Antec Nine Hundred Review

If you have at least a bit of interest in computers or gaming we believe you have heard about such brand such Antec. This renowned American company produces computer components as well as gaming accessories and has taken a considerable place on the global market since 1986.

Thus, PC cases also take a significant part in Antec manufacture. The company offers products to satisfy quite different needs. Here you can find both cheap and expensive computer chassis for workstation, gaming or any other specific purpose.

The highlight of this review is Antec Nine Hundred – a merge of elegant look and hefty cooling options.

Prima Facie

Well, this ATX mid tower case is definitely a representative of old classics. Antec Nine Hundred has got perforated front, rear and side panels with black finish. Its body is steel and sturdy with plastic top and bezel. Through its glass panel you can see lights of blue LED CPU fan which matches the blue LEDs of the chassis. Note that if you don’t like stuff like that you can always change the fans. By the by, there is also a top tray to store MP3 player and digital camera.

Antec Nine Hundred is not large but still can host large video cards. It is 19.4 inches long, 8.1 inches deep and its height reaches 18.4 inches. This Antec chassis is also somewhat heavy as it weighs 8.2 kg.

Cooling System

OK, it’s not a secret that if you want your PC to show top-notch performance then it should be provided with advanced cooling system. Though Antec Nine Hundred is not the newest model you can find on today’s market, its cooling system is something it should be proud of.

Its top 200mm TriCool exhaust fan, as well as one rear 120mm TriCool fan, have 3-speed switch control. The other two front 120mm special black TriCool blue LED fans have the same control type – it allows them to cool HDDs.

Besides, Antec Nine Hundred can host one optional 120mm fan to cool graphics card and one optional middle 120mm fan aimed to control the temperature of either CPU or graphics card as well. There is another optional 120mm fan mount placed on the window side panel for another fan to reach maximum VGA cooling.

Due to perforated front bezel air intake inside the case is maximized. What is more, HDD cages serve as air ducts to improve the general air intake. We cannot say that Antec Nine Hundred is super silent but its performance is not as loud as some of the high-end cases have. Just bear in mind that this computer chassis is aimed to keep all PC parts well-cooled. That is why it’s a nice option for gamers.

Still, such components as fan controllers or CPU coolers are not the part of this mid-tower case. Obviously, this is a great drawback but you can always improve the case yourself and choose the best fan controller or CPU cooler to meet your needs. Another thing we don’t like about this case is the absence of CPU cutout.

Drive Bays and HDDs

On the whole, Antec Nine Hundred has nine drive bays at the front which can be configured to your personal preferences. The point is that three internal bay cages are removable and can be easily repositioned.

So, there are three different drive set-ups. For example, you can have a chassis with three external bays, 5.25 inches each, and six internal 3.5-inch cases for HDD. The other version includes six external bays and just three internal. Finally, there can be nine 5.25-inch external bays only. Note that 3.5-inch bays are removable while 5.25-inch bays aren’t.

Each drive bay cover has lots of ventilation, and each hard drive cage has a blue LED 120mm fan to keep hard drives cooled. By the by, this case has two front loaded HDD cages which can host up to 6 hard disk drives.

Ports and Expansion Slots

Antec Nine Hundred has its external ports placed on the top of the case for easy access. They include microphone and headphone jacks, a FireWire port and two USB 2.0 ports. At the back of this mid-tower chassis, there are seven expansion slots.

PSU and Motherboards

This Antec case does not come together with ATX PSU but you can install it at the bottom of the case which has four soft rubber mounts to prevent PSU from getting scratched. By the way, here is the list of best power supply units you can choose from.

As to the boards, Antec Nine Hundred supports the standard, micro and mini ATX form factor motherboards. There is enough space inside the case so you can choose any best micro, mini or standard ATX board to boost your PC performance. However, keep in mind that Antec Nine Hundred isn’t provided with a removable motherboard tray.

Cable management and tool-free installation

Though Antec Nine Hundred is quite roomy and has enough space to host even cumbersome 850W or 1,000W power supply units, its cable management seems only to suffer from this. The point is that if you choose a big PSU there won’t be much space for power cables. Therefore we recommend you to select a shorter PSU in order to prevent the case of being cramped.

But if cable management is something you can find in Antec Nine Hundred then tool-free installation is completely absent. Unfortunately, there is no such option as the tool-free installation of drivers in drive bays or cards in the expansion slots.

Summary

Antec Nine Hundred is like an old friend. You know that it’s not perfect but still, you can always rely on it. This mid tower case has a good cooling system which can be further improved by you. It supports three types of boards and is well-equipped for PSU. Still, remember that PSU is something you will need to buy yourself.

There is a wide range of drive bays and HDDs. Its stylish look is combined with durable quality. On the whole, Antec Nine Hundred seems to be a nice choice but it does have a host of things to be improved. It would be much better to have an option of tool-free installation and USB 3.0 ports. Fan controllers, as well as CPU coolers, would be a great addition as well, especially if to consider its average price of over $90. Still, you can also pay attention at Antec newest models like P8 or P110 presented this year at Computex show.