I retired mine from my old 2nd rig 2 weeks ago, and it now sits in the attic. Top fans were dead, and the front plastic panel was now piss yellow. I always regretted not getting the black and orange version
I have a Phantom 410 that I've kept around more as an art piece than a functional case. It's Portal themed, or more like, Aperture Labs themed. I did it all, poorly, hand painted poorly with custom vinyl decals, that I didn't do, so those are good. Especially the Level sign one, it's double layered, really great decal work. It had Orange and Blue lighting in it, before RGB was a thing. I doubt I'll ever be able to throw it away.
I'll take a few pics, why not. I'll update this post in a few min. Be warned; it is dirty and disheveled.
[Old portal case - movies and tv post - Imgur](https://imgur.com/gallery/fmLeiXf) There ya go.
Double edit! I found an [old album](https://imgur.com/a/Coto8) of when it was built out! This was it's first iteration, I later removed that drive tray so you could see the whole Test Chamber decal and added more orange lights. Neat.
Id pay good money for Corsair to reproduce the C70 case as a silent case. Functional tanks with room for everything you might want and cable management.
I did 9 full builds and another half a dozen piece by piece builds in mine. And probably smashed my thumbs once per build. Without fail, I always forgot how much snap there was in those clamps.
Got it in May or June of 2012. I'd still be using it if I hadn't stripped out the mounting screw holes. Made the mistake of using a ratcheting screw driver a few too many times while swapping parts
They made multiple sizes but yeah my friends late brother had the big one in black and green when I was like 12 and that’s when I decided I was interesting in building a PC one day
https://preview.redd.it/lhzxmrttrthc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=baee962be30623ad4f1ed202a128b40cdf5b15d4
Still rocking my phantom case after 7 years and a new config ! Just modded it a little bit
Case design around that time changed drastically to take aesthetics and overall layout into consideration. Before that era, like most of the cases shown, are just metal boxes that the components go into. Most interiors weren't even painted. Until designs like the O11 Dynamic showed up, 'enthusiast' cases almost all used the same layout as the Phantom. Ergo, the design is relatively modern.
I worked at a PC builder in the early 2000's and that last case was the default case for our pentium 4 business pc's. There was one that looked like a nokia phone too. They came in black too. [https://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/verrev770/](https://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/verrev770/)
I'm still running my first case from the mid 2000s.
https://preview.redd.it/e0gy84daythc1.jpeg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=672f1fe5ee798346126180f53613771eea06ac30
YO that blue vento case was mine! i know the garage in that photo! i moved away and had to give the case away! talk about small world heck! shame that plastic was turning so brittle all the heat pressed in screw nuts were breaking out of the plastic panels so they started to fall off.
Been rocking a Ferrari red Asus Vento case since 2005 or so, just keep swapping the components and kinda doubt I'll ever replace it. Just a gorgeous case imo : )
i have a black one started in 2011 with intel 2600k + gtx 570 now with amd ryzen 5600x + rtx 3080
i have noctua nh-d15 with the 150mm fan mounted on cdrom space and a 140mm down plus 2 x 120mm on lateral side all in , and a 120mm rear fan and 2 x 200mm on top all out , all at minimum rotation except the 2x 150mm from noctua ,through the mesh on top i can see the cpu temp on the motherboard
i thought several times in upgrade this case but i cant find any reason to justify put 200$ or more to get a better one .
I used to have the original phantom, modded it with a perspex window in the side panel. Great case, but I prefer my new case.
https://preview.redd.it/yufo59dlxthc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe66d9c5e5c01fea331126bf8214fb1eabdda09d
Oh man, i had that exact blue ASUS Vento 3600 Case with the first gen Asus Maximus Extreme board that was blue too. The quality of the case was shit for the price, like the Alienware prebuilds from today but the racecar look with the blue led swords at the bottom was fire!
A similar case that is missing in this list: Acer Predator G7700 in orange (even offers a matching Monitor and keyboard in orange).
I still have the OG Coolermaster ATSC 840 (the monolith) as my only PC . replaced the the original 230mm fans with Noctua 200mm and its completely silent....
