Antec Nine Hundred Steel ATX Ultimate Gamer PC Case (Black)
by Antec
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List Price: Our Price: $89.99 You Save: $59.01 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $54.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Antec Nine Hundred Steel ATX Ultimate Gamer PC Case (Black)
Customer Review: My first build and thank goodness for this case!
Summary: 5 Stars
Where to start? 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. 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 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 alternate back and forth from Linux Ubuntu, Windows XP and the new Windows 7 Operating Systems.
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. 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.
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. Even if you're not thinking of Overclocking your CPU this is an excellent design for cooling your computers innards. And in case you are thinking of Overclocking and you think that there isn't enough cooling yet? The holes for water cooling are already built into the rear of the case for you saving you from having to mod the case.
It's not a tool less design but the thumbscrews are very easy to work with for installing your HDD's. It's painted with a dull black finish (not glossy yet not matte either) which is pretty nice and easy to keep clean.
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.
Before building my own computer (1st attempt), I researched many many cases for almost a year. I was leaning towards this one but also had a NZXT case I was considering as well.
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. The instructions and supplies were extremely well documented and I have had nothing but excellent customer service from Antec. 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. 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. Again, no sharp edges and put together with the best builders in mind.
I've seen some more flashy and bigger cases but for my money Antec will be getting all my future purchases.
Looks great, functional, easy to work with and best of all it's affordable and yet still says "custom build"!
Customer Review: Great Case for cooling, sturdy, and looks nice.
Summary: 5 Stars
Pros-
This case has amazing cooling capacity. Not only does it come with one 200mm fan but also with 3 120mm fans: all with blue LEDs. The fans themselves are quite even on full speed; especially when compared to a processor fan. The processor will always over-spin the case fans creating excess noise; however, with the cooling capabilities of the case my CPU fan now runs at lower speeds. There are access ports for USB and sound conveniently located at the top of the case which which is an added bonus. In addition, the case is aesthetically pleasing and built sturdy.
-Note: Don't listen to the fools that tell you that the power supply mounted on the bottom of the case blows hot air into the case and onto their video card. They are wrong; power supplies blow hot air from inside the case to the outside of the case. The way the case is set up, you have air blowing out at the bottom, top, and extreme top of the case along with two powerful fans at the bottom front of the case blowing cool air in. In addition, with the power supply mounted at the bottom, it leaves more air space for the CPU fan/heatsink, allowing for better dissipation and air flow: in tow, the two fans above and beside are more able to circulate air through and around the CPU unit.
I also have a BFG 8800 GTX OC. This is a very large card and I had absolutely no problems installing it. The only downside, is that if you have a full length card like the 8800, you are unable to install the optional 120mm inside mounted fan that fits behind the front panel 120mm fan. This is not a big deal.
Cons-
The major problem I had was that I had to buy an extension cord for the 12v CPU power cord; my 24 pin mobo cord had no problem reaching its fitting. The 12v 4 pin extender for the CPU power was difficult to find.
Another problem was that took a while to set up. You had to take both side panels off, remove and reinstall quite a few finger style screws to install your CD Rom and hard drives. In addition, it was difficult for me to hide all of my cabling, but I also have 3 hard drives and a CD-Rom drive; as such, this was to be expected.
Lastly, there is no speaker or power LED, but the power LED is unneeded because if your case does not light up the room, its not powered. I wish Antec supplied a speaker for the case; speakers can help with diagnosing a problem in your setup. I may add one later, but we will see.
Final note:
I bought the case primarily for the cooling properties. But I love the way it looks, appreciate the top tray, and found the top mounted USB ports very convenient.
Installation was not as easy as it could had been perhaps, but the design is extremely sturdy, and I think that was Antec's intent since gamers often haul their computers around. Overall I am very pleased with the case!
Customer Review: Less Noise and Heat, Plus Great Looking
Summary: 5 Stars
This case was purchased for the purpose of solving a problem with heat my computer was putting into my room, and for noise reduction. It hit a homerun in solving both problems.
Since I live inland from the Pacific Coast in So CA heat is a big problem in the summer months.
Heat from hard drives is not something I would have expected to be an issue, but upon opening my old computer case and putting my fingers on the hard drive cases I was surprised at how hot they were. From the picture of the Antec case you might notice that cooling to the hard drive area is provided by a fan assisted vented front. The hard drives in the case purchased, are now are just slightly warm to the touch. It is suspected that by not allowing the heat to build up in the hard drives they put out less heat even though the air flow is greater.
Venting heat out the top of computer case makes more sense to me, especially if the back of the computer is close to a wall as mine is. The use of a 200mm fan, about 8 inch diameter, takes into consideration the principle that heat rises, and builds up if it cannot. Taking advantage of the case size to make this a large fan, given it is the most easily heard fan, is a very good design.
The option of adding a fan to the side of the case adds additional cooling to any video card you might have and has worked well for me.
