Customer Reviews

Antec Three Hundred Gaming Case External 3 X 5.25; Internal 6 X 3.5 2*Usb2.0

5 star:		(94)
4 star:		(32)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Purchased the Antec Three Hundred computer case through Amazon to build a new home computer which would be used for everyday computing as well as gaming.

I've used Antec cases before, so was familiar with their very good build quality and features. The Three Hundred is a good compromise between a full-tower gamer's case like the Antec 1200 and the typical case designed solely for home or business computers. It is a mid-tower case, so it doesn't seem huge sitting on or next to our home desk, but it has ample room inside to take a full ATX gamer's motherboard and easily fits two large gaming video cards in "SLI" or "Crossfire" configuration without interference with other internal components.

Interenal hard drive bays are accessed from the front of the case, which makes it easy to service, install or swap drives without disturbing other internal components (although you do have to remove the left side cover to access the latches that allow removal of the front bezel, but this is much easier than it sounds). There are no sharp edges inside the case; all edges are rolled, and the build is sturdy for a case in this price range. Antec supplied an adequate number of case and drive screws and motherboard stand-offs.

Other features:
- This case puts the power supply (not included) at the bottom, which makes the case more stable, but you may need a PS with long cables. I used an Antec TruPower Trio (also purchased through Amazon), which worked out fine. Excess cables can be tucked inside a built-in cable compartment alongside the internal drive bays, which has its own cable ties, for neatness and better cooling.
- Antec supplies 2 large 3-speed fans with this case, one 120 mm blowing out the back and a 140 mm blowing out the top. It has provisions to add 3 additional fans, one on the side to provide additional cooling to the video cards, and 2 behind the front bezel, directly in front of the hard-drive bays. I closed-off the opening in the side panel, but added a 120 mm fan (with blue lighting!) blowing in from the front. So far this cooling arrangement seems adequate to my needs, but I can still add 2 more fans if I need to.
- The front bezel is plastic, but removes and installs easily, and contains a washable, removable filter covering the area in front of the hard-drive bays.

Cons:
- The Three Hundred provides front access ports for headphone, microphone, and two USB 2.0 connections, but no IEEE 1394 or e-SATA ports.
- There are 3 external 5.25-inch drive bays, but no 3.5-inch external bays. If you need to add a floppy drive, card reader, or other external 3.5-inch component, you'll need to find and purchase a 5.25-3.5 bay adapter (I did).
- No case speaker is included.

Summary: This is a very nice case for the price. Fit and finish are very good, and features are adequate for home/business or gaming. Not too large, but not too compact, either. Recommended.

The Antec Three Hundred case is perfect, it is very lightweight, has a sleek design, comes with ample cooling and all mounting surfaces have been logically placed. The black finish seems a little rushed on the dorsal surface but all other areas seem great. I have built more than 15 computers and this is by far the best price/quality case I have ever used. The only thing I dont like about it is that the mounting surface for the motherboard does not have raised plateus but rather utilizes the old hex male/female screws which should be fazed out by now.

For people in Hawaii it is next to impossible to get free or cheap shipping on anything the size of a computer case. Amazon is the best place to find items which would be too costly to purchase online otherwise, and they dont charge a surcharge.

An other reviewer said "The Antec Three Hundred case is perfect" I could not agree more. Great cooling, good quality sheet metal and easy to assemble. Very ascetically appealing perforated face for air flow. The case is limited to 3 external 5.25 drive bays to make room for the 2 120 mm intake fans in front. Those intake fans are easy to install and have dust screens. The front bezel looks great and is easy to remove.
One issue on my case (not a big deal) the front panel headphone and microphone jacks are recessed a little too deep.

