This is my first full detailed review so be nice
Ok so today I decided to review my case the Antec DF-85 also known as Dark Fleet 85
First impressions and other reviews around the place automatically jump to say that this design is trying to rip of a coolmaster HAF case but this case goes so much deeper than that, each part of the case serves as a function there isn't to much put on the case to purely make it look good as ill try point out in this review as you can see the large window on the side at first it looks like it wouldn't show much inside the case but remember this is a full size tower and the windows edges stop right at the point of HDD cables and PSU cables at the bottom so at first glance inside the cables are not seen, (those big first impressions when showing your PC off
)
Also on the side is a mount for a 120mm fan (not included) for intake onto the video card/s I would how ever liked to see a dust filter on this FAN as all the other intake fans are filtered besides this one.
You can also see 3 intake fans on the front with easy to access and clean filters and with LED lights.
At the top of the case in front of the external drive bays you see cover type things on drive bays, I see no point of this over a DVD/CD drive but would be handy over a fan controller and other controller devices, What other reviews fail to mention is that these covers are removable so you can take the one covering your DVD drive off and not have it be a issue like I have done.
Above that you can see 4 UBS ports 3 of them are USB 2 connecting directly to the UBS headers on the mobo but the 4th being a USB 3 port with a USB cable going out the back of the case to be plugged into a USB 3 port on the mobo's IO ports, most cases only having 2 and then esata port, firewire and so on some people may fine 4 front USBs being to much but I like it, But i have never had the need for esata either, and with this case I wouldn't need esata, ill explain why latter. Next to the USB you see a microphone jack and headphone jack and unlike some other antec cases this one labels what port is what, it is a simple thing but it wasn't on my previous antec 900 two case.
The off and on buttons are situated either side of the front IO's and instead of having a reset button that you need to hunt down a pen to press in this one is easy to press with a small finger like you pinky =] makes life a little easier for those times of crashing like when OCing =].
Above the front IO's and power buttons you see a slot kind of looking like you could slide a iPod into but this is a hot swap bay for a 2.5 inch hard drive and with laptop drives being able to plug straight into desktop PC's sata ports it makes for a nice portable HDD as well, and as i am a computer tecky it makes recovery's on laptop HDD's nice because I do not need to open my PC up to put the drive in A big plus there.
As you can see here the case dose have a lot of room, it has room for one of Antec's over sized power supply's and if you don't have one it makes for extra space between your PSU and motherboard/video card so not to much worry with the heat affecting each component.
You can see 4 exhaust fans at the top there is 2x 140mm Fans and rear is 2x 120mm fans all speed controlled individually by a manual switch on the back of the case but with only 2 settings hight and low, The top of the case has about 3 inches of internal hight above the mobo so would make for a good dual 140mm radiator if water cooling or lots of clearance and exhaust for a air cooler like a NH-D14.
HDD's are held in by 2 thumb screws one on either side and there are tabs that push into the HDD to stop it vibrating around and works well, this case dose not have to many anti vibration features but I cant not feel a single thing from this case threw the desk and only have a slight (I wouldnt say vibration as it is very minute) from the fans when I place my hand on the case.
At the top and bottom of the HDD mounts you see 2 objects sticking out, these are docks that turn 4 bays (2 on each one) into hot swap bay and only thing needed to do to install a HDD is slide it is from the front (You'll see how later) and put a screw in if you wish (I dont put the screew in most the time) and makes it east to do data recs on 3.5" drives for a tecky =), these are movable and can be located on any of the 9 HDD bays or removed all together if they are not your cup of tea.
This image is pretty simple but dose show the space for the larger power supply (or extra room) and the fan controller for the 4 exhaust fans.
You can also see water cooling grommets on the back of the case, these seem to be a pretty standard feature now days.
Now this is probably my most used feature (besides its good cooling ) and that is doors on the front provide 2 benefits, 1 being able to clean that dust filter out with so much ease, it makes cleaning your PC a easy do once a week task and 2 because opening this door you can slide a HDD straight into either a empty bay or straight into a hot swap bay for instant access without undoing a single screw with your PC's side panels still on your computer.
What if your at a LAN it would be so east to steal a drive, well on the inside of the case next to the HDD's about half way up there is a leaver type thing, you slide this down and it locks all doors on the front, and tight to, you cant pull the door open with out breaking it first. You can see the leave in picture 2 just.
On the next door up you can see a small knob at the bottom right of the door, this is just like the 900/1200 so on case and is a variable fan controller I think with 3 speeds.