Some cases now use levered snap connectors eliminating the need for a screw driver. This case does not. Unless you are planning on changing your drives every month or buying 400 cases for a company I would not give this much consideration. The case I purchased requires only a Phillips head screw driver and the 3.5 inch drives are held in by compression. Meaning you do not have to thread the mounting screws into the threaded holes of the hard drive case. A final note is that all the drives you might want to install can be slid in from either the front or the back. Since the depth of this case is fairly long, this is not as much as an issue as it has been with older cases.
Fan speeds of low, medium and high are available for this case's fans. The good news is there is an individual speed control for each of the case's four fans. The bad news is you have open up the case to change the fan speed. If there are going to be variable speed fans I would have voted for external controls give my usage.
Summing it up from my perspective, this is a case that has reduced both heat and noise over the previous case I had, and it is much easier to work with. It looks much nicer than my older computer case and the button I use the most, the power button located on top of the case, is more accessible.
Rich
Customer Review: It's reputation precedes it
Summary: 5 Stars
This case is as advertised, further supported by the preponderance of reviewers who rated it highly.
I stuffed this case with a 750W Zalman PSU, 2 CrossfireX configured ATi Radeon 4830HD gfx cards, 4 HDDs, 2 DVD RW-ROMs, a 1.4MB floppy, tied to an ASUS M3A79-T Deluxe mobo, the AMD Phenom II X3 720 2.8MHz CPU, and 2 x 2GB OCZ RAM. I OCed the CPU to 3.6MHz on air.
My point: in a 72F environment, with low CPU demand, CPU temp averages 46C; running Crysis, the CPU temp never goes above 52C. Mobo temp remains fairly constant at 34C. How is this possible?
The PSU is mounted on the bottom of the case: heat not exhausted by the PSU fan rises and is exhausted either by the 200mm fan on top of the case or by the 120mm fan at the back of the case.
Both HDD bays have 120mm fans in front of the HDDs. These fans blow air across the HDDs (which do not get THAT hot) air which is then blown across the gfx cards and PSU - further increasing the cooling capacity.
Depending on how many HDDs you install, you can add another fan at the rear of an empty HDD bay (Antec blue or red LED 120mm fans: $15) for additional cooling. You can also mount an additional fan (which I have done) in the side panel that blows air across the gfx cards and CPU.
I believe the case design, with its large 200mm fan exhausting air through the top of the case, greatly contributes to the relative coolness inside the case (which is what gamers, particularly, want) by not allowing hot air to pool at the top of the case.
Finally, I was a bit perplexed by a review that was critical of the space. This case is about 1/3 bigger than my ULTRA ATX case even though both are advertised as ATX mid towers. In other words, there is plenty of room for components and PSU cables. One advantage to the Zalman PSU is that it has a modular cable design, i.e., in addition to a half dozen or so permanently attached cables, it has an additional 6-8 HDD, OD, SATA cables that can be attached (or not) depending on the installed components. Regardless, there is ample room between the PSU and the HDD bay to bundle and store the cables.
A great, roomy case and an excellent value for the price, especially considering it comes with 3 120mm LED fans and one 200mm fan. If cooling is your primary consideration (without having to resort to liquid or gas cooling) I do not think this case can be equaled.
Customer Review: Absolute winner for Antec
Summary: 5 Stars
I build my own computers and for family and friends as needed. I researched several for the purpose of building a quiter gaming case for family use than the one we had which enclosed several 80mm fans and still gave the option of a side mounted fan and a window to show off the inner workings or even give you the peace of mind to make sure your fans still work and maybe that everything is still there. Well, anyway, this case has the power supply mounted on the bottom which allows for the top to house the 200mm fan which has 3 speed settings and is almost silent on the high setting even.
The P/S being mounted on the bottom allows for cool air that falls to be pulled through it and not cause premature wear and heat related shutdowns with that particular device. I have always considered the bottom of a vertical case to be better than the top for a power supply since many bulk manufacturers use only the fan in the P/S to pull heat out and this "cheap trick" significantly shortens the life of computer hardware by not allowing heat out of the case except through the unit which makes it even hotter. Power supplies and hard drives die early because of heat problems almost exclusively. The fans in this case are more than adequate to provide enough circulation with very little noise and plenty of room to expand and work. The case is also very light in weight as it is mostly made of aluminum. The handy tray on top works well for holding anything from ink pens to screws while working on the case.
It looks very well built and I must say that it is even better than the pictures can show. Combined with a good power supply, this case is an excellent start to a new system or, as in my case, a very welcome and fully featured upgrade to an existing system. The only thing lacking, which doesn't really bother me that much but may others if it is a feature that you feel you really need, is that it does not have a removable motherboard tray meaning that you will have to do most of the work while it is installed in the case. This is an extraordinary product for the price and a very nice step in the case industry for Antec.