Antec 300

[slag]

Love this case. I picked one up from newegg the other day along with a few 120 mm blue led fans (rated pretty good), and swapped my sandybridge setup over from my old cheap case to my new antec.

I couldn't put a side on my old case because the 212+ heatsink stood out too far. I also had recently put an ASUS GTX460TOP card in and so I figured that it would be nice and cool with an open side. The bad thing was, it was NOISY.

After moving everything over to this new case, my front USB ports work once again, its very quiet, and my case temps have dropped 2 degrees celsius on the video card and 3 degrees on the cpu. More airflow really helps!

I filled the front two fan areas on the case and ended up leaving the side mounted fan area open. I might put the third fan there, but its nice as it is and seems to be moving the air very nicely.

Glad I got this case. I might pick up another.

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I like the 300 a lot as well. It's my main rig's case and I've used it in probably 30 other builds now, too. My only complaint is that it has basically no noise dampening features. I'm considering dropping a chunk on quieter 120mm fans for my case, something I've never done in a decade of building.

 

[Hogan773]

Glad you like it. To me, I don't understand the hype around the 300. Seems very dated to me inside. I went with the Rosewill Challenger, which I think is an awesome case for the price. Fit and finish are great, and its got some nice features included vs the 300.

 

[Zap]

To me, I don't understand the hype around the 300.

Probably because it can be had really cheap during sales, and most people using it were otherwise using really crappy cases.

Yesterday I did a re-build in an HEC Blitz case. It runs $40 shipped at Newegg right now, and seems reasonably decent. It has a bottom mounted PSU and black painted interior, so it is "modern" in a sense. It also is able to hold two 120mm fans on top. It is a bit flimsy but you aren't going to get much metal for $40, plus it has eight 5¼" drive bays so any 3½" drives need to go in some kind of adapter/subchassis. It comes with one, taking three bays to hold three HDDs and one 120mm fan. IMO it would be nice if it came with a second one. My other complaint would be that there is very little space underneath the motherboard because the standoffs are so short. I was unable to run the +12v/EPS cable underneath the motherboard because it was too thick. It also doesn't have enough room for CPU heatsink backplates if your CPU is near the top edge of the motherboard.

I'll snap some pics in a bit.

 

[gorcorps]

Glad you like it. To me, I don't understand the hype around the 300. Seems very dated to me inside. I went with the Rosewill Challenger, which I think is an awesome case for the price. Fit and finish are great, and its got some nice features included vs the 300.

I've been looking at getting the Challenger. Looks like a solid case for the money, though I'm not familiar w/ the brand which worries me a bit. Reviews are good though.

 

[wuliheron]

It's a solid built gaming case with classic good looks. Anytime you have a case with that many big openings for fans it's gonna be noisy. Other then being no good for cable management its great as cheap gaming cases go.

 

[Concillian]

Had my 300 for a while, it's a great case.

I don't get the comment that it looks dated inside. What exactly does that matter? I think this case is made for the crowd who likes something plain and understated. It's very practical, and for as open as it is, it doesn't resonate which is a problem I found with many other inexpensive cases.

It's open, but it's not noisy because it's pretty dead for a chassis in this price range. It's only as noisy as the fans you choose. Mine is quite significantly quieter with the same fans than an older Antec case I have that resonates like mad and seems to amplify any sound made inside it.

 

[Zap]

Yesterday I did a re-build in an HEC Blitz case.
...
I'll snap some pics in a bit.

Here are two pics. Note that it was a re-build for someone. Their old case met an untimely demise. Parts are all a few years old except for the new case, PSU and case fans.

Decent looking exterior. Side is mesh, as is front and top.

Interior, the chassis is black. Looks kind of messy, but trust me it is not. Look carefully to see the zip ties. All of the cabling that runs between the motherboard and the drives are actually zip tied down to the motherboard tray. It just looks messy because of the rainbow of colors. If there was more lighting than the LED fans and it had a side window, I would use some black split loom tubing on the stuff to make it almost invisible to the casual glance.

 

[Hogan773]

Had my 300 for a while, it's a great case.

I don't get the comment that it looks dated inside. What exactly does that matter? I think this case is made for the crowd who likes something plain and understated. It's very practical, and for as open as it is, it doesn't resonate which is a problem I found with many other inexpensive cases.

It's open, but it's not noisy because it's pretty dead for a chassis in this price range. It's only as noisy as the fans you choose. Mine is quite significantly quieter with the same fans than an older Antec case I have that resonates like mad and seems to amplify any sound made inside it.

I dunno - not painted inside, some of the edges are a little sharp, there is no tool-less drive design, the front only has USB and audio (ie no eSata) and the HDD bay goes forward to back rather than side to side. I'm not saying its a BAD case, I'm just questioning the utter fanboy love that it gets, especially because it isnt THAT cheap......I mean it lists for $59.99. I know it goes on sale sometimes. I got the Challenger for $39.99 on sale.

 

[Hogan773]

I've been looking at getting the Challenger. Looks like a solid case for the money, though I'm not familiar w/ the brand which worries me a bit. Reviews are good though.

ROSEWILL, if you haven't figured it out yet, is NEWEGG's "private label" brand. Like Safeway Select, or Great Value at WalMart, or Up and Up at Target.

Ever notice that you generally ONLY find Rosewill products at Newegg?

Newegg has manufacturers rebadge items as Rosewill for them. The Challenger is apparently a cousin to a NZXT case, so one can guess who makes the Challenger for Rosewill......(hint, the answer is in this same sentence )

I have a Rosewill hard drive dock that I'm 99.99% sure is made by Thermaltake, and it was $10 cheaper than the Thermaltake version.

I buy Target orange juice and it tastes just as good as Tropicana, so why not buy private label PC gear too?

 

[slag]

I dunno - not painted inside, some of the edges are a little sharp, there is no tool-less drive design, the front only has USB and audio (ie no eSata) and the HDD bay goes forward to back rather than side to side. I'm not saying its a BAD case, I'm just questioning the utter fanboy love that it gets, especially because it isnt THAT cheap......I mean it lists for $59.99. I know it goes on sale sometimes. I got the Challenger for $39.99 on sale.

Front to back for drives is preferrable imho since the motherboard sits behind the drives the cables logically plug in to the back of the drive.

It is toolless. Mine came with a bag of thumbscrews to hold the hard drives in as well as the cdrom. The sides come off with thumbscrews as well.

Who wants ESATA on the front? Esata should plug into the back so you dont have a mess of cables coming out the front of your case.

All your points except possibly the sharp edges are personal opinion. Of the things you listed, I don't think I'd want a single one of them.

 

[Anarchist420]

My case is an Antec 300, and I love it. I just use a Panaflo U1A for the exhaust and that's the only case fan.

 

[Hogan773]

Front to back for drives is preferrable imho since the motherboard sits behind the drives the cables logically plug in to the back of the drive.

It is toolless. Mine came with a bag of thumbscrews to hold the hard drives in as well as the cdrom. The sides come off with thumbscrews as well.

Who wants ESATA on the front? Esata should plug into the back so you dont have a mess of cables coming out the front of your case.

All your points except possibly the sharp edges are personal opinion. Of the things you listed, I don't think I'd want a single one of them.

Great - sounds like you've got a winner on your hands then!