Antec Titan 550 Server Case

Internal Impression

Antec designed a simple yet ingenius system for the thumb screws that secures the side panel to the case. The thumb screws are permanently affixed to the panel and spring loaded, ensuring they won’t strip out or come loose when tightened and can’t be lost once the side panel is removed.

Removing the side panel only reaffirms my initial impression, the Titan 550 is an extremely sturdy case. The materials used are extremely solid and there are no sharp edges that plague many lighter cases contructed of aluminum. One disappointment I had was with compatibility. I understand this is a server case, burt I was unable to mount a single standard ATX board! I wish Antec had allowed this option if for no other reason than to broaden this case’s market. I think the Titan 550 would be an ideal case for a water cooling setup or for modding.

Editor’s Note:

Since writing this review, Antec has in fact redesigned the Titan 550 to allow compatibility with all standard ATX boards.

when it comes to working space, the Titan 550 is a very large case. I wish more companies would use removeable motherboard trays, but given the amount of room to work with here, the lack of a removeable tray is easily overlooked. With six slots, the HDD bay has plenty of room for any configuration you can think of, and cooling your drives will be no problem at all. while a lot of companies throw an 80mm or 120mm fan in front of the drive bay for ventilation, Antec chose to set up the Titan 550 with a twin 92mm fan design (fans are not included with the case). what makes this design unique ois how the fan mounts are accessed. Underneath the lower half of the front bezel antec placed a removeable door secured by a pair of thumbs screws. I love the design for two reasons. First, dual fans will easily keep your HDDs cool, regardless of how many you throw in there. Second, by placing a door on front of the case Antec lets you add fans after setting up your system if you want, without having to remove your drives.

The Titan 550 comes with four external 5.25 drives, one of which comes with a removeable 3.25 bay which can be used externally for a FDD or internally for another HDD. The removeable aspect allows you place the drive whereever you wish or simply remove it and use the space as another 5.25 drive bay.

While most companies have gone to a peg based rail system for mounting your drives, Antec chose to use rails secured by screws. I used to like pegs as they allowed for easy and rapid change out, but after breaking two or three, and not being able to get replacements, I actually appreciate the design Antec chose.

Included with the Ttian 550 is Antec’s newest cooling creation, the Tri-Cool fan. the Tri-Cool is a 120mm fan with a small toggle attached to it for fan speed control. I like the concept behind the Tri-Cool, but have a few issues with it. first, to actually change the fan speed setting, you have to remove the case’ side panel to switch the toggle. with quite a few fan controllers on the market, along with PSUs like Antec’s own Neo Power 480 which control fan speed, why use the Tri-Cool? Second, if you are going to use a fan like this, why not find a way to attach the toggle externally to the rear of the case or even the front of the case? a small gripe, but one worth mentiioning.