Antec 300 Case

[mikek75]

Just bought the Antec Three Hundred, yeah its a budget case but I'm well impressed with it so far. I added a 120mm intake (PWM controlled), came to a total of £46. I had a look at the Nine Hundred, but I cant stand blue LEDs and I also didn't like the top mounted USB and audio ports as my rig sits under my desk.

My temps are amazing considering its quite warm here at the moment. CPUID Hardware Monitor reports CPU at 22 idle, Cores at 33 and 35 (with the CPU at 3.2ghz), my GPU idle has dropped from 55 to 49, and the AC Freezer 7 is running below 1000 at 960rpm, down 100RPM! Its really quiet as I've turned all the fans to low too:pimp:....

If you're after a budget case you cant go wrong with this one in my opinion. The only downside I've come across is the HDDs don't mount in a removable cage, but thats not too bad an issue as I tend to leave them alone once installed. It has a space to tuck most of the cables from my non-modular PSU away too. PSU mounts at the bottom of the case BTW.

[intel igent]

nice case! got some pix of the whole rig?

:toast:

[mikek75]

I'll take some, but you'll have to forgive my wiring, LOL. If you think its messy you should see my room.....

[intel igent]

not relly fussy about wires myself

i'm just interested to see one of those cases in use

[WarEagleAU]

Been seeing mixed reviews on the three hundred, most recently in maximum pc magazine. As Inteligent said, Id love to see one in action.

[intel igent]

There's a twelve hundred out.

thnx, but this thread is about a 300 ;)

:toast:

[mikek75]

What sort of pics do you want, interior or just exterior? TBH its pretty plain to look at which is just what I wanted, I'm not into flashing lights etc. It was easy to put together, no cuts in my hands either, LOL. I think the temps are pretty stunning considering the ambient and the fact that I'm just using a Freezer Pro 7, and its quiet enough. My only gripe is the HDDs bolt straight to the cage which isn't removable, and there are no rubber grommets for sound deadening, but other than that I can't see anything wrong with it, I had all my parts transferred in about 2 hours.

Pics will have to be tommorow as its time I hit the sack.

[mikek75]

There's a twelve hundred out.

Er, yeah, and its over a hundred quid..... This is about a good budget case, not the latest greatest:slap:

[intel igent]

i've seen pix of the box empty so i 'd like to see pix of it in use (inside+out) if possible

:toast:

[mikek75]

Here ya go, pics as promised. I've re-sized to 800x600, hope theres enough detail.

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0309.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0311.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0314.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0315.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0316.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0318.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0319.jpg

http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q23/k75mike/IMG_0320.jpg

[mikek75]

Really....make your own thread and stop crapping on this one! THIS THREAD CONCERNS THE ANTEC THREE HUNDED ONLY. Thank you.

EDIT Thread Title change request made to erocker! (or any other mod who can oblige, New Title:"Loving my Antec Three Hundred."

[kenkickr]

Case really doesn't look that bad! Reminds me of the Antec Solo, which was another nice case, but I see yours has the same issue with everything being so cramped once you put the big cards in. Are you going to paint it or do any mods? How's the airflow in it?

[mikek75]

Nope, I have absolutely no interest in buggering about with it, LOL! I like to concentrate on whats on the screen rather that have a blue glow out the corner of my eye. I think I'm getting old...

I didn't find it at all cramped to work in, I even left the HSF on when I installed it. I don't think the ATX standard had monster cards like these in mind when they dreamt it up, and after all it does say its a midi tower. Its got six 3.5" drive bays so I could easily afford to lose two if I went crossfire. No FDD space mind, but my mobo will boot off a USB stick so not a problem.

Airflow really is its strong point, with a 140mm blowhole and 120 rear. I've only put in one at the front so far, PWM controlled to keep the case at 43c, but so far I haven't reached that so its just windmilling. A CPU temp of 22 (cores at 32-34) can't be scoffed at, especially as the ambient is 24c today (yeah, I don't understand how thats possible either, unless its the windchill factor, LOL). And thats with a 20% overclock.....

I just love the clean look of it, reminds me of the prebuilts they sell in PC shops for far to much money. Everything including my monitor, KB and mouse comes to a total of £760!

[mikek75]

Note to whoever changed the title, Thanks! But, the name is acually spelt out, "Three Hundred". Not being pedantic, but Antec have another case called a 300 something or other, don't want any confusion. Cheers!

[dark2099]

Nice setup you have there, and I immediately recognized the motherboard since I have the same. Although I am replacing mine with a DFI today.

[mikek75]

Cheers bud, you too! I almost bought a DFI DK P35 T2RS at the same time as the case, but then I saw the splash from my bank managers Redot sight hovering over my heart and thought better of it, LOL. Love DFI, does your P5K hit a wall at around 435 FSB?

[dark2099]

Mine hits a wall around 475 FSB, boots over that but is super unstable. What BIOS are you using?

[mikek75]

BIOS is 1006, the latest I believe. Maybe I'm missing something then, I've upped voltage to beyond where I'm comfortable, I've tried dropping the multiplier to 7. DUnno. Is yours the vanilla P5K?

[dark2099]

I believe mine is actually the Green. Not sure of the differences. And I am running the same BIOS.

[mikek75]

Mmm, that maybe it then. Mine was the cheapest model they had as I was just dipping my toe into the Intel pool. Wish I'd spent another 20-30quid now, lesson learned. Mind you, 20% overclock 24-7 ain't too bad I suppose, I'd know no different without sites like this, lol

[dark2099]

What are your voltages set to?

