LABS TEST / PREMIUM CASES
T
he Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 offers by
far and away the most extensive,
flexible PC building space this
month, while also being one of the cheapest
cases on test. It’s certainly not small, towering
to nearly 60cm high and 56cm deep, but it can
offer a home to two 420mm radiators, with
one in the front and another in the side
expelling air through a vent in the side panel.
As if this wasn’t enough, there’s space for
360mm radiators in the roof and base too.
You don’t need to let the extensive storage
options get in the way of your water-cooling
gear either, as the four individual hard disk
trays included can be mounted beneath your
graphics card, so they don’t interfere with the
front radiator mounts. As well as these trays,
there are mounts for a further eight drives in
the side fan mounts using optional trays so.
There’s scope here to go all-out with RAID
arrays, water-cooling systems or a mix of
the two.
PHANTEKS ENTHOO
PRO 2 /£134 inc VAT
SUPPLIER overclockers.co.ukThe case can also house
a second mini-ITX system in
addition to a standard-sized rig,
as well as a second power supply
should you wish to game and
create content on separate rigs.
While there’s no riser cable in the
box, you can also mount your
graphics card vertically. Unlike
the be quiet! Silent Base 802,
there are no swap-out panels
here, though, with the Pro 2
using Phanteks’ mesh fabric to
improve airflow.
Cable tidying is pretty decent, with
a few extra-long Velcro anchors and a huge
stowage hole in front of the PSU, although it
would be better to have a little more clearance
between the side panel and motherboard tray.
There’s also no USB 3.1 Type-C support, only
a USB 3 Type-C port, and no fan hub either,
although you do get a splash of RGB lighting
on the PSU cover.
No fans are included in the box, so we only
tested with one and two additional fans. With
the former located in the front of the case, the
CPU delta T of 71°C was on par with the rest of
the field, despite an airflow deficit. However,
the GPU delta T of 69°C was noticeably
warmer, sitting 5°C higher than the best result.
With two fans installed, the added airflow
saw an improvement, with the CPU delta T
falling by 1°C and GPU delta T by 2°C, but you’d
need at least another couple of fans to match
the best-performing cases on test. Noise-
wise, the Pro 2 kept the decibels to a minimum
without fans installed, topping out at 40dBA,
which was a match for the be quiet! Silent
Base 802.Conclusion
The Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2 is a blank canvas
for cooling, with its lack of fans and extensive
water-cooling support offering the ability tofully customise your rigs instead of spending
money on fans that might end up in the bin.
It’s simple and maybe even a bit clunky, but its
storage and cooling expansion potential are
phenomenal for the price.
While the Phanteks isn't up to much out
of the box, it still comes recommended if
you’re looking for an affordable case to cram
full of hardware.SPEC
Dimensions (mm) 240 x 560 x 580 (W x D x H)
Material Steel, plastic, glass
Available colours Black
Weight 13 kg
Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3, 1 x USB 3.1
Type-C, 1 x stereo jack, 1 x mic jack, lighting control
Drive bays 4 x 2.5/3.5in (up to
12 optional), 11 x 2.5in
Form factor(s) E-ATX, ATX, micro-ATX
Cooling 4 x 120mm/3 x 140mm front fan mounts
(fans not included), 1 x 120/140mm rear fan
mount (fan not included), 3 x 120/140mm roof
fan mounts (fans not included), 3 x 120mm/1
x140mm base fan mounts (fans not included)
CPU cooler clearance 195mm
Maximum graphics card length 503VERDICT
Offers huge potential for a massive machine
crammed with hardware, although you’ll
need to spend a bit of money on extra fans.PHANTEKS OF
THE OPERA
+^ Massive water-
cooling potential
+^ Plenty of hard^
disk mounts
+^ Affordable^THE PHANTEKS
MENACE
-^ No USB 3.1 Type-C
-^ No fan hub
-^ No fans included
COOLING
27 / 30
DESIGN
24 / 30FEATURES
19 / 20
VALUE
18 / 20OVERALL SCORE
88 %%