Hello People,
I am back after a long time with a review. This time its Antec Three Hundred, a ATX Mid tower Cabinet. This cabinet is placed in the same family as the Nine Hundred and the Twelve Hundred, i.e the “Gamer Seriesâ€. This is the entry level enclosure in that series.
Let us see what this cabinet has for the targeted group.
[BREAK=Specification]
Specification
Type: ATX Mid Tower
Color: Black
[FONT="]Unit dimensions: [/FONT][FONT="]
• 18" (H) x 18.3" (D) x 8.1" (W)
• 45.8 (H) x 46.5 (D) x 20.5 cm (W) [/FONT]
[FONT="] Weight:
• Net: 7.2kg
• Gross: 8.5kg[/FONT]
Power Supply: Not provided
[FONT="]Motherboard Compatibility: ATX [/FONT]
Side Panel Window: No
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
9 Drive Bays:
• External 3 x 5.25"
• Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
I/O ports
• 2 x USB 2.0
• HDA & AC’97 Audio In and Out
[BREAK=Packaging and Content]
Packaging and Content
The cabinet comes in a cardboard box with a very neat graphics. The front part shows the cabinet and the rear lists down the Specification along with the pictures of the cabinet. The Cabinet is enclosed by two thermocol foam and a polythene cover.
The cabinet comes with very minimal content a set of screws, set of thumb screws and a manual.
[BREAK=Closer Look]
Closer Look
This mid tower comes with a neat appearance. The cabinet is fully made of steel, the finish is good, and so is the overall quality of the material. The cabinet is not so heavy at all, just 8.5 Kg. The PSU mount is at the bottom of the cabinet. The front IO panel & the power & reset button is located in the top of the front panel. It comes with the usual USB ports and audio input connectivity. Lack of eSata port is a let down here.
The front panel sports a perforated bezel in the fan area, its covered by washable air filters . Two 120mm fan can be installed in the front as intake. The entire front panel can be removed very easily, once removed the 120 fan cages are exposed.
The top of the case ports a 140mm TriCool fan, this fan can push out the hot air at 94.6 CFM, it isn’t noisy either and the rated noise level is 31.8dBA.
The side panel has a provision for a 120mm fan. The side panel opens and closes in a swing type method, I prefer this as its very easy use compared to the slide method used in most of the cabinets.
The rear is like any other normal cabinets, comes with a pre installed 120mm TriCool fan rated 79 CFM @ 2000 RPM and 30dBA. There are 7 expansion slots.
The cabinet comes with 4 rubber feet.
[BREAK=Inside Look]
Inside Look
The interior of the cabinet has a decent amount of space to fit in most of the hardware components. The Hard Drive bay is fitted in a conventional way, the drives can be fastened by using the provided thumb screws. Maximum of 6 HDDs can be installed, but if the GPU is too long(eg.8800GTX) the HDD cannot be placed in the slot next to the GPU. The PSU is mounted in the bottom of the case , but i didn’t find any foam or rubber feet in the PSU area to dampen the vibration of the power supply, kind of disappointed in this.
For routing the cable, as we can see from the picture there is a decent amount of space behind the HDD tray, the cables can be secured in that place using the cable ties. That is a neat accommodation for the cables. Decent amount of cable management can be done in this cabinet.
No screwless design in this cabinet is another let down because I find most of the cabinets these days sporting that design.
The placement of the fans in this cabinet is great and i prefer these placements. The front intake fans does a great job cooling the hard drives and there are enough space between two drives to let the air reach the motherboard and other components. There is no block between the fan and the hard drive as you can see in this pic.
[BREAK=Installation , Thermal Performance & Cable Management]
Installation , Thermal Performance & Cable Management
I had to do two different component installations in this cabinet. First is to check the thermal performance and another one for cable management.
Test Setup:
Intel e7200
Asus P5N-MX (m-ATX)
2GB DDr2 Ram
ATI X1900XT
Hitachi 320GB & Seagate 160 GB 7200.9
Antec TP Quattro 850
Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm fan- Front Intake
Antec TriLed 120mm – Side Intake
Installing the above components were easy, I made sure no cables interfere with the airflow. Thanks to the thumbs screws installing the hard drives were as easy installing them in a tray and sliding it.
Thermal Performance:
The thermal performance is good, especially that of the HDD temp. We used one intake in the front and another one in the side panel (78 CFM+ 56 CFM respectively). Exhaust is the TriCool fans in the rear and the top (79 CFM + 94 CFM respectively).
Cable Management Setup:
Since the motherboard in the test setup is a m-ATX board. We decided choose to show the cable management with an ATX board.
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
DFI NF4 Ultra-D
X1900XT
Hitachi 320GB & Seagate 160 GB 7200.9
Antec TP Quattro 850
No Ram
As you can see from the pictures, I have routed the cables in the space behind the Hard Drive cage. A very good airflow can be guaranteed in this cabinet.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
CONCLUSION
Finally the concluding part of this review.
Pricing
The Antec Three Hundred officially costs Rs.3950. The pricing has to be little more aggressive to take on the competition.
-Pros:
Good quality Steel & Finish
Inclusion of two TriCool Fans
Very good cooling system
Provision for two Front Intake Fans
Easy installation of HDDs thanks to the included Thumb Screws
Easy removal of Front Bezel and side panels
Washable air filters
Decent Cable management capabilities
-Cons:
Not a screw-less design
No eSata connectivity
No dampening in the PSU area
Pricing
Warranty Information : A standard 1 Year warranty is provided for this cabinet.
Our thanks to Mr.Shunmugavel of Cyber Space Abacus Pvt. Ltd for providing us with the cabinet and other components.