Features as listed on the Antec website:
Three Fleet-Release™ access doors open separately for convenient entry to drives
Three washable fan filters allow for easy cleaning
Top 2.5" hot-swap SATA (SSD-compatible) drive bay
Bottom-mounted power supply isolates heat
- Mounts either a standard size power supply or an Antec exclusive CP Series power supply
Lockable access doors ensure security
CPU cutout allows for easy installation of CPU coolers
14 drive bays:
- Up to 9 x internal 3.5"
- 3 x external 5.25"
- 4 x internal 3.5" Fleet-Swap™ drives (position changeable)
- 1 x external top 2.5" hot-swap SATA drive bay
- 1 x internal bottom-mounted 2.5" SSD drive
Advanced cooling system:
- 2 x top 140mm TwoCool™ fans
- 2 x rear 120mm TwoCool™ red LED fans
- 3 x front 120mm red LED fans with speed control knobs
- 1 x side 120mm fan to cool graphics cards (optional)
- Water cooling capable
7 expansion slots to support multiple graphics cards
Maximum graphics card size: 12.5" / 318 mm
Cable management ties help keep your case tidier
Stylish blacked-out interior
Windowed side panel
Front ports:
- 1 x USB 3.0
- 3 x USB 2.0
- Audio (AC'97 and HDA compatible) In and Out
Motherboards: Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX
Power supply not included
Unit Dimension
- 596mm (H) x 213mm (W) x 505mm (D)
- 23.5" (H) x 8.4" (W) x 19.9" (D)
Package Dimension
- 577mm (H) x 288mm (W) x 510mm (D)
- 22.7" (H) x 11.3" (W) x 20.1" (D)
Weight
- Net : 11.0 kg / 24.2 lb
- Gross : 11.3 kg / 26.3 lb
Pros
•HDD installation is a breeze.
•Roomy.
•Great cooling.
•Cleaning filters is a very easy task.
•Solid build.
•Reset button is easy to use.
•9 HDD bays.
•Room for internal water cooling.
•7 fans included.
•Most things on the case that gives it styling serves a function.
•Cable management is good.
•Room for long video cards
•room for a NH-D14
I could go on... but ill stop now.
Cons
•The side air vent could include a filter.
•A switch to turn the LED's off would be nice.
•Exhaust fan controls are only high and low.
•Fans, Tectonically air movement threw the vents is a little loud.
•When fully built is a heavy PC.
•Has no external 3.5" bay.
•Only 3 5.25" bays, some people say that is enough and for me it is but some internal water cooling kits take up 3 bays so 4 would be good.
•Cost = $229 AU
Conclusion
Now as you can see this is not just a HAF rip off, this cases "industrial" looks serve purposes.
The looks of the case are a little unappealing at first but soon grow on you really quick, Only thing I want to change on this case is the Fans, They have great cooling but I am a fan of silent and also be nice for my MOBO to controller my fan speeds, I would like a switch to turn the LED's on the fans off when I please to. I have no Other issues and besides the fans this would be the first case I have ever had where I can not think of things to change to make it a better case to suit me.
For any one out there who is always pulling the side of there case to install HDD's of clients or friends I highly recommend this case.
Price = 8
Build = 9
Features = 10
TOTAL = 9
Ok so today I decided to review my case the Antec DF-85 also known as Dark Fleet 85
First impressions and other reviews around the place automatically jump to say that this design is trying to rip of a coolmaster HAF case but this case goes so much deeper than that, each part of the case serves as a function there isn't to much put on the case to purely make it look good as ill try point out in this review as you can see the large window on the side at first it looks like it wouldn't show much inside the case but remember this is a full size tower and the windows edges stop right at the point of HDD cables and PSU cables at the bottom so at first glance inside the cables are not seen, (those big first impressions when showing your PC off
Also on the side is a mount for a 120mm fan (not included) for intake onto the video card/s I would how ever liked to see a dust filter on this FAN as all the other intake fans are filtered besides this one.
You can also see 3 intake fans on the front with easy to access and clean filters and with LED lights.
At the top of the case in front of the external drive bays you see cover type things on drive bays, I see no point of this over a DVD/CD drive but would be handy over a fan controller and other controller devices, What other reviews fail to mention is that these covers are removable so you can take the one covering your DVD drive off and not have it be a issue like I have done.
Above that you can see 4 UBS ports 3 of them are USB 2 connecting directly to the UBS headers on the mobo but the 4th being a USB 3 port with a USB cable going out the back of the case to be plugged into a USB 3 port on the mobo's IO ports, most cases only having 2 and then esata port, firewire and so on some people may fine 4 front USBs being to much but I like it, But i have never had the need for esata either, and with this case I wouldn't need esata, ill explain why latter. Next to the USB you see a microphone jack and headphone jack and unlike some other antec cases this one labels what port is what, it is a simple thing but it wasn't on my previous antec 900 two case.
The off and on buttons are situated either side of the front IO's and instead of having a reset button that you need to hunt down a pen to press in this one is easy to press with a small finger like you pinky =] makes life a little easier for those times of crashing like when OCing =].
Above the front IO's and power buttons you see a slot kind of looking like you could slide a iPod into but this is a hot swap bay for a 2.5 inch hard drive and with laptop drives being able to plug straight into desktop PC's sata ports it makes for a nice portable HDD as well, and as i am a computer tecky it makes recovery's on laptop HDD's nice because I do not need to open my PC up to put the drive in A big plus there.
As you can see here the case dose have a lot of room, it has room for one of Antec's over sized power supply's and if you don't have one it makes for extra space between your PSU and motherboard/video card so not to much worry with the heat affecting each component.
