Customer Reviews

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(35)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

I just built a Core Duo computer using this case, and I'm very satisfied with the results. The case is beautiful from the outside and somewhat roomy on the inside. The fans are numerous and very quiet.

The largest problem I had was that this case puts the power supply at the bottom of the case. This makes for more room near the top, which is great, but some power cables (notably the 24 pin power connector and 4 pin power connector) were too short. I had to buy extension cables. It was also a little tough to screw in the hard drives into their cages, but with those points in mind, I am very satisfied.

The case glows blue in the front which looks great. The USB ports and power button on the top are great ideas. I'd buy it again, but I'd make sure to buy the extension cables at the same time.

This case is a great choice for the Enthusiast gamer. It has 3 120mm fans and one huge 200mm blower. Even with the extra fans it runs quiet.

Pros:

The cooling potential of a more expensive Water system.

Six hard drive bays.

Cool looks

Cons:

Factor in a bigger power supply with long cables since it mounts at the bottom.

Earphone and Mic jack on the front. Nice but most on-board motherboards don't support.

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

I bought this case locally and I must say this is the best one I've had in a long time. Not much to it. Just put in the motherboard and PSU and away you go. Having the PSU on the bottom was a switch, infact I like it there. I have all of the fans running at medium speed and it is quiet, quieter than my my old case which had 4 92mm and 2 PSU fans. You could hear it in the other room. The ANTEC I can't hear in any room other the computer room and then only sitting next to it.

The case sits under my desk and the 200mm fan keeps it cool underneath. The blue lights are nice, really lights up the interior of the case.

Any who get this case should be pleased with it.

I'm very pleased with this purchase! Coming standard with a 200mm and 120mm exhaust fan, and two 120mm intake fans (not to mention the fans on your cpu-heat-sink and power-supply), this case has excellent air-flow. It also has built in mounts for additional 120mm fans on the clear side-panel, and on the 2nd harddrive bay. The clear side-panel looks excellent with the blue-led fans. The top-front audio, usb, and firewire ports are also very convenient. Easy installation and customization, and excellent instructions for assembly/modification. Not only would I recommend this case to others, but I already have recommended it to everyone I know that's planning on building a computer soon.

What's not to like here? It's a big case that moves a ton of air and is quiet while doing it. The only thing else I would put on it is a carying handle for LAN parties. My former case was the Antec Super Lanboy so I had high expectations for this case. It didn't let me down a bit. This rig sits on top of my desk at present and it's more quiet than my old Super Lanboy. I read a few articles about space issues when you have a big card in it but I had no problems moving the parts and pieces around to match the different configs I tried. Setup: Intel E6600, ATI x1900 xt, 2gb OCS Platinum, Abit ab9pro,Raidmax RX630, DVD burner, floppy, Vista RC1 ... and still going....

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!

This is one of those products that shines at the top of its price class. There are better cases out there, but you have to step up in the price point by two or three times. The few things to be mindful of is the bottom mounting of the power supply and the need to have the top of this unit clear for that beautiful big quiet fan to do it's job. Great case.

The Antec Nine Hundred has been very popular since its release. It features 3 120mm fans (2 up front and 1 in back) as well as a "Big Boy" that vents hot air out of the top that measures a whopping 200mm. Each fan has an adjustable switch that allows you to choose one of three speed settings. In addition, the case will hold another fan on the side panel to cool the video card(s) and another that mounts on the back of a hard drive cage that can be used for either the processor area or video cards. One word of warning for this last fan mount, however, is that if you have long video cards then there won't be room for the fan inside the case.

The one thing that I could see being a problem for some users is that this case is in no way toolless. You must use a screwdriver for everything you install. While some can't stand that, it doesn't bother me and I found assembling my new PC inside the case to be stress free. The power supply is mounted at the bottom which helps make the machine less top heavy while also keeping the supply unit cooler. Airflow is amazing, and with all of my fans set at medium speed you can barely hear them at all. In short, this case is great for almost any build you might have in mind. Unless you plan to really pack a ton of drives and a water-cooling solution space shouldn't be a problem. This is a great case that runs cool and quiet while providing a reasonable ease of use and decent documentation.