Antec One Hundred Gaming Case Window Edition Review

Today we are looking at a Special Edition Antec One Hundred Case ... a window version. These are proving to be popular alternatives to standard cases as they allow you to show off that fabulous gaming rig with the latest water-cooling system, or new LED ram. The Antec One Hundred Case was designed to offer several high-end features at a price that doesn't hurt the bank account, as well as providing a sensible level of cooling that will keep both enthusiasts, gamers and general users happy. Antec are certainly one of the main competitors in the gaming case world, and produce a huge range of different cases to suit everyone's needs. They have recently had lots of success in the cooling sector, especially with their Antec 920, and we hope this is reflected in the new edition of the Antec One Hundred Gaming Case. This special edition case is only available from certain distributors and as yet is not available in any of the mainstream stores within the UK. Features of Antec One Hundred: Bottom-mounted power supply isolates heat and noise Perforated Front Bezel for maximum air flow and dust filtration CPU cutout allows for easy installation of CPU coolers Cable management compartment organizes cables discretely Convenient top accessory tray Cable management ties keep your case organized 11 drive bays - 6 x internal 3.5" - 3 x external 5.25" - 1 x external 3.5" - 1 x internal bottom-mounted 2.5" SSD drive 8 expansion slots for plenty of flexibility Cooling system - 1 x top special 140 mm TwoCool™ fan - 1 x rear 120 mm TwoCool™ fan - 2 x front 120 mm fans for HDDs (optional) - 1 x side 120 mm fan for graphics cards (optional) Front ports - 4 x USB 2.0 - Audio (AC'97 and HDA compatible) In and Out Motherboards: Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX Unit Dimensions - 480 mm (H) x 197 mm (W) x 477 mm (D) Weight - Net : 6,9 kg / 15,1 lbs - Gross : 10,9 kg / 24,0 lbs The outer packaging is exactly what we would expect from a case by Antec, using a simple design with the key features clearly shown. Inside the box we find the usual case packaging, a small product overview, screws and a bag of plastic feet. The case has a purposeful look, and has mesh across the front which acts as a dust filter for the fans while still being easy to clean. A close-up of the top reveals the tray-like design we have seen on other Antec cases, and at the front we find 4x USB 2.0 ports as well as the On/Off switch and the headphone/microphone sockets. We can also see the 140mm fan towards the back of the case. The window side has actually been screwed in which gives a very rigid and tough look, on top of that the extra wide grill design matches the shaping of this panel nicely. From the back it looks pretty much like most cases on the market currently, the 120mm fan is at the top and is set-up as an exhaust fan. Unfortunately, once the rear expansion slot covers have been removed you can not replace them. You may also notice the two small holes on the right-hand side which can be pushed out to enable space for water-cooling pipes or even USB 3.0 cables, they don't however include the rummer grommets to fit these. Antec did however include a very simple Fan Speed controller for the two pre-installed fans, which allows you to choose whether you want more cooling or quieter operation. After removing the windowed panel we can see even more of the inside of the case. The Antec One Hundred fits a full 11 drive bays in, including space for 3x external 5.25" bays and 1 x 3.5" bay - perfect for memory card readers, as well as space for 6 x 3.5" HDD's and a 1 x 3.5" bay which is only high enough for an SSD or similar 2.5" drive. The case like many others on the market now has space for the PSU at the bottom, although doesn't provide any vibration damping feet and does require the PSU to be screwed in. You can also see that there is a large cut-out for cable management. At the top of the case is a 140mm TwoCool fan and at the rear a 120mm TwoCool fan, there is also one of the largest CPU cut-outs I have ever seen, which gives you more than plenty of space to work with. The drive bays are positioned in the middle allowing plenty of clearance for cables on the one side. Drives are of course screwed in. The expansion slot covers can only be removed with a bit of force, they then can't be replaced. Removing the other side of the case we can see just how huge the CPU cut-out is. Antec have also included some easy to use cable management clips. After organising the screws we set to work on installing a system into the chassis. The documentation isn't great as there is no explanation for