By Meng Vang
Manufacturer: Phanteks Co.
Product Name: Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass Edition
Model Number: PH-EC416PSTG_BR
UPC: 886523301219
Price As Tested: $89.99 (Amazon | Newegg)Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Phanteks.
About a year ago, we reviewed the Phanteks Eclipse P400S case, an outstanding budget oriented computer case built for both beginners and enthusiasts. With the release of the Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass Edition, it shares many of the essential features carried over from its predecessor. Users can now game in style with a tempered glass side panel along with an RGB LED strip included in the box. The Eclipse P400 series comes in many different varieties. Benchmark Reviews will be taking a look at the Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass Special Edition in red and black, so let’s go over an overview in the next section.
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Case Specifications
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Dimension
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210 mm x 465 mm x 470 mm (W x H x D)
8.3 in x 18.3 in x 18.5 in |
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Form Factor
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Midtower
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Material(s)
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Steel chassis, steel exterior, ABS
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Motherboard Support
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E-ATX *(up to 272mm wide), ATX, Micro ATX, Mini ITX
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Front I/O
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2x USB 3.0, Mic, Headphone, Reset, LED Control
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Side Window
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Yes
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| Expansion & Drive Bays | |||
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Expansion slots
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7
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Internal 3.5″
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6x (2x included)
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Internal 2.5″ (dedicated)
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2x (2x included)
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Cooling
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120mm fan
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140mm fan
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Front
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3x (1x included)
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2x | |
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Top
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2x
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2x | |
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Rear
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1x (1x included)
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– | |
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Liquid Cooling
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120mm radiator
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140mm radiator
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Front
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Up to 360*
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Up to 280 | |
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Top
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–
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– | |
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Rear
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120
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| *360 radiator requires the removal of the midplate cover | |||
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Clearance
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Graphic card
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395 mm (15.2 in)
280 mm (11.0 in) Optional HDD brackets installed |
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| PSU |
270 mm (10.6 in)
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CPU cooler
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160 mm (6.3 in)
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Cable management
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25 mm (1.0 in)
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The P400S Tempered currently sells online for $89.99 (Amazon | Newegg). In the accessories box, the P400S Tempered comes with an installation guide, warranty information, a few zip ties, an RGB LED strip, and mounting screws for standard power supplies and storage devices. It also comes with two magnetic ventilation dust filters.
At the front of the case, we have just a smooth, clean finish with a Phanteks branding logo at the very bottom of the case. Dust filtered ventilation holes are present at the top and bottom part of the front panel for airflow.
The P400S Tempered comes with a 120mm exhaust fan at the rear of the case. The fan can be mounted further towards the top thanks to the adjustable fan mounts. Unfortunately, the case does not support a 140mm fan at the rear of the case. The power supply mounts at the very bottom and is protected by a dust filter from underneath the case.
The main side panel includes a reflective tempered glass window to show off the internal components of the system. Finger prints and dust will show on the surface of the window but can be easily cleaned off with a microfiber cloth.
The top of the case features two top ventilation covers to prevent dust from entering the system. They also keep the system running silent due to the sound dampening materials underneath them. The front I/O ports and the power button are located towards the top front of the case. The reset, LED control, and fan speed control buttons are located underneath the top panel towards the front panel ventilation gap.
The P400S Tempered stands about an inch off the ground due to the four rubber coated feet. This ensures a firm grip on a smooth surface. The power supply unit is also filtered with an easy to remove dust filter.
Now that we have seen a quick overview of the Eclipse P400S Tempered, let’s take a look at the features this case has to offer.
Removing the tempered glass side panel reveals an internal frame structure similar to the Enthoo Pro M and Evolv ATX. Everything still looks identical to original Eclipse P400S. Motherboard standoff screws are already pre-installed for an ATX motherboard. A large CPU cutout is available on the motherboard tray as well as four mounts for the optional 3.5″ modular HDD mounting bracket. Unlike the Enthoo Pro M or the Evolv ATX, the power supply chamber on the P400S Tempered is completely sealed off to hide any cables coming from the power supply.
