| Antec One Hundred Mid-Tower Case |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Written by Marc Fruchtman - Edited by Olin Coles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sunday, 24 April 2011 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Antec One Hundred Computer Case Review
Manufacturer: Antec, Inc. Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Antec. The Antec One Hundred computer case is touted as “the gaming case that delivers high-end features at a price that won't break the bank.” Many gamers (and non-gamers) will purchase cases with sexy exteriors, only to find that the functionality and performance of the case are significantly hindered. For experienced users, a gaming case brings certain expectations, such as the need for good cooling, ease of use for install and re-installation of components, proper placement of USB ports and audio jacks, as well as several other factors. The Antec One Hundred is currently the most affordable “gaming case” that Antec offers, followed closely by the Two Hundred. As has already been mentioned by previous reviews, Antec has been in business for over 25 years. They are a global company with a commitment to a greener tomorrow. I was very impressed to see that Antec uses recycled paper for their boxes and internal packaging, soy based bio-degradable inks for their printing, and they avoid heavy metals in their products. Antec also recycles all their production waste. Antec brings to the table a tremendous amount of experience in manufacturing computer cases. But what would we want in an economy case? And what would we be willing to sacrifice in exchange for a lower price. Arguably, most gamers on a budget, could do without hard drive cradles, and removable cages. While we are removing extras, we could leave off reset switches, LED add-ons, bezel doors covers, slide-out parts trays, and acrylic side panels. But how far should we go? 
Antec has revised their case design for the One Hundred, and Benchmark Reviews takes a close look at their design. Let's find out if the One Hundred is able to shave off the dollars from the buy-in price and still keep the quality and most wanted aspects for a gamer's system. In fact, you will be surprised with the number of expansion slots, and drive bays the One Hundred has available. Perhaps, we won't have to sacrifice as much as you think to get a great case. Let's take a a look. Antec One Hundred Features*
*Features and certification per Antec product literature. Antec One Hundred Specifications*
*Features and certification per Antec product literature. 120 mm x 25mm TwoCool Fan Specifications (Operating voltage 10.8 – 13.2 Volts)*
*Features and certification per Antec product literature. 140 mm x 25 mm TwoCool Fan Specifications (Operating voltage 10.8 – 13.2 Volts)*
*Features and certification per Antec product literature. Closer Look: ExteriorThe Antec One Hundred arrived double boxed, with the inner box as shown in the image above. It was well protected, and there was no damage to the inner box.
The case itself was encased in styrofoam. All the parts were present. 
Antec includes a multi-language foldable pamphlet, an insert, and two parts bags. There were plenty of standoffs, and screws included. Also, 4 fan screws are included should the system builder decide to add another 120 mm fan. Antec chose to include four rubberized grommets with mounting screws for the SSD (right lower packet).
The left side of the case has an unoccupied mounting for a 120 mm fan to help cool your graphics card and other peripherals. And the front bezel hides two additional fan mounts (fans must be separately purchased). 
Detailed Exterior FeaturesA closer examination reveals that Antec has focused on a high quality black painted exterior, and smudge resistant plastic bezel that perfectly matches the case.
There is a sleek beveled edge that provides a mounting surface for the front jacks, and Power Switch. This panel includes four USB 2.0 ports, audio in and out jacks. A molded plastic tray provides a handy place to store small items. I would have liked to see some USB 3.0 ports
The smaller 120 mm rear fan was very reasonable at the low setting but significantly louder than the top mounted 140 mm fan at high.
Here we see the dual speed fan controller switch, with options for Low or High. As mentioned, both fans are mounted to move air from inside the case to the exterior. This turns out to do pretty well as far as cooling the CPU, but because of the unfiltered perforated regions of the case, this case will eventually fill with dust.
Even the underside is painted. Other than that, the bottom of the case looks pretty standard. Toward the upper right of the picture, you can see the four rubberized grommets in preparation for the mounting of the SSD. Please note that the case is not designed to have the PSU vent through the bottom. Closer Look: InteriorThe inside of the Antec One Hundred is completely painted black, with the same high quality as the exterior. Internally, the case is well organized. Antec did a very good job of placing large cutouts for cable routing and cable tie mounts.
In fact the cable routing is probably one of the best features of this case. There is a small metal tab for bracing the PSU. My preference is that this be adjustable, but the PSU fit perfectly. The motherboard tray is not removable. The upper outside edge of the case has about 1/2" to 7/8" of space below the fan, and to the right that allows you to run cabling.
