Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Review

Installation
With a lot of mini itx cases, the installation can range from a headache to a nightmare. We are very curious to find out if Phanteks can help improve the situation.

We start out by installing the power supply. Simply slide your power supply into the bottom of the case from the back and secure with four screws from the accessory bag. Since we are installing a non-modular power supply we have quite the tangle of wires coming out of the case at this point. The cutout in the PSU shroud lets us see the label on the side of the unit which is pretty neat.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

Next lay the case down and install the motherboard. You will of course want to install you I/O shield first which we did without any issues. We follow that by setting the board into place. Phanteks was nice enough to use stand offs that go into the motherboard holes slightly and hold the board in place against the shield. Not a big deal, but helpful. The board is then secured with four screws from the accessory bag.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

Before we put the case back on it’s feet, we installed two dimms of ram. With the board in place we can begin to make our power connections. The cut outs are all in the right places, so we don’t have to worry about interference with the motherboard.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

We chose to install our traditional HDD in the main compartment using the optional HDD bracket. This was as easy as dropping the drive into the bracket and securing with screws from the accessory bag.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

Moving along we’ll install our GPU. The unit we are installing is an EVGA GTX 690. This is quite a long card at 11 inches. By opening the cover to the mounting area however it was no more difficult than installing the card in a full size chassis. With the card installed we attached power from below passing it the two eight pin connectors through the huge cut out below. Closing the cover and securing with the two thumb screws really helps to clean up the look of the GPU power connections.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

All of the main components are now installed and ready to go. We run the 8 pin CPU power connector to the top of the case and have no issues installing it with the motherboard in place. We attach all of our front port and auxiliary connectors with no cable length problems. Our single fan connector is attached to a header on the motherboard.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

The one trick left is to manage all of our many cables. Being non modular and a 900 watt power supply, our install is probably the worst case scenario. However, installing the HDD in the main compartment allows us to utilize the entire space below the PSU shroud to tuck cables. We were also able to hide some along the back between the PSU and back panel. Although it would have been nice to have maybe one or two more locations to secure cables, we found that we were able to secure most all cables and have no problem getting the back panel on. In fact overall the panel attachment on this case while nothing fancy, felt very secure and easy to use.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

Until this point we were unsure what type/size of CPU cooler we would be able to use. Thanks to a very generous cut out giving us clear access to all the CPU holes as well as tons of room in the main compartment, we figured why not go with our biggest air cooler on hand. This would be a bequiet! Dark Rock Pro 2. And as you can see in the photo, while the case is full it’s still entirely functional and will have plenty of airflow front to back. There were zero issues with clearance in any direction with this cooler. And thanks to the width of this case you could even put a taller cooler in if you wanted.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case

When powered on the bottom strip on the front panel lights up. This could have been a really cool design feature, but we found it to be a pretty dim light strip.

Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Case