So I bought an Antec 900 to drown my sorrows.
Can't afford a new rig, I needed something to pick me up.

Most of you are are familiar with the Antec 900.
I'm not a gamer but I heard this case talking to me in my sleep.
"Buy Me, Buy Me"



Lots of fans
It's supplied with 3 x120mm and one 200mm (top exhaust), all are 3 speed (L-M-H) Blue LED
tons of airflow, (from the owner's manual so may be fudged a bit)
200mm Fan Specs
High (800 RPM) - 134cfm @ 30dBA
Med (600 RPM) - 108cfm @ 27dBA
Low (400 RPM) - 83cfm @ 24dBA
120mm Fan Specs
High (2000 RPM) - 79cfm @ 30dBA
Med (1600 RPM) - 56cfm @ 28dBA
Low (1200 RPM) - 39cfm @ 25dBA

Unconventional looks (cause it's got that bigaz 200mm fan in the top)

I liked dual 120mm intakes and had worked it into my last three cases with great results.
Just thought it was kewl
(links to rig mods below sig)

The Antec 900 can be found on line from $79.99 to $149.95
Figure $100 plus maybe a few will be what it sets you back.
So is it a Great Case, Good Case, OK Case, or Crap Case?
It may be a little of each.

The 900 has been praised for it's great cooling capabilities and value.
You either love or hate the exterior looks.
Course the other side says it's a piece of crap that is loud, a dust trap, overpriced and quite possibly, the greatest known threat to mankind.

Time to see what we got here.

Yes, you can take the Top section off
(BUT YOU MAY BREAK A CLIP!)

To remove the top panel:
2 screws on the underside of top need to be removed to realease the 200mm fan.
Push the rear and side clips to the outside to release.
The front clips are 1.25” to 1.5” from the front panel.
You need to push forward from the rear.
(You can’t actually see them)
Take a long flat blade screwdriver and press the tabs gently towards the front.
(This is where I broke one of the clips)
Superglue to repair the tabs or double sided tape to secure it if necessary.





The case is bare metal on the inside and it really seemed to give it a "unfinished paint job" look.
Just not very impressive.
I decided to paint everything flat black.

On to the Priming.



Me, I like screw holes
The screwless designs never seem to keep everything "tight".
The Drive tower is just two strips of steel.
(nothing to see here, move along)
Prime that biatch



The Antec 3-1 removable HDD enclosures didn't really impress me.
They do the job but I was lookin' for sumthin a little slicker
Been wanting to try these Scythe HDD Stabilizer 2 deals for awhile.
They were on sale for $7.99 set at Frozen CPU
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/3041/noi..._Reduction.html
Just seemed like a good solution.



The Fan/Drive cage assemblies did the job, but seemed bulky.





Close up of rubber bumper mounted on HDD.

Checking Scythe Stabilizer/HDD for fit.
I'm liking it already.



Intend to use the Matrix Orbital MX630 for information/control.
Displays all my MBM info, media files, and pretty much anything else you want.
http://www.matrixorbital.ca/products/mx_series/



My initial plan is to lay it out something like this.
Figured I would keep the DVD at the chassis bottom since it will sit on a desk.



Looking for something like this in looks.
I wanted to make sure I raised the top fan up for better flow to the rear exhaust.
I'll just be mounting the fans and grills, not the actual cages.
Lot of touch up painting to do as the 5.25' panel side aren't painted (bare metal)



The "blackness" of the Matrix Orbital and Antec 900 case front bezel match perfectly.
I am getting wood.

So hopefully it will look something like this.
Lot of folks complain about the poor cable management aspects of the case.
There is nothing that you can "tuck" wires into.

Thoughts and stuff
I Have some AiT Cool Silver TIM I am going to try.
http://www.maxitmag.com/hardware-reviews/c...ool-silver.html

I'm gonna need to cut some holes in the right side to pass cables (including molex)
One where the 3.5" floppy is and one two bays below it (including SATA PWR molex)
Access to fan speed control? Best location?

Wondering if I should use the 2nd Matrix Orbital in front as well.
One dedicated to multimedia, RSS, and e-mail feeds and the primary for sys information.

Need some Silver highlights in some black area.
Drive cage panel is hidden with side window on.

I hate the window side panel already.
back half is mesh with a 120mm fan cutout, front half is plexi.
Just don't like the design.
modding them into a single window will require a 16" x 13" panel

Looks good my friend. Take a gander at this for a new side pannel window. I have wanted to use this in a modded case.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ind...c6b21956fe3acb2

Lookin' good so far, soundx!

That stuff cat linked to would look GREAT!

wow thats pretty cool man, lookin good

Sweet, glad to see you're back at it, go-go soundx go!

that dang catkicker knows me like a book.
AND it's exactly 16" x 12" so I can do one big window.

