Question Antec Dark League DF600 FLUX, Mid Tower ATX Gaming Case, Tempered Glass Side Panel, USB3.0 x 2, 360 mm Radiator Support, F-LUX Platform, 3 x 120 mm AR

[VirtualLarry]

DF600 FLUX | Newegg.com

This intrigues me. Antec hasn't "innovated" in quite some time, IMHO, and this looks like a legitimate step forward in case design for them.

Best of all, it includes 5 fans, 3 of which are ARGB (and a controller, and an LED button on front-panel), for $69.99.

It does include WC support, too, if you dig into the specs.

The one thing that I'm no so sure that I'm "sold" on, is the upward-pointing fan on top of the PSU cage, designed to bring in fresh air from the back side of the case, right at the PSU height. Seems like a dust magnet, but they do include a magnetic dust guard there too.

Seems like that fan would be the first to go, though, especially if it interferes with the 7th expansion slot.

I'm torn, though, because there are some Montech cases, that come with ARGB fans / controller, that also support WC rads at top and front (if you remove the front ARGB fans), AND they have 8 expansion slots, which would allow me to use my X370 Professional boards, to stick a 3rd GPU in there for mining, potentially, since they have a physical x16 slot in the 7th expansion slot position.

So it looks like I wouldn't be able to benefit that greatly from these Antec cases.

And also, are GPU temps REALLY that much of a problem these days, that one needs a fifth fan blowing in from the back side, and up through the PSU shroud, into the GPU area, or is that just a marketing gimmick? I'm curious for the opinions of the more expert builders on that. (*)

(*) I'm an old-school fan of their Antec 300 mid-tower case, that allowed for two fans in the front (120mm) with their own swing-out cages to attach them, and then screw into the front frame, and then the rear 120mm, and the top-mounted 140mm w/blowhole, and then the 120mm fan spot on the left door, right over the GPU area. I did mount a fan there, and my Antec 300 has a K9A2 Platinum, which is an AM2+ 790GX (?) board, with 4x PCI-E x16 (physical) slots, all running @ 2.0 x8. I used that for many years as a mining/crunching rig with four GPUs, or at least three, and a wifi card. Great for F@H performance back in the day. (If only I had hopped on Bitcoin early, way back in the day, I'd have been a Zillionare. Sigh. Anyways.)

The biggest difference between the two approaches is, the Antec 300, it was perpendicular to all of the GPUs, and blowing fresh air right into them, and then exhausted out the back and top. The DF600 or whatever it's called, just has one fan blowing up into the bottom-most GPU, and if you have two GPUs, or a need for the 7th expansion slot, it seems like your SOL.

(The bottom-most GPU almost always runs cooler than the top-most GPU anyways, so that's not the one that needs extra cooling. Thus the DF600 approach, I feel, is mostly marketing and ill-guided. Unless you only have a single GPU.)

 

[UsandThem]

I came across the case a few days ago on Newegg. It will be interesting to see what it can do when some reviews come out (hopefully it will get reviewed by a few mainstream hardware sites). That said, most of the claims looks like marketing fluff, and they are going after the people who can't get enough RGB.

That said, I haven't owned an Antec case in at least 15 years, but I really do like this one: https://www.newegg.com/black-antec-performance-series-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811129257. It has a lot of configuration options, and I like the PSU mounted at the top.

I even came close to buying it, but I already have a case I really like (Be Quiet Dark Base 900). It's a large and heavy case, but I have it configured to where it's so quiet with solid temperatures. There's really no good reason to replace it. I even opened it up just the other day after a year to add a wifi card, and there was hardly any dust in there, and I didn't even need to blow it out with compressed air.

 

[aigomorla]

And also, are GPU temps REALLY that much of a problem these days

depends on your gpu, if its a custom pcb, or founders, also how many other fans you have running, and if your wire management is on OCD level, or something you'd find when beavers make a dam.

For example i always run top gamer tier video cards... ie.. 1080ti, 2080ti, i will probably be running a 3090 when that comes out, and i can not stand air cooled temps. Although they are fine, but when gaming my open world RPG's or something else where i sit for hours, id like my gpu's to run rather cool, as they extend the life of the cards by a significant amount.

Also another reason why my cousin's always fight over my old hardware, as 99% of the time they are in near new condition since mostly everything sits under watercooling.