I am back after a long time with a review. This time its Antec Three Hundred, a ATX Mid tower Cabinet. This cabinet is placed in the same family as the Nine Hundred and the Twelve Hundred, i.e the “Gamer Seriesâ€. This is the entry level enclosure in that series.
Let us see what this cabinet has for the targeted group.
[BREAK=Specification]
Specification
Type: ATX Mid Tower
Color: Black
[FONT="]Unit dimensions: [/FONT][FONT="]
• 18" (H) x 18.3" (D) x 8.1" (W)
• 45.8 (H) x 46.5 (D) x 20.5 cm (W) [/FONT]
[FONT="] Weight:
• Net: 7.2kg
• Gross: 8.5kg[/FONT]
Power Supply: Not provided
[FONT="]Motherboard Compatibility: ATX [/FONT]
Side Panel Window: No
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
9 Drive Bays:
• External 3 x 5.25"
• Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
I/O ports
• 2 x USB 2.0
• HDA & AC’97 Audio In and Out
[BREAK=Packaging and Content]
Packaging and Content
The cabinet comes in a cardboard box with a very neat graphics. The front part shows the cabinet and the rear lists down the Specification along with the pictures of the cabinet. The Cabinet is enclosed by two thermocol foam and a polythene cover.
The cabinet comes with very minimal content a set of screws, set of thumb screws and a manual.
[BREAK=Closer Look]
Closer Look
This mid tower comes with a neat appearance. The cabinet is fully made of steel, the finish is good, and so is the overall quality of the material. The cabinet is not so heavy at all, just 8.5 Kg. The PSU mount is at the bottom of the cabinet. The front IO panel & the power & reset button is located in the top of the front panel. It comes with the usual USB ports and audio input connectivity. Lack of eSata port is a let down here.
The front panel sports a perforated bezel in the fan area, its covered by washable air filters . Two 120mm fan can be installed in the front as intake. The entire front panel can be removed very easily, once removed the 120 fan cages are exposed.
The top of the case ports a 140mm TriCool fan, this fan can push out the hot air at 94.6 CFM, it isn’t noisy either and the rated noise level is 31.8dBA.
The side panel has a provision for a 120mm fan. The side panel opens and closes in a swing type method, I prefer this as its very easy use compared to the slide method used in most of the cabinets.
The rear is like any other normal cabinets, comes with a pre installed 120mm TriCool fan rated 79 CFM @ 2000 RPM and 30dBA. There are 7 expansion slots.
The cabinet comes with 4 rubber feet.
[BREAK=Inside Look]
Inside Look
The interior of the cabinet has a decent amount of space to fit in most of the hardware components. The Hard Drive bay is fitted in a conventional way, the drives can be fastened by using the provided thumb screws. Maximum of 6 HDDs can be installed, but if the GPU is too long(eg.8800GTX) the HDD cannot be placed in the slot next to the GPU. The PSU is mounted in the bottom of the case , but i didn’t find any foam or rubber feet in the PSU area to dampen the vibration of the power supply, kind of disappointed in this.
For routing the cable, as we can see from the picture there is a decent amount of space behind the HDD tray, the cables can be secured in that place using the cable ties. That is a neat accommodation for the cables. Decent amount of cable management can be done in this cabinet.
No screwless design in this cabinet is another let down because I find most of the cabinets these days sporting that design.
The placement of the fans in this cabinet is great and i prefer these placements. The front intake fans does a great job cooling the hard drives and there are enough space between two drives to let the air reach the motherboard and other components. There is no block between the fan and the hard drive as you can see in this pic.
[BREAK=Installation , Thermal Performance & Cable Management]
Installation , Thermal Performance & Cable Management
I had to do two different component installations in this cabinet. First is to check the thermal performance and another one for cable management.
Test Setup:
Intel e7200
Asus P5N-MX (m-ATX)
2GB DDr2 Ram
ATI X1900XT
Hitachi 320GB & Seagate 160 GB 7200.9
Antec TP Quattro 850
Thermaltake Thunderblade 120mm fan- Front Intake
Antec TriLed 120mm – Side Intake
Installing the above components were easy, I made sure no cables interfere with the airflow. Thanks to the thumbs screws installing the hard drives were as easy installing them in a tray and sliding it.
Thermal Performance:
The thermal performance is good, especially that of the HDD temp. We used one intake in the front and another one in the side panel (78 CFM+ 56 CFM respectively). Exhaust is the TriCool fans in the rear and the top (79 CFM + 94 CFM respectively).
Cable Management Setup:
Since the motherboard in the test setup is a m-ATX board. We decided choose to show the cable management with an ATX board.
AMD Athlon 64 3000+
DFI NF4 Ultra-D
X1900XT
Hitachi 320GB & Seagate 160 GB 7200.9
Antec TP Quattro 850
No Ram
As you can see from the pictures, I have routed the cables in the space behind the Hard Drive cage. A very good airflow can be guaranteed in this cabinet.
[BREAK=Conclusion]
CONCLUSION
Finally the concluding part of this review.
Pricing
The Antec Three Hundred officially costs Rs.3950. The pricing has to be little more aggressive to take on the competition.
-Pros:
Good quality Steel & Finish
Inclusion of two TriCool Fans
Very good cooling system
Provision for two Front Intake Fans
Easy installation of HDDs thanks to the included Thumb Screws
Easy removal of Front Bezel and side panels
Washable air filters
Decent Cable management capabilities
-Cons:
Not a screw-less design
No eSata connectivity
No dampening in the PSU area
Pricing
Warranty Information : A standard 1 Year warranty is provided for this cabinet.
Our thanks to Mr.Shunmugavel of Cyber Space Abacus Pvt. Ltd for providing us with the cabinet and other components.
Detailed review and crisp images 
