the LED button (I tried editing out the PSU cable with poor results, sorry for that).

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition Full Tower is one of the best looking PC cases to reach our lab lately not only thanks to its tempered glass left side panel but also because of its 4 RGB LED strips placed on both sides. For good or bad it’s not as large as some other full towers (some even made by Phanteks themselves) but it still has room for E-ATX mainboards, up to eight 2.5/3.5” drives (10 with two extra brackets), three 5.25" drives, 7 fans and/or three radiators, 347mm long graphics cards, 193mm tall CPU coolers and 318mm long power supply units. The hinges on which the tempered glass is secured and the 6-way fan hub are two nice features but I wasn’t expecting the lack of a speed control knob or button. Having four 140mm fans pre-installed right from the factory is also something we don’t see a lot and although some people may end up replacing them I think the majority out there will keep them especially since they are not what I’d call loud even at full speed. Also with a total of 4 air-filters (front/top/bottom) chances are you will never have to clean the interior of the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition. I still don’t know why Phanteks placed 4 vertical 2.5” SSD mounts but only two brackets but my honest opinion is that they should had bundled two more.

   As I type these lines the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition full tower by Phanteks retails for USD179.99 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 193.50Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) a price tag which is quite balanced for what this chassis offers. Of course there are many similar offerings at that exact price tag including the quite excellent 509 ROG Edition by IN WIN so in the end it all comes down to what you like more. Still there’s no denying that the Enthoo Luxe Tempered Glass Edition is one of the best full towers in the market today and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design (Tempered Glass & Side RGB LED Strips)
- Four Pre-Installed 140mm Fans
- Spacious Interior (347mm Long Graphics Cards / 193mm Tall CPU Coolers / 318mm Long PSUs)
- Room For Up To 8 Drives (10 With Two Extra Brackets)
- Removable Drive Cages
- Space For Up To 7 Fans And/or Three 240/360/420mm Radiators
- 6-Way Fan Hub
- Front/Top/Bottom Air Filters

 

CONS

- Fan Hub Without A Fan Controller
- Only Two SSD Brackets
- Price (For Some)