Introduction:

Antec Three Hundred Mini-Tower Case

Most people reading this should be familiar with Antec, they make some of the most popular cases out there. I’ve reviewed the “Minuet”, I’ve bought Antec cases and power supplies for my own use.  Simple or flashy, they have a large selection of cases for gamers/servers/htpc and everything in between.

Retail box

Features

Message to buyer

I’m going to have to admit something off the start. I wasn’t expecting much with the 300. When I was sent the press pictures and a brief description, my first thoughts were “Oh, this should be simple”.  I mean it’s a really basic case, no extras, hell. It doesn’t even come with a power supply right?

Opened up

Manual

Plastic cover

All I had to say when I opened it up and took a look at it was “ARRRGH”. This is the most complex simple case I’ve ever seen. And to top it off, it takes the cake as the most difficult case (anything) I’ve attempted to photograph too. Black with a nice shade of shiny black, and a nice colorful black mesh, my camera hates me.

Right now I’ll spam you with Antec’s list of features for the 300.

Features:

No Power Supply included:

• To optimize performance of your Three Hundred, your choice of power supply is crucial. Antec strongly recommends choosing from our NeoPower or TruePower series.

9 Drive Bays:

• External 3 x 5.25"

• Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD

Cooling System:

• 1 rear 120 x 25 mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed switch control.

• 1 top special 140 x 25 mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed switch control

• 2 front (optional) 120 mm fans to cool the hard drives

• 1 side (Optional) 120 x 25 mm Fan to cool graphic cards

Washable air filters reduces dust build up in your system, which helps keep your system cooler

Perforated front bezel for maximum air intake

7 expansion slots

Top mounted I/O ports for easy access

• 2 x USB 2.0

• HDA & AC’97 Audio In and Out

Unit dimensions:

• 18" (H) x 18.3" (D) x 8.1" (W)

• 45.8 (H) x 46.5 (D) x 20.5 cm (W)

Weight:

• Net: 15.9lbs / 7.2kg

• Gross: 18.7lbs / 8.5kg

A Closer Look:

When I opened the packing, Antec had included a notice, explaining that they have had some quality control issues with some of their 120mm “tricool” fans. And instead of opening and testing every case, they just included a spare fan. I think no one can fault them for that. More than likely, it just means you get an extra fan to use wherever you want, mine worked just fine.

Quality control

Very clean

Antec

After getting at the case, the 140mm fan mounted on top is what draws your attention. It has 11 blades instead of the normal 7 or 5 that 120mm fans have. Of course, as a general rule, the larger the fan, the slower it has to spin to push the same amount of air, and slower fans are quieter fans. It’s got the same 3 speed control switch that comes with the 120mm fans.

It's really black

DVD covers

USB/audio ports

Next thing to notice is the front bezel. It has a very complex looking mesh of different layers for airflow. In that mesh, is a removable air filter, designed to be washable with water. It will be a while before I know exactly how well the filter works.

Air filter

Front frame

Fan doors open

 

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