Which case is better....Antex SX1030 or In-Win Q500?

[jamesbond007]

I can't decide on which case to get for my new Pentium III 1Ghz system, using the Asus CUSL2 board. I like the Antec SX1030 because it has the PERFECT number of drive bays. I am planning on filling up all of the bays in either cases, because I can't stand a bay not being used I don't like the door on the Antec, because I use the headphone jack a lot on my SBLive! Drive Bay. I like the In-Win because it has a removable motherboard tray. I guess I could use the top bay for a fan intake. The In-Win has a better price too. What do you guys think? Also, will a 300 Watt PSU be enough? When the system is all done, I will have it quite loaded. (4 harddrives, 3 IDE devices: CDROM, DVDROM, CDRW; Live! Bay, Asus V7700 Deluxe, NIC, modem, Promise ATA100 controller, floppy, Alpha PAL6035, cooling fans, etc. Any suggestions or input?

 

[GroundOO]

Definitely go for a 350 Watter or better yet a second power supply.

 

[jamesbond007]

I forgot to ask....what's the difference between the Q500 model and the Q500N model of the In-Wins? I can't find anything on the In-Win site about that.

Thanks.

 

[GroundOO]

the q500 is an older version, they're barely different I think. I doubt you're going to get a 'non-N' version cause they've been out of production for a long time.

 

[dadx2mj]

Go for the Antec they are awesome. You can always take the door off. They are very well made and roomy enough that you won't miss the mother board tray. They also have excelent cooling and can be had with a 300 or 400 watt power supply

 

[MortaniuS]

inwins great, 2 fan holes in back 3 up front, plus the power supply fan, u can go wrong!

 

[Viperoni]

I can literally sit on my Q500 and not have to worry about anything.
I'm 240lb's BTW

It is a very solid case, make sure you got a good bit if you wanna do some drilling on it

All Q500n's come with a 300watt Powerman PS if I'm not mistaken, mine did anyways.
Looks - Antec
Solid strength - Q500n

 

[jsmonet]

don't sell the antec short. I'm about 200lbs and can sit on my case, when I REALLY can't find a seat hahaha

one of the things I really like about the antec is the fan mount on the 3.5 HD tray. that's a sweet addition to a strong case.

 

[dcdomain]

Yup, I too have an Antec, and the thing is solid. I detach the door once I get it to its destination, because the computer is on my right, and opening the door towards me is a pain... wanted the door to keep my Live!Drive IR safe when moving the computer around.

If you want a black case, the Antec also comes in black.

 

[Smbu]

I think my Antec SX1030B is great. This thing is built like a rock, too. Plus it has plenty of room for expansion and like dadx2mj said you can take the door off. BTW I'm using mine w/a P3 700@1ghz and an Asus CUSL2 mobo, too.

 

[SACANDAGA]

Here is a link to the difference between the Q500 & Q500N

Text

 

[jsbush]

I already stood on my antec sx830 case when I was putting my wires for my speakers up on the ceiling. Really solid case.

 

[resinboy]

I have the 1030B, and even w/o the removable MB tray, i still have plenty of room to swap motherbords with all of the drives/drive cages still in place. I love this case.

 

[GetInMyFatBelly]

I have the SX1030 also and think it's great. I'm looking at getting a second case and want the Lian-Li PC-12, you may want to take a look at that(Directron has them), they are a little expensive and don't come with a power supply, but I want an Enermax 431 anyway, so I don't need one...

 

[CocaCola5]

I bought a InWin Q500 just this week at accessmicro.com for $72. The model they listed didn't say anything about being Q500N but the one I recieved was the N version. My guest is either I got lucky or perhaps all Q500 now are N versions. I like it alot, the sliding mainboard tray is neat but is not the reason alone I bought it. Its cheap, offers good expansion and is well built, also, its not cute looking like the newer design cases which is good. Heard the PS on these are pretty strong for a 300W, I had earlier bought a Enermax 450W so I am using the 300W as a backup.

 

[alrocky]

I've had both cases. I gave one of them away to my nephew. I really don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Antec
I thought at first that the Antec looked ugly with that gill-work on the front of the case. It still looks uglier with the door open. I have the case on my left so the door opening from right to left doesn't bother me as it would if it were on my right. The reset button is tiny and requires a pinkly finger, finger nail or something similarly small. The floppy drive is adjacent (and lowest exposed drive is close) to the power switch -- maybe bad if you're not careful.

You don't have to remove the top of the case to remove the sides. The sides almost roll off. You can't cut yourself on the metal inside. The two lower hard drive cages are easy to remove. The lack of a removeable motherboard tray is a minor issue only once. There is plenty of work for work in there there is a bit of a wow factor when looking inside. The case comes with 2 fans and although it looked like hot air might get trapped at the top, the case is cold to the touch. The 4 upper drives are very easy to remove -- this is something you'd more likely do than swap out your motherboard. Comes in 2 colors.

InWin
Perhaps it was the tolerances (tongue and groove) of the particular Inwin case I had but I usually had a bit of trouble of removing the top of the case and reinserting the sides. The lower hard drive cage is a little hard to reinsert. The floppy drive is all the way at the top of the case. The case is about 2"(?) taller than the Antec so that floppy ribbon cable has gotta run higher. You must remove the top before you may remove the sides.

It has a removable top so you can insert the floppy drive. There is a spot for a fan at the very top of the case. Enough room to work in case. Removable motherboard tray! Clean design to case. No door. No problem with the reset button.

The Antec still available for $109 free shipping where I got mine. Perhaps cheaper elsewere. Available at Fry's. ColaCola5 says his InWin cost $72. I'm sure I've forgotten something...

 

[jamesbond007]

Wow! Alrocky, you sure summed it up pretty damn good! I need a good, strong Power Supply in my case because I'm going to fill it up pretty dang good. I just remembered that I have my Enermax 531W PSU!!! Haha. How could I forget that? I will buy the InWin, mainly because I don't like the gay front look to the Antec. Also, it's cheaper, too. I prefer the older, generic look, personally. Also, I HATE small reset buttons. Sometimes if a person uses Win9x too long, which I usually dualboot with, it won't restart, but that's my experience. I use to use a small, baby-AT case and motherboard and the reset button had to be pushed in with a pencil tip! It was SO small. It pissed me off a lot. Well, I thank you guys for your help in my choice making decsions that I post here. Keep up the excellent work!

 

[bolomite]

The InWin Q500 is indestructible.

 

[hagbard]

InWin for sure.

 

[Quesadillaz]

hey, guy from 17, almost 18 years in the future, just wait until 2018 for the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990WX. 32-Cores at 3 Ghz and also the nVidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, it's a GPU with 11 GB of GDDR6 VRAM and Ray-tracing. Also, 16 GB of RAM is standard now, we have 10 Terabyte Hard Drives and cases that don't get stained with cheeto dust.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I still wish I'd gotten a Q500.