For cable management, three Velcro straps are included to tie down even the largest cables. The power supply chamber hides the cables coming from the power supply unit and includes two 3.5″ HDD caddies near the front of the case. Behind the motherboard tray are two more 2.5″ SSD mounts with two brackets included out of the box. The bracket features a drop-N-lock mechanism for easy installation and removal.
Taking off the front panel, we can see the large surface area for installing a 280mm or 360mm radiator. A 120mm fan is pre-installed, but it can be removed to install a larger fan or radiator. There is also an LED strip at the very bottom of the case, which lights up when there is power to the system.
The LED strip is powered by a standard SATA power plug located behind the motherboard tray. It can cycle through several different colors with different lighting effects. It is RGB capable and has an extension cable so more LED strips can be added to the system. These additional LED strips can be purchase from the Phanteks website.
At the top of the front panel cover, the ventilation hole is large enough to allow an adequate amount of air into the case. There is also a dust filter, which can prevent larger dust particles from entering the case.
The bottom ventilation hole sits right above the LED strip and has a similar dust filter as the top. Both filters can be easily removed and cleaned. Because the front panel cover is bulged out, there is enough room for fans without having them suffocate for air.
There are also ventilation holes on the power supply chamber. Air can come through the front of the case, which can provide the graphics card with air through these vents. Towards the front of the case is a mid-plate bracket. The mid-plate bracket can be used to mount water cooling pumps and can be removed to accommodate a 360mm radiator at the front.
Let’s go into the next section and take a look at some more features.
Without the top ventilation covers, we can see there are mounting holes for two 120mm or two 140mm fans. If fans are installed here, the magnetic dust filters included in the accessories box can be used here to prevent dust from entering the system.
These magnetic top ventilation covers have their own sound dampening materials. The sound dampening materials help keep the noise level down.
The HDD caddies can easily mount 3.5″ drives without any screws. Mounting 2.5″ drives will require four screws for installation.
Unlike its predecessor, the P400S Tempered comes with an RGB LED strip. This can be connected to an extension cable inside compatible Phanteks cases to enable interior RGB lighting. It attaches to the case via a few magnets making it easy to adjust and remove.
Here is the extension cable behind the motherboard tray. Extra LED strips can be purchased through the Phanteks website and added to the system by plugging them here.
Now that we have seen what the P400S Tempered has to offer, let’s go ahead and build a system with this case.
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Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty 990FX Killer
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System Memory: 2x4GB 1600MHz DDR3
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Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 945 @ 3GHz
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Audio: Onboard RealTek HD Audio
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Video: Gigabyte R9 270X 2GB GDDR5 Windforce Edition
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Disk Drive 1: Toshiba Q Series 128GB SSD
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Enclosure: Phanteks Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass
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PSU: Thermaltake 430W TR2
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Monitor: HP 23bw 23″ IPS display
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Operating System: Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit
The results turned out great with the P400S Tempered case. Motherboard standoff screws were already in place for a standard ATX motherboard. This reduced installation time as I only had to drop in the motherboard and plug everything else in. The front does support a 360mm radiator with the mid-plate removed, but I opted for a mid-sized tower air cooler for this build. Larger air coolers, like the Noctua NH-D15 and the Phanteks PH-TC14PE, did not fit as they exceeded the 160mm CPU height limit this case offered.
Unlike the original P400 and previous Phanteks cases, the text on the Velcro straps were right-side up. The straps behind the motherboard tray allowed for easy cable management. I used only a few cable ties to tie up some of the cables down in the power supply chamber. Without them, cable management would still look good even with just the three built in straps. I also used a CPU power extension cable so I would not have to route the cable towards the rear. Unfortunately, there were no cable tie-down points anywhere in that location to tie down a CPU power cable.
The P400S Tempered maintained the same top panel as its predecessor. This meant there was no support for a radiator and a few fans. Personally, I would have liked to see water cooling support at the top just to give it some extra cheddar. But as a budget oriented case, I was happy enough with water cooling support at the front and rear.
The P400S Tempered case is compatible with the Phanteks modular 3.5″ HDD bracket. These modular mounting brackets are sold separately and make a good option for a computer built for storage.
