One of the best cases made

Author's Rating:

Pros: Numerous drive bays, fan placement very flexible; airflow outstanding; looks great; sturdy

Cons: No hinged side panels; short fan cables

The Bottom Line: 
This case is well designed, sturdy, and provides superb airflow to hard drives and CPU coolers.  There are few cases out there that can rival its overall practicality and function.

Author's Review
I am not what you'd call a professional computer builder, but I am very passionate about it.  I am an avid gamer, and take a lot of pride in building my own systems.  Consequently, when I find something that works, I stick with it. 

My Antec 900 case has seen three complete new systems through it, because I have yet to find a better case on the market.

For starters, it's built like a tank, with heavy metal side panels and thick metal grilles on the front and top.  It feels solid, and all the panels feel tight when installed.

The airflow is superb thanks to two large fans on the front and one giant 120mm fan on the top.  Heat rises, right?  Exactly.  So the fan on the top makes a big difference.  But thanks to those front fans, the lateral flow is also more than adequate.  The front fans also do a great job of cooling the hard drives as well; even after 10-12 hours, my hard drives hover around 29C. 

There are also spaces for a 90mm rear fan and a 90mm side fan as well.  These were included with my case, but may not come with all models.  The side fan isn't really needed, but I did drop my overall temps by about 2C by adding it.  If you add the rear fan, which I recommend, it is positioned in such a way that it lines up directly with most aftermarket CPU coolers.  That means massive airflow through your cooler, and lower CPU temps.  With a Zalman Performa cooler and a 90mm rear fan, my intel e6600 idles at 25C and never goes above 33, even while playing Starcraft II or rendering video.

I wish the built-in fans had longer power cables, as it would make cable routing a little cleaner, but it was a very minor inconvenience overall.

Now let's talk about flexibility.  The front fans are actually attached to modular hard drive cages.  Each cage can hold three hard drives and can be pulled out and moved around as needed.  The front of the case has a total of nine slots, six of which are occupied by the fan/drive cages, leaving an open space that can be filled with optical drives or the supplied metal blanks.  With the cages and blanks removed, the entire front of the case is open, which can help make your builds a little more convenient.

Another thing I really like about this case is that the power supply is mounted on the bottom, rather than the top.  I think that's brilliant, and here's why.  It allows lots of space for the power supply to radiate heat upwards, and into the massive lateral airflow.  So your power supply runs cooler and lasts longer.  Bottom mounting also lowers the center of gravity for your entire computer case, making it less likely to tip over.  It also means that if you have a non-modular power supply, whatever power cables you don't use can be neatly coiled on the bottom of the case and tucked into a little compartment under the bottom drive cage.  This not only makes your install look better, it allows the air to flow more smoothly through your case without turbulence created by unneeded dangling cables.

Another nice touch was the fact that my case also included two large, grommeted holes in the back to run water cooling tubes.  I don't water cool yet, but it's nice to know it'll be easier when I do.

There are some small issues with this case, but none are deal-breakers.  The open fan grille on the top provides a big 'ol honkin' hole that airborne dust can drift through when the computer is off.  It's also inconvenient to have to pull both side panels off to pull the drive cages; if the cages snapped in and out without tools, that would be a huge addition to this case.  And while there is a hard drive access LED, there is no power LED.  I guess the fan LEDs are supposed to serve the same purpose as a power LED, so it's not a big deal.  I also wish this case had hinged side panels, but that's more  of a luxury than a neccessity, especially because this case does so many other things right.

Overall, this case is the bomb.  I have seen fancier, more expensive cases with nifty bells and whistles, but none can match the solid construction, cool appearance, amazing airflow and flexibility of the Antec 900.