Antec One Review

Antec One Review

Manufacturer: Antec
UK price (as reviewed): £41.98 (inc VAT)
US price (as reviewed): $49.99 (ex tax)

Antec struck a design chord with the original 900 chassis. The combination of good looks, great airflow, sturdy construction and reasonable price was almost unrivalled at the time, so it unsurprisingly proved popular with customers and system builders alike - so much so that the company soon filtered its design ideas into a whole series of cases to suit every budget.


This approach worked well initially, but soon cases such as the Three Hundred, Two Hundred and One Hundred began to overlap within Antec's product stack, confusing customers. In order to simplify its line-up, Antec is in the process of retiring its budget cases in favour of the new One, a budget ATX chassis designed to continue the pattern of effective cooling, minimalist looks and a bargain price. Inexpensive doesn’t have to mean cheap though, as the One is still packed with an impressive feature list and the same build quality we’ve come to expect from a company such as Antec.

Lifting the One out of its box, it was immediately obvious that it was sturdier than other budget cases. The steel used for the chassis might be a little on the thin side compared to pricier cases, but it’s a welcome sight in a £50 case – refusing to bend or buckle under our repeated bashing, you shouldn’t have to worry about heavy components warping the shape. The only exception was the flimsy case floor, which demonstrated some noticeable flex.


Rather than use flat side panels, Antec has instead opted for ones with protruding angular bulges which provide extra room for cable management behind the motherboard tray, as well as keeping the single 120mm side panel fan mount well away from the internal components.

Above the three external 5.25in drive bays is a basic I/O panel, but it still manages to boast two USB3 ports and the standard pairing of 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks. The USB3 ports connect to the motherboard via an internal header rather than rely on a pass-through cable, and Antec sensibly includes a USB2 step-down adaptor for anyone that doesn’t have native a USB3 header yet. As well as a chunky power button, the reset button returns after being removed from the One Hundred.


Around the back there are two pre-drilled 1/2in water-cooling holes, which are covered with rubber grommets, as well as a floor-mounted PSU and a removable dust filter to keep it free from dirt and fluff. Finally, Antec has installed 120mm fans in both the rear and roof fan mounts, providing plenty of airflow to the processor and core hardware.

Specifications

• Dimensions (mm) 208 x 488 x 438mm (W x D x H)
  
• Material Steel, plastic & metal mesh
  
• Available colours Black
  
• Weight 4.9kg
  
• Front panel Power, reset, 2 x USB 3, headphone, microphone,
  
• Drive bays 3 x external 5.25in drive bays, 5 x internal 3.5in, 2x 2.5in drive bays.
  
• Form factor(s) ATX, micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
  
• Cooling 1 x 120mm front mounts (fan not supplied), 1x 120mm rear fan mount (fan supplied), 1x 120mm roof fan mount (fan supplied) 1x 120mm/140mm floor fan mount (fan not supplied), 1x 120mm side panel fan mount (fan not included)
  
• CPU cooler clearance 155mm
  
• Maximum graphics card length 266mm
  
• Extras PSU dust filter