each variety of screw they include. After installing the other key components we did find we were a bit short on space at the top of the case with the Antec 920 radiator only a few mm's clear of the Antec 140 mm TwoCool fan. There was plenty of space for cable management however. Although our cable routing isn't the best, the case does offer plenty of places for cable management. The CPU cut-out was also slightly in the wrong place for our motherboard meaning it would be rather tricky to replace the backplate. For the tests today we will be using a AMD Phenom 965 with an Asus M4A785TD-M Evo Motherboard and the impressive Antec Kuhler 920, we will be overclocking the system significantly to highlight the cooling performance of the chassis design. Test System Chassis: Antec One Hundred Window Edition Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (Stock Speed: 3.4 GHz) Motherboard: Asus M4A785TD-M EVO Motherboard Cooler: Antec Kuhler 920 Liquid Cooling System Memory: 4GB Kingston HyperX (1800 MHz) DDR3 Storage: OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD Power Supply: Thermaltake Tough Power XT 750W Graphics Card (for thermal tests): AMD Radeon HD 6450 These tests are performed with the case in its stock cooling configuration. Ambient temperatures remained constant at 22 degrees C, and both case fans were set to their maximum speeds. Next, we overclocked the processor to 4ghz by increasing the voltage to 1.5V. The temperatures show that there is a decent amount of airflow through the system, mainly due to the massive amount of ventillation at the front of the case and on the side panel. This can easily be improved by adding more 120mm fans to the front and another fan to the side of the case. To test the acoustic performance we will be doing everything we can to reduce the noise emitted by other components, for instance we won't have any mechanical hard drives plugged in, and we will be using onboard graphics to avoid the use of our AMD 6450 graphics card. We will be temporarily turning the Antec 920 fans off by simply unplugging them, leaving us with just the sound level output from the case fans as our PSU runs nearly silent. Due to the inbuilt fan controller we ran this test twice once with it on the low setting and once with it on the high setting. We repeated each test to ensure accuracy. This is an impressive result, with low settings noise emissions are hardly noticeable with a very faint fan whirring sound in the background. Increasing the speed of the 120mm fan only raises the sound-level to around 34 dBA. That said, turning the top 140mm fan up to full-speed greatly increases noise emissions. Antec have certainly kept it basic with the One Hundred Gaming Case, but at the same time they have made this version quite special. Although it is not unique in its design with a window panel, we certainly think it could prove to be a popular addition within the gaming industry. The Antec One Hundred Window Edition seems to pack a fair punch in terms of cooling performance, mainly due to the generous five fan positions, which are aided with slots for ventilation. The sound-level results, while not class leading are certainly impressive for a case that has a 'Perforated Front Bezel' and even ventilation on the side. The case raises no concerns in regards to build quality. The sides even slide on nicely and it feels very sturdy, although the front of the case is made out of a thin plastic which has a small amount of flex when pressure is applied. There are some problems such as the fact that you can't replace the included fans as you won't be able to use the Fan Speed Controller which is hard-wired in. There is also no USB 3.0 support which seems a strange omission in 2011. The case does have space for 5 fans, 7 x 3.5" drives and 3 x 5.25" drives with plenty of room to spare, however there is little space at the top of the case. The retail price is likely to be only a few pounds higher than the standard One Hundred Gaming Case and so should be priced around £50. For gamers on a budget, this is a very good purchase decision. Pros: Window to show off the build. Good thermal performance with plenty more room for improvements. Easy and simple cable management. Plenty of space for drives and expansion cards. Build quality is good. Built-in fan speed controller allows cooling tweaks. Cons: No USB 3.0 Support. Fan controller hard wired to the 2 included fans. No intake fan included. Kitguru says: A really good design, and competitively priced.

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Antec One Hundred Gaming Case Window Edition Review

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