This from a cut they did at [H]ard forum.

[img]http://www.uploadit.org/imagen.php?url=http://premium1.uploadit.org/soundx98//326446504_35a91d049a.jpg[/img]

I have the AC Ryan Mirror 2 in the cart, and Lian-Li replacement speaker (Antec doesn't have one).
thought I may point it on near the floppy drive so I can hear it.
Lookin at some right angle SATA cables now, but I don't know if I want to stealth the drives.
Cable management would be tough with that see-through front panel.
(It's gonna be a nightmare anyway)

They have the Black anodzied Lian-Li wheels for $40 but that's half of what I paid for the case.

Besides I can always add them as budget permits

What about some kind of conduit for the wiring and cables. I once thought about using automotive vacum hose. It's black and bends nicely and it comes it several sizes. I was going to secure the tubing with these.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ind...roducts_id=3208
and use uv or just colored zip ties.

And check these wheels out
http://www.kikboxes.com/kikshop/product.asp?intProdID=4

Those ball "wheels" look a little tall, but nice nonetheless.

I'm not ruling any idea out, but I'm hoping to have it up and running fast.
(I'm gettin' all antzy just waiting for paint to dry.)

I'll be Painting things black for the next week.
Luckily a flat black paint job is pretty hard to screw up

I've got some of Stu's caster wheels.
Like the cannonball they have a large bolt going straight up, The PSU is in the way.
May need to look into a plexi base again old friend



http://www.diy-street.com/forum/showpost.p...889&postcount=3

Lots of work to do, just trying to come up with some good ideas.

Tis a sweet plexi base it is. I have it under the glass shelf my Lian li is sitting on looks sweet.

Nice work so far!

Don't know if you've ever seen this thread, soundx

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=126395

Nice review of the 900, with some mods...

Fantastical case man. :drool::drool::drool: Pity antecs are sooooo dam expensive over here in NZ.

That case looks like a pain to wire up, good luck.

No, excellent link Blooz
I think I've read just about every thread and review out there on the ANtec 900

Every case becomes personal to me.
I brought all the drive covers and the DVD with me on this trip so I can paint them,
I know it will drive me crazy if I don't.

I found some "Ultra Flat Black" paint (for interior) today.
Not Flat Black, not Flat Black (Satin), but "Ultra Flat Black". woo-hoo

Yes, the wiring/cable management is going to be difficult.
Lil more than a challenge, for sure.

Antec 900 on Sale at NewEgg with FREE shipping.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/Oct-0...T=Moredealspage

Pics of the Parts
All of the drive bay "ears" have different amounts of paint on them.
And of course the back of the drive bay also needs painting.
Jebus, couldn't they have hit it with paint on that side as well.
Bugs the hell out of me. I know the silver will be visible. I gotta paint them.



Top Fan assembly (lil tricky to remove) and Front Bezel (Pulls right off)



Scythe Hard Drive Stabilizer II
(mit out der HDD)
I am liking these more and more.
Certainly more open surface area for the fans to blow over.



Drive Bays and DVD sportin' hi-tech purple painters tape.
Pretty lousy background but you can see how the "ears" of the drive bays have been painted,
(or "not" painted or "a lil' bit" painted or "kinda sorta" painted).
so I was determined that everything would be black (and lo', the word of soundx was righteous)



And Yes, I did spray paint them in the parking lot of the La Quinta in Pleasant
Prairie WI
And yes, well away from any other vehicles and wind.

I stay at La Quinta's a lot. I like the chain.
*Decent Rate (Senior Rate $62-$67 Single B4 taxes in IL and WI)
*Nice Clean Rooms (Desk, Easy Chair, WiFi, 2 queen or King, and usual stuff)
*Usually good bars and restaurants within walking distance. Bar - woo-hoo!

:sweat:

LOL, I can't believe you brought the case and sprayed it in their parkin' lot. And I thought I had issues, LMFAO you're too much bro...

I really like those hard drive spacers/silencers, that means I could add even more drives to my unit, for 8 total




Muahahaha

It had already been primed and painted black at home so it was easy.

Shook can for three minutes instead of two.
can up, 10" to 14" from surface.
side to side,b4 edge on one side and past the other side.
two light coats

Yes, they came out and asked what I was doing
I explained and they gave me that smile meaning they needed to get away.

It looks very good. woo-hoo!

looks sweet man....I like it...

that bed spread says alot of why you're down in FFL...

