Expect to Pay: $60
Compatibility: e-ATX, m-ATX, ATX, mini-itx, SSI-EEB
Drive Bays: 3
Material: Steel, Tempered Glass, ABS plastic.
Introduction
Generally speaking, you get what you pay for in a PC case. Cheaper cases (for this review, we are referring to cheaper cases as those under $100) have cheaper materials and fewer nice features, probably don’t come with case fans and/or are generally just cramped. Sacrifices are made, and they are obvious.
An intriguing option by Phanteks showed up at Computex this past spring however: The Eclipse 370A which goes for, yes, $60. Despite the brand behind it, could it possibly be any good for that price?
Pros:
Space — The case is a mid tower and will hold up to even enterprise boards. You probably won’t need that feature, but it is generally roomy enough for a build without feeling too cramped. There is space for up to a 200mm power supply in the bottom chamber, which is roughly 30mm more than is standard. Cable management is surprisingly easy (granted, this is not my strong point) with several places for zip ties on the back panel, and enough depth that you don’t have to worry about your cables sticking out as long as they are not sticking past the double ssd mount. You also have ample space for long gpus (though you will have to be careful with gpus with tall heatsinks).
Materials — With a few exceptions, Phanteks uses the same grade steel in this chassis as it does it’s other cases and it feels very solid. One side panel is tempered glass and the other is just a solid steel panel with no real flex. Both side panels pop on and off with a tug and a click. I would prefer to slide them into place and lock them down with thumbscrews, but the system they do have is toolless and works well enough as long as you don’t mind applying a little bit of force.
Airflow — This is probably the biggest selling point. The case comes with three 120mm m25 fans (they are also RGB, if you are into that) mounted at the front of the case with space on the top for three more 120mm fans (or a 360mm AIO) as well as an exhaust fan in the back. In my testing with a 4070 super and i7 14700k (which is a very hot chip and for which I not only recommend you update your bios, but also get an AIO) and a Thermalright 360 Frozen Notte, temps were in the 40c range for the i7 on several games (South of Midnight, Lies of P,) and only a little warmer (50-70c) in more cpu intensive games like Cyberpunk 2077, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Diablo IV). Cyberpunk with most of the bells and whistles turned on at 1440p and barely cracking 70c is impressive. It would have perhaps been nice to have extra space for 2-3 more fans beneath the gpu, but the 4070 super I tested never went above 60c. All around, these are all healthy temperatures.
Price — Head over to PC Part Picker and search for cases in the $60 range, and you will find several, but very few of them are name brands. Occasionally you will see NZXT cases on sale in this range, but for the most park, this case exists in an increasingly shrinking segment in the industry
Cons:
Cable Management — As noted, there are places on the back panel that allow for anchoring your cables. There are also multiple openings that help align cables with your cpu, motherboard and GPU. While there are an adequate amount of these, there never quite feel like there are enough. It can become tricky to find an anchor point where you need one, so you will need a great deal of patience and planning to route them effectively and this can require some trial and error. I highly recommend using a fully modular power supply and first connecting the cables to the motherboard, routing them and then connecting them to the psu. Also, if you are using a 360 mm AIO, planning to top mount it and it uses RGB and daisy chains the fans together, you will want to route these cables to the back first and daisy chain them there as you will not have space to route them after mounting the AIO radiator.
Drive Mounts — If your drives are primarily m.2s and confined to your motherboard, this will not be much of an issue for you. However, if you have multiple older SSD’s or even a mechanical drive, you are going to have some difficulty figuring out where to mount them. You can fit two in the provided brackets on the back of the case and there is space in the psu basement to mount one mechanical drive. If you have more than that? You will have to get creative and find an open space and perhaps apply some double sided tape. You will also want to figure this out before fully installing the PSU, as routing the cables at this point will have you in fits. Slightly more expensive Phanteks cases using this same general form factor come with a drive cage and that would have significantly helped here
Limited Ports and Some Cheap materials — The power switch is at the top of the PC and there is also a reset switch, one USB C port, one USB 3.0 port and one microphone/headphone port. That’s it. Hopefully your motherboard has an adequate amount of ports or you might be forced to make some choices. In terms of cheap materials, the bracket that holds the pcie expansion bays in place is just cheap plastic. It doesn’t feel like it will break, but it also does not feel very high quality and it can be tricky to reinstall. In the scheme of things, this is a minor complaint. The part is functional, but the design is not optimal.
Overall:
In terms of airflow, construction and price, this is a fantastic case. The included fans, the solid construction and generally spacious building environment make it a good value. Temperatures for components under load are excellent. And I should re-emphasize, it’s $60! However, I have had much more pleasant experiences with cable management in other budget cases (such as the Cougar MX330, which is the same price as the G370A), and if you are new to building it might be worth it to spend a little more to avoid being overwhelmed. Perhaps you just have an air cooler. In that case, the Cougar MX330 could be all you need, especially if you want more USB ports to work with (the MX330 has 4). But if you need an AIO and want exceptional airflow, this is still a great option.
7/10