Antec 900

Picking out the right computer case is essential when you’re building your own computer. Some cases don’t have enough space inside while some have too much. If your building a gaming rig one thing that you’ll need to look for is a case with excellent air flow so you can keep all of the components at a low temperature.

The Antec 900 will keep even the hottest of gaming rigs cool with its unique air flow. Included with the case is 3x 120mm fans and 1x 200mm fan! You can also add another 2x 120mm fans to cool the graphics card and cpu.

The 900 also has a number of other great features like 6 drive bays, a spot to put your keys or extra things on the top and it gives you quick access to two USB and one FireWire port on the top.

Here are a few of the technical specifications for the Coolpix P5100:

• Street Price: $120
• Interchangeable Drive bays
• Top mounted I/O ports
• 7 Expansion Slots
• Tri-speed fan controls
• Bottom mounted PSU

Things I like
I really like the ventilation in this case. With the massive 200mm fan your system isn’t likely to overheat. I’ve had problems before with my system overheating during a gaming marathon but so far with the Antec 900 I have yet to have that problem. My Intel Quad Core chip dropped by 5 degrees and my GPU by 3 degrees and the overall temperature of the case dropped by 7 degrees so I’m really happy with the cooling of this case.

I also like how the drive bays can be reconfigured. There’s 3 sets of bays which can be used for either 5.25″ external devices or 3.5″ internal devices. You can set them up however you want, having all 9 for external devices or all for internal, its really up to you.

I could really go on about all the things that I like about this case, the top I/O ports are nice, the adjustable fan speeds, etc but this review would get rather long. Keep in mind that its a great case.

Things I don’t like
There is a couple things that I don’t like about the Antec 900. Cable routing is probably the biggest one. I found that the inside got a little cramped as I was trying to connect all of my peripherals to the motherboard. While it wasn’t too serious of an issue, I did have to go to the store a couple of times to buy a few connectors to lengthen a couple cables. The other thing I don’t like about the 900 is the fact that its not tooless to install your drives. You do need to have a screwdriver handy and this can be annoying at times.

Pros:

• Excellent cooling
• Configurable drive bays
• I/O ports on top
• Nice size

Cons:

• Need a screwdriver to install drives
• Cable routing can be a problem

Final Thoughts
While the case isn’t perfect it does offer excellent ventilation as well as some really cool features. If you’re finding that your case overheats constantly, I suggest that you buy this case because you’ll see a drop in the temperature.