Antec Nine Hundred Two: Second Generation Gamer Case
by Christoph Katzer on February 13, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
We have already looked at quite a few cases from Antec, including the extremely popular P160, the follow-up P182, and the Three Hundred. We didn't get a chance to test the Nine Hundred or the Twelve Hundred, but today we're looking at the successor to the Nine Hundred: the Antec Nine Hundred Two. The appearance has changed a little and it does include some new features, but it retains many similarities with its predecessor, including the nine front 5.25" drive bays.
The focus of this chassis is clearly on the gaming market, where users want maximum performance but still desire a case that's easy enough to carry to LAN parties. The Antec Three Hundred impressed us with a smaller chassis and simple but effective features, and while it's somewhat larger we expect very good things from the Nine Hundred Two as well. Let's start with a look at the specifications for the chassis, then we'll take a closer look at its appearance, internal design, ease of use, and performance.
| Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Formfactor | ATX, Micro ATX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 9x 5,25" (1x 3,5" cover) |
| Internal | 6x 3,5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 2x 120mm intake |
| Rear | 1x 120mm exhaust | |
| Top | 1x 200mm exhaust | |
| Side | 1x 120mm (Optional) | |
| Bottom | - | |
| Expansion Slots | 8 | |
| Front I/O Port | 2x USB, 1x Audio, 1x Micro, 1x eSATA | |
| Power Supply Size | Standard ATX | |
| Weight | 11,5kg | |
| Dimensions | 218 x 493 x 472 (WxHxD in mm) | |
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pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
forgot to say, this also allows you to clean the filters much more easily (ala p180). another bonus for me :)pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
ohhhh, antec antec antec! what have you done! ok, ignore the above, 900 two only has single circular holes, so looks like you can only mount any screws at the front in limited positions. the original has regular long sliding holes so you can screw front drives / bezels in at any position. i spose you could always drill some more...AstroGuardian - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
This case is not as good as you say it is. The temperatures are the lowest during the first week of usage. After a week the case is filled with dust and fibers and it creates a risk of overheating of components especially hard drives.I think it's quite stupid that Antec do not put filters behind the front plates. If anyone enjoys opening the case and disassembling the PC just to clear out the tons of dust, than this case is just for you
pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
900 two has front filters behind the front fans (and side); only the original 900 lacked them. Although they're easy to add even on the original (see my post below).slashbinslashbash - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Why has nobody managed to improve upon the original gamer case, the Antec Dragon, aka Chieftec Dragon, aka Antec SX1040, etc? I bought mine like 8 years ago and I still haven't gotten a new case, because I look at the other cases and think "my Dragon has more room than this, and is better constructed!" I'm not an xxxtreme overclocker, so I really don't care about cooling that much. The 2 rear 80m fans in my Dragon work just fine.Things I love about my Dragon: A) Tons of room; B) Easy to customize front bezel LED's; C) removable HDD trays and nicely designed optical drive sleds; D) a huge window; E) nice color choices (I have mine in blue and it still looks better than 90% of cases out there); F) Sturdy as hell (I sit on it all the time); G) nice sturdy latch and nicely-opening side door (no stupid little slots that you have to line up). It still blows my mind that nobody offers a case with all these things, and more. It is big enough to fit all of the HDD's and a long video card, but I have do have to take out the video card to remove the HDD trays. In that respect, something with sideways-inserted HDD's would be better. I also with it had workable front USB, FW, and audio. (I know some later Dragons had these features, mine does not.) Other than those things, there is not much to improve on this design which has been around since roughly 2000. If Antec still sold the exact same case, I would buy it again now, no doubt.
JeBarr - Saturday, February 14, 2009 - link
Yep, the egg still sells chieftec dragon for 100 bucks and worth every penny IMO.Zak - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
The same reason I'm sticking to my aging, slightly moded CM Stacker 810. With two overclocked 285s, overclocked i7 and 12 hard drives it's cool and nearly silent and still there is room to add more stuff. Except for looks I don't see any better cases out there now in the <$200 range. Heck, even among the expensive ones there isn't anything appealing. I like that behemoth ABS Canyon case but some strange design decisions were made and IMHO it has a few deal-breaking problems, in particular considering the price. The Raven is a nice attempt at innovation, but fails in many areas. We're still using cases that pretty much have the same layout and features as they had 10 years ago.Z.
direfox - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Awesome photography! Its hard to get good pictures of all black objects but you guys did a great job and I finally get to see what the case really looks like.cactusdog - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Do it got Emails?Its ok but not my style.
hob196 - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
How come the Idle System temperatures get higher when the fan's running faster? Is this a chart snafu?