ModTek PC

Product: Nine Hundred Enclosure
Reviewed by: J. Doggett
Provided by: Antec
www.antec.com

Positives:

· Quality Overall design and layout.
· PSU mounts at the bottom of case.
· Superb air flow.
· Each fan has 3 speed switch control.
· Drive cages with fans mounted.
· Optional matching adapter for floppy drive.
· Multiple drive cage arrangements.
· Massive 200mm top mounted exhaust fan.

Negatives:

· Loud when all fans on high speed
· No removable MB tray.
· Without the optional 120mm side fan, the case appears as something is missing.
· Not a tool less design

Company Info:

The year was 1986. Starbucks had only a few stores. Don Johnson was actually cool. The average PC had less memory than today’s cellphones. And in Fremont, California, a little company named Antec was born. Antec’s first employees never imagined that their upstart firm would rise to the very top of the high-performance computer components industry. But rise it did. And rather swiftly, too.

So what can Antec do for you? That depends on who you are. If you’re a computer user, and you’d like to upgrade your existing computer or build a new one yourself, we’ve got the computer cases, power supplies, cooling fans, lighting components, and accessories that you need. If you’re a system builder or VAR, we’ll help you deliver reliable and cost-effective systems to your customers. And if you’re a retailer, we’ll help you reach an explosively growing market: namely, “do-it-yourself” computer users who enjoy building and upgrading their own computers. How do we do all this? Our product lineup includes a wide variety of unique computer cases, such as the elegant Lifestyle Series, ultra-
powerful Performance One and Performance TX series, and the cost-effective Solution Series.

Our world-class power supplies – including the TruePower 2.0 and SmartPower 2.0 lines – have won countless international awards for their reliable performance. Our flexible rackmounts are ideally suited to the demanding ISP, telecom, and networking markets. And for those of you who’d like to add a little visual flair to your computers, we offer an eye-catching range of fans, lights, and other PC accessories.

We’re headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in the Netherlands, Europe. We’ve also established distribution partnerships throughout Australia and Southeast Asia. So you’ll find Antec products in over 25 countries. But no matter how large we grow, we’ll never forget our mission: to give you the power you need to create the computer you really want. That’s the Antec way. That’s the Power of You.

Packaging Details:

The packaging job Antec does for shipping is one of the best I have seen. Not only is the case protected with plastic and styrofoam, the main case box (shown above) is packaged inside a sturdy, plain cardboard box. This double layer of protection ensures that your case will arrive to you intact.

Product Views:

Quoted from Antec.com

The most versatile gaming case EVER! Introducing the Antec Nine Hundred hardcore gaming case. Now you can own any noob ever spawned with this ultra-mean case in classic black finish. We know your gaming hardware produces a lot of heat, that’s why the case is built for maximum cool with a perforated front bezel, three 120mm fans with mounts for even more fans, and a monster top-mounted 200mm fan that’s right, we said 200mm! The versatile Nine Hundred is maximally customizable to fit your needs. The modular design lets you modify the placement of the front fans and hard drive cages. There’s even a tray on top for your mp3 player, digital camera, or that spare illudium
Q-42 explosive space modulator that you have lying around. Be the envy of everyone at your next LAN party, impress your friends, and just generally show everyone that you are the ultimate master of all time with the Antec Nine Hundred!

Product Details:

· Unique Top mounted 200mm TriCool exhaust fan to cool the hottest system
· Perforated front bezel for maximum air intake
· Two front loaded HDD cages for up to 6 hard disk drives
· The HDD cages act as air ducts to take air in more efficiently. Optional middle 120mm fan bracket to cool the hottest graphic cards or CPU
· Two 120mm TriCool blue LED front fans to cool hard disk drives
· Window side panel comes with an optional 120mm fan mount for maximum VGA cooling
· Top mounted I/O ports for easy access
· Top tray for your MP3 player, digital camera, etc.
· Power supply mounts at the bottom of the case (power supply not included)
· Dimensions: 19.4″ x 8.1″ x 18.4″ (L x W x H)  49.3cm x 20.6cm x 46.8cm (L x W x H)
· Advanced cooling system:
- 1 top 200mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control
- 1 rear 120mm TriCool fan with 3-speed switch control
- 2 front 120mm special black TriCool blue LED fans with 3-speed switch control to cool HDDs
- 1 side (optional) 120mm fan to cool graphic cards
- 1 middle (optional) 120mm fan to cool CPU or graphic cards
· 9 Drive Bays
- External 3 x 5.25″; Internal 6 x 3.5″ for HDD, or
- External 6 x 5.25″; Internal 3x 3.5″ for HDD, or
- External 9 x 5.25″
· Motherboard: Fits micro and standard ATX
· 7 Expansion Slots
· Top I/O
- Power & reset button with blue LED
- 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x IEEE 1394

Testing:

The system specs for the test system are as follows:

Asus A8N-SLI mainboard (Phoenix-Award BIOS v.6.00PG)
AMD Athlon 64 3200+
1 GB Ultra PC3200 DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB)
Western Digital Raptor 150 GB, 10,000 RPM, SATA
GeForce 7300GS 512 MB PCI-e Graphics Card
Antec NeoHE 500 watt PSU

Performance:

The Nine Hundred performs superbly at keeping the internal temps cool. Unfortunately with the fans on High Speed it is fairly noisy, but this is a side affect of using high power fans to cool a hot system. The noise can be overlooked if you think of the benefit the cool air is having on the
system components. Don’t want the noise, you will need to opt for liquid cooling. The case has plenty of room for installing your mainboard and other components, with one downside being, this case does not feature a removable motherboard tray. This is OK in this instance because
the case has plenty of room and most end user boards will fit with plenty of room to spare. The PSU mounts are located at the bottom of the case, which makes installation a snap, and you don’t have to worry about the PSU coming loose and falling across all your expensive components. I installed the optional 120mm side fan (with Blue LED), and also the Ultra Fan Commander to monitor the internal temps, as well as the fan speeds.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, I rated this cooler 9/10. I would recommend this product to anyone looking for a case capable of multiple drive configs, or just an aesthetically pleasing case for a gaming or graphics PC. The Nine Hundred has so many features that the negative aspects are ultimately
outweighed by the positive. Thanks to Antec for supplying me with the Nine Hundred Case for review, and I look forward to testing more of their products in the future.