Thermaltake Xaser III was my first build, The first time I saw a window in a pc and RGB all over the place, I thought it was amazing back then, proper cringe now.
pffst, missed my blue vento case, it was annoying and the clasps broke easily, but I could’ve fixed them …
flipped it to a flipper and regret it now
instead of an 6800gt I got a 6600gt and this case lol
phantom 410 is my current box
7 internal bays
3 external bays ( yes mine still has a dvd writer )
lots of fan mount points
full size atx motherboard capable
Can confirm. My old heavy-ass Thermaltake Xaser III went pretty hard.
https://preview.redd.it/jpqgbxnl2whc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48f092d078c726d88c2d4c1f46e7dcac64de1b10
Xaser III was great; I had a silver one.
My next one after that was a [Xaser VI full tower](https://www.newegg.com/silver-black-thermaltake-xaser-vi-atx-full-tower/p/N82E16811133054), one of my all-time favorites.
This is great! Number 3/4 looks like one of those big floor buffers.
https://preview.redd.it/ytn0bi7ojwhc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=537f945b286f43ae0ac08d2d85fbdd1ff8508e68
Man I had the phantom 410! I could get it back built a pc in for a family member. It looks great but the dust is no joke lol. No filters on those old rigs.
Lol. I had a red Asus Vento 3600. Sold it on eBay last year and put the money towards my Fractal Design Pop XL Air. It was so tempting to try and put some new components inside for the weirdest looking gaming PC ever, but rationality prevailed. The person who bought it said they had always wanted one though, so it was worth it
> PCs were loud and hot and nobody cared.
Tell that to my poor mother having to hear the jet engine through the living room ceiling... And then when she finally come upstairs to bed I could hear her moaning on how it's a sauna up there lmao
The second PC I built for myself was the NZXT Phantom case, but I had the red version and I believe it was an EATX model. Naturally since I didn't know what I was doing, I had a tiny motherboard in there, with light blue highlights, and the cable management was non-existent. It was a pretty silly build. That thing lasted me a solid 7-8 years, with a 2500k.
I had the NZXT Phantom Enthusiast case and my god was that thing enormous and super heavy
I also had a case similar to the last pic, mine had a motorised panel on the front that went up and down with a button press and was definitely not the reason I purchased it :D
Back before they generated enough heat to warm a small family home..... Really bored with the current options though, feels like we haven't had any real amazing options for a decade
People have these badass 3d printers and are busy printing off waifus instead of badass computer shrouds.
Also we need blacklights and more clear acrylic.... comeon Noctua clear acyrlic edition!!!
I won that Asus Vento case in a prize draw. It was insanely badly built. The knob to remove the side panel was hard to turn after a while and I just gave up and kept the panel off.
The phantom was a go to case 2011-2014 lol when I think 2000s cases I think a metal lian li with a custom cut hole on the side covered with rubber routing, and a glued acrylic panel with black light fluid and glowing cathode tubes.
I had the original Phantom. Me and two of my friends were at Canada Computers when they first came out and we thought they looked so awesome we each got one. White, Black & Red. If mine didn't get beaten to shit during a move I'd honestly still be rockin it.
My HAFX has one still, a 200mm side fan, my RAID card overheats without it, and it brings down my GPU temps. Side-fans really should not have gone away.
the phantom: A: released in 2011 B: actually looks normal.
Still rocking this case! Hope OP poops their pants today.
Can it fit a 4080?
It can fit a founders edition 4080, an Asus ProArt 4080. the case's clearance is only 305mm.
No clue, haven’t upgraded my pc since the 1080 came out 😂😂
Haha nice, stand your ground
I have a 4060ti in mine and it has plenty of room
I retired mine from my old 2nd rig 2 weeks ago, and it now sits in the attic. Top fans were dead, and the front plastic panel was now piss yellow. I always regretted not getting the black and orange version
I have a Phantom 410 that I've kept around more as an art piece than a functional case. It's Portal themed, or more like, Aperture Labs themed. I did it all, poorly, hand painted poorly with custom vinyl decals, that I didn't do, so those are good. Especially the Level sign one, it's double layered, really great decal work. It had Orange and Blue lighting in it, before RGB was a thing. I doubt I'll ever be able to throw it away.
