Case review: Antec SLK3700AMB

I bought my Antec SLK3700AMB from accupc.com in Aug 2003 for $67.50
delivered. FexEx brought it to my door with the box in pristine
condition on a Saturday about a week after I ordered it.

Check prices and specs at accupc.com, newegg.com, pricegrabber.com
dealtime.com, etc.

The basic design of this case is excellent due to the 120mm front vent
_in front of_ the HD cage, which can bring cool air directly into a
packed hard-drive cage.

The case uses sober no-nonsense styling: The paint finish of the main
panels is comparable to that of a nice shiny refrigerator or oven--it
looks like a heavy baked enamel. The color is not at all odd: It is a
dark grey or smoke color--- very conservative and not how I envisioned
metallic bronze. The front panel is something like polystyrene plastic.
The color of the plastic matches the metal pretty well but it has a
semi-matte finish.

I guess the motivation for the door was to keep the noise down and to
stop air from flowing through the external drives. The door is actually
pretty sturdy, to the point that if left open its sharp edges could be a
danger to a toddler's eyes. It is somewhat tricky to remove the door
without fear of breakage (you have to bend it). It is also pretty hard
to put back on. I believe the door should be changed to an overhead
retractable design and (maybe) provided with a lock.

The case is bigger than I like in the sense that I believe there is
probably some wasted space.

The extra LEDs are nice. Antec should add audio, firewire, maybe two
more USBs, and maybe a sleep button to the front panel.

Should offer a version with a 400W or 450W PSU and a maybe a second
120mm fan, since the ventilation and drive capacity are sufficient for a
RAID box or a file server. This case is better for disk arrays than
most server cases because many of them lack good ventilation for the
hard drives, namely an unobstructed intake in front of the HD cage.
Some other Antec cases have a sideways HD cage, which would seem to harm
ventilation.

The rear IO panel was troublesome. First, remove it and fit it over
your mobo connectors: There are some prongs on the USB/LAN opening that
should be removed. Then replace it and try to fit your mobo in the
case. I had to stress my Biostar M7NCDP motherboard to get the
standoffs to line up perfectly with the motherboard holes.

I couldn't fit a Sony floppy in the top floppy bay, but it fit passably
in the bottom one.

To remove and replace the front panel is a little tricky. Take some
time to see how it works. Keeping the top one or two 5.25" drive bays
empty will make it much easier.

You can remove and replace the side panel easily in 15 seconds using one
hand.

The front vent provides the only intake. It consists of about 150 6mm
round holes--about 6.5 square inches (much less restricted than for most
cases). The front louvre has seven openings whose areas add up to
(only) about 1.5 square inches. The filter is about like a heavy-duty
no-see-um mosquito net, on the inside of the front panel behind the
louvre. In running my machine continually for six weeks I trapped a
surprising amount of dust in the filter. It is partly silly though
because there is also a 4"x5/8" hole at the bottom of the front panel,
so air can bypass the filter and pass directly into the 120mm front
vent. But there is plenty of room under the panel to place a piece of a
furnace filter over the front vent or the bottom hole, so you can filter
virtually all incoming air. You could enlarge the bottom hole to about
7 sq in without affecting the appearance.

The PSU is very quiet, but the 120mm is not very quiet--a speed control
would be nice. I permuted the pins in the fan's power connector so that
it receives 5V instead of 12V. This reduces the noise and the air flow.
For an ordinary desktop that doesn't produce much heat, at 5V the air
flow is plenty, the filters collect much less dust, and the case is very
quiet.

Each of the two USB connections is by four individual wires, which
implies a tedious installation. After you have the connectors in place,
super-glue a flat toothpick to the side of each of the two
four-connector arrays. Then you won't have to sort them again in case
you have to disconnect your USB cable. The connectors are easily
removed from the toothpicks in case you change to a motherboard that has
a different pinout.

Come on, Antec, you just have to weld the individual USB connectors onto
a plastic tree so as to hold them in the most common pinout. Then put a
tag on the cable instructing the user to check the pinout and break the
connectors off the tree if the pinout doesn't match his motherboard. Or
provide some kind of adapters: fussing with these eight little wires is
ridiculous.

Pros:

Excellent overall design characterized by above-average breathability
through a filterable intake in front of the hard drive cage.
Plenty of space for RAID or a server.
Generally high manufacturing quality: folded edges, tough shiny paint.
High quality power supply.
Very good price.
Three-year warranty.

Cons:

Some irritating problems with fit.
Tricky to remove front panel without breaking.
The door can't be stowed when open.
They don't offer a high-power version.
Less-than-complete front I/O. Tedious USB hookup.
Probably bigger than it needs to be.

I've complained quite a bit here, but ...
you will regard this case with affection.
This is a great case at an outstanding price.