You can see 4 exhaust fans at the top there is 2x 140mm Fans and rear is 2x 120mm fans all speed controlled individually by a manual switch on the back of the case but with only 2 settings hight and low, The top of the case has about 3 inches of internal hight above the mobo so would make for a good dual 140mm radiator if water cooling or lots of clearance and exhaust for a air cooler like a NH-D14.
HDD's are held in by 2 thumb screws one on either side and there are tabs that push into the HDD to stop it vibrating around and works well, this case dose not have to many anti vibration features but I cant not feel a single thing from this case threw the desk and only have a slight (I wouldnt say vibration as it is very minute) from the fans when I place my hand on the case.
At the top and bottom of the HDD mounts you see 2 objects sticking out, these are docks that turn 4 bays (2 on each one) into hot swap bay and only thing needed to do to install a HDD is slide it is from the front (You'll see how later) and put a screw in if you wish (I dont put the screew in most the time) and makes it east to do data recs on 3.5" drives for a tecky =), these are movable and can be located on any of the 9 HDD bays or removed all together if they are not your cup of tea.
This image is pretty simple but dose show the space for the larger power supply (or extra room) and the fan controller for the 4 exhaust fans.
You can also see water cooling grommets on the back of the case, these seem to be a pretty standard feature now days.
Now this is probably my most used feature (besides its good cooling ) and that is doors on the front provide 2 benefits, 1 being able to clean that dust filter out with so much ease, it makes cleaning your PC a easy do once a week task and 2 because opening this door you can slide a HDD straight into either a empty bay or straight into a hot swap bay for instant access without undoing a single screw with your PC's side panels still on your computer.
What if your at a LAN it would be so east to steal a drive, well on the inside of the case next to the HDD's about half way up there is a leaver type thing, you slide this down and it locks all doors on the front, and tight to, you cant pull the door open with out breaking it first. You can see the leave in picture 2 just.
On the next door up you can see a small knob at the bottom right of the door, this is just like the 900/1200 so on case and is a variable fan controller I think with 3 speeds.
Features as listed on the Antec website:
Three Fleet-Release™ access doors open separately for convenient entry to drives
Three washable fan filters allow for easy cleaning
Top 2.5" hot-swap SATA (SSD-compatible) drive bay
Bottom-mounted power supply isolates heat
- Mounts either a standard size power supply or an Antec exclusive CP Series power supply
Lockable access doors ensure security
CPU cutout allows for easy installation of CPU coolers
14 drive bays:
- Up to 9 x internal 3.5"
- 3 x external 5.25"
- 4 x internal 3.5" Fleet-Swap™ drives (position changeable)
- 1 x external top 2.5" hot-swap SATA drive bay
- 1 x internal bottom-mounted 2.5" SSD drive
Advanced cooling system:
- 2 x top 140mm TwoCool™ fans
- 2 x rear 120mm TwoCool™ red LED fans
- 3 x front 120mm red LED fans with speed control knobs
- 1 x side 120mm fan to cool graphics cards (optional)
- Water cooling capable
7 expansion slots to support multiple graphics cards
Maximum graphics card size: 12.5" / 318 mm
Cable management ties help keep your case tidier
Stylish blacked-out interior
Windowed side panel
Front ports:
- 1 x USB 3.0
- 3 x USB 2.0
- Audio (AC'97 and HDA compatible) In and Out
Motherboards: Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX
Power supply not included
Unit Dimension
- 596mm (H) x 213mm (W) x 505mm (D)
- 23.5" (H) x 8.4" (W) x 19.9" (D)
Package Dimension
- 577mm (H) x 288mm (W) x 510mm (D)
- 22.7" (H) x 11.3" (W) x 20.1" (D)
Weight
- Net : 11.0 kg / 24.2 lb
- Gross : 11.3 kg / 26.3 lb
Pros
•HDD installation is a breeze.
•Roomy.
•Great cooling.
•Cleaning filters is a very easy task.
•Solid build.
•Reset button is easy to use.
•9 HDD bays.
•Room for internal water cooling.
•7 fans included.
•Most things on the case that gives it styling serves a function.
•Cable management is good.
•Room for long video cards
•room for a NH-D14
I could go on... but ill stop now.
Cons
•The side air vent could include a filter.
•A switch to turn the LED's off would be nice.
•Exhaust fan controls are only high and low.
•Fans, Tectonically air movement threw the vents is a little loud.
•When fully built is a heavy PC.
•Has no external 3.5" bay.
•Only 3 5.25" bays, some people say that is enough and for me it is but some internal water cooling kits take up 3 bays so 4 would be good.
•Cost = $229 AU
Conclusion
Now as you can see this is not just a HAF rip off, this cases "industrial" looks serve purposes.
The looks of the case are a little unappealing at first but soon grow on you really quick, Only thing I want to change on this case is the Fans, They have great cooling but I am a fan of silent and also be nice for my MOBO to controller my fan speeds, I would like a switch to turn the LED's on the fans off when I please to. I have no Other issues and besides the fans this would be the first case I have ever had where I can not think of things to change to make it a better case to suit me.
For any one out there who is always pulling the side of there case to install HDD's of clients or friends I highly recommend this case.
Price = 8
Build = 9
Features = 10
TOTAL = 9
