Review on Phanteks PH ES217E_AG Tempered Cooling Anthracite by Black Holstead

This is a very eye-catching and unique case made of high quality materials. The side panels made of tempered glass and aluminum are very pleasant to the touch, but it has to be said that the supplied filters look a bit cheap in comparison (but are fully functional). to equipment, wiring and cooling. It was also time consuming for me to build, so make sure you "plan your attack" before just plugging in components. Phanteks has a really great user guide that outlines the steps you need to take to build your system. The case comes with a 140mm fan; My final configuration consisted of two 140mm fans on the sides and a Kraken M22 AIO CPU cooler in a push/pull configuration that pushes air from below (the fan can fit between the bottom of the case and the legs of the case be attached). The case is designed for use in AIO mode; it has room for two 120mm AIOs (if you want to use one for your GPU); Using an air cooler is a bad idea for a CPU as there isn't much space between the tempered window and the motherboard. Similarly, Phanteks recommends configuring the GPU mount so that the GPU faces the glass in a liquid-cooled configuration (for a nice bling effect) and faces inward for more plebeian air cooling. In my overclocked configuration, my Ryzen 5 1400X runs at a maximum temperature of 46 degrees Celsius under load, while my air-cooled GTX1060 runs just under 80 degrees Celsius. This isn't the best thermal in the world, but it's average and in line with what I've been able to achieve on other occasions. I definitely recommend if you are looking for a higher TDP graphics card like the GTX 1080, are looking for a Supercharger style fan (Founder version) or are using an AIO with a Kraken G12 mount or similar. This case also calls for good RGB application, one of the reasons I chose the Kraken M22. This cooler isn't the cheapest, but it's the best implementation of RGB in a 120mm fan format and suits the Shift perfectly - almost exactly how it was designed for the occasion. The case also features a built-in 12V controller that works great with Phantek's own Halos. Mounting directly above the AIO makes for a pretty nice setup (I left the side fans unlit), especially when you complete the look with RGB memory. Overall I really like this case. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who is relatively new or can't be bothered to plan their builds as it takes some effort to select components and factor in cooling issues and the like. But if you show patience, the reward will be a beautiful and unique system.