Antec Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case Review

Parts Installation and Final Thoughts

Antec provides the computer builder who purchases the Nine Hundred Two with a ton of standoffs and various screws. A small nitpick for those of us who are sensitive to the interior looks of the case the included thumbscrews are shiny polished metallic that kind of clashes with the black interior of the Nine Hundred Two. It would have been nice for the thumbscrews to have a black finish as well. From a functionally standpoint, it makes absolutely no difference.

We chose the Gigabyte P55-UD6 motherboard as the heart of our new system. The Antec Nine Hundred Two came with plenty of brass standoffs for the plethora of threaded holes that Antec included. For our P55 board, we chose to install 6 standoffs and screws and had plenty of room in the case to maneuver the board for a perfect fit.

The Corsair CMPSU-1000HX power supply installed easily at the bottom of the case. The Nine Hundred Two case doesnt have extra ventilation on the bottom of the case, but our power supply is designed to suck in warm air from the case and sends it out the back. For some, this might be a problem, but for us, we really didnt miss having a vent on the bottom of the case.

We used the cable feed through holes to hook up our motherboard, hard drive, case fans and front panel controls. Everything was going well until we tried to hook up the 8-pin power connector from the Corsair power supply to the Gigabyte motherboard. We just didnt have enough room to run the cable under the motherboard via the cable management system. This really was one of the few things wrong with this case and disappointed us the most as we cant really say the $250 Corsair 1000HX modular power supply had short cables. Since Antec is housing the PSU at the bottom of the case, it really should have included some additional feed through holes near the top of the case where the CPU sits. For many cases, this isnt a problem since the PSU sits above the CPU. This quirk forces us to try and find a cable extender or entertain cutting an extra hole to make our own feed-through, but we really shouldnt have to any of this.

We settled for running the cable over the motherboard which took away from the overall look we were going for, but it worked nonetheless.

Even with the 1000 watt power supply and hard drives installed, I still have enough room to put in a Radeon 5970 or even an NVIDIA GF 100 (FERMI) that are around 12 in length. Once the LR boss sends the writers their 5970, Ill update my pictures! Seriously though, you really do have room for a wide variety of video cards and configurations. If you are looking to run triple SLI or an equivalent, this is defiantly a case you should consider. The only problem I can foresee is that if you fully populate the hard-drive bays, the power connection to the video cards might have a tight fit.

The Antec Nine Hundred Two case is the perfect case for builders who are just getting started or those of us who have been building machines for years. Antec makes the case incredibly versatile by allowing the user to practically customize the location for each storage device. Fan locations and controls are ideal and can be easily reached. All the fans are essentially quiet on their slowest settings, but this is more than enough to keep your rig cool. For hard-core enthusiasts, you can still crank the fans sacrificing noise comfort for airflow.

Working with the Antec Nine Hundred Two was very easy. Too many times, picking the wrong case could lead to overheated systems, a cramped fit, not to mention cuts to your clothes and fingers from sub-par metal fabrication. The Nine Hundred Two doesnt suffer from any of these problems and makes your life as a builder that much easier. We had a clean layout and an incredible look when all finished.

Retailing for $139.95, this is a heavy-duty mid-tower case that is loaded with cooling fans and is a great buy. Looking to build a new system or upgrade your current one? This is the case we would look at first. The Nine Hundred Two is highly recommended!

Legit Bottom Line:

The Antec Nine Hundred Two builds on a great tradition and is one of the best cases on the market today. You will be hard-pressed to find a better gaming case for the novice or the experienced system builder.