Antec Nine Hundred Two: Second Generation Gamer Case
by Christoph Katzer on February 13, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Comparison
With everything installed, let's take a look at one of the more important aspects of any case: cooling performance and acoustic noise.
Noise levels are good but not spectacular. We have definitely seen better cases when it comes to keeping things quiet, but we have also seen worse designs. As expected, high fan speeds increase noise levels quite a bit. It's also worth mentioning that the fans that Antec includes are not particularly quiet; purchasing fans from a different vendor noticeably reduced noise levels.
Temperatures are quite good overall, particularly the hard drive and ambient temperatures. We tested with the fans set to both low and high speed, and as expected the temperatures are generally lower at high fan speeds. However, it's interesting to note that CPU temperatures actually increased at the higher fan speed, potentially indicating a problem with airflow at that setting. Now let's see how this case compares to other cases when it comes to proper cooling.
Note: The first column is the CPU temperature, the second represents the graphics cards, the third is for the hard drives, and the last one is the ambient temperature.
Note: The first column is the CPU temperature, the second represents the graphics cards, the third is for the hard drives, and the last one is the ambient temperature.
Temperatures are very important when comparing different cases. Naturally, some cases are larger or smaller, but in terms of raw cooling performance the Nine Hundred Two is near the top of the charts. Again, keep in mind that we are using a high-end build with a quad-core CPU and three of the hottest graphics cards around -- not your typical setup. We will add a midrange system in the near future in order to provide additional performance insight.
The idle temperatures are the lowest of any of the tested cases; only Antec Skeleton offers a lower ambient system temperature, but you would expect that from the "open" design. The Silverstone FT01 and Raven along with the Antec Skeleton also offer better CPU temperatures. Moving to the load tests, overall performance drops somewhat, with a CPU temperature that is higher than everything but the rather old Silverstone TJ10. GPU temperatures are near the top, with hard drive and ambient temperatures clearly benefiting the most from the cooling design.
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IvanAndreevich - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850(Quad-core 3.0GHz, 2x6MB L2, 1333FSB)
It's 2x4MB L2 ;)
v1001 - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
My brother has this case. It's hideous. I about laughed when I saw it. I just bought this super small shuttle case that is very cool and quiet and fits anywhere. He gets this monster and it's HUGE. I mean really HUGE and loud. Totally out of place in his living room. At first I seriously thought he had like this big ugly guitar amp sitting next to his desk. I was like "what the hell did you get this for?? This isn't 2001 anymore! We don't have super hot CPU's, they run super cool and can fit in any tight case with minimal fans now!". I made him turn all the fans down though so at least it was quiet. Which the temp never budged because it was overkill anyway. With all the fans down and really not needed it tells you that it's all pointless anyway.bruf - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Any case recommendations for long gfx card (GTX or Radeon X2) from Antec or other manufacturers which sport the same minimalist/conservative design? I really like my Antec Solo case, but it doesn't fit the new high-end gfx cards from nVidia & ATI...Thx,
Christoph Katzer - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
If you don't have too many drives take this one ;)just4U - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I'd love to see a revamped Lanboy.. It wouldn't have to be called that just based around some of it's design. All aluminum, (black would be nice) Top mounted PSU, Side drive cages (i was a fan of those) Front and back 120mm fans (hell make them bigger if they want It would be a fatter case tho) Just make sure they have a mesh for cleaning. Perhaps a removable MB tray (wishful thinking) Normal full view window. All in all I think that thing would sell like hotcakes.greywood - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I did a build based on the original Antec 900 case; worst choice of case I've made in years! I wanted to build a good gaming rig that would also be quiet - not! Config is: Intel E8500, 4Gb Ram, 2 DVD's 2 HDD's, single ATI 4780 512 Mb video. I had to relegate the thing to use as a "guest" machine. Sounds like a bloody 727 on takeoff.7Enigma - Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - link
Then just do what I do. I have an older TitanS case which uses 2 120mm fans but is still not that quiet. I keep it under my desk and have the floor underneath with carpet, some foam on the underside of the desk that you can't see unless you are under there, and foam behind the LCD monitor and attached to the wall behind the case. Nothing obstructs airflow or traps heat, it just significantly helps at absorbing sound that would otherwise reflect up to the user and be unbearable.The0ne - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I've built a few computers using the old 900 and they're not loud; the fans that is. You should determine what this "loud" is coming from other than just putting everything in and saying the case is loud. It's one of the quieter cases out there but still doesn't compare to 180's.pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
fwiw, mine's not bad at all (quieter than vaio laptop when idle).5200+ (89w), 4gb, 2dvds, 2hdds, 3850.
Every fan's on low (two front, top, rear, 2x psu 80mms), hsf's at 1000rpm, and it's perfectly fine. Only the HSF gets pretty loud when it ramps up, but idle temps are 24C so it's all good. I figure if I remove a front fan and either the top or rear it's gonne be quiet enough for most people.
pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
About the GC space and cages sticking out the front; this is actually doable without too much hastle.Just shunt *all* the front devices forward a little; it shouldn't look abnormal at all as the sides, front and bottom overlap quite a lot (at least on the original 900). If that doesn't give you room, you can just remove the three front bezels from the front fan adaptor and move it even further forward. You loose the uniform look, but if you screw on a fan filter (black, or in my case chrome) to the front of the fan holder it covers the fan up and gives an almost normal looking front. You'll also wanna fill in the gaps in the side of the fan holder (left after removing the bezels), just some black electrical tape over some card cut to the right side works for me. This has given me enough space to fit an ide cable in behind a GC / power connector (angled towards the front of the case).