Update here cause Blooz1 is bugging me

Paint is done drying and the "Ultra-Flat Black" looks tits.
Painted the DVD Chassis, so much blackness in the interior. Ultra Uber.
Found some MNPC "Brushed Chrome" film in the soundx98 stashbox. woo-hoo!
I'm thinking a 2" vertical strip all the way up the bay cage (viewing side).
You can't see it with the window panel (left) on.
But a nice lil touch when you remove the panel I think.

The shipment from Frozen CPU arrived with the AC Ryan Acrylpanel Mirror 2.
400x300 or 16x12. Holy crap is it thin! 3mm.
Looked foggy but then I realized I had the protective coatings still on.
The window is either gonna be too narrow or perfect.
Plan is to cut some steel (thinkin' jigsaw) so it's a single window.
Some "C" rubber around my cut and then use 3M 4010 or 4012 "super tape" to secure the Mirror 2.

Plan on "folding" a black IDE cable to run down to the NEC DVD at the case bottom.
Think I have a good idea for the SATA signal cables as well.
But I need a tad more time to work out SATA power hookup.
Probably need some type of sleeving or black electrical tape on them.
I really don't know if I want to "reverse" the hard drives due to their visibility through the front fans.
Already thinking of adding a 4th HDD. Put me over a TeraByte

Definitely considering forgetting the floppy and adding a second Matrix Orbital display.
Top one dedicated to System Information and the lower one to Multimedia Info. (Got about 200G of AVI files, no pRon, all movies)
New WINAMP looks pretty good so far.

Pics coming this weekend if I make any progress.

the blackness



Brushed chrome



Little dremel action on the right side to run some wires through.

that's exactly what I was gonna do with my Lian-Li... I love the way the flat black looks! I was going for flat black all over the inside, and the regular stock silver of my PC-G70S on the outside. even bought the spray paint (which is gonna go to waste since I can't ship it with my household goods :/

I can't wait to see more updates before I leave for basic on Wednesday!

For me drowning my sorrows requires instant gratification, you actually have to work at it. I drowned my sorrows last time with a Quad core. Pop that baby in, mount the block and start feeling better right away..

Keep up the good work Carl, you are an inspiration to the rest of us. Not that I would work that hard on a case but at least I can say I know someone that does..

Lookin' good so far!

I LIKE that chrome strip up the side of the drive bays!

Can't wait to see the new window - sounds very different.

AC Ryan Acrylpanel Mirror 2
The AIT Thermal Interface arrived as well
Both have been getting rave reviews
http://www.xtremecomputing.co.uk/review.php?id=363
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/ai_technology_cool_silver/



You've probably figured out by now that I live in a 2 bedroom apt with no place to work.
(The beige carpeting is already tough enough to keep clean)

The Black ASUS cable appears to be 1" too short to hide. Dang.
Just chipped the black paint on the DVD chassis.
The one piece that I didn't use primer on. Stupid me. 100 lashes.

Can't find the jigsaw to cut the window either.
I know I used it on the Hitchhikers I dismembered so it has to be here somewhere

Very nice paintjob Carl, I just received my P180B and P182 for my new builds, man those Antec guys know how to make quality cases.

I was looking at the mirror finish P182 Branjo... drooling over it actually... on the P182 did they fix some of the little quirks people had with the P180? Like the front panel audio connector, drab wiring for the front panel connectors, etc?

The Front panel audio has a nice hard black sleeve to it, it has an AC97 and HiDef connector, I plugged in the hidef one assuming that it will work with P35, but the stealthxstream's 12v 4 pin is too short to go up the back of the mobo so i might have to cut a 4pin of an old PSU to get it all the way up. it also has 2 HDD LED connectors I am just gonna use the HDD 1 and hope it works. The mirror finish one is amazing looking but I think if memory serves me correct its another 70 bucks just for that. I found mine on compsource.com and they were 130 and 139 with free shipping, newegg had them 25 bucks apart and then the shipping too.

So I got these fan silencers from UncleDavid218 a while back.
Little chassis isolation in action.



They seem to work well and certainly can't hurt

Found that if I wound the fan wires real tight in the Makita I could hide them in the channel.
Also saw another "loop" that I could use with a zip tie.

So the lil channel hides the rear fan wire real good



Motherboard installed shot
Yes, the Von Karajan audio module butts right up against the rear 120mm fan.
(In Fact, it always seems to butt up against a fan)



I/O out panel and rear fan



The SkyHawk 620 Modular PSU mount

Looks good soundx!

I gotta get me some of those fan silencers, that's a pretty good idea.

All 3 HDDs are now mounted.
2x 250Gb Hitachi RAID 0 and the 400Gb WD for storage.



close up of the HDDs and NEC DVD



I couldn't route the flat black IDE cable under the board, but with a couple of folds it lays done neatly next to it.
Virtually hidden isn't it?

