Antec Veris Fusion Black HTPC Case Review

Internal Impressions

The top panel of the Antec Veris Fusion Black case is taken off after removing a single thumb-screw. The first thing I noticed was the attention Antec paid to cable management. Even though you can only do so much to a micro-ATX case, Antec knows that for the best cooling, they need to provide the best air flow possible to the components that generate the most heat.

Antec has divided the Veris Fusion Black case into three different sections. Between the section with the optical drive/PSU and the main motherboard section, there is a sliding door secured by a single screw that helps to isolate the PSU heat from the rest of the heat generating components. So, the PSU fan only has to worry about removing its own heat from the case.

There is another compartment for two internal hard drives. This compartment is not completely isolated from the rest of the case, but there is a partial divider to make sure air is drawn across the hard drives. There is also another hole in the wall for cables, but there is no plastic door this time since Antec was not worried about sealing off the sections. Here you can also see one of two zip ties Antec provided for binding cables out of the way.

Each of the expansion slot covers also has holes in order to allow for air flow across the graphics card.

The hard drives are mounted to a removable bracket with rubber grommets in order to reduce vibration noise. There are also rubber grommets on the bottom of the case where you can also screw the opposite side of the drives. Here you can also see the intake vents located on the bottom of the case for the hard drive compartment. For this reason, it is important that this case be set on a hard surface while it is in use.

The optical drive is to be mounted to the bottom bay of this removable tray in order to allow it to operate properly with the spring loaded door on the outside of the case. As you can see the top of the drive tray also has noise reducing pads in order to prevent unwanted vibration noise.

The Antec Veris Fusion Black Media Case comes with the Antec EarthWatts EA-430 PSU already installed. This Active-PFC PSU is ATX12V 2.2 compliant and 80 PLUS certified which means it is an energy efficient power supply that meets the requirements for the newest standard in high-efficiency power supplies. Being 80 PLUS certified means this PSU runs at more than 80% efficiency at 20%, 50% and 100% load.

Other Antec EA-430 PSU Features:

• 80 PLUS certified: reduces operating costs and protects the environment
• 80mm low noise cooling fan
• Dual 12V outputs: 12V2 for Motherboard and peripherals; 12V1 for processor
• Industrial-grade protection circuitry prevents damage resulting from short circuits, power overloads, over voltage, and under voltage
• Accurate power rating allows EarthWatts to deliver its full rated power (24 hours a day rated at 50C)
• 4 SATA connectors
• PCI-E connector: one for 380W and 430W, two for 500W
• Safety approvals: UL, CUL, FCC, TV, CE, CB, C-tick, CCC
• Universal input
• Active Power Factor Correction (PFC)
• PF value up to 99%
• AQ3 – 3 year warranty
• Dimensions:
  
  – 3.39″(H) x 5.91″(W) x 5.51″(D)
  
  – 8.6cm (H) x 15cm (W) x 14cm (D)
• Net weight:
  
  – 3.48lbs / 1.58kg