| Antec One Hundred Mid-Tower Case |  |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |
| Written by Marc Fruchtman - Edited by Olin Coles | |
| Sunday, 24 April 2011 | |
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Antec One Hundred Computer Case Review
Manufacturer: Antec, Inc. Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Antec. The Antec One Hundred computer case is touted as “the gaming case that delivers high-end features at a price that won't break the bank.” Many gamers (and non-gamers) will purchase cases with sexy exteriors, only to find that the functionality and performance of the case are significantly hindered. For experienced users, a gaming case brings certain expectations, such as the need for good cooling, ease of use for install and re-installation of components, proper placement of USB ports and audio jacks, as well as several other factors. The Antec One Hundred is currently the most affordable “gaming case” that Antec offers, followed closely by the Two Hundred. As has already been mentioned by previous reviews, Antec has been in business for over 25 years. They are a global company with a commitment to a greener tomorrow. I was very impressed to see that Antec uses recycled paper for their boxes and internal packaging, soy based bio-degradable inks for their printing, and they avoid heavy metals in their products. Antec also recycles all their production waste. Antec brings to the table a tremendous amount of experience in manufacturing computer cases. But what would we want in an economy case? And what would we be willing to sacrifice in exchange for a lower price. Arguably, most gamers on a budget, could do without hard drive cradles, and removable cages. While we are removing extras, we could leave off reset switches, LED add-ons, bezel doors covers, slide-out parts trays, and acrylic side panels. But how far should we go? 
Antec has revised their case design for the One Hundred, and Benchmark Reviews takes a close look at their design. Let's find out if the One Hundred is able to shave off the dollars from the buy-in price and still keep the quality and most wanted aspects for a gamer's system. In fact, you will be surprised with the number of expansion slots, and drive bays the One Hundred has available. Perhaps, we won't have to sacrifice as much as you think to get a great case. Let's take a a look.
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Comments
I'm not a fan of Antec tombs, but this one is pretty good except for one fatal flaw. I like the provision for two front fans. I love the oversize cpu window in the mb tray. The screw positions for the SSD is useless of course: SSD's attach very nicely with Velcro. No need for hardware.
Fatal flaw: like Lian Li, these guys are in love with rear position fans on top. Really, when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink than warm air from your case. So when the manufacturer provides only one fan position the system builder loses all flexibility.
I rate this case a "don't buy" despite its other nice features.
So how do you screw the Velcro onto the SSDs? (Glueing is of course not an option!)
"Fatal flaw: ... these guys are in love with rear position fans on top. Really, when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink..."
So you don't care about the temperatures at the graphics card?
With this case there's also a simple fix:
1. Add a cardboard divider horizontally above the graphics card to create two thermal zones.
2. Remove the top fan and cover that opening. (Now we have air moving horizontally through the top half of the case to cool down the CPU.)
3. Add a front intake fan or two, to add cooling for the graphics card and HDDs.
I think its an exaggeration to call this "fatal." Actually, I am not sure I can even say this is detrimental. But that involves this next statement:
Re: "when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink..."
Not sure what you mean by "forward position", can you give an example, of a case that has such a fan mounting in the forward position... as I am picturing this would be where most cases place the CD / DVD drives.
Also, please remember that Antec does not actually have a top "Intake", it has a top exhaust.
but many like myself have there PC underneath desks, which makes it rather awkward for getting to these fan controller switches.
Would it really add that much more in cost to run a couple of wires across the right side of the case to the front?
As for the complaintsd on the fans, in my own testing with stock cooling and then adding the two front fans I found the case cooled really well. I was able to push an overclock of a i5 2400 to 3.8 ghz and not move above 45C and my GTX 460 never gets above 60C at MAX load. If those are "FATAL" numbers then I know a lot of dead PCs.
Personally I found the case to be a great buy for the money. I love the fact they made the front panel cables long enough to easily route behind and cabale management as a whole is good for this price range.
My last $50 dollar case was the CoolerMaster 430-Elite Black, and while it's not one of their HAF (high air flow) cases, it's provided fans and the places that you can add more fans to, make it a great choice. I left both of my 120MM fan spaces on the top rear empty, they just were not needed. You can mount four 120MM fans and a 140MM as well if you need to. It has a bottom vent for the PSU and another bottom vent for another fan.
All in all this Antec case will do the job and it looks good. I'm not sure about no PSU bottom vent, they should change the design to include that.