My fiancé told me this PC case looked like a crushed velvet sofa, but I loved it, and it's the cheapest it's ever been at $90

The Phanteks XT View Matrix sits in a lovely Prime Day deals background because it's on offer — (Image credit: Phanteks)

It's a legitimately true story that, with the Phanteks' XT View Matrix. I was reviewing the XT View just last month for PC Gamer. Built in it, loved it, slick integrated RGB, solid cable management, nice fans, impressive cooling support, stupidly low price already, and of course that funky DOT matrix panel littered across its side. Then the other half comes into my office, and goes "oh my god…" and proceeds to wax lyrical about how (with the matrix on) it looked like a crushed velvet sofa (her words, not mine). Just remarkable. But, on the flip side, that's exactly what this case is. Remarkable.

And at this price point, trending down to just $90 at Amazon right now, it's the lowest I've ever seen it. That's a $30 saving off the $120 retail price.

The case market right now is a bit of a turbulent thing if I'm honest. Notably, it's the only part of the PC industry (aside from you know, being able to grab yourself a decent monitor deal) that seems to be trending downwards. Don't worry, once AI data centers find a way of somehow manipulating chassis metal into Sam Altman's procurement plan, I'm sure we'll be cooked too, but for the time being, let's just relish in the sleugh of super affordable high quality pc cases we're being graced with.

We're curating all the best Prime Day PC gaming deals here

The, XT View Matrix is a piece of art, really. A nicely-sized mid-tower chassis that's super easy to build in, with extensive cooling support, for up to nine fans and a 360 mm AIO. It is a slightly older design, the XT View does date from around 2024, but the big revamp comes in the form of that dot matrix panel. And it really does give the old girl (if you can call it that) a new lease on life. It's a 600 RGB LED setup slipped in behind a beautifully clean tactile canvas finish, fully customizable thanks to Phantek's NextLinq app, allowing you to use it for system monitoring, date and time, and all manner of other shenanigans.

Image 1 of 5

The Phanteks XT View Matrix case on a table. — (Image credit: Future)

It's not perfect by any means (no case ever is), it doesn't have an integrated GPU anti-sag bracket (which is a shame, because things like the XT V3 definitely do), and there's no rubber grommets to hide those pesky cables when you need them, but other than that, there's little to hate on here, and it is without question one of the best budget PC cases you can buy, particularly at such a stunning price like this.

Best PC cases 2026

1. Best overall: Corsair Air 5400

2. Best budget: Corsair 3200D

3. Best midrange: Thermaltake View 380

4. Best budget compact: Thermaltake S100 TG Snow Edition

5. Best Mini-ITX: Fractal Design Terra

6. Best Micro-ATX: NZXT H3 Flow

7. Best full-tower: NZXT H7 Flow

8. Best for airflow: Havn BF 360

👉Check out our full PC case guide👈

After graduating from the University of Derby in 2014, Zak joined the PC Format and Maximum PC team as its resident staff writer. Specializing in PC building, and all forms of hardware and componentry, he soon worked his way up to editor-in-chief, leading the publication through the covid dark times. Since then, he’s dabbled in PR, working for Corsair for a while as its UK PR specialist, before returning to the fold as a tech journalist once again.

He now operates as a freelance tech editor, writing for all manner of publications, including PC Gamer, Maximum PC, Techradar, Gamesradar, PCGamesN, and Trusted Reviews as well. If there’s something happening in the tech industry it’s highly likely Zak has a strong opinion on it.