The upper drive cage can mount up to three 5.25” drives. There is also space for an internal floppy drive below, although this does not seem to be mentioned in the manual. The lower portion of the drive cage can house six 3.5” drives which is actually more than the full tower case that I am using to write this article! This case also has mounts for two additional 120 mm fans on the inside of the front bezel. However, you will have to buy these fans separately. Here again we notice the 4 holes at the bottom floor of the case. You can mount a single SSD, using the included grommets, there. 
The right side of the case is perfect for running your cables. Another bonus is a massive CPU cut-out. One thing that can be said is that Antec did a great job with making sure there were no sharp edges. The edges for cutouts are rolled, a feature of much more expensive cases. You can also see the included cable ties, and cable tie mounting locations. On the left lower side of this image, you can see that the entire lower section of the case adjacent to the 3.5” drive cage is devoted to additional cable storage, and this is ideal for storing the PSU spaghetti. This space measured 2 5/8” deep. Four cable tie down points are present for tying everything down next to the drive cage. The depth of the case from inner right cover to the motherboard tray varied from approximately 1/2” to 5/8”. 
This view above shows a small frustration, and that is the "washable filters." This case was designed to suck air into the case through the many perforations (see just below the filters), and as such these washable filters are not adequate, because the rest of the case is unprotected. The removable bezel inserts can be snapped back in place.
The TwoCool fans have a proprietary connector to the two position fan switch on the rear of the case. Should you need to replace your fans, you will need to make sure it has a compatible system or dispense with the switch provided. Detailed Interior FeaturesHere we can take a closer look at our system build and see if Antec has really provided the high-end features that we can't live without. 
The Antec One Hundred has plenty of room to the right and just below the motherboard. The last expansion slot might be best for USB or e-SATA expansion brackets or similar. You can also see there is a lock slot, to reduce the chance that your children will move the computer to their gaming dungeon. The depth from the motherboard tray to the inside cover edge is 6 1/2".
This is the 140 mm TwoCool fan, and as well there is a similar 120 mm fan.
There is less than 1/16th of an inch of space between the motherboard and the 140 mm fan. And the original position of the power wires for the 140 mm fan are such that they crimp right against the motherboard (as shown in the image). This problem was easily solved, by removing the fan with a phillips screwdriver, and turning it clockwise 90 degrees. There is additional space above the motherboard to the right of the fan to route cables.
The expansion slot covers are disposable once removed.
Also, when placing your hard drive(s) you should plan to avoid the slots at the same level as the graphics card, as you can see by how close the tolerance is in the image above. The distance from the expansion port to the hard drive cage is 11 3/4”. This was just adequate for the ATI Radeon HD 4850 used, but this may not be adequate for larger graphics cards. The distance from the expansion ports to the front bezel is 16 5/8". The case is touted as “SSD hard drive compatible.” The floor of the case houses a mounting location for the SSD. The grommets raise the SSD off the bottom of the case, though clearly SSDs do not require vibration protection. One Hundred Final ThoughtsThe Antec One Hundred is oriented to the gamer on a budget. This case has a very nice exterior design. The sleek black paint of the case had zero imperfections. The case itself was remarkably sturdy tho light weight. And, there is plenty of drive capacity and expansion room for a mid-tower. Cable routing was a dream. A few more cable ties would have been a nice addition. Because of the bottom-mounted PSU arrangement, you will most certainly need at least 24” cables or a PSU extension if you plan to route behind the backplane. For my build, I had to add a 24 pin adapter to the 20” cable of the PSU which gave the additional length I needed. You may also want to find some extensions for the other PSU cables depending on your board layout. The 140 mm fan was oriented in a way that crimped the wires against the motherboard, this can be easily fixed by rotating the fan and re-routing the fan wires. I found myself routing a lot of wiring along the edges of the case. The four front USB ports are nicely stacked and spaced in such a way as to minimize adjacent interference. If Antec had placed filters on the fan intakes and reversed the air flow, this would have reduced future dust issues. Pressing and holding the power switch down for 3 seconds obviates the need for a reset switch, and saves some change for your pocket. I do miss the internal speaker for the audio cues to system errors. There are many many competitors out there that can claim mid-tower capacity, but when you throw in the requirement for a price less than $50, demand 8 expansion slots, and 6 internal 3.5” drive slots, the number drops severely. For gamers on an economy budget, this case is a really good choice. Internally, it is remarkably similar to the much more expensive Antec DF-30 case, and less than half the price, and the One Hundred actually has more expansion room. Unlike the more expensive options, it does not have hard drive cradles, removable cages, or a tooless design. Buyers should compare this case with the Cooler Master HAF 912. (Also reviewed here )