Don't know if it would work for you. I reversed my HD's in one of my cases and routed cables back behind the bays and into the HD's. It was a good way for me to hide the sata & power cables.

Decided to use both of the Matrix orbital Displays.
The top one is an MX6 (PLED), a much better display off axis but unfortunately no longer made.
Has sort or a yellow/green color to it. This will be for system info.

The bottom one is an MX3 (LED) with a blue display. For Multimedia info.
Looks like I caught a funny display angle on the shot.
I'll repost when I get everything fired up



The cables for 1394, USB, and audio all seem to be just a little bit short
Hopefully I can get creative and find a way to "dress them" or extend the wires if need be.

I had planned on passing a lot of power leads and SATA through to the "hidden" side of the case.
But I think if I take the time (a lot of time) I can get all the cables connected without it looking like sheet

Window is gonna be tougher than I thought as well.
Not to sure this case likes being "tweaked".

And yes Cat, I did think about reversing the HDDs but I just don't have enough room as the front fans go pretty deep into the case already.

I always preferred to have the cables exposed, with some careful planning and attention to detail they make perfect accents to a fine build.

Looking good Carl

Best 900 ever.....


Seriously it makes me want to modd the crap outta my Antec knock of cases.

Well, it's cool.



Air Flow is freakin' awesome from front to back.
Nothing between the front and rear fans except the AC 64 Pro Heatsink.
HSF Facing straight up and the 200mm biatch slaps any heat that may show up.
The sink About 1/3 up the way of the fan.

I currently have all fans at MEDIUM
200mm Med (600 RPM) - 108cfm @ 27dBA
120mm Med (1600 RPM) - 56cfm @ 28dBA x 3
Yes, I hear them (but in a very sexy voice)

A LOT larger than the $9.95 Case I had been using

I need some batteries for the camera but I have to tell you.

The Thing is Gorgeous!

LOL, well at least I like it a lot so far.

Plenty of work to do. I need some very short SATA cables at the very least.
The Dual Matrix Orbital Displays was a wise choice (bonar)
I am also running two "virtual displays" on the desktop feeding me the same info.
Gawd I am a sucker for the lights and the bling.

Making me feel bad. You have the bling, I don't even have a window and I have a piece of electrical tape over the backlit display on my fan controller. It's kind of cool though. It sits under the desk all blacked out except for just the faintest red from the mobo leds getting past the rear fans.. Best part is, it runs completely silent. Until you sit down next to it you can't even tell it's running, then you feel the heat coming out from under the desk.. Intel still has the market on that..

Dang dude that thing is freakin sweet....glad to see you got something nice to drown your sorrows in...couldnt have made a better pic myself....

Mine was selling most of my core engines and getting the cash to finish mine...11seconds in the 1/4'r mile in less than 350inches is going to be fun...and 10:50's right around the corner....

If I make it I am going to be the new Smiling BOB....

LOL, the last thing I would want to do is make an old friend feel bad Cliff.

Here's a shot of my desktop.
You can see the two "virtual displays" in the bottom right hand corner.
It's based on a program called LCDC that is supplied with M.O.s
Or straight out for $9.95. Got a link to a trial somewhere.

Once I get this rig tweaked I'll post some files so at least the NF4 guys can run it and pull the MBM 5 info.



Spent most of the evening wrapping cables.
Black electrical tape. Very pleased with myself.
Not too cluttered looking even at this early stage.

Some cool stuff you got going on there on zee desktop..

My kick-ass get alot of s*it done desktop.. LOL

Hey, hey HEY!

Yer gettin' there, bro! Looking good - those are some dandy temps!

Been running the latest Prime 95 v25.5 for 7 hours (Thanks, Praz)
Also looping a WMP file at the same time. Both cores at 100%.
CPU Temp fluctuating between 43 and 45 degrees LOAD!
Nothing to whine about at all.



Gonna pick up some bats for the camera and try and clean up the kitchen table, kitchen counter, coffee table and my desk
Got more than a few computer parts laying around this morning.
Should have some pics up later this afternoon unless I am "over served" during the Viking/Bears game.

Lots of work and touching up to do still.
Jebus there are a lot or wires with 3 HDDs and intrnal USB connections for M.O.s and top USBs.
Need to find a place to cut the window panel (raining here).
Think I need more light inside the case as well.

The little kid with the big mouth (ReelFiles avatar) was in my nightmares with the Evil Clown again last night.
I think those two fuggers are planning on ripping me off.

Haha, don't let it get to you. I asked Travis to change it a while back, but now I think I'll keep him around, hehe

soundx, when ya start havin' dreams like that, its time to turn all the rigs OFF and go fishin' for a while!

lol the wife loves that avatar too.