3DVelocity would like to thank Antec Europe BV , and in particular Willem Waasdorp, for their invaluable help and generosity in supplying this case for review.

Once the side has been removed (and not before), the upper portion of the front face panel can be popped off by pressing the two spring loaded release buttons on either side.

Here I hit another small snag. The panel has 4 locating pegs molded onto its rear side which help to keep it aligned and stop it rattling. The problem is that unless you are careful to pull the panel outwards perfectly square, the pegs tend to wedge. The more heavy handed may then find it rather too easy to snap a couple of them off by tugging on one side of the panel more than the other. I think the solution is simple, they just need shortening a little.

Once removed, you are faced with those thorns in my flesh, the break-off drive bay plates, and a rather nice feature, a removeable floppy drive bay secured with two knurled thumb screws. I'd sooner a quick release mechanism had been used, but a thumb screw is still a damned site better than a phillips screw.

It was also good to see that the thumb screws were of the captive variety. By that I mean they stayed attached to the drive bay rather than dropping onto the floor and rolling under the nearest and heaviest item in the room.

Now here's a challenge, show a picture of the back of a case and find something interesting to say. Actually, this time it's not too hard to find something to talk about, starting right at the top with the power supply. This case not only comes with a smart 300 watt PSU (400 watt optional) that senses its own temperature and adjusts its fan speed accordingly. It also carries the honour of being on AMD's approved list which will be useful for Athlon and Duron users. 300 watts should supply all the power you'll need for mutiple hard drives, 4 fans and a host of add-ins, but some power hungry periphereals like the early GeForce cards may be happier on a 400 watt supply if you're planning on kitting this thing out with a dozen fans and a neon lit side window.
Moving down a little, in addition to the familiar I/O plate and 7 full card slots, there are the vents for the two installed 80mm internal fans. What's nice about these vents is that rather then being a few dozen evenly spaced holes, these things have large square openings to offer as little resistance to air output as possible. The performance breeding of this case is certainly visible.

OK, pass me the surgical gloves, I'm gonna have to oper her up.

 

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