Inside:

The HD cage has a removable top so that you can insert your hard drives with ease. There are also silicone grommets on either side of the hard drive cage to reduce your hard drive’s noise level by eliminating the vibrations of the drive. I can verify this works as I could detect no HD noise when the case was powered on. The optical drive bay is a removable cage that you pull up to release and be able to access the drives. The optical drive cage is easily removed due to its tool-free design. The 2 pre-installed fans are 120mm TriCool. The two fans are located at the side of the case next to the CPU. This arrangement pulls the hot air directly off your CPU and exhausts it before it has a chance to circulate and heat up the case. Once again great ventilation engineering on Antec’s part. Each of the fans is powered via a 4-pin molex connector and features a fan setting switch. While this allows the user to chose the desired fan setting of Low, Medium and High. The case also features great built in cable management options. Positioned in the most effective places possible to produce the best results, you can see a whole host of cut out holes and a selection of cable ties.

The Antec Fusion Black 430 Media Center case has a 430watt power supply included. The power supply has a 20+4 pin power connector, one 4-pin connector, six molex connectors, two SATA connectors, and one PCI-E connector. The included PSU is compliant with the ATX12V version 2.01 specification. It features universal input, Active PFC, dual 12V output rails and a single 80mm fan. PFC improves the power factor of the power supply. This yields increased energy efficiency, reduced heat loss, prolonged life for power distribution and consumption equipment, and improved output voltage stability.

Installation:

Since this case only supports the M-Atx form factor, the standoffs already are in place for motherboard installation. Next, to install hard drives, unscrew the top of the hard drive cage and insert your hard drives parallel to the front face plate. Once installed, place the top back onto the hard drive cage and screw it securely into place. The optical installation is just as easy. Remove the optical drive cage and insert your drive. Screw it securely into place and put the cage back where it belongs. However, you can only have one optical drive because there is only one door for the tray to come out. The last to do is hook up all of the power connectors and connect the LCD and front panel connectors to the motherboard. My cable routing was pretty quick and messy, but even so you can see how this case provides a clean layout. Make use of the provide cable ties throughout the case, as they will insure the cables stay out of fan blades.

The Fusion Black features a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) which is compatible with Microsoft MCE / Vista, and comes with a built in IR receiver and volume control. The basic readouts are System Information, Media Information, E-mail Check, Daily News, Weather Report and a Graphic Equalizer. There are two options available when it comes to connection of the LCD display: via a standard USB plug which can be run through one of the PCI slots out the back of the case, or connect the LCD display to one of the USB header pins on your motherboard. Make sure to run the driver CD or else the display will not function.

Conclusion:

The Antec Fusion Black 430 media center case excels in a lot of ways. First, I was impressed by the professional, slick, but not overstated look of the case. It really comes off as a receiver at first glance. The LCD panel is something you don’t normally see on most home theater PC enclosures and was a nice addition. The LCD screen is customizable to a point but can’t deviate from the preset options. The preset options in the LCD software are extensive though, allowing you to display your system information, news feeds, email alerts, date, time, and much more.

The three chambers within the case are spacious and really make everything easier to organize. All around the case you’ll find vents which allow the heat in the chambers to disperse. With the slick looks of the case, unique interior that performs quite well, LCD panel, volume knob and sturdiness of this case, I would without question recommend this case to anyone looking for a high quality home theater PC enclosure.

There are only two things that I feel could be improved on, the lack of compatibility for standard sized ATX motherboards and no cable wrapping on the PSU. Other than these two issues I personally feel Antec have produced a winner with the Fusion Black Media Case.  Thanks to Antec for providing this review sample. Go get yours from Newegg today.

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