Custom PC - UK (2019-12)

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smallestontest,makingtheShifta greatdesk
spacesaver.Poppingopenthetophingedlid

PhanteksEnthooEvolvShiftAir/£95incVAT

SUPPLIER overclocke

revealed release screws for the mesh panels,

while the front and rear aluminium panels

simply slide on and off.

Inside there’s space for up to three 140mm

or 120mm fans plus two 120mm all-in-one

liquid coolers, as well as a single 3.5in bay and

two 2.5in bays mounted on one of the side

walls. The CPU cooler height limit sits at a

mediocre 82mm and you’re limited to SFX

size PSUs too, but graphics cards up to

350mm long can be used.

Cable routing is reasonable too, with space

between the steel chassis and aluminium

panels providing much-needed cable storage.

Combined with a small amount of RGB

lighting, the Shift is an attractive case and

reasonably priced too, given its extensive use

of aluminium.

The CPU delta T of 59°C is a huge

improvement over the 76°C we recorded with

the original case and was enough for a solid

second place behind the SilverStone LD03.

The GPU delta T was the best on test at 49°C

ahead of the LD03, which is a 7°C drop over

the original case too. The single 140mm fan

was reasonably quiet, but the mesh panels do

allow a significant amount of noise to escape.

Conclusion

Witha sub-£100pricetag,excellentcooling,

a tinyfootprintandspaceforliquidcoolers,the

PhanteksEnthooEvolvShiftAiris nowan

excellentchoicefora smallbutpowerfulPC.

Thenewmeshpanelsmeanit’snot

particularlyquietandyou’llneedanSFXPSU,

butit’sattractiveandinnovative,andthenew

Airversionis a greatchoicefora mini-ITXcase.

VERDICT

Phanteks’ quirky, attractive mini tower gets a

serious airflow upgrade.

EVOLVE

+ Excellent cooling

+ Small footprint

+ Attractive design

EXTINCT

• Limited liquid-
  cooling options


• Poor CPU
  cooler clearance


• Requires an SFX PSU

SPEC

Dimensions (mm) 186 x 274 x 470 (W x D x H)

Material Steel, aluminium, plastic

Available colours Black

Weight 4.8kg

Front panel Power, 2 x USB 3, RGB control button

Drive bays 1 x 3.5in/2 x 2.5in

Form factor(s) Mini-ITX

Cooling 2 x 120mm/140 front fan mounts

(1 x 140mm fan included), 1 x 120/140mm

base fan mount (fan not included)

CPU cooler clearance 82mm

Maximum graphics card length 350mm

nthooEvolvShifthad

low,whichwasa shame

manyways, Phanteks’

emostinterestingmini-

ewyears.However,even

olersinsideandhas

ns tothesingle 140 mm

in the box,airflowstill

panyhaslistenedto

sticmeasurestodrop

houtalteringthe

eShifttoomuch.From

ame,butviewedfrom

ngera tintedglassview

depanelsarenow

.Thedenseweave

oftheinteriorandfrom

y appearslike a matt

,is thatbothsides tthe

ss tocoolair,whichwill

ow-profile CPU coolers

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COOLING

27 / 30

DESIGN

27 / 30

FEATURES

14 / 20

VALUE

18 / 20

OVERALLSCORE

86