Antec GX700 Case Review: Just What You Can Get For $59.99
by Dustin Sklavos on January 17, 2013 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- ATX
Introducing the Antec GX700
Most manufacturers are quicker and happier to show us their medium-to-high end cases, but for a lot of users the case is admittedly a steel box they put their computer into. While I personally advocate spending up a bit