Antec One Hundred ConclusionIMPORTANT: Although the rating and final score mentioned in this conclusion are made to be as objective as possible, please be advised that every author perceives these factors differently at various points in time. The author's experience with the product may differ significantly from your own. While we each do our best to ensure that all aspects of the product are considered, there are often times unforeseen market conditions and manufacturer changes which occur after publication that could render our rating obsolete. Please do not base any purchase solely on our conclusion, as it represents our product rating specifically for the product tested which may differ from future versions. The One Hundred is a Sleek black case with a flawless paint job. The case has an attractive front Bezel, but lacks flashy LED fans. This may or may not be your preference, but having owned flashy LED loaded “curved” cases, I find flat cases to be more usable, and fewer LEDs to be less glaring. I found cooling to be remarkably adequate, although I did not do any formal thermal testing. And there's additional cooling capacity available should you decide to purchase after-market fans. However, I would have preferred for the case to have better filtration, with a PSU vent at the floor of the case, adjusting the case feet slightly for the airflow. The Antec One Hundred case is light-weight, strong and solid feeling. The overall construction quality of the case is top notch. The steel had no sharp edges, and openings had rolled edges, a feature usually found on more expensive cases. This case protects your system build, and does it with reserved class, and economy. You may have to rotate the 140 mm fan to re-route the wiring slightly. The four front USB ports are nicely spaced to avoid interference from adjacent devices. There's a total of 11 drive slots, (when you include the floppy), and 8 contiguous expansion slots, on par with some much bigger case designs. The cable routing options are very good. It would have been nice to have hard drive grommets for the 3.5” drives, instead of the SSD, that really does not require any. This would require a significant change in the cage design. Its very important to stress that this is an economy case, and as such, when looking at the "Cons", measure should be taken to determine just how important some of these are. For example, some buyers may be perfectly happy purchasing a replacement fan from Antec, or may not care about USB 3.0 port availability. Overall, for an ATX mid-tower computer enclosure that costs $49.99 at Newegg, this case is a very good deal and should be high on your list if you are shopping for an economy case. Pros:
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Comments
I'm not a fan of Antec tombs, but this one is pretty good except for one fatal flaw. I like the provision for two front fans. I love the oversize cpu window in the mb tray. The screw positions for the SSD is useless of course: SSD's attach very nicely with Velcro. No need for hardware.
Fatal flaw: like Lian Li, these guys are in love with rear position fans on top. Really, when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink than warm air from your case. So when the manufacturer provides only one fan position the system builder loses all flexibility.
I rate this case a "don't buy" despite its other nice features.
So how do you screw the Velcro onto the SSDs? (Glueing is of course not an option!)
"Fatal flaw: ... these guys are in love with rear position fans on top. Really, when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink..."
So you don't care about the temperatures at the graphics card?
With this case there's also a simple fix:
1. Add a cardboard divider horizontally above the graphics card to create two thermal zones.
2. Remove the top fan and cover that opening. (Now we have air moving horizontally through the top half of the case to cool down the CPU.)
3. Add a front intake fan or two, to add cooling for the graphics card and HDDs.
I think its an exaggeration to call this "fatal." Actually, I am not sure I can even say this is detrimental. But that involves this next statement:
Re: "when you have a top intake in the forward position you see a 3-5c temp drop: cool air from the outside is better for a cpu heatsink..."
Not sure what you mean by "forward position", can you give an example, of a case that has such a fan mounting in the forward position... as I am picturing this would be where most cases place the CD / DVD drives.
Also, please remember that Antec does not actually have a top "Intake", it has a top exhaust.
but many like myself have there PC underneath desks, which makes it rather awkward for getting to these fan controller switches.
Would it really add that much more in cost to run a couple of wires across the right side of the case to the front?
As for the complaintsd on the fans, in my own testing with stock cooling and then adding the two front fans I found the case cooled really well. I was able to push an overclock of a i5 2400 to 3.8 ghz and not move above 45C and my GTX 460 never gets above 60C at MAX load. If those are "FATAL" numbers then I know a lot of dead PCs.
Personally I found the case to be a great buy for the money. I love the fact they made the front panel cables long enough to easily route behind and cabale management as a whole is good for this price range.
My last $50 dollar case was the CoolerMaster 430-Elite Black, and while it's not one of their HAF (high air flow) cases, it's provided fans and the places that you can add more fans to, make it a great choice. I left both of my 120MM fan spaces on the top rear empty, they just were not needed. You can mount four 120MM fans and a 140MM as well if you need to. It has a bottom vent for the PSU and another bottom vent for another fan.
All in all this Antec case will do the job and it looks good. I'm not sure about no PSU bottom vent, they should change the design to include that.