Antec Nine Hundred Two: Second Generation Gamer Case
by Christoph Katzer on February 13, 2009 3:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Conclusion
The Nine Hundred Two doesn't come with many features to really separate it from other offerings, but it's still a good design overall. You get a conservative yet attractive design, with an all-black interior and exterior. Performance is very good, especially in terms of ambient and hard drive temperatures on high-end systems. CPU and GPU cooling is also good, but not at the top of the charts.
Installing our system was generally straightforward, although we ran into problems with our choice of graphics card and the hard drive cages. You will want to carefully consider what sort of components you plan on utilizing before purchasing this case; we definitely don't recommend it for anyone using longer graphics cards.
One feature that we definitely liked with the ability to control fan speeds of all of the fans from the case exterior. That makes it very easy to utilize this case to increase fan speeds when you plan on playing a game that will stress the system more, but you can turn fan speeds back down when you're finished.
At present, only one version of this case is available, and that version includes a windowed side panel. Current prices start at around $140 -- $160 at Newegg. European users just began receiving the first shipments last week, with prices starting at €105 and averaging €115. Given the newness of this case, however, we expect to see prices drop somewhat before production and supply stabilize.
What's the bottom line? The Antec Nine Hundred Two is an attractive case with a relatively conservative design, and it turns in a rather good performance. Our only real reservation right now concerns pricing, but we expect that to change soon enough. As prices continue to drop, we definitely recommend keeping an eye on the Antec Nine Hundred Two; with the right rebate, we'd have no hesitation in recommending this case for just over $100.
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IvanAndreevich - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850(Quad-core 3.0GHz, 2x6MB L2, 1333FSB)
It's 2x4MB L2 ;)
v1001 - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
My brother has this case. It's hideous. I about laughed when I saw it. I just bought this super small shuttle case that is very cool and quiet and fits anywhere. He gets this monster and it's HUGE. I mean really HUGE and loud. Totally out of place in his living room. At first I seriously thought he had like this big ugly guitar amp sitting next to his desk. I was like "what the hell did you get this for?? This isn't 2001 anymore! We don't have super hot CPU's, they run super cool and can fit in any tight case with minimal fans now!". I made him turn all the fans down though so at least it was quiet. Which the temp never budged because it was overkill anyway. With all the fans down and really not needed it tells you that it's all pointless anyway.bruf - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
Any case recommendations for long gfx card (GTX or Radeon X2) from Antec or other manufacturers which sport the same minimalist/conservative design? I really like my Antec Solo case, but it doesn't fit the new high-end gfx cards from nVidia & ATI...Thx,
Christoph Katzer - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
If you don't have too many drives take this one ;)just4U - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I'd love to see a revamped Lanboy.. It wouldn't have to be called that just based around some of it's design. All aluminum, (black would be nice) Top mounted PSU, Side drive cages (i was a fan of those) Front and back 120mm fans (hell make them bigger if they want It would be a fatter case tho) Just make sure they have a mesh for cleaning. Perhaps a removable MB tray (wishful thinking) Normal full view window. All in all I think that thing would sell like hotcakes.greywood - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I did a build based on the original Antec 900 case; worst choice of case I've made in years! I wanted to build a good gaming rig that would also be quiet - not! Config is: Intel E8500, 4Gb Ram, 2 DVD's 2 HDD's, single ATI 4780 512 Mb video. I had to relegate the thing to use as a "guest" machine. Sounds like a bloody 727 on takeoff.7Enigma - Tuesday, February 17, 2009 - link
Then just do what I do. I have an older TitanS case which uses 2 120mm fans but is still not that quiet. I keep it under my desk and have the floor underneath with carpet, some foam on the underside of the desk that you can't see unless you are under there, and foam behind the LCD monitor and attached to the wall behind the case. Nothing obstructs airflow or traps heat, it just significantly helps at absorbing sound that would otherwise reflect up to the user and be unbearable.The0ne - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
I've built a few computers using the old 900 and they're not loud; the fans that is. You should determine what this "loud" is coming from other than just putting everything in and saying the case is loud. It's one of the quieter cases out there but still doesn't compare to 180's.pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
fwiw, mine's not bad at all (quieter than vaio laptop when idle).5200+ (89w), 4gb, 2dvds, 2hdds, 3850.
Every fan's on low (two front, top, rear, 2x psu 80mms), hsf's at 1000rpm, and it's perfectly fine. Only the HSF gets pretty loud when it ramps up, but idle temps are 24C so it's all good. I figure if I remove a front fan and either the top or rear it's gonne be quiet enough for most people.
pepsimax2k - Friday, February 13, 2009 - link
About the GC space and cages sticking out the front; this is actually doable without too much hastle.Just shunt *all* the front devices forward a little; it shouldn't look abnormal at all as the sides, front and bottom overlap quite a lot (at least on the original 900). If that doesn't give you room, you can just remove the three front bezels from the front fan adaptor and move it even further forward. You loose the uniform look, but if you screw on a fan filter (black, or in my case chrome) to the front of the fan holder it covers the fan up and gives an almost normal looking front. You'll also wanna fill in the gaps in the side of the fan holder (left after removing the bezels), just some black electrical tape over some card cut to the right side works for me. This has given me enough space to fit an ide cable in behind a GC / power connector (angled towards the front of the case).