Gadgetory

hey guys this is Dimitri and welcome back to another hurricane axe review now we're taking a look at probably the case of the year for enthusiasts which completely blew me away from the very beginning designed by a Dutch company fantex who specialized in PC cooling solutions this is their first chassis and I'm hoping they follow a similar path as Corsair as the legendary 800 D really paved the way for Corsair to acquire a major chunk of the market share when it came to enclosures the good news with this product from fantex is that it aims to redefine of how we think about enthusiast cases it's no longer about just giving us room but giving us flexibility and functionality that is so long overdue and you're looking at the end through primal with a hefty price tag of $250 but still surprisingly low compared to other similar enthusiast enclosures on the market also this isn't just a regular full Tower but with specific emphasis on insane water cooling builds thanks to its moderately large size but not as massive as the 900 d which means this is a perfect alternative for those wanting to go overkill the N through primal is one elegant piece with tinted side panels brushed aluminum at the front and the top the front exhaust is covered by a removable double panel that features a built in dust filter attached with clips and screws so it's not the most convenient if you need to remove it the dual panel is space to allow airflow to enter plus there's extra ventilation on either side of the fans but still we know there will be quite a lot of resistance because of all these barriers luckily fantex is not new to cooling and too high airflow fans will deliver an ample of airflow plus they retail for over $20 apiece which makes us happy they they've been included the front cover opens a little past 90 degrees and we all know the disadvantages of this design it could easily break and cannot be swapped to be open from the other side a total of 5 optical bays are included with built-in dust filters on the covers the left side panel is occupied by one large window that will beautifully showcase your components while the smaller one is tasked with displaying the fantex logo the right side panel has dual fan ventilation and power supply intake both of which are covered with magnetic dust filters the power button along with the hard drive activity light are located at the top of the case but still within reach and the rest of the connections are located at the very top with LED switch for the fans a reset button a total of four USB ports two of which are USB 3 and chrome plated audio jacks now given this is a very tall enclosure the placement of the USB ports is not the most ideal but if you are showing off your rig and it's not under the desk which is most likely won't be it really is not a big issue the top panel has a large easily removable mesh with a dust filter and really shows off at the water-cooling potential with the ento primals quad 120 millionaire fans are supported or triple 140s with one included positioning of the fence is flexible thanks to these strips instead of single holes for mounting and there is plenty of room above the frame to push pull for your radiator moving to the bottom of the case fantex are truly delivering to what every builder wants and that's full dust proof enclosure with large dust filters covering the entire bottom which are easily removable and accessible from the side now there's plenty going on in the rear starting with the top exhaust with height adjustment mount there are the only ones we've seen to implement this design aside from NZXT and we like it which allows a little extra top clearance for your radiator below are the eight PCI slots plus additional venting and plenty of different mounting holes for a reservoir after all this is a case designed for water cooling enthusiasts and functionality and at the very bottom we have a fan mount on the right that is also a secondary spot for a power supply and on the left is the stock location for your power unit now I'm very excited to get inside the end to Primal particularly because there's a lot to talk about and taking off both panels the internals look a little different from what you used to first we do have tooless mounting for all the optical drives and the hard drive cage below is accessed exclusively from the rear which is preferable the bottom portion includes a fan bracket to be used with 240 and 280 millimeter radiators and with one intake fan included there's about six inches of clearance l till the motherboard area which is plenty of room for or thick radiators the fan bracket is removable that allows a 480 millimeter radiator to be installed at the bottom which is quite impressive but also allows clearance for power supply to be installed the two adhesive rubber strips are included to prevent noise from vibration and the orientation of your power supply is dependent on preference as ventilation is available on either side of the unit coming to the motherboard area given enthuse Primus emphasis on water cooling a reservoir bracket is included which can also be used to cover up the rubber grommets it is easily removable and has a brushed aluminum plastic panel and many pre-drilled holes for different types of reservoirs the only disadvantage with this is the limited clearance for your GPU is once installed only 10 the half-inch cards will fit and only in the top 5 PCI slots is the cutout on the bracket doesn't follow all the way down otherwise without the bracket 13 plus inches is available we do have a lot of rubber grommets around