Antec Performance II Workstation Tower?

[Jeff7181]

Just wondering what some of you think of this case. I don't want a flashy case, and this one definately isn't, but it looks to be very functional, with the front USB and Firewire ports, the nice size intake opening on the front with the washable filter. I love the drive rails too, I've never owned a case that used them... but I definately want a case that uses them.
Power supply is better than what I have now... on my power supply, the 5V and 3.3V combined output max is 180, on the one in this case it's 230, and max between 5V 3.3V and 12V on mine is 323, on this one is 330.

Think it's worth $100 shipped???

 

[mechBgon]

I have a similar one and really like it. Mine was one of the last of the Plus880's, using the same chassis but the TruePower430 PSU. It's a little big, maybe, but not any taller than Antec's cases with the door over the drives, the 10xx series. I use the front USB ports all the time for my little Zio compact-flash drive. It has ventilation galore (5 80mm fan mounts). Haven't heard much feedback on the power supply units in the Performance II's, but I'd figure they're ok, having Antec's 3-year warranty and pretty good output levels (as you saw).

As you say, it's not "flashy." Works for me.

 

[Jeff7181]

I'm thinking maybe my case isn't the problem. Right now I have 5 80mm case fans, plus the 2 in the power supply, a good heatsink/fan on my motherboard and the case temp is 87 F at idle, and the CPU temp is 116 idel. That seems very high for an Athlon XP1700 at stock voltage. I just took the side cover off my case and the temps haven't changed at all. WTF? When I had my old motherboard, Shuttle AK31 with a KT266a chipset, it ran 83/106 idle. The processor is oriented differently here... the exhaust from the fan blows directly onto the ram, and toward the back of the case. Either way, I want a better case, this one is kinda poorly constructed, so maybe when I get the new case, I'll stick the old motherboard back in and see if it runs cooler... then stick this one in and see how it runs. I just find it kinda hard to believe that changing the orientation of the processor/heatsink-fan would raise the temp of the CPU 20 degrees. I'm even using Arctic Silver 3. And yes, I applied it properly =) I dunno... it's strange... I guess we'll see what happens.

 

[mechBgon]

Motherboards are calibrated all over the map, I bet it's mainly that you have two different boards.

 

[Jeff7181]

So you think maybe this new motherboard has the temp probes positioned in different places which cause it to be either more or less accurate?

 

[mechBgon]

Well, take two nForce boards, one from Asus and one from Abit. The Asus will typically say low 40's for a stock AthlonXP 1800+ with a retail heatsink. The Abit will say about 70C. EPoX 8K3A+'s will give a reading from the on-CPU diode and say about 65C, while a K7S5A looks at its below-the-CPU thermistor in open air and gives a 52C reading. You just can't be sure!

By the way, everyone was freaking out at the EPoX 8K3A+ readings. There were all kinds of panicky posts about it. They weren't used to a motherboard that called a spade a spade, they wanted to be spoon-fed the lower temperature readings they'd seen in the past. EPoX knuckled under to the wave of false RMA's and stopped reading from the on-CPU thermistor with the successors to the 8K3A series, the 8K5A's and -9A's. *sigh*

 

[Jeff7181]

Forgot to mention I had an 80mm fan on the side of the case, blowing onto the processor fan... I took that out, now the case temp is 95 and the CPU temp is 122... idle.
I know the case temp is accurate cause I shut the computer off for a couple hours and started it back up and immediate went into the bios to check the temp, it said 71 which is what the thermostat in this room says.
But if I put my hand behind the computer where the exhaust fans blow out, the air doesn't feel like 95 degrees... it actually feels nice and cool coming out... either way... I wouldn't reccomend that ANYONE buy this MSI KT4VL motherboard. It's IDE ports are positioned in one of the worst locations, clear down at the bottom of the board. I bet I'll have to get a new IDE cable to read my CDRW and DVD drives in the Antec case. Oh well, then I can switch to rounded cables =)
Oh yeah, and the D-Bracket connection is between a couple PCI slots... very dumb place to put it.
And the power supply connection is to the left of the CPU, so you have to find some way to tie back the wires to keep it out of the way of the CPU fan... AND the CPU is oriented so that the fan blows hot air off the heatsink directly onto the RAM, making sure it doesn't get cold in the winter months.

 

[OatMan]

I had the original SX6xx performance case and really liked it. Solid, functional, everything you could want. Well its heavy as heck but... I think the Performnce II is basically the same case with the new style "PLUS" front bezel. So it now has the front USB, and FW as well as the washable fan screen (nice). Great airflow.

QUESTION:

Anyone know what the difference between the PLUS series and the PLUS AMG series? They look identical. The origianl SX series has the old bezel. The Performance II or SX II adds the new bezel with air filter and front USB/FW. The PLUS series is the same case as the SX II but with True power dual fan PS in place of the older smart power PS, and also adds the side blow hole fan.

SO what is the deal with the AMG???

thanks

 

[mechBgon]

The AMG refers to the color, it stands for Antec Metallic Grey. All of the AMG's have side-intake fans.

 

[OatMan]

The AMG refers to the color, it stands for Antec Metallic Grey. All of the AMG's have side-intake fans.

Duh. shoulda been obviouse - Thanks!