Cheat Engine

[kls85]

Building system is consider a leisure time for me as I get to play with the best components technology can throw at. Recently it seems every new builder out there or those who wants a custom build will immediately fall in love with the Antec 900 computer case and what is the reason that sucks people in? Is it because of its black exterior finish, its style or it is because of those shiny blue led fans that draws people in like flies that fall into those electric death traps? No one really knows the main cause of it as each of us has our own reasons and opinions why we like this case so much.

Having building quite a few system with this case I can tell you that first of all there are quite a few revision on it.

First there is this very old model (the debut version) where the back has a grilled vent above the I/O slots and there was this flaw on the design of the case. The flaw was some people with AGP cards cannot plug in their DVI ports due to the metal case in the way,

Second version, Antec fixed that issue by redesigning it and the grilled vent is now gone and got replaced by 2 rubber garment holes for water cooling installation.

The third version is the same at the second, but now they pre-cut 2 rectangular holes on the motherboard tray for "better wire management" since the previous other 2 does not have any pre-cut out holes. Plus you get a hard drive status led, but I can't remember if the other 2 version has it or not.

Working on the 3rd revision of this case is not different that the other ones, you still have to remove 16 screws just to put in a couple of hard drives, and the extra plastic fan holder located on one of the drive cage is useless. Insert in a long card that that will be in the way, insert a hard drive and there is now way for you to install the extra fan.

Speaking of fans, Antec is generous by providing 3 extra tri-cool fans inside the case. Turns out there is a flaw too with the fans and since the product is already in shipment there is no way for them to individually test thousands of cases, so if the preinstall fans are good then consider those extra fans as a free gift.

Cooling on the other hand is absolutely superb, the dual 120mm blue led intake fans to draw cool air in while the 120mm exhaust fan to draw hot air out. Plus that 200mm exhaust fan on the top is a added bonus. The side panel lets you add a fan too, so those 3 extra fans Antec provided can come into good use.

One plus side about the tri-cool fans is its ability to set the fan speed by adjusting the switch on the fan itself. Want quiet computing, then set the speed to low and since there tons of fans in the case, setting it to low does not do harm to the interior temperature of the case--it's still being kept cool.

Motherboard installation is not out of the ordinary, its the same as any other cases therefore it's nothing major to talk about here. All you do is pop out the provided I/O panel and place it with the one provided by your motherboard, install the motherboard stand offs, insert motherboard, tighten it with the provided screws, and viola your done.

Most cases that goes beyond the $100 dollar mark has some sort of tradition where you have to install the power supply at the bottom instead of the top. One thing about that is at least the bottom of the case provides maximum support, while on the top it's being hold with only four puny screws.
The Antec 900 power supply installation really considers you to do a careful picking about which power supply your planning to get. Power supplies with rear exhaust fans are not a problem, but those with a single 120mm intake fan, well you have been warned.

Installing those power supplies with a 120mm intake fan requires you to install it upside down since installing it the correct way will will block it by the bottom of the case. This adds to another issue as you'll loose about 6 inches of cable length and with the auxiliary 12v power at the very top left corner of your motherboard, trying to connect that is either running that cable across your motherboard ruining your beautiful wire management job like a deep scratch on new car. If any one of you got a power supply with a 120mm intake fan, you'll need a extra 12v extension cable if you want to keep your wires tidy.

Wire management on the Antec 900 is a complete joke, similar to Cooler Master Cosmos RC-1000 it's equally terrifying. The 2 pre-cut out holes doesn't do much or lets you organized your cables in a way so their hidden from view or cable be loop to the back side of the board in an organized way. Overall wire management on the Antec 900 is a low priority and hopefully Antec should take a lesson design on their P182 models for some history review in wire management.

Speaking of wire management, it seems the Antec 900 was considered to be used on the floor since the buttons and front USB ports on located on the top of the case. This is not a major issue, but at least organize it so the wires inside can be organized and long enough so they run down the side of the case instead of dead center also ruining our wire management jobs! For those who build with this case may know what I'm talking about but for those who haven't you'll know once you get your hands on one.

The front audio and mic. ports on the Antec 900 seems to be a tad larger than other cases and it seems to lack any sort of grip. When a jack is inserted to the front ports it has a tendency of coming loose, making you think there is probably a issue with your headphones or listening devices.

Another problem with them is they make a buzz and it changes when you open/close a window or move it around. One person on the forum said it's due to laziness from Antec where they used only a single ground cable for all the ports on the front panel. He may be correct as there is a single ground cable grounded by a screw on the inner top of the case, but his solution didn't seem to work for as the buzzing still continues whenever the front audio ports are used.
His solution was if you want to use the front audio then you cannot use the ports (you will need to unplug them from your motherboard) and vice-versa if you want to use the ports.

Front audio ports was never good to begin so it's not a major issue for some of us who got large speaker setups or those who got a headphone jack on the speaker control switch, but Antec should consider looking at this and come up with a fix since people who spend this much on a case should expect top quality craftsmanship.

If Antec decides to make another version like an anniversary type they can consider on doing the following:

-Do not use a single ground wire for all the front ports.
-Cut a hole on the bottom of the case for those with 120mm fan power supplies and make bigger feet so it stands higher off the ground.
-Cut more hole on the case to allow better wire management and
have a least a inch clearance on the motherboard's back side so closing the panel with those thick wires in the way won't make the side panel bulge.
-Add filters on the front of the fans since its begging for dust.

Overall the Antec 900 case isn't consider to a bad case, but with this much flaws and its design laziness, it's better off to consider on picking another case.

Pros: Switchable fans, quiet, and the 200mm fan is a plus.
Cons: Too many flaws, wire management sucks

Score: 6/10

[Humper]

I didn't read the hole thing now but I would give it an
8/10 or an 9/10, the only thing that doesn't work good is the wire management.