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2-120mm fans in the front pulling air in, 1-120 mm fan pulling air out the back and a humongous 200mm top fan also pulling air out. I do agree the cable management could be better but other than that it's probably the absolutely best custom build case for the money by far.Inside mine I chose an Asus A8N32-SLI Premium socket 939 motherboard with a Thermaltake 550W Power Supply, an AMD Opteron 170 CPU (dual core), 4 GB's of G.SKILL RAM, a Thermaltake K-7 CPU fan, and 2 Western Digital HDD's (320GB and 500GB). I've seen some more flashy and bigger cases but for my money Antec will be getting all my future purchases. Before building my own computer (1st attempt), I researched many many cases for almost a year. I alternate back and forth from Linux Ubuntu, Windows XP and the new Windows 7 Operating Systems. This thing looks like a behemoth if you're used to the mid size cases that we normally used to see and buy in the stores. Again, no sharp edges and put together with the best builders in mind. It's not a tool less design but the thumbscrews are very easy to work with for installing your HDD's.
In trying to install the floppy drive you'll find the cage isn't very well suited and could've been at least a few mm's bigger on the sides. Where to start. I wasn't crazy about the $125.00 price tag so I waited until it came down to $99.00 and grabbed it. Even if I decide to build another set up, I'll either use the same exact case or buy another of the same brand and model. I didn't run into any sharp edges as sometimes found in build your own type cases and I really enjoy the top mounted USB/firewire/Speaker-Mic input/power button/reset button design.
It's painted with a dull black finish (not glossy yet not matte either) which is pretty nice and easy to keep clean. Mine haven't failed yet at all but I know I've got 3 backups if they do :).The side window on the case is very well designed and crafted too. Looks great, functional, easy to work with and best of all it's affordable and yet still says "custom build". They even threw in 3 replacement fans (120mm with blue lazer LEDs) when they found out there was an issue with one batch of fans that had gotten out that were failing. Even if you're not thinking of Overclocking your CPU this is an excellent design for cooling your computers innards. The instructions and supplies were extremely well documented and I have had nothing but excellent customer service from Antec. After you start working with it though it's perfectly suited for even the advanced builders.Comes with plenty of room inside and is by far one of the best cooling cases you can possibly get for under $200.
I was leaning towards this one but also had a NZXT case I was considering as well. The holes for water cooling are already built into the rear of the case for you saving you from having to mod the case. Initially I chose to install a floppy drive in it but realizing it's essential uselessness these days switched it out for a Dynex 12 card flash reader. And in case you are thinking of Overclocking and you think that there isn't enough cooling yet.
I should know, cause I paid double for it (I live in colombia, and that thing is big) It's a very good box, well worth it's price.
The one thing I like about this case is that it is built to last I have had it a while and there's not even a scratch I have been threw my share of cases and this is the best design I have seen I really like the top 12 inch fan it keeps the case at a constant 72 degrees Fahrenheit and the other 12 fans help to but its not for LAN party's mine must weigh over 150 Pounds I can't even lift it after I installed everything I think its the 2 ATI Asus EAH4870X2 and the 1000 watt power supply there is sill a ton of room I am thinking of adding 3 more raptors in a RAID. One thing its big and there is know shortage of fans but I wish some of them like the top and back fans worked off the mother board power supply it would be nice to know what the speeds are but its no big deal I could get a fan controller I haven't decided yet but it has a lot of space I fit a huge cpu cooler I forgot the model number but its copper with two round heat pipes with copper fins and a blue LED's in the center it went perfect with the cases 30 blue LED's all the bays are in the front you can use them as 5 1/4 inch drive bays or 3 1/3 inch drive bays with these long screws there are 12 all together. The case is not tool less but its just some screws some people are so lazy.
A+ I can play for hours without my gfx card over heading, unlike my last case which only had 2 fans. Very easy installation. Looks awesome.
(new heatsink and new case)I'm thinking of this case for my triple capture HTPC. included.Drive mounting arrangement was friendly.Power supply mounts at the bottom of the case.Despite the BIG fan in the top of the case, it is very quiet.His processor temps dropped about 11* C. My son (he's a gamer) actually bought the case, but we transferred his 'old' parts (Asus Crosshair II with Quad Phenom/GeForce GTX260), to the new case on my workbench. The high points were:There was plenty of room for his huge heat pipe heatsink.Lots of screws/standoffs; etc.
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