Antec One Hundred Review

Antec One Hundred Review

Manufacturer Antec
UK price (as reviewed) £41.48 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed) $59.99 (Ex. VAT)

The Antec Three Hundred has been a front-runner in the budget case stakes for a long time, combining capable cooling with solid build quality at a knock-down price. Now Antec is aiming at the entry-level system builder again with the One Hundred. Don't let its lesser name fool you though - the One Hundred has an impressive feature list that belies both its name and price.

The steel case isn't much to look at, and retains Antec's plain black box styling. However, the plastic front fascia extends over the top of the case, with the front panel ports at the top. This panel only features a Power button, microphone and headphone jacks and four USB 2 ports, but the lack of a Reset button is no real loss.


The front of the case also hosts an array of drive bays, but despite the segmented appearance, it only has three 5.25in drive bays, and a single external 3.5in drive bay below them. These are protected by dust filters, but they're not particularly easy to remove and clean. The rest of the fascia is covered by a single wire mesh, but it lacks a dust filter. This is disappointing, as you could fit up to two 120mm intake fans in this lower section.

However, an additional 120mm fan mount is cut into the side panel directly above the top expansion card slots. This is ideal for beefing up graphics card cooling, although the fan grille isn't fitted with a dust filter.


While the One Hundred has no intake fans as standard, it does have two exhaust fans - one 140mm fan on the roof and one 120mm fan on the rear panel, and a pair of switches on the back of the case to adjust their speeds. This layout is essentially the same as the Three Hundred's, and it's an effective arrangement, as it surrounds the core hardware with exhaust fans to keep temperatures low. Reaching behind your PC to turn down the fan speed is a pain, though - the switches would have been more useful on the front panel.

Sliding off the side panels (which can be stiff at first) reveals an improved interior compared with the aging Three Hundred's. All the interior panelling is black to match the exterior and it looks great, although there are still signs that this is a budget case. For example, the expansion slot blanking plates are attached, Airfix-style, to the rest of the case, and need to be bent and pried out of place if you want to install hardware.


There are plenty of positive points though, such as the large motherboard cut-out that makes fitting CPU coolers with backplates easier. There's also a rudimentary cable routeing system for the floor-mounted PSU, although there's oddly no floor ventilation in the base.

This means you'll have to fit your PSU upside down, drawing air from inside the case, although this doesn't pose any issues. Space behind the right-hand side panel is limited, but we just managed to squeeze in a thick 24-pin ATX cable. Antec has also fitted the back of the motherboard tray with reusable cable ties to help you out here.

Meanwhile, you can fit up to six 3.5in drives into the One Hundred's drive cage, which is far enough from the motherboard to let you access most of the mounts, even with all your hardware fitted. There's nothing to absorb vibrations, though, so drive noise reverberates through the case. The unified drive cage for the 5.25in and 3.5in drives provides plenty of room for hiding cables.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm): 197.5 x 477 x 480.5 (W x D x H)
  
• Material: Steel, plastic
  
• Available colours: Black
  
• Front panel: Power switch, 4x USB 3, stereo, microphone
  
• Drive bays: 3x external 5.25in drive bays, 1x external 3.5in drive bays, 6x internal 3.5in drive bays
  
• Form factor(s): ATX, micro-ATX, mini-ITX
  
• Cooling: 1x 140mm roof fan mount (1 x 140mm fan supplied), 1x 120mm rear fan mount (1x 120mm fan supplied), 1x 120mm side fan mount (not supplied), 2x 120mm front fan mount
  
• CPU cooler clearance: 160mm
  
• Graphics card dimensions supported: 295mm long
  
• Extras: Dust Filters, adjustable fan speeds