the motherboard tray and the large CPU cutout and so far it doesn't seem like fantex missed anything regarding compatibility so let's turn the case around and see how it handles with cable management the first thing you notice is how all the stock cables are sleeved and cleaned up which makes working with the case a lot simpler there's also very clever cable management system in place with velcro straps that you can loosen up to fit more cables or vice versa there plenty of cable tie mounts as well and generally a lot of room you just have to work around the stock cables as they do cover a lot of the rubber grommets we do have a central fan hub for seven fans which your motherboard might be able to power through a single 4 pin connector but if not the molex connector is available you're also able to reposition the hub a little further down so fan texture emphasizes on flexibility with this case the hard drive gauge is located in its usual spot with unique Drive caddies that you don't need to flex or widen but it sort of has this wing design where you place the drive and close the wings and it actually quite sturdy and hassle free and of course SSD compatible each cage can also mount 120mm fans to drive better airflow and of it is modular very much expected from what we've seen so far you can move the entire assembly closer to the front to allow better cooling for the drives or remove the assembly completely for installation of front radiator with ample of 6.5 inches of space the front will support 240 or 280 millimeter rods but also and through primal comes with side radiator bracket which can be used with 240 Millner radiators it is very simple installation but with radiator in place you lose out on the entire hard drive cage however if you are running just the fans which have to be installed on the outside of the bracket it fits in just fine with the drive cage installed this means extra cooling for your drives and the panel causes just fine without touching the fan we also have designated SSD brackets above the main cage that are easily removable each bracket houses two drives and I think the user space is appropriate plus there are specific cutouts available to route your SATA cables you can also replace one in the brackets to another location if you don't want to route your SATA power for example all the way up there or have a side radiator installed and rubber grommet is available right underneath for appropriate cable routing moving on to the power supply it is elevated with rubber standoffs and is mounted sideways and the chassis comes equipped with a pump bracket which is installed in front of the power supply but can be moved slightly forward for a little extra room for all your cables and can be installed instead of the bottom hard drive cage there's also a tube cutout so you can easily route your tubing from the pump into the main chamber so you can see that water cooling is sort of the essential focus for the end to prime oh and to recap here all the supported radiators which is quite amazing this is due to a functional design that allows so much flexibility for preference and fantex did a really good job with making sure there are no compromises and starting with the assembly that extended middle motherboard standoff is really useful to get you going and a small toolbox is included that contains all the needed screws that improves the overall user experience there's over 80 millimeters of clearance between the top frame and the memory on our board which is good news or thick radiators and finally looking at the finished build it is very clean and tidy thanks to the rear power supply chamber and turning the case around everything is well secured then really there were no issues with cable routing but anthro primer really screams for more hardware and radius and this certainly is one of top choices for water cooling now we are going to conclude without pros and cons list and fantex certainly didn't cut any corners with the Antho primal as the build quality and the looks are outstanding the total of five quality high airflow fans are included with plenty more airflow options rear power supply chamber does allow a cleaner looking build without compromises with the optional second replacement for the unit the chassis is full dust proof with easily accessible filters and features an excellent velcro strap system for your cable management really the core purpose of the chassis is water cooling and fan --tx has done an excellent job with multi radiator support and even include a pump and a reservoir bracket and while $250 price tag may seem like a lot the enter primer packs in the incredible value for those wanting to take the full advantage of what the case has to offer really my main critique here is that I wish there weren't that many stock cables as they do block the rubber grommets and make it a little bit more difficult with routing also I wish the design of the reservoir bracket wouldn't conflict with longer GPUs but in reality that is just me being picky and the anthro primer really exceeded my expectations and deserve the hard work nugs damn good and them innovative award because every inch of this case serves a function and I can't wait for their next case and really to be honest I think this is the best case we have reviewed to date and I highly praise fantex for not leaving anything out so what do you guys think of the enter primer do you think it's a bit overkill and will you pay such a price given your water cooling let us know in the comments below thanks for watching and we'll see you in the next review