Sapphire Phantom Link System Review

Conclusion

Conclusion

Obviously this system is very much self contained, which is why we have really only compared it with itself. We review a lot of setups here at OC3D but they are always built to a certain level. Whether that is for stock or price reasons. This isn’t. Today’s setup is us just building the kind of thing we wanted to see.

After all, when Sapphire released the Phantom Link hardware we were immediately impressed. The design had so much thought put into it. Additionally the flexibility wowed us. We’ve seen BTF hardware before, but it normally committed to the BTF way of doing things. Whilst the X870EA motherboard here does, the Nitro+ graphics card would be just as happy in a ‘regular’ setup as it is here. In fact even if you plan to have a standard power arrangement then the neatness of the Sapphire design is attractive. With the power plugged into the back, the connector is under no strain nor likely to cause any of the issues the 12VHPWR cables have been involved with.

It’s the BTF format that really brings home the bacon though, and surrounded by Corsair hardware like this the beauty is laid clear. Just look at the image which has graced the top of each page today. Sure, you might not love turquoise as a colour, but there is no denying the uniformity of the lighting on offer. On the second page we said about the light bar, but it bears repeating here. With a single colour backdrop you can keep the Nitro+ lightbar white and it still stands out. A nice inversion of the white lighting and coloured bar to emphasise.

At first glance the, for want of a better term, plastic air funnels at the top and bottom of the Corsair Air 5400 LX-R look odd. Clearly they work though. Our temperature readings were very good for such a warm processor. The joys of a triple-chamber layout. And, obviously, a very capable cooler both on the CPU side with the Corsair Titan 360, and the GPU side with the Sapphire Nitro+. All of which gives you a setup that is just as capable of blowing the minds of passers-by as it is you when in use.

The Sapphire Phantom Link hardware is perfect for letting you build a hassle-free case that looks clean and sleek, and when you place it in a case where there is no room to hide, those qualities are ones for which we’re grateful.

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