Antec GX1000 - anyone know anything about it?

[Bagmoon]

Greetings,

I'm shopping for a new case, and this Antec GX1000 has caught my eye. It appears to have everything I need, and it's on sale right now with free shipping from NCIX. I can't find any reviews on it except for a brief french language one, which is odd because I can usually find plenty of reviews on the cases that I've been checking out.

http://www.cowcotland.com/news/49485/boitier-antec-gx10...

http://www.ncix.com/detail/antec-gx1000-tower-gaming-ca...

http://store.antec.com/gx-series/gx1000.html#

So, opinions? Has anyone found a review or seen one in the flesh?

Thanks for your help!

 

[MadScientist]

Looks like a decent case for the price from NCIX Canada, plus free shipping. Their US site has it listed for $109.99, $89.99 AR + shipping. http://www.ncixus.com/products/?sku=112441&vpn=GX1000&manufacture=Antec

Newegg has it for $79.99 + $9.99 shipping, no rebate, no reviews yet. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129231

I also could not find any reviews on it, maybe too new.

Newegg has the Corsair Carbide Series 300R for $49.99 shipped after $10. coupon code and $20. rebate (expires today). A bit wider than the Antec case, 8.30" vs 7.87". http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811139011&cm_re=corsair_300r-_-11-139-011-_-Product

 

[Bagmoon]

I'm in Canada, so NCIX.com is my preferred site to order from. I'll also check things out on newegg.ca, tigerdirect.ca, canadacomputers.com, etc.

I'm also thinking that it was released recently and hasn't been reviewed yet. I've been browsing other reviews still and I've seen that the Phanteks Enthoo Pro is also highly regarded.

http://www.ncix.com/detail/phanteks-enthoo-pro-full-tower-6d-98838-1240.htm

After watching a couple of review videos and reading about it, I can see why. The thing is, it'll cost me twice as much to get it to my door compared to the Antec GX1000. Is it twice as good? That's the question.

Decisions, decisions......

 

[ClockHound]

Decisions, decisions......

Questions, questions...

What are you going to install in the new case? Air or water cooling?

Phanteks is larger with more 'workspace'. Is bigger better?

More cooling configuration options with the Enthoo - has bottom intake fan mounts, the GX1000 doesn't. Enthoo easily supports a 3rd 140mm intake fan in the 51/4" bay. GX1000? Who knows?

However, it's different price ranges. So not exactly comparable.

Is this a budget build? Then the Antec seems decent enough - especially with the rebate - which could be used to purchase better fans. Every Antec case I've owned, within a week I've turfed the fans and installed better ones. The Phanteks fans are fairly decent.

How long do you expect to keep this system/case? If more than 2 years and budget isn't restricted, then get the Enthoo or FD R5 or other high quality case. Like power supplies (and MBs and CPUs), you don't want to cheap out if you don't have to. Non-window version of the Pro is $10 cheaper.

Most important question: Do you really, really want the GX1000 or just want a great deal?

You're investing your time and sweat creating your build, are you comfortable spending the time and money for a case so new there's no reviews, just great intro prices?

 

[Bagmoon]

You ask some decent questions, Clockhound.

The build will be air cooled, and for me bigger is better - roomy cases are easier to work in and space is not an issue where I'm putting it.

Calling it a budget build would not be exactly accurate. It's more like a "scavenger" build. I'm a single dad with 2 kids, and we all have our own systems which I have built out of spare parts from other people, closeout deals, and online classified ads. This build will be based on an Ivy Bridge i5 and a pair of R9-270X cards assuming I can figure out a workaround for a double slot video card blocking off the usb headers beside the second video card slot (the deal on the pair of cards fell in my lap and was too good to pass up - I'll sell one if I can't make it work).

Other specs - terabyte HD, 128gb ssd, 12gb ram, 750W PS, and there is a Win7 license attached to the motherboard already for which I have the COA. All of these bits have been gotten with huge discounts and I've spent the last few months gathering them up. Based on this criteria, I should get the Antec. I DO love a great deal and that's the main attraction of the GX1000, in addition to the fact that it's a full tower with lots of fan slots and has both USB2.0 and 3.0 slots.

BUT. For me, cases tend to get used and re-used. I still have a CM Centurion 534 from 2008 in rotation (I also build a "garage computer" for my neighbor out of the "sparest" of my scavenged spare parts). Any case that I buy is likely to see use for years and years down the road with two or even three systems being cycled through it, so buying for the future is a good idea. Based on this criteria, I should spend an extra $75 and get the Phanteks.

As I said, decisions, decisions. The best case scenario would see a 50% off deal happen on the Phanteks, but I rather doubt that'll happen! :biggrin:

 

[SteveGrabowski]

I have the Antec GX 500 and it looks to be pretty similar inside, though the GX 1000 has an extra drive cage and a few more holes for cable management. The GX 500 is kind of a mixed bag, check the Anonymous review I wrote on newegg entitled "Competent for air cooling, but not without some major flaws", it's the third review on the page right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129191

I imagine the big difference is they probably gave you a little more space so that you can fit a top mounted 240mm rad. That wouldn't be workable in a GX500. I have to say I paid $30 US after rebate for my GX500 on a newegg shell shocker deal. If it would have been selling at its normal $50 US price I would have gone for a $70 NZXT S340 instead. The S340 has much better build quality than the GX 500.

 

[SteveGrabowski]

Any case that I buy is likely to see use for years and years down the road with two or even three systems being cycled through it, so buying for the future is a good idea. Based on this criteria, I should spend an extra $75 and get the Phanteks.

As I said, decisions, decisions. The best case scenario would see a 50% off deal happen on the Phanteks, but I rather doubt that'll happen! :biggrin:

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro is an unbelievable case. A couple of weeks ago I upgraded my Antec GX 500 to an Enthoo Pro, and the difference in quality is pretty significant. Unless the ATX specification gets deprecated I can't imagine ever buying another tower case, if this thing isn't great for 10+ years I'd be shocked. The Enthoo Pro is very solidly built and extremely well designed with the room it has for cable management, for lots of hard drives or few, for air cooling or water cooling, for single GPU or dual GPU. It's a jack of all trades. Every piece fits well, the side panels feel very solid, the case is nice and understated even being a windowed case (though you can buy a solid side panel case too), it has good dust filters, though the front has some small side intakes that are unfiltered. I haven't noticed any abnormal dust buildup through them, and that was a major concern for me before I bought the Enthoo Pro.

However, I can't recommend the Enthoo Pro at NCIX's $140 CAD price tag. Not that it's a bad price, but they have the NZXT S340 at $83 CAD with free shipping on NCIX.com. In the US the S340 would have cost me $80 US with shipping while the Enthoo Pro is $100 US + free shipping from my preferred merchant, newegg, so for $20 US I'd rather have the superior case. But for $57 CAD + the Enthoo Pro's shipping cost (and it's a 13 kg box) I'd go with the S340 in a second. It's very solidly built and even though it's a midtower it has quite a bit of room to operate in thanks to the drives being mounted in the power supply stealth cover and since it has no 5.25 inch drive bays. I'm not a big fan of the piano black since it's so shiny and a dust magnet, but the white looks great. And looking at this case in person at a local computer shop I was impressed with the build quality, as I am with every NZXT case I have ever seen in person. Check these videos on the Enthoo Pro and S340.

Enthoo Pro
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhmn21ylkc

S340
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cNWOgbEXMI