Phanteks Eclipse P300 Review: A New Reference for Mid-Range Cases!

The Phanteks Eclipse P300 is a Midi-Tower from the middle price segment with features you wouldn’t expect in this price range. With integrated RGB-LED-lighting and a tinted tempered glass side panel, the case mixes up its price class and is not only a visual eye-catcher, but also very functional, as we will show in this review.

Design

The left side of the Eclipse P300 is particularly striking, as the upper part is made of tinted tempered glass, while the lower quarter is made of aluminium. This is probably intended to reduce production costs, but also has the advantage that the power supply is not visible from the side. A small light strip at the lower edge creates a colorful ambience and can be controlled together with the light of the power button via a switch on the case or via software on a compatible motherboard. The front consists of a smooth surface and looks very minimalistic, while the upper side has a mesh surface in the rear area.

Scope of Delivery & Workmanship

The scope of delivery includes the housing, a manual and a small box with screws and other accessories. A 120mm fan is pre-installed at the factory. The workmanship is very good, especially when you consider that this is a budget case for “beginners”. Removable dust filters are located on the two air inlets in the front, under the power supply and on the top. The tempered glass side panel is attached via four thumbscrews and rests on a foam padding. For cable management there are brackets with Velcro fasteners in the tower and for the installation of an SSD a corresponding bracket is supplied.

Equipment

The Eclipse P300 has a normal range of hardware installation options. Among other things, the following options are available for fans, radiators, data storage and the like:

• Maximum graphics card length: 330 mm
• Maximum CPU cooler height: 160 mm
• Maximum power supply length: 197 mm
• Drive bays:
  • 1x 2.5 inch (behind mainboard tray, 1x additional with optional SSD bracket)
  • 2x 2.5/3.5 inch (internal; tool-free mounting)
• fan possible overall:
  • Front side: 2x 140 / 2x 120 mm
  • Cover: 1x 140 / 120 mm
  • rear: 1x 120 mm (pre-installed)
• Radiator mountings:
  • Front side: 1x max. 240/280 mm (front side)
  • Cover: 1x max. 120/140 mm (cover)
  • rear side: 1x max. 120 mm (rear side)
• Drive bays:
  • 2x 2.5 inch (behind mainboard tray, 1x SSD bracket included)
  • 2x 2.5/3.5 inch (internal; tool-free mounting)

On top of the Midi-Tower is the power button, which is placed in the middle of the front area. The RGB LED button, two USB 3.0 ports and two audio connectors are flush right. On the back there are a total of 7 slot bezels for expansion cards.

System Construction in Phanteks Eclipse P300

In order to be able to judge how easy it is to install the hardware, we have built the following hardware into our sample:

• One Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Aorus 6G video card
• one AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Quadcore processor (with stock cooler from Ryzen 7 1700)
• One MSI B350 Tomahawk ATX-Mainboard
• One 16-GB-RAM-Kit from Corsair
• A part-modular power supply from be quiet!
• One Crucial SSD

Together with the Eclipse P300 we also have a set extension cable from Phanteks and to get some color into the game, we have two Phanteks fans together with the 140-mm-Halos Lux-Fan-Frames mounted in the front. The two fans with the Halos RGB fan frames and the set of extension cables are of course only optional, but as the tower has a large window, these components give the finished PC more style.

First, the Mainboard outside the tower was equipped with the RAM and the CPU cooler (also use M.2 SSDs before installing the mainboard). Then the Mainboard together with the I/O-Shield was installed into the tower and the front panel connectors of the Eclipse P300 and the preinstalled fan were connected. At this point you should also decide whether you want to control the RGB LED elements of the tower via the mainboard or the button on the case. Connecting the cables was very easy thanks to the cable bushings.

Then we screwed the SSD to the corresponding bracket and placed it behind the mainboard tray. The SSD bracket is attached to four rubberized sockets without tools using a drop-n-lock. Before installing the power supply we plugged in the required cables, as this would have been very difficult after installation. The cable extensions match the MSI mainboard very well in terms of colour and definitely enhance the look of the finished system, but we have removed the small hard disk cage to make room for the additional cables. With a little more patience in cable management this step would not be necessary – without the extensions anyway not. It should also be noted that the RGB lighting must be supplied with power via a SATA connector.

Now only the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 Aorus 6G has to be installed and connected and then you can start. We have not adjusted the RGB lighting of the system. But it is recommended to buy Mainboard and Graphics card from one manufacturer, because then the effects can be controlled with only one software. In our build, the ring of the CPU cooler glowed continuously, while the AORUS lettering changed its color continuously. We could control the power button and the small LED strip via the button on the case.

Later we installed the two 140mm fans in the front and connected the Halos-Lux-Frames to the RGB-LED control of the tower, so that they can be synchronized with the RGB strip. The two fans are of course optional, but if you still have 1 or 2 120/140mm fans from an old system, you can improve the airflow in the case.

Conclusion on the Phanteks Eclipse P300 Review

The Phanteks Eclipse P300 is the hammer! For a price of 60 € the case offers everything you expect and much more! Very good workmanship, good material quality, no gap dimensions, tempered glass side panel and RGB LED lighting, which you don’t have to connect if you’re not a fan of it. Of course, savings have been made in some areas, so that the cable bushings, for example, are not rubber-coated, but for a tower of this price class this is not a must either. If you notice that you need better cooling, two fans in the front can be retrofitted. However, this should not be the case with the combination Ryzen 5 1600X and GTX 1060. Here, however, additional fans could help to make the system run quieter under full load. The hardware compatibility is very good and the Midi Tower is definitely a very clear recommendation to buy!