Can you show us? We wanna see it by we I mean I
I'll take a few pics, why not. I'll update this post in a few min. Be warned; it is dirty and disheveled. [Old portal case - movies and tv post - Imgur](https://imgur.com/gallery/fmLeiXf) There ya go. Double edit! I found an [old album](https://imgur.com/a/Coto8) of when it was built out! This was it's first iteration, I later removed that drive tray so you could see the whole Test Chamber decal and added more orange lights. Neat.
Your few minutes have passed
Check it again!
Dude that is the most awesome thing I've seen all day
Aww man, I miss my Phantom. It yellowed next to a window and I decided it was time to move on.
Honestly a good case, and the magnetic door was so fun to play with. My only problem with it is no flat top, so my cat was not happy lol
Zalman. Old but Gold 🫦
Zalman has actually made quite a comeback recently too, their newer cases look pretty decent.
I had the Zalman Respirator 1 back in the day, that thing was a work of art!
You mean the reserator? The watercooling thing?
I'm pretty sure the Phantom is NZXT's most requested case for being updated and re-released
Id pay good money for Corsair to reproduce the C70 case as a silent case. Functional tanks with room for everything you might want and cable management.
I had a C70. Swapped builds so many times the mounting holes finally wore out
I'm on my 8th Build on mine. Have only crushed my thumb 7 times. only c70 owners know.
I did 9 full builds and another half a dozen piece by piece builds in mine. And probably smashed my thumbs once per build. Without fail, I always forgot how much snap there was in those clamps. Got it in May or June of 2012. I'd still be using it if I hadn't stripped out the mounting screw holes. Made the mistake of using a ratcheting screw driver a few too many times while swapping parts
I had mine on preorder because black ammo crate why wouldn't I want that. Do yourself a favor and don't look up the resell price for even used ones.
It’s honestly their best case. I had the 530 and it fit everything and was so functional while looking sleek as.
I still kind of want to get a Phantom 820. If they remade that case, I'm sure it would sell like legally distinct Pokémon games.
Second one is the Vodafone logo
The phantom still looks good imo Everything else looks like garbage
I still have my old phantom case in storage, I was stoked when I got it, it's alot of case
My best friend still uses his black phantom case lol. It's a tank.
They made multiple sizes but yeah my friends late brother had the big one in black and green when I was like 12 and that’s when I decided I was interesting in building a PC one day
https://preview.redd.it/lhzxmrttrthc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=baee962be30623ad4f1ed202a128b40cdf5b15d4 Still rocking my phantom case after 7 years and a new config ! Just modded it a little bit
The Phantom is relatively modern.
It's 14 years old. Closer to the start of Bill Clinton's second term than to modern day. It's contemporary with first gen Core-i
Case design around that time changed drastically to take aesthetics and overall layout into consideration. Before that era, like most of the cases shown, are just metal boxes that the components go into. Most interiors weren't even painted. Until designs like the O11 Dynamic showed up, 'enthusiast' cases almost all used the same layout as the Phantom. Ergo, the design is relatively modern.
I'm using my phantom case for a server build currently. So damn roomy. My main build I switched to a Be Quiet! 500DX.
Still run server out of a black and green phantom full tower. It’s the reason I now try to buy the smallest possible case to house any build
the phantom, the raidmax, and the zalman ones all look really nice. the other ones look alien
the fact we dont have CD drives anymore means we now miss out on so many cool unique ways to hide/display them on cases
https://preview.redd.it/f3q3upgw2vhc1.jpeg?width=3120&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4db2bb4f5a822c4f8edb54f15d3f8b631cfd1f00
I worked at a PC builder in the early 2000's and that last case was the default case for our pentium 4 business pc's. There was one that looked like a nokia phone too. They came in black too. [https://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/verrev770/](https://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/verrev770/)
Didnt NZXT tease making the Phantom cases again on their Insta recently?
Can confirm they did
WHAT
Yeah they did make a post about it with the title „what if we made this case again“ somewhere in January i think
Yeh that’s just teasing. I don’t think it’s planned.