[mikek75]

I tried up to 1.475v on the CPU and 2.2v on the memory (stock is 1.35v and 1.8v respectively) with no joy. I'm not that fussed though, its more important for my rig to turn on every morning!

[dark2099]

Have you increased the NB voltage at all?

[mikek75]

Yep, went all the way up to 1.7v there. User TattyOne (you probably know of him) went through all the settings with me a we still had no joy. I think I've just got a bad one, never mind...

[dark2099]

It might just be the combo of CPU and MOBO.

[mikek75]

Maybe, but the 6750 is a 1333 chip so 333 FSB is stock, was expecting a little more headroom. My dear old Opty went from 1.8 to 2.7 without breaking a sweat, 50% overclock. Oh well.

[dark2099]

I have my FSB Termination Voltage maxed too, still a little unsure of what it does, but if you haven't upped that, might want to give it a shot.

[mikek75]

LOL, yeah, tried that too! Oh well, at least my chip should last for a while...

[dark2099]

Yup.

[WarEagleAU]

Apparently my work has the pics blocked out, so Ill have to take a gander at them when I get home. My problem with the Nine-Hundred I have sitting in my moms room (Yeah I gave her that and the proc and mobo I bought off of LiNKiN) is the lack of cable management. I read you dont mind, but it was kind of crowded in there, even when I was using my Exos Koolance. Supposedly the Three-Hundred has cable management in mind but Ill wait until I get home to see what yours looks like. I love the PSU you got by the way and not a bad deal for your parts.

[mikek75]

Typical work, probably saving bandwidth on all the pron you'd otherwise be looking at, LOL. Funnily enough, my mums getting my old case, mobo, ram, PSU, dvdrw and VGA too, very environmentally friendly!

I've shown a pic of the cable management compartment, but in my haste to get it done I haven't really done a good enough job looks wise, but the temps I'm getting are plenty good enough for me. And at least there isn't a side window to wind you up every day looking at it.

The parts were all bought at different times, I just did a quick addition to see what it came to. Certainly beats the high street shops anyway!

[intel igent]

thnx for the pix!

looks like a VERY useable case for the size + money. if i was looking at a mid-tower i think i'd grab this one, a modular or modded PSU would be a must for me though.

in case i missed it what kind of temps you get with it?

:toast:

[mikek75]

Cheers!.Yep, you missed it, lol. First post, but at the mo (its a little warmer tonight) CPUID HW Monitor reports 23c for CPU (33-36 core), GPU (3870 ref) 50 (down from 55 before the change), main HDD 24c and the CPU fan is running 100rpm slower than before at 981rpm. Its very quiet, this is the first time I've heard my HDDs, LOL!

[WarEagleAU]

Ahh yes, I get home and I can see them. I love that case, of course I loved my nine hundred too. Yeah, it adds more for cable management then the nune hundred that is for sure, not too much more but more than enough. I have that same DVD writer as well, its fantastic, though I wish it were SATA version :roll: Very not bad on the cable management though, mine sucks as well, which is why I never took pictures of my case to put up here ::rofl::

[mikek75]

Aye, thats why I said my wiring was crap before I posted them, to intercept the cable nazis, LOL.

[WarEagleAU]

Haha, yeah I hear ya. This Luna I have has some sort of slots for cable management, but with my Corsair PSU, I could bend the wires to route them under the mobo tray. Made it nigh near impossible. I may go back later and give it a try and a good cleaning though. Awesome case dude, and awesome hw too!

[intel igent]

intercept the the cable nazis

:roll::roll:

that made me laugh :) some people are a little over critical within regards to cable management. to me as long as everything is neat and tidy :rockout:

:toast:

[mikek75]

Cheers guys, its definately a case I'd recommend to anyone not running a server, and if you really wanted blue flashing lights you could always stick a couple of blue led fans in the front like the nine hundred.

[hooj]

Antec Three Hundred support Matx !?

[Exavier]

I built a rig around this case for my gf, and she loves it

Tatty's e8200 with a 450w corsair psu, a 4850, a P31 mobo, Xig S-1283 and 750GB F1 HDD
runs the proc at reported temps idling around 20c
I'm hella impressed really.

Antec Three Hundred support Matx !?
ya, the P31 I'm using is mATX, and there's a load of room round the edge, easiest wire tidy I've ever done

[bpgt64]

I just built a new rig with one of these, great case for the price. Really is very stylish despite not having a side viewing window, which I didn't want to begin with. Cooling layout in this case is sexy. PSU sits in the bottom, so I put a PCI exaust fan above it, and below my HD 4870 X2. I got a Zalman 9700 which sits right next to two exaust fans at the top of the case, keeping the Proccessor(E8400@3.6ghz) 40C on load 30C with no load. Cool as a cucumber. Despite being a Mid ATC case, its actually queit big really. Plenty of room to expand and add drives. Even though I am only using one at the moment. Really love the 2 120mm fan spots up front, threw in some 10 dollar Zalman 120mms and you have yourself a wind tunnel. Air in the front and out the back.

[pjladyfox]

Saw this thread and wanted to show my Antec Three Hundred that Bill over at mnpctech.com whipped up for me. I'm really happy with it and I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of temps I get when I get my baby back home tonight.

Here is my flickr photo pool:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/71076266@N00/sets/72157607856619362/

Hopefully later I can add some more purple thumbscrews like the ones I have on the outside but I need to find some more. *pout*