Introducing
It’s been a while since our last case roundup--a long while,
actually--so it’s high time we did another. We take a look at a slew of
(mostly) mid tower cases on the following pages, each designed for a
slightly different consumer. Every case in this roundup has strengths,
weaknesses, and features that the others may not have, although each
also has its own value proposition. If a case is flashy and
feature-laden, in general, it will come with a higher price tag as well.
If it’s more stripped-down, it'll generally costs less. If a case is
targeted as an attention getter, it should do so with swagger, but if
it’s trying to keep a low profile, in turn it should deliver that with
stealthy class.
It could be said that each of the premium cases we're going to look at
here, should appeal to someone. First we'll step through their features
and specs and then take you through design, build quality, installation
and performance.
Antec Eleven Hundred
We start our roundup with a look at the Antec Eleven Hundred. Antec
bills the Eleven Hundred as its new flagship for mainstream gaming and
it’s easy to see why. In addition to good looks, the case has plenty of
nice features that gamers (or anyone else) will appreciate when putting
together a system.
There are, however, few extras that come with the case--just a brief
owner’s manual, tool-less rails for mounting drives, requisite screws,
and some zip ties.
 |
| Antec Eleven Hundred |
| Specifications & Features |
|
11 drive bays:
3 x 5.25" tool-less drive bays
2 x 2.5" drive bays (dedicated)
6 x 3.5" tool-less drive bays (rail-mount design)
Motherboards:
XL-ATX [13.6" x 10.3" (345 mm x 262 mm)]
Standard ATX
microATX
Mini-ITX
Expansion slots: 9
Maximum graphics card size: 13.0" (330 mm)
Maximum CPU cooler height: 6.7" (170 mm)
Perforated, quick-release front bezel
PSU intake & front air filters
Enlarged CPU cutout
Audio In/Out
|
Fan power hub:
Allows you to connect four 3-pin fans to a single Molex for improved cable management
Cooling System:
1 x 200 mm blue LED top fan
1 x 120 mm rear fan
1 x 120 mm intake fan behind motherboard for CPU cooling (optional)
2 x 120 mm internal intake fans (optional)
2 x 120 mm front intake fans (optional)
2 x 120 mm side panel fans to cool graphic cards (optional)
Water cooling support: rear water cooling grommets
Front I/O ports:
2 x USB 3.0 with internal motherboard connector
2 x USB 2.0
Unit Dimensions: 20.7" (H) x 9.3" (W) x 21.5" (D)
Net Weight: 20.0 lbs / 9.0 kg
Gross Weight: 24.3 lbs / 11.0 kg |
Features
As you can see from the above specs, the Eleven Hundred is accommodating
and versatile, with 9 expansion slots, 11 drive bays, and the ability
to house everything from mini-ATX up to XL-ATX motherboards, as well as
grommets for a water cooling setup.
Those expansion slots allow for up to three-way or four-way SLI or
CrossFireX, and the drive bays include a trio of 5.25-inch bays, a
half-dozen 3.5-inch bays, and a pair of dedicated 2.5-inch bays for your
dual-SSD setup. The case does not come with a 3.5-to-2.5-inch
conversion kit, so two 2.5-inch drives are your limit with some rigging.
The Eleven Hundred is sufficiently deep, too, so you can slap on a CPU
cooler that is up to 6.7 inches in height before you run into trouble
with the side panels. Although there are a variety of options for fan
configurations, including one on the side panel behind the motherboard
tray, the case comes with but two--a 200mm top fan (equipped with blue
LEDs that you can switch on or off) and a 120mm back panel fan. For what
it’s worth, those two fans are impressively quiet, emitting a barely
audible hum; our CPU cooler’s dual fans were far louder in fact.
The fan power hub allows you to connect up to four fans to a single
Molex connector. The connector is located at the very top and back of
the case, which is an excellent location for cable management but a
rotten place for actually trying to connect something. If you have
adult-sized fingers, you’re going to have to work at plugging your fans
in.
Exterior
The outside of the Eleven Hundred is a satiny black finish highlighted
by a large, clear plastic pane that dominates roughly two-thirds of the
side panel. The panel, combined with an overall grill design on the
front and back and the fan grills, allows you to really see the system
components well. (You can also mount a pair of 120mm fans on the clear
portion of the panel.)
The front of the case is pretty much what you’d expect: a large grill
with an I/O panel at the top, which includes two USB 3.0 ports, two USB
2.0 ports, and audio in/out ports. The back features the same grill
design as well as spaces for the expansion slots, the motherboard I/O
panel, and PSU. The fan switches are also located at the back of the
case.
Although the Eleven Hundred’s construction is mostly very solid, the top
and bottom leave something to be desired. The bottom has a removable
PSU intake filter with a flimsy plastic frame that makes it a little
hard to unwedge and remove. The top-mounted power and reset buttons are
not very well built though. Every time you press them, the whole top
bends--loudly--and the power button actually got stuck in the depressed
position once or twice during testing.
Interior
Antec did some nice work on the interior of the Eleven Hundred. The
black metal-finish interior has a subdued special OPS sort of look,
there are ample rubber-rimmed grommets for all the cable routing you
need, and the 36mm of room behind the motherboard tray feels spacious.
Not everything is perfect, though. Although it’s not a huge deal, the
front grill covers are a pain to remove, and our optical drive wouldn’t
fit properly without a good deal of jiggling. (Once it was slid into
place, it was held there securely, however.) Additionally, the PSU mount
is rather far from the motherboard, so cable length may be an issue,
depending on what you’re trying to route where.
The Antec Eleven Hundred ($129.95) is a good all-around case with plenty
of pros to outweigh the cons. We aren’t thrilled with some of the
flimsy construction we spotted, but overall this case’s features are
excellent.
Corsair is one of the innovation leaders in the memory and power supply
market. They also provide SSDs which, so far, have been mostly based on
the Sandforce flash controllers. Now they are offering an SSD based on
Marvell's 88SS9174 controller, which promises best-in-class performance
that can compete with what Sandforce offers.
