For the last ten years, hull building has lived according to one recipe: a black parallelepiped and a lot of glass and space.
So uniform that as soon as someone releases a box with shifted blocks and protruding edges, half of the enthusiasts begin to blink as if they saw an alien artifact.
This is exactly what happened with the new Phanteks EX5. The case, with sections separated by levels and a stepped silhouette, looks as if it was assembled from two different system units, and the very first reaction of the community turned out to be predictable.
One said bluntly: Welcome back, Thermaltake Level 10.
The comparison hits the mark. Level 10 was released in 2009, it was drawn at BMW Group DesignworksUSA, and the main idea was complete isolation of the components: the motherboard, drives and power supply lived in separate compartments strung on a common aluminum spine.
This monument to industrial design cost hundreds of dollars, and a more affordable version, Level 10 GT, appeared only later, without the feeling that you were buying a sculpture.
The main question for the EX5 is still not about aesthetics, but about air. Sectional layouts have historically meant either isolated thermal zones or long, curved airflow paths, and without proper testing it’s pointless to guess.
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Separately, they are discussing the possibility of placing the case on its side, but then you will have to turn the fans of liquid cooling systems upside down or take models with the opposite direction of the blades, and place magnetic supports under the legs.
There was also an idea about wall mounting, and here it was surprisingly reasonable to say that you can mount anything on the wall if you have determination and a hammer drill.