 

[thigobr]

I think a front mesh design would have provided better air flow. Also it's weird that the front dust filter sits behind the fans: while dust might not enter the case it will still accumulate on the fans themselves.
If you run multiple GPUs then the bottom FAN will be less effective but it should still help overall temperature
But it's not bad at all when considering the price.

 

[Stuka87]

I like its looks, and it seems to have adequate venting around the front clear cover. Not sure I would want that bottom fan blowing air from the PSU into my video card. I think I would point that the other direction.

 

[ScottAD]

Case looks interesting. One thing I am not a fan of is the psu shroud window (feel that way for all shroud windows). I don't want to know it exists. I just want it to work.

 

[bigboxes]

This looks like the lower end of their line. Clear plastic front? RGB fans in the front? *pokes eyes with forks*

 

[Campy]

Seems very good value with 5 fans and TG side panel. Although I personally would have preferred a mesh front, I think it will cool quite well as the fans are numerous and look to have decent access to air. I'm sure GamersNexus will review it soon as it's quite an interesting case.

 

[CP5670]

And also, are GPU temps REALLY that much of a problem these days, that one needs a fifth fan blowing in from the back side, and up through the PSU shroud, into the GPU area, or is that just a marketing gimmick? I'm curious for the opinions of the more expert builders on that. (*)

They aren't really an issue, but they matter more than the CPU temps which get more attention. My Corsair 500D case has no extra fans there and the video card runs about 3C cooler with the side panel open. Cases with glass panels no longer seem to have side-mounted fans (the older acrylic cases used to have them), although I find that rather than adding case fans, it helps more to just turn up the fans a bit on the video card itself.

 

[ScottAD]

The price of this is now absolutely ridiculous now that it's out of stock. Some on on Newegg selling it for almost $150...

Did anyone buy one BTW? Considering this or the Lian-Li Lancool II

 

[charlietee]

I purchased the Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB and it really is a amazing case...especially considering it was $89.00...just the covers on the back side of the case make it worth the price of admission. Never built a computer using RGB and ARGB...Bought three of the BoraLite and 6 of the SL 120 Uni fans along with 3 of the diffused light strips. Talk about a mess...geezz...would have taken me hours upon hours to get everything looking good from a cable management point of view.

I highly recommend the Lancool II...I personally had no issues what so ever with the case...really like the accessories available for the case...I purchased the hard drive hot swap, top usb 3 cable, the light strips...Also bought the vertical video card but returned it as the cable is PCIe 3.0...that and you cannot use it if you have fans on the bottom of the case.

Note on the USB 3.0 cable...my motherboard only has one USB 3.0 header and one ARGB header...bought the PW-INC1TR usb 3.1 to USB 3.0 connector...It will also require me to purchase a pci-e internal usb card. Just going to sell my Tuf Gaming X570 and get a different motherboard board with the C connector and 2 ARGB headers. Asus released the "Pro" version of the Tuf Gaming but it only has one USB 3.0 header and still just one ARGB header.

I will post a few pictures later this evening.

 

[DeathReborn]

Antec does have a new DP502 FLUX for ~$70, comes with 5x 120mm fans (3xARGB) and a Fan/ARGB controller. 5.25" ODD support to boot.

DP502 FLUX is the Best Cheap Gaming PC Mid Tower Case in australia with ATX/3 x 120mm ARGB , 1 x 120mm Reverse Fan, & 1 x 120mm Fans Included/Tempered Glass Side Panel - Antec

The DP502 FLUX mid-tower cheap gaming pc case is well equipped with an industry-leading design of advanced ventilation. Mainboard Support ATX, M-ATX, ITXFront Access & Controls Power, LED Control Button, 2 x USB3.0, HD-AUDIO Expansion Slots 7 5.25"" 1 3.5"" /2.5"" 3/2 2.5"" 3

www.antec.com

 

[13Gigatons]

Great value cases...almost perfect for the money.

 

[charlietee]

Gotta admit that is a lot of case for money. The DF600 for 75 bones and the DF502 for 70 duckies have bang for the buck in spades.

Here are a couple of pics on one of the reasons I recommend the Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh.

Missed something on my first post the Tuf Gaming Pro has 1 internal USB C and 1 USB 3 header.
Sorry bout that !!!

 

[charlietee]

DF600 in stock $74.99

Looks like the front is less restrictive...really did not check it out too much...

 

[VirtualLarry]

That's a pretty decent price...

 

[ScottAD]

Ended up grabbing the Cullinan PX RGB when it was a shellshock. Kinda love the cube now.