Installed:
Antec BP500U ATX 12V 500W Power Supply
Intel Core 2 Duo E4600 2.4 GHz 2M L2 Cache 800MHz FSB LGA775 Dual-Core Processor
Masscool 8WA741 - Processor cooler - ( Socket 775 )
Intel DG35EC Media Series G35 Desktop Board, uATX, DDR2, Intel Graphics DVI+VGA, PCIe x16, 1333MHz FSB, LGA775, Retail Motherboard, Free HD Video "The
Corsair DHX 2 GB (2 X 1 GB) 240-Pin DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit
Western Digital 500GB 3.5", SATA, 16MB Cache Bulk/OEM Hard Drive WD5000AAKS
Lite-On DH-20A4P-04 SuperAllwrite OEM DVD Burner - 20x DVD±R Burn, 16x DVD±R Read, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 8x DVD±R DL, 12x DVD-RAM, 48x3
Antec TriCool case fan ( TRICOOL 120MM )
Antec TriCool case fan ( TRICOOL120MM BLUELED )
running Ubuntu 8.10 intrepid

This Antec Three Hundred (300) case is fantastic. After using the Antec 900 case, I was spoiled, but I needed another case for a budget computer. The Antec 300 fits the bill perfectly.

Capacity is great: 6 HDDs and 3 CD/DVDs. Two standard fans give good airflow for hard drives if used in negative-pressure setup.

I opted to setup a positive-pressure case. I removed the two rear fans and installed 3 Antec 120mm TriCool fans: 2 in front and 1 on the side. I blocked the rear 120mm opening and left the 140mm top rear opening clear. Works great. Computer temps: CPU and HDD are very low.

Two suggestions:

1. Positive Pressure Case: If you want a super-quiet setup, install 3 Noctua NF-P12 fans instead of the Antec fans. Problem is price: $60+ (fans) + $60+ (case) = $120+

2. Negative Pressure Case: Another option is an Antec 900 case since it has a huge 200mm fan. You can remove all other fans and use this one alone.

The 300 case is a little easier to handle than the 900 case because the 300 doesn't have the hdd cage.

Lately I do prefer positive-pressure cases. A bit noisier and more expensive than a negative-pressure setup (because of more fans and the noise). However, I do believe dust is less of a problem and there is better control over the airflow.

Pros: low cost, easy setup.

Cons: modders will want more/quieter fans.

I purchased one of these antec 300's around january of 2009 for a intel i7 920 build and pretty soon I'm going to buy a second one to do another build out of spare parts I have. These cases are a excellent value in feutures and in design looks but does have a few cons to keep note of.

Pro:
*Classic Squared Off Design Look (not a ugly curved design like other cases)
*Mounts for 4 x 120MM Fans and 1 x 140MM fans
*Easily Removeable Front Bezel + Front Filter + Front Fan Mounts (For Easy Cleaning)
*Holds 6 hardrives (maybe fewer for some, see cons below) and 3 optical drives.
*Lots of Thumbscrews make installing components quick and easy.
*Wire management pocket behind the hardrive bays.
*Power Supply is bottom mounted (which keeps it cooler)

Cons:
*Small reset button (how often do you need this anyway?)
*Only holds video cards up to 11" long and blocks some of the hardrive bay mounts. (Might matter to others but not a big deal to me since I don't have many hardrives or 12" long cards such as ATI 5970, This is why the hardrive bays are mounted sideways in other cases.)
*No filter for side intake 120MM, had to buy one to go with it.

I bought this case a few weeks ago and I would have to say this was the best upgrade I have made. I have a Dell with a Core i7, ATI 5770. With the stock Dell case i was worried about my temps when I played high demanding games such as Crysis and COD. Once I installed this case, I was VERY glad to see ALL my temps drops. Temps were my main reason to buy this case. This was my first time to ever buy an aftermarket case and it was very easy to install. I took my time and was about 1 hour to finish.

Pros:
Great price
Looks simple (Doesn't scream GAMING comp!)
Options to add 3 extra fans.
Keeps my temps low (Recorded with CPUID)
(Max CPU temps before=60c after=51c)
(Max GPU temps before=76c after=71c)
(Max HDD temps before=37c after=25c)

Con:
Only con i can really think of is that the side vent does not have a filter like the front

I've had the Antec 300 for almost 2 years. At the time it was the cheapest, best looking mid-tower computer case, I didn't want to get a full tower, since they were much more money but had a ton of space compared to mid-towers.

