Kolink Phalanx
These four cases are affordable, attractive and packed with features – but which one should you use for a new rig? Mike Jennings finds out
Kolink Phalanx SCORE ★★★★☆ PRICE £67 (£80 inc VAT) from overclockers.co.uk
Kolink is the least well-known name in this shootout, but the £80 Phalanx looks right at home alongside its more renowned rivals. Its front panel is made from strips of brushed aluminium with a stripe of mesh down the middle, and the price includes a tempered glass side panel. It’s hinged, so it’s easy to open, and build quality is almost a match for the Corsair.
You can alter the colour of the four RGB LED fans with a roof button, which is kept company by one USB 3 port, two USB 2 ports and a pair of audio connections. Note the magnetic dust filter, too.
There’s lots of room to work inside with large cable-routing holes, while the front supports trios of 120mm or 140mm fans and 360mm coolers. And there’s more roof room here than in any other enclosure, with space for pairs of 120mm or 140mm fans and 280mm radiators. I have only two caveats: front-mounted 360mm radiators can’t be more than 40mm deep, and the rear fan mount is so small that it’s tricky to attach 120mm coolers.
Head round the rear to find a unique feature among this group: a fan hub. A remote control can be used to alter the colours, patterns and speeds of the four preinstalled fans. Sadly, you can’t alter fan speeds using the remote, and fans attach to the controller using a proprietary connection – meaning you can’t plug just anything in. The controller will also only connect to motherboards with a digital 3-pin RGB header.
Storage is handled by a single 2.5in mount at the rear and two more 2.5in sockets at the front, and two 3.5in drives slot into a cage beneath the PSU shroud. It’s removable and tool-free, but isn’t as intuitive as Corsair’s system.
There are other small niggles. For instance, the mesh at the front doesn’t have a dust filter, and there isn’t a huge amount of room behind the motherboard tray.
The Kolink is large, well-built and can handle plenty of cooling. However, if you’re happy with a smaller chassis, and willing to pay a little more, the Corsair is a better choice.
KEY SPECS 210 x 445 x 510mm (WDH) USB 3, 2 x USB 2, 2 x audio 2 x 2.5in/3.5in, 3 x 2.5in drive bays fans included: 3 x 120mm intake, 120mm exhaust
extras: front/bottom dust filters, cable ties, fan hub with remote control
NZXT H500 SCORE ★★★★☆ PRICE £63 (£75 inc VAT) from overclockers.co.uk
The NZXT H500 is the smallest enclosure in the group – albeit by only a couple of millimetres compared to the Corsair. A tempered glass side panel complements the smart if plain façade while, impressively, the panel only attaches with one hidden thumbscrew, with its bottom edge sliding neatly into the chassis – so the view remains unspoiled. Build quality is top-notch, too. NZXT makes it simple to put a system together. A white band of steel courses through the middle of the case and obscures most of the power cables. The rest of the motherboard tray has plenty of cable-routing holes – although they don’t have grommets – and the PSU shroud includes a hole to handle vertically mounting GPUs. This is the only case here to include Velcro cable ties, and the rear has plastic channels for cable-routing. The NZXT offers 165mm of CPU clearance and 381mm of GPU clearance – no worse than any other case, despite being the smallest chassis on test. It’s also the only enclosure to include USB 3.1 ports. In other areas, the NZXT is inconsistent. Both its 2.5in SSD bays can be repositioned on top of the PSU shroud, but the hard disk cage is fiddly: it accepts three 3.5in drives and can be removed or repositioned, but isn’t tool-free and must be removed to fit disks. Cooling support is mediocre. NZXT includes two 120mm exhaust fans, and the front only accepts pairs of 120mm and 140mm fans. The front handles 280mm radiators but not 360mm models, and the roof only accepts 120mm coolers. There’s also no roof dust filter. Air intake is another drawback: it only enters the case through a slim meshed area on the side panel and through a tiny area beneath the front. Demanding builds will need greater ventilation. Before you buy, note the H500i costs around £100 and includes a fan colour and speed controller, two RGB LED lighting strips and a vertical GPU mount. It’s also possible to buy the standard H500 in black, and with blue and red cable covers. The NZXT isn’t suitable for more demanding builds due to its lack of air intake and mediocre cooling support, but it’s small and stylish, with superb cabling features and a good basic specification.
“A remote control can be used to alter the colours, patterns and speeds of the four preinstalled fans”
KEY SPECS 210 x 428 x 460mm (WDH) 2 x USB 3.1, audio 3 x 2.5in/3.5in, 2 x 2.5in drive bays fans included: 2 x 120mm exhaust extras: front/bottom dust filters, cable ties