The Phantom has an interesting fan configuration. I haven't seen a case with 2 x 120mm fans installed on the side panel pointing at the HDD section before. So I will be testing the stock performance against having a 140mm fan installed (Noctua P14) at the front of the Phantom to establish if we are going to benefit from having 1 - no front intake fan 2 - side fans pointing at the HDD religion.

So to discover the thermal performance of the Phantom I will record idle temperatures after 20 minutes from a cold boot. I will then stress the system using 3DMark Vantage and temperatures will again be monitored after a 30 minute have elapsed. All fans are set to high. This test will again be run with the fans in traditional layout as discussed above.

System Components
CPU Intel Core i7 920
Motherboard ASUS Rampage III Formula
Graphics Sapphire HD5870
Memory 12GB Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
HDD Samsung Spinpoint 500GB SATA-II
PSU Enermax Revolution 85+ 850W





The above results show quite distinctly that whilst the stock fan configuration does aid HDD cooling because the fans are directly blowing air onto the devices there, it doesn't benefit the system temperatures as a whole.

The traditional fan configuration however reduces those temperatures significantly. Whilst I wouldn't criticise NZXT for their decision in placing the two fans directly over the HDD area, its evident that that method isn't as productive. What I like is that you are able to change things around. You aren't stuck with a set way in which the case has been designed.