Termie
Diamond Member
I have the Antec 900, it's housed my last two builds, and I got it for $60AR in 2008. Definitely got my money's worth out of it. But it's far from perfect. Here are the pros and cons...
Pros:
(1) inexpensive for number of included fans and cooling capability
(2) included mount for internal 120mm fan right behind memory and graphics card (makes a big difference in GPU temps)
(3) one of the first cases with a top exhaust fan, which has been copied by many designs (although frankly, it doesn't make a huge difference in temps, probably because it's perpindicular to the air flow)
(4) convenient power button, usb ports, and tray on the top of the case
(5) fairly compact for a mid-tower case, particularly the width
Cons:
(1) no fan filters - this has been addressed in all modern cases, included the cheaper Antec 300. It's really a big problem for dust management.
(2) Antec tri-cool fans are noisy even on low settings - I think it's the bearings that just aren't designed for quiet operation (they're designed to withstand full speed)
(3) no real cable management other than a few zip ties - most modern cases have ports to hide cables behind the motherboard (although they are by nature slightly wider cases, in order to provide room for all this "plumbing" underneath the MB tray)
(4) no motherboard tray cut-out, making heatsink replacement a complete pain
(5) With stock fans, it's not quiet! I've replaced all the fans (except the top fan) with Scythe fans, and that has made a difference, but the case itself does nothing to quiet down a system...it has a huge hole in the top, so of course it's going to be loud.
Overall, I probably wouldn't buy the Antec 900 today, but it was really groundbreaking when it came out. Truth is that I might use it again for my next build anyway, just because I have all my new fans mounted in it and it's compact enough to fit under my desk.
Pros:
(1) inexpensive for number of included fans and cooling capability
(2) included mount for internal 120mm fan right behind memory and graphics card (makes a big difference in GPU temps)
(3) one of the first cases with a top exhaust fan, which has been copied by many designs (although frankly, it doesn't make a huge difference in temps, probably because it's perpindicular to the air flow)
(4) convenient power button, usb ports, and tray on the top of the case
(5) fairly compact for a mid-tower case, particularly the width
Cons:
(1) no fan filters - this has been addressed in all modern cases, included the cheaper Antec 300. It's really a big problem for dust management.
(2) Antec tri-cool fans are noisy even on low settings - I think it's the bearings that just aren't designed for quiet operation (they're designed to withstand full speed)
(3) no real cable management other than a few zip ties - most modern cases have ports to hide cables behind the motherboard (although they are by nature slightly wider cases, in order to provide room for all this "plumbing" underneath the MB tray)
(4) no motherboard tray cut-out, making heatsink replacement a complete pain
(5) With stock fans, it's not quiet! I've replaced all the fans (except the top fan) with Scythe fans, and that has made a difference, but the case itself does nothing to quiet down a system...it has a huge hole in the top, so of course it's going to be loud.
Overall, I probably wouldn't buy the Antec 900 today, but it was really groundbreaking when it came out. Truth is that I might use it again for my next build anyway, just because I have all my new fans mounted in it and it's compact enough to fit under my desk.