Let me first say that I've used antec products before and been happy until now. With that being said, I am very disappointed with this product.
Pros: nice big fan, hard drive mount is cool, nice looking case, like the USB ports on the front.
Cons: as others have pointed out, the port screen on the rear will not fit in the case the way it should. The box was manufactured slighty askew it would seem. This small problem will keep your motherboard from lining up properly with the riser holes. Once you get the motherboard mounted, hope that you have a motherboard with power connections close to the PSU. I installed a Sapphire Pure Fusion E350 mobo only to find that the 18 pin to 24 pin power connector was not long enough to reach the mobo plug. I then tried to install a Zotac IONITX-G-E mobo. Yet again, the power cord could not reach the mobo port because it was not long enough. The power cable will not reach across the case, so pick your mobo carefully! I did have an old Intel D510MO that I installed just to see if the power cable would work. The cable did work with the Intel D510MO, so there are mobos out there that should work with this case...
I can overlook a small defect, however I wasted hours on this case only to find that the power cable would not connect to my motherboard because of length. I was ok with the rear screen defect, but I can't overlook the power cable. If the power cable had reached, it would not have reached the hard drive on the other side of the mobo. I will be returning this case immediately and try to get a refund. This is a subpar product in my opinion and should not be purchased without doing your research.
Reviews with images
I could be more impressed
My sentiments mirror comments made by other reviewers. It is a good quality product, however, I would have expected better from Antec.1. I am using a Zotac GF9300-K-E and the first thing I had to do was remove the front 4 port USB module permanently - because it is in the absolute worst location butting up against the motherboard's power supply connector.2. I emailed Antec a few days ago because I was concerned that the stock cpu heat sink/fan might be too tall for the case and asked what the clearance was so I could begin looking for a third party low profile alternative. Antec responded to just use the stock heat sink/fan from the CPU vendor. Well, sure enough, the E5700 heat sink/fan was too tall by about 1/8 inch bumping up against the case fan directly above it preventing closing the case.3. The design of the case could easily be made more flexible to allow re-orientation of the grill/fan. However, they put a different number of metal tabs/slots along each side which hold it in place and varied their spacing on each side so it is not possible to turn to put the fan in a better position. I look at this item as something so silly - because it was a stupid design decision. The side of the case is a square as is the grill plate. It can easily be dismantled and the tabs undone so you can better orient it - what a wonderful/flexible design it would have been. Why would the manufacturer design themselves into a corner making it so inflexible?4. The mini itx GF9300-K-E does fit in the case nice and snuggly, and between the case fan and the cpu heat sink/fan the CPU and graphics chip are kept at a nice constant temperature with good airflow.I would hope Antec learns from the ISK100 and does a better job on the next version of it.Update:The locking tabs of the molding for the stand (at least mine) are backwards for the case. Inserting the way the picture shows (since nothing in the manual states otherwise) to have the front higher than the back (looks a bit odd reversed) the tabs cannot slide into place because of the metal internal casing preventing movement. The tabs slide in to place if you turn the stand around, but then the screw hole to lock it in place does not line up and the back is higher than the front. Clearly, another design or manufacturing mistake.Update 2:Regarding Update 1 - it is an issue of the rear tab not being long enough to get over the metal inner casing. The front tab is ok and will go in and lock into place with a little pressure keeping the rear tab outside. It works and the case is stable, however still not 100% or as intended.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 17, 2011
My sentiments mirror comments made by other reviewers. It is a good quality product, however, I would have expected better from Antec.
1. I am using a Zotac GF9300-K-E and the first thing I had to do was remove the front 4 port USB module permanently - because it is in the absolute worst location butting up against the motherboard's power supply connector.
2. I emailed Antec a few days ago because I was concerned that the stock cpu heat sink/fan might be too tall for the case and asked what the clearance was so I could begin looking for a third party low profile alternative. Antec responded to just use the stock heat sink/fan from the CPU vendor. Well, sure enough, the E5700 heat sink/fan was too tall by about 1/8 inch bumping up against the case fan directly above it preventing closing the case.
3. The design of the case could easily be made more flexible to allow re-orientation of the grill/fan. However, they put a different number of metal tabs/slots along each side which hold it in place and varied their spacing on each side so it is not possible to turn to put the fan in a better position. I look at this item as something so silly - because it was a stupid design decision. The side of the case is a square as is the grill plate. It can easily be dismantled and the tabs undone so you can better orient it - what a wonderful/flexible design it would have been. Why would the manufacturer design themselves into a corner making it so inflexible?
4. The mini itx GF9300-K-E does fit in the case nice and snuggly, and between the case fan and the cpu heat sink/fan the CPU and graphics chip are kept at a nice constant temperature with good airflow.
I would hope Antec learns from the ISK100 and does a better job on the next version of it.
Update:
The locking tabs of the molding for the stand (at least mine) are backwards for the case. Inserting the way the picture shows (since nothing in the manual states otherwise) to have the front higher than the back (looks a bit odd reversed) the tabs cannot slide into place because of the metal internal casing preventing movement. The tabs slide in to place if you turn the stand around, but then the screw hole to lock it in place does not line up and the back is higher than the front. Clearly, another design or manufacturing mistake.
Update 2:
Regarding Update 1 - it is an issue of the rear tab not being long enough to get over the metal inner casing. The front tab is ok and will go in and lock into place with a little pressure keeping the rear tab outside. It works and the case is stable, however still not 100% or as intended.
1. I am using a Zotac GF9300-K-E and the first thing I had to do was remove the front 4 port USB module permanently - because it is in the absolute worst location butting up against the motherboard's power supply connector.
2. I emailed Antec a few days ago because I was concerned that the stock cpu heat sink/fan might be too tall for the case and asked what the clearance was so I could begin looking for a third party low profile alternative. Antec responded to just use the stock heat sink/fan from the CPU vendor. Well, sure enough, the E5700 heat sink/fan was too tall by about 1/8 inch bumping up against the case fan directly above it preventing closing the case.
3. The design of the case could easily be made more flexible to allow re-orientation of the grill/fan. However, they put a different number of metal tabs/slots along each side which hold it in place and varied their spacing on each side so it is not possible to turn to put the fan in a better position. I look at this item as something so silly - because it was a stupid design decision. The side of the case is a square as is the grill plate. It can easily be dismantled and the tabs undone so you can better orient it - what a wonderful/flexible design it would have been. Why would the manufacturer design themselves into a corner making it so inflexible?
4. The mini itx GF9300-K-E does fit in the case nice and snuggly, and between the case fan and the cpu heat sink/fan the CPU and graphics chip are kept at a nice constant temperature with good airflow.
I would hope Antec learns from the ISK100 and does a better job on the next version of it.
Update:
The locking tabs of the molding for the stand (at least mine) are backwards for the case. Inserting the way the picture shows (since nothing in the manual states otherwise) to have the front higher than the back (looks a bit odd reversed) the tabs cannot slide into place because of the metal internal casing preventing movement. The tabs slide in to place if you turn the stand around, but then the screw hole to lock it in place does not line up and the back is higher than the front. Clearly, another design or manufacturing mistake.
Update 2:
Regarding Update 1 - it is an issue of the rear tab not being long enough to get over the metal inner casing. The front tab is ok and will go in and lock into place with a little pressure keeping the rear tab outside. It works and the case is stable, however still not 100% or as intended.
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Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2011