The Antec 300 has a nice black finish to it on the exterior (interior is gray) - the 300 has a nice design, it's not over the top, just a basic design; the structure of the case seems very solid and reinforced, however the front panel, which is removable is very flimsy and feels cheap (it's plastic). Antec already supplies you with 2 exhaust fans, and gives you the option to install 3 fans (x2 front 120mm, x1 side 120mm fan), you would have to be crazy to not use them (The fan wires are a bit long, just tape them around the perimeter of the case or zip tie them together.) If you are going to use them, I recommend you leave the two fans already installed the way they are (they blow air out), and have the 2 front fans as intakes (blowing air in), and the the side one as an intake as well. That is my current set up. There is a removable front filter which can be washed/cleaned. It will get dirty and dust accumulates real fast, so be sure to clean it every 2 weeks or so.

As for the space, I really wish there was more ways to conceal cables, this is one of the 300s flaws - its too small if you're going to install more than basic hardware. I currently have a Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus CPU cooler (the cooler will fit the case perfect, its just very big), the size of it dwarfs anything else in my case - it makes my XFX 5770 look small too. Oh yeah, you can fit a Radeon 5770 graphics card in this case, however, I recommend that no HDD is in its way, cuz you need at least an inch to plug in a 6 pin or 8 pin PCI-E cable; if I had to guess, I would say the maximum graphics card that you can install inside the 300 is at least 10 inches if no HDD was blocking it, but I'm not 100% sure, so I recommend you at least plan ahead before installing a huge graphics card. Also, I strongly recommend you buy a modular PSU; having a standard hardwired PSU will make cable management a lot harder.

So if you're looking for a mid-tower to install at least mid-size graphics cards, a couple HDDs, then this case is for you. But if you're thinking of going a little bit bigger, like 2 full-size graphics card (i.e Radeon 5970s), a gigantic cooler or go water cooling, then I strongly recommend getting a full tower, such as an Antec 1200, cuz I seriously doubt any of that will fit in a 300.

This case is really well designed, well thought out, easy to remove all the covers including the front, easy to install all the fans - I have all 5 installed 4x120 and the 140 that came with it, and with a good CPU fan(Coolermaster RR910) my temps inside are running around 28/22 even when watching movies, so this thing cools well when fully "fanned" out. Keep in mind, it comes with a single 120 and a 140, the three additional 120s are not included with this model. The instructions are well written, everything fits well, no tools needed, plenty of spare thumbscrews and zip ties - I replaced my other cases screws with the extra's that came with this case. I'm about to build another PC and I'm absolutely going to use this case again. One note though, the 120 and 140 that come with this case are quiet, but not silent, and while they have 3 speeds adjustable with an internal switch, even on low, they are audible. If you want a good quiet case this will be fine. If you want silent, you may need to replace these fans.

I bought this when Newegg was out but it's basically the same price and if you have prime then it's a solid deal! This tower is a classic case that has plenty of room for everything including expansions. Plenty of screws and quick screws and the spots to install extra fans is really nice too. I don't really understand the switches on the two included fans (Low Med High) but someone might enjoy that. I just stick them on high as I'm into gaming. So if you're looking for the most affordable tower for the best performance and don't care about being able to see all the stuff inside(no plexi windows) then this is the tower for you!

The Good:
-The Antec 300 with 2 ultra kazes (rear, side fan) and 2 110 cfm Slipstreams moves more air than any other case I
ve ever had.
-Solid construction, even with both side panels off the frame doesn't bend or flex. Side panels are thick too.
-Paint job is flawless too.
-Ability to remove the Hard drives from the front of the case - I had to changed 2 of my hard drives before even getting it running and if I hadn't been able to remove them from the front I would of had to take out my PSU.

The Bad:
-Not as long as a lot of cases, but my GTX260 barely fits (blocks a HD bay) and nothing bigger than the GTX260 will fit.
-Amazon's packaging really sucked, they threw it in a large box with paper. The paper was flattened and provided no padding so it was just bouncing around in a big box. Luckily Antec's packaging was better and it arrived undamaged.