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Antec 300 vs Coolermaster 590

Y

yfel

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 2, 2008
Messages
130
I'm not really concerned with the appearance of the two cases... they are pretty similar anyway. I'm debating between the two but I can't figure out which one would have the best air flow for a possible oc'ing rig. I've never had a case with any kind of real ventilation (other than standard rear exhaust, front entry). What do you guys think?

Antec 300 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042&Tpk=Antec+Three+Hundred

Coolermaster 590 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119152
 
I recently put together my sig rig and LOVE the Antec 300. I'm not even currently using anything but the stock 2 exhaust fans and it runs plenty cool. I'm waiting on 2 Yate Loons to come but I haven't figured out what configuration I want to run them in. Probably just as two intakes.

There was a review posted somewhere that compared the 300 to the 900 and in every case even without the extra fans, the 300 was only 1C higher.
 
Yep, I recently built a budget rig for a buddy of mine recently and I used the 300. To be honest, I was quite impressed with the case! Its simple, cheap, well constructued, excellent cooling, looks good, and everything you would want in a common ATX case. I will buy again if need be.
 
I just bought the 300 - should be here today. :D looks like maximum airflow in that thing, plus it's got the top fan. there's room for more hard drives than the 590, too.

I don't get why so many of these cases have bays for so many 5.25 drives and only a couple for hard drives. I mean, who puts ***NINE*** CD or DVD drives in a computer?
 
I have the 300. Running cable in this thing is kind of hot/cold. The space between the right side and the hard drive rack is nice, but outside of that, there is not a lot of room in this case. With a full sized graphics card you will not be able to use all 6 hard drive spaces. My 4850 blocks at least one of the spots, possibly two. I like the 300 a lot, but I would seriously check out the 690. The 690 has as much airflow as you are going to find in an unmodded case with spots for 7 120's, 4 of which can also fit 140's. I've seen them both in Fry's and its still a toss-up between the 2 cases. I went with the 300 because it was less expensive at the time.
 
I found the cable management to be not too bad! The back compartment is definitely a nice feature. I've never had a bottom mounted PSU before so I didn't know what to expect with the cables, but all in all it was a lot better than I was afraid it might be.

I have to say though, the power and HD leds on this case really suck! They're just two little teeny cut out squares next to the power switch. when I say "teeny," I mean like a couple of millimeters square. they're both blue, too, so from a distance you can't even really get a distinct sense of HD activity.

Other than that minor gripe, I really like the case. very easy to work with, and great for the price - definitely worth the money. My temps are already 7C lower, and I don't even have any front fans yet, and the back ones aren't even running at full.

If I were building a desktop instead of a server I might have gone with the coolermaster. The drive bays looked like they might be better designed, with a separate drive cage (they should give you two, though), and maybe more sound dampening possibilities. I also like the way the top grills are flush instead of how it sticks up on the antec. My main case is a coolermaster, and they are nice cases. But for a server, I think this 300 rocks. I feel like I got a deal for $60 shipped!

I snapped a couple of random pic while it was in progress, nothing fantastic, just to give a very general idea of the case and how the cables route to the compartment:

antec 300
 
Thanks for the opinions. I'm going to go with the 300... the 690 looks nice but it's probably not much better for what I need, and the free shipping on the 300 is definitely a plus.
 
yfel said:
Thanks for the opinions. I'm going to go with the 300... the 690 looks nice but it's probably not much better for what I need, and the free shipping on the 300 is definitely a plus.
Click to expand...

that price on the 690 tukson posted is pretty tempting! :D


btw, I just added a couple of shots of the LEDs -- when you figure my pinky barely fits on the reset switch (the piece with the dot in the middle), you can get an idea of how small/useless they are. I've got to figure out a way to mod these, they're really bad!

IMG_0875.JPG


IMG_0876.JPG
 
I can see why you'd go with the Antec for a server. Without a big graphics card to get in the way, the hard drive rack is just fine. Plenty of airflow in that thing.
 
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