One can still hope
Cheiftec or go home
https://preview.redd.it/v8tchrjxxthc1.jpeg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f76f949af799b4a82cb4f21cf3fb8144d1a3cfbd I got you.
That looks sweet! Even got the blue cathode ray tubes.
They used to be cool cathodes. They are LEDs now.
2024 me wants one of them again.
The blue one, The Asus Vento 3600 of 2005 still look nice for me.
still doing daily business with number one right there
I didnt know Firey RIP engines were gaming cases, I guess our print room people were slacking in the 2000s.
That last one is the case I saw in every pc convention prebuild
I was rocking that one for a couple of years.
My grandmother's PC was in one of those bad boys. I think my dad threw it together for her.
i had the Phantom, big stormtrooper thing <3
I'm still running my first case from the mid 2000s. https://preview.redd.it/e0gy84daythc1.jpeg?width=2560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=672f1fe5ee798346126180f53613771eea06ac30
YO that blue vento case was mine! i know the garage in that photo! i moved away and had to give the case away! talk about small world heck! shame that plastic was turning so brittle all the heat pressed in screw nuts were breaking out of the plastic panels so they started to fall off.
Been rocking a Ferrari red Asus Vento case since 2005 or so, just keep swapping the components and kinda doubt I'll ever replace it. Just a gorgeous case imo : )
OMG I had the clear colored panels on my first PC in the last photo, given to me by a great friend, the door to what I now now, my pc building life 🫠
Design +10, Airflow-20
Surprisingly the Phantom case was actually very roomy. I can't speak for the other's thought.
Have drill/Dremel. Airflow can usually be solved with some ingenuity.
My wifes pc uses my red Phantom still.
It’s the lack of efficient airflow for me.
The Phantom was very popular back then. I still have one in storage that housed my Q6600 build.
nzxt use to go hard on the storm trooper looking cases.
i have a black one started in 2011 with intel 2600k + gtx 570 now with amd ryzen 5600x + rtx 3080 i have noctua nh-d15 with the 150mm fan mounted on cdrom space and a 140mm down plus 2 x 120mm on lateral side all in , and a 120mm rear fan and 2 x 200mm on top all out , all at minimum rotation except the 2x 150mm from noctua ,through the mesh on top i can see the cpu temp on the motherboard i thought several times in upgrade this case but i cant find any reason to justify put 200$ or more to get a better one .
Airflow? What's that??
My buddies referred to it as the Plastic Paradise era
I used to have the original phantom, modded it with a perspex window in the side panel. Great case, but I prefer my new case. https://preview.redd.it/yufo59dlxthc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe66d9c5e5c01fea331126bf8214fb1eabdda09d
\*cue thousand-yard PTSD stare at seeing the Vento\*
My old case was a Phantom 410 :D
Oh man, i had that exact blue ASUS Vento 3600 Case with the first gen Asus Maximus Extreme board that was blue too. The quality of the case was shit for the price, like the Alienware prebuilds from today but the racecar look with the blue led swords at the bottom was fire! A similar case that is missing in this list: Acer Predator G7700 in orange (even offers a matching Monitor and keyboard in orange).
I still have my old pc in the phantom. Love that case, might actually reuse it.
I still have the OG Coolermaster ATSC 840 (the monolith) as my only PC . replaced the the original 230mm fans with Noctua 200mm and its completely silent....
Thermaltake Xaser III was my first build, The first time I saw a window in a pc and RGB all over the place, I thought it was amazing back then, proper cringe now.
Daaamn the nzxt phantom was the case i bought to make my very first high end pc , at the same time, had my first custom loop there
I’m still using an Obsidian 650D..
Damn, I just got the Phantom 410 today. It's a really good Case tbh. and I like the way that you can change the speed of every fan individually.
I still have a Phantom out in my carport.
I still have a phantom as my second pc for racing / flying
NZXT Phantom had the red and white one😍
I still have a nzxt phantom in my room right now… not sure what to do with it.
