computergeek
New member
Review
Where to begin with the insane standards of Antec but when it comes to cases, I've to wonder if they rotate the people with common sense.The v2 of this case is mastly improved but today I am writing about the case, I personally own my self.
So the Antec Nine Hundred V1 case of mine, the space is great but this is hindered by the lack of cable management. This is dissapointing because the possibilities of this case are endless.
Air cooling options are very decent but if you've a large air CPU cooler like myself then you're not going to be able to install a fan on the clear side of the case.
What I've found very strange about the clear side of this case is that it has a mesh, why would you put mesh on a clear side of a case.
This can be easily solved by removing the mesh but it requires unscrewing the mesh from the inside of the clear side of the case. Be careful not to loose the plastic coverings for the screw holes.
Putting aside that small niggle from an aesthetics point of view whilst I'm talking about the minor issues of this case, the lack of cable management options I referred to earlier. Requires a bit of tinkering to solve this issue, firstly remove your PSU then put what extra length of cables you don't need through the only cable management hole to the side of the PSU facing just underneath your motherboard.
But this isn't going to solve your issues completely although you can use spare mounting holes in the back side of the case to zip the cables too.
Please bare in mind this is a very fiddly job and not for people with shaky hands as the frustration may well likely cause you more hassle then luck.
Okay still continuing on topic with the possibilities of this case, how else can you improve it? Well for one removing the bottom hard drive cage is a sure bet bonus in my books. But another little niggle will arise, the fans are latched onto the hard drive cages. So you will have to mount the bottom fan onto the inside of the sides of the case with zip ties, I know it is a big hassle but now you've all this lovely open space to use.
The rule of thumb here is to thread the cables against the inside sides of the case where the lower hard drive cage would be but with zip ties holding them in place, the best analogy you will understand is think of pipes on the side of a house for guttering that use brackets or in this case zip ties.
Its the same principle but it will help you vastly with cable management and of course airflow. So now all the niggles aside, what actual features have Antec provided that make this still a decent case.
Well first lets go back to its air cooling options, two 120mm fans in the front of the case. 120mm rear fan, 200mm top fan and a 120mm fan also an option for a side fan but as mentioned earlier with a large air CPU cooler you will not be able to use this. I find a negative pressure setup with the air being exhausted through the top 200mm fan is the best way to go.
Also the top 200mm fan speed is adjustable and you will get very decent air temps with this setup but still just as good with the case at stock with no improvements done to the case on your behalf.
Also an obious advantage is with the fans latched onto the hard drive cages with the air being sucked in at the front, air will flow over the hard drives. Keeping them cool. One other thing is the mesh on the front of the case does an okay job at catching any dust but with the case in not ideal places or your average room. Due to the holes in the front mesh in my opinion being too big, the fans with clog up with dust very quickly but with some tweaking of the fan speeds this can easily be resolved.
So far this case has given me a love, hate relationship or 50/50 in terms of originality and capability of the case at stock vs the work I've had to put into it to make it usable for myself all year round.
Putting the air cooling niggles aside the other features of this case are vastly more helpful then other cases around the same price point for this case.
The top I/O features the usual power and reset buttons with led but also features two usb 2.0 ports and a IEEE 1394 firewire port as well as headpone and michrophone jacks. This is very handy and for once the I/O we find on this case is in a convienent place, I've personally had issues with this on other cases I've owned in the past. Which were all Antec cases bar my first ever self PC I built.
Now onto the hardware accomodation characteristics of this case, well for one it will fit pretty much any size of GPU currently available also at stock you can mount six hard drives. And the cooling aspects for GPU's, I found surprising as my usual experience with Antec cases in the past left much to be desired. I ended up spending too much time modifying them to improve the air cooling, thankfully Antec has shown some initiative this time round if only half way there but still a vast improvement compared to there past with there cases.
But even with my recommended modifications to this case from Antec, you can still mount three hard drives or two hard drives and one disc drive if you choose to do so. But still take into consideration the effect it will have on your air cooling on this case. And the last of this cases hardware accomodation characteristics is like most big cases it will fit both full size and micro atx motherboards.
Conclusion
I've to commend Antec on there vast improvement with there cases but with this case they still had and have a long way to go. A bit more common sense on there part will go a long way for them.Personal annotation aside as I mentioned earlier in this review it has been a love and hate, 50/50 relationship for me with this case.
If you are an enthusiast who doesn't mind putting in the work then this case from Antec will serve you very well but if you're your average PC user/builder then you may want to look at the v2 version of this case or another case brand.
Aside from user preferences, the available size for accomodating hardware is something that benefits this case very well.
Without it apart from the fan cooling layout it wouldn't have that much going for it or indifferent to the shed loads of other cases out there.
I feel this case is stifled in terms of all the little niggles and problems it has but at the same time, the space and options currently provided at stock more then make up for this.
From an aesthetics point of view, it is very pleasing on the eye. Not garish at all, which is a plus in my books. Not lacking detail in the slightest but the lack of common sense such as the front case mesh and the clear side mesh at stock lets it down.
At around £90 this is nothing to be sniffed at as many other cases like this with the same or similar specs will set you back a fair few bob, granted they will most likely have better cable management.
But its a case of do you wish to spend more for the work too of already been done for you in terms of better capable management or spend less.
Achieving something down to the work and the money you will have saved.
Rating
I feel like giving this case the bronze award only for the general public and end users but for enthusiasts and my personal recommendation.I give this the silver award, yes it has its problems but the rewards you gain from this case are amazing despite its stock issues.
Its cheap and for the money, the specs and details are amazing.
You will have a hard time finding a better case for this kind of price range.
The icing on the cake is the hardware space and cooling options available to boot.
Whatever your needs this case will do you well, just don't expect miracles and you will do just fine with this case.
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