Antec Nine Hundred Two: Second Generation Gamer Case
by Christoph Katzer on February 13, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Inside
Two thumbscrews secure the side panels, providing easy access to the internals. As stated earlier, the interior is painted black, making this the perfect case for any Goths. This isn't really a huge deal, however, and you really can't see much of the interior once all of your components are installed and the side panels are back in place. Still, it does add a little something extra when you're looking through the window into the lit up interior.
Similar to many recent high-end cases, the power supply is located at the bottom of the chassis. There are four small rubber grommets at the bottom where the power supply will be installed, which can help reduce case vibrations and noise. There are also two rubber covers on the back that are useful for anyone looking at using external water cooling. You can pass tubes through these holes to an external radiator and/or reservoir.
The case includes two hard drive cages, each supporting three drives, initially installed in the middle and bottom locations. The bottom cage includes a 120mm fan, and you can install an optional 120mm fan on the other drive cages -- although it's probably not necessary from a cooling standpoint. Note that if you want to use more than three optical drives (Ed: Umm… why?), you'll need to remove one of the drive cages. That shouldn't be a problem for most users, unless you want to start up some sort of CD/DVD/BRD duplication factory.
Overall, the Nine Hundred Two is pretty close to actual ATX case specifications. Other than the power supply not being at the top, the cooling arrangement is pretty much standard fare. Air enters through the front of the chassis (passing through air filters) and cools the graphics cards, hard drives, etc. The top 200mm fan and rear 120mm fan serve as the exhaust, providing what should be more than adequate cooling. If you need or want more case fans, you can add a 120mm fan behind the second hard drive cage, along with another 120mm fan above the expansion slots.
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7Enigma - Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - link
Circular swirling of hot air stuck inside the case? Doesn't make a lot of sense with the huge 200mm exhaust fan at the top but I guess anything is possible when you cram 3 large graphics cards and multiple HD/opticals in there. I did a double take when I saw the open case shot with everything installed. It looked like a mini-ATX!!!Christoph Katzer - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Nope,volgagerman - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Any chance we'll see a review of the Cooler Master HAF932 on this site? It seems to offer the best possible cooling at the moment, if you can get past the military data center look. Just curious as to how it would compare with the rest of your current lineup from a temp/acoustic perspective.sonci - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Not surprised that is a good cooling case, tons of fans without dust filters, certainly not for my living room..Zak - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I'm actually running an older CM Stacker with lots of fans and no filters and due to large positive pressure very little dust accumulates inside. It can be done. Z.7Enigma - Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - link
Does....Not....Compute....Unless you have a filter on the intake fan(s), there is no way you are not accumulating dust inside unless that is a jet engine on the intake side that prevents any dust from settling. I'll agree if you have adequate positive pressure on a FILTERED intake you will see very little dust in the system. But if you are telling me you have zero filtration, I just don't see it being possible unless you're in a cleanroom.
fri2219 - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Kind of defeats the purpose of the fans.I guess they surmised that if you put enough plastic windows and blinking lights on it, you'd be able to sell a bowl of tapeworms to you average WoWTard.
Bonesdad - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I think it's pretty hideous...MamiyaOtaru - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Looks better than the original 900 IMHO. That slanted front was hideous. I don't mind this one at all, though I wish the pastic accents would go.Nfarce - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I suppose. I think it's pretty cool looking. Apparently the "in" thing right now for cases is military stealth-type design with angular references. Kinda like something you'd see in a futuristic Sci-Fi flick.