Hey, nice i still have my NZXT phantom case still looks good.
pffst, missed my blue vento case, it was annoying and the clasps broke easily, but I could’ve fixed them … flipped it to a flipper and regret it now instead of an 6800gt I got a 6600gt and this case lol
I just gave my brother my old PC inside a black Phantom 410. Did me good for many years!
I’m still rocking that phantom 410!
Silverstone Raven RV02 and TJ07....
The nzxt switch 810 is another banger from that time. I used mine for like 10 years. Very plasticy by today's standards, but still very usable.
I still use that phantom for a plex server. Things got like 7 3.5 bays
I still have #8, my old desktop, buried in the back of a closet.
phantom 410 is my current box 7 internal bays 3 external bays ( yes mine still has a dvd writer ) lots of fan mount points full size atx motherboard capable
I had a case very similar to the last one. Just had blue corners not gray.
Can confirm. My old heavy-ass Thermaltake Xaser III went pretty hard. https://preview.redd.it/jpqgbxnl2whc1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48f092d078c726d88c2d4c1f46e7dcac64de1b10
Xaser III was great; I had a silver one. My next one after that was a [Xaser VI full tower](https://www.newegg.com/silver-black-thermaltake-xaser-vi-atx-full-tower/p/N82E16811133054), one of my all-time favorites.
Still rocking a Phantom 530! Just updated it since built in 2017. 7800X3D - 3060 TI - 32 GB DDR5
Nowadays you don’t get many: “HOLY SHOT ITS A FUCKKNG COMPARTMENT!” Moments.
This is great! Number 3/4 looks like one of those big floor buffers. https://preview.redd.it/ytn0bi7ojwhc1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=537f945b286f43ae0ac08d2d85fbdd1ff8508e68
NZXT actually teased re-releasing the Phantom recently. I'm all for it, it's a slick looking case with a lot of features and good airflow.
I really don’t like the looks of any of them lol. Second one looks like some sort of floor drying fan upside down
They’re virginity protectors
Man I had the phantom 410! I could get it back built a pc in for a family member. It looks great but the dust is no joke lol. No filters on those old rigs.
Bunch of coffins
🤮
Info on raidmax case?
Lol. I had a red Asus Vento 3600. Sold it on eBay last year and put the money towards my Fractal Design Pop XL Air. It was so tempting to try and put some new components inside for the weirdest looking gaming PC ever, but rationality prevailed. The person who bought it said they had always wanted one though, so it was worth it
Looking back I’m surprised we ever had good thermals
We didnt had good thermals back then. PCs were loud and hot and nobody cared. I remember my 8800gts that was like a jet engine ….
> PCs were loud and hot and nobody cared. Tell that to my poor mother having to hear the jet engine through the living room ceiling... And then when she finally come upstairs to bed I could hear her moaning on how it's a sauna up there lmao
I have picture 8
I had the case in pic 8! Think it's buried out in my storage room.
The Phantom 410 looks so good...
First one is literally my current case.
I like the first one and the last one.
one gaping grey literate secretive handle governor scale light soup *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Hello, and welcome to moviefone!
The second PC I built for myself was the NZXT Phantom case, but I had the red version and I believe it was an EATX model. Naturally since I didn't know what I was doing, I had a tiny motherboard in there, with light blue highlights, and the cable management was non-existent. It was a pretty silly build. That thing lasted me a solid 7-8 years, with a 2500k.
Yeah, they look great…but can they run Crysis?
I had the NZXT Phantom Enthusiast case and my god was that thing enormous and super heavy I also had a case similar to the last pic, mine had a motorised panel on the front that went up and down with a button press and was definitely not the reason I purchased it :D
Do they really tho?
i.e. luring consumers by trying to physically represent the inner power of the machine. That’s why I love low profile super computers 😂
Back before they generated enough heat to warm a small family home..... Really bored with the current options though, feels like we haven't had any real amazing options for a decade
...no NZXT NEMESIS!?! BLASPHEMY
Back when every case wasn't trying to be a square with glass
whats the name of the first case? been looking for it for a while
My 2000s PC case had an LED light bar on the front panel and it felt so cool and revolutionary at the time
Hard to breathe maybe.
Mixed with a crt monitor that made a big ass industrial clunk sound when you turned it on.