With a hard drive installed and the bracket in place, the front fan was just four to five millimeters away from touching the bracket. Thicker radiators may have clearance issues with the brackets installed. If you plan to water cool your system with multiple storage devices installed, you may run into some trouble.
With the system powered on, the LED’s looked and worked great. The fans were mostly quiet even at high settings. RGB color reproduction was fairly good with white having a tint of blue to it, while red was noticeably darker than any other color. Lighting effects worked well with its static, breathing, and spectrum effects as the colors transitioned very smoothly.
The P400S Tempered really shined with its tempered glass side panel installed. Its simple body design complemented the glass side panel along with its interior lighting.
With the system fully enclosed, the system ran very quietly. Sound dampening material covers the front panel, the opposite side panel, and the top ventilation covers. The system ran pretty quietly with the two pre-installed fans set to high. GPU and CPU temperatures ran cool and did not have any overheating issues. For warmer systems, they could stay frostier by installing a few fans at the top.
If the Eclipse P400S was wider, it would have been able to support tall CPU coolers, like the Noctua NH-D15 and the Phanteks PH-TC14PE, a rear 140mm fan, and water cooling support at the top. But as a budget oriented case, it made sense to keep things simple for new system builders. An enthusiast would wonder why there is no water cooling support at the top, but that is where something like the Enthoo Pro M and Evolv ATX comes in. However, the LED lighting and the option to manually control fan speed settings using the fan control button were nice features to have.
Let’s go ahead and finish up with my final thoughts and conclusion.
The P400S Tempered makes a perfect computer case for a standard gaming system with its stealthy look, glass side panel, and RGB lighting effects. This is a good computer case for people who are looking into building their first computer. It also makes a good silence optimized computer thanks to sound dampening materials on both side panels, the top covers, and the front panel. Computer users looking to build a small and affordable system in an elegant enclosure should consider the P400S Tempered. 
The P400S Tempered does well when it comes to performance. The front of the case supports three 120mm intake fans and the top supports up to two 140mm fans for improved airflow. The P400S Tempered is not the best computer case for water cooling because there is no support for a radiator with fans at the top of the case. The front does support a 280mm or a 360mm radiator, but installing a 360mm radiator does require the removal of the mid-plate bracket and the removal of the only two 3.5″ HDD drive caddies in the case. For a standard gaming system, the P400S Tempered allows adequate airflow to the internal components.
The case looks great with its simple, stealthy exterior look and the tempered glass side panel is large enough to show off the internal components. Having the LED lighting feature and an RGB LED strip is a nice touch giving the P400S Tempered some character. The exterior looks modern with its sleek design and glass side panel.
In terms of construction and build quality, the internal structure is pretty sturdy throughout and the side panel is heavier than normal due to the added sound dampening material. I am very happy to see captive thumbscrews on the side panel as this prevents any user from misplacing them. The tempered glass side panel is 3mm thick making it heavy and durable.
The P400S Tempered does well in terms of functionality. Personally, I would have liked to see support for CPU coolers over 160mm. This could have been an easy fix to future proof this case for computer users looking into adding water cooling hardware into their system sometime in the future. This would prevent them from having to purchase a whole new case.
As of February 2017, the Phanteks Eclipse P400S Tempered Glass Edition sells online for $89.99 (Amazon | Newegg). For a standard build, you are getting an affordable case with modern features and design. If you do want to add more storage, extra mounting brackets can be purchased separately from the Phanteks website. Overall, the Eclipse P400S Tempered is a great case for first time builders or for computer users who want a smaller ATX case with a simple look.
+ Tempered glass side panel
+ Good cable management system
+ RGB capable LED lighting feature
+ Modern and simple exterior design
+ Sound dampening materials throughout
+ Removable dust filters for easy cleaning
+ Supports large 280mm or 360mm radiators at the front
– Limited water cooling potential
– Rear supports only a 120mm fan/radiator
– No support for CPU coolers over 160mm tall
– Limited storage potential with 360mm radiator at the front
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Performance: 8.00
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Appearance: 9.75
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Construction: 9.25
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Functionality: 8.50
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Value: 9.00