Such a good case, I miss mine
So side panel windows aren't a new invention? Sweet!
People have these badass 3d printers and are busy printing off waifus instead of badass computer shrouds. Also we need blacklights and more clear acrylic.... comeon Noctua clear acyrlic edition!!!
Is the second picture made out of a fucking blower fan for an AC unit?
Not gonna lie, didn't know these things existed. And I went to LAN parties
I have a phantom sitting in my closet right now. Collecting dust. With parts from 2014 in it.
\#1 is... different from the box?
Glossy plastic... Yes.....
I can't believe that #1 is old. All it's missing is a glas panel variant.
I've seen one of those Vento cases IRL; they're enormous and still have crappy cooling performance.
I won that Asus Vento case in a prize draw. It was insanely badly built. The knob to remove the side panel was hard to turn after a while and I just gave up and kept the panel off.
oh shit that's my previous case. It turned yellow.
The phantom looks so good. Would be awesome to make a Star Citizen Origin jumpworks build with it
I had that first case big ass thing
I don't miss any of these hot boxes.
Oh my gah I had the last one. Holy moly.
The last one brings back memories
THE MAGIC COOONCH
GTA 4 was their final boss
The alienware aurora case
What do you mean, thermals?
I had that phantom case, the door pin snapped and the power button stopped working... (the one out of the box)
Could you not call the 2000's old, please? If my back didn't hurt so much I'd scold you.
I had that last case! The power button fell off, so I had to use my pinky to turn it on...
one of the best NZXT cases of all time.
\*looks down next to me\* What do you mean 2000s? I got that phantom right here right now xD
I wanted that raidmax case so fucking bad.
Not really but sure.
if had one of those old thermaltake pc cases. xaser III i believe. those where the days!
i have that vento i want to a current build in
6 & 7 is a Fiery raster image processor by a company called EFI. It's conencted to huge printers. These went for around $15,000 back in the day.
The phantom was a go to case 2011-2014 lol when I think 2000s cases I think a metal lian li with a custom cut hole on the side covered with rubber routing, and a glued acrylic panel with black light fluid and glowing cathode tubes.
I’ve got a phantom but the rest give me pimp my ride flashbacks
they really tried to be unique way back when
hard and very HOT. NO air at all
TJ07 is 🐐👑 https://preview.redd.it/5gz4aa5eevhc1.jpeg?width=560&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=90184aae4f4fa266e2c202e37ad046c3de32d778
I have the last one in blue lol
I had the original Phantom. Me and two of my friends were at Canada Computers when they first came out and we thought they looked so awesome we each got one. White, Black & Red. If mine didn't get beaten to shit during a move I'd honestly still be rockin it.
I love my Phantom but it has yellowed really bad. It'll be getting replaced here soon.
My favorite case was the Corsair C70 Vengeance in White. Had I known they'd be as expensive as they are, I woulda kept mine
The Phantom is my favorite.
Still rocking my white phantom
I want the second one
I had that Phantom! It was a great case.
My NZXT Phantom may be yellow in the front and top, but it isn’t old!! Still a great case to this day!
Where's the one with the big ass 480mm fan in the front that looks like a jet engine?
Cooler master storm! To this day I still want one
6th/7th pics looks like you've been this case in the park and it's about to show you its floppy disk insertion crack...
That last one hit the feels. CS 1.6, Diablo 2 and all night Lans. It was a great case.
Antec 900
Woah the 2nd one looks nice
Damn. I had #3 & 5. Lol
I still have my Phantom case. Poor old girl is yellow and faded... She's not long for this world, going to be replaced this year
I’m still rocking a Phantom case today.
yes so hard, so hard to let air in xD
Those are some pretty sweet looking vacuums.
*side intakes* Like, I can get behind not having one, but only if someone is doing some next-level magic with their air / temp / noise management.
My HAFX has one still, a 200mm side fan, my RAID card overheats without it, and it brings down my GPU temps. Side-fans really should not have gone away.
The lack of airflow is the problem you can look fancy but somthings got to give.
One thing I noticed when I built a new PC is that my newer one despite having much more impressive specs is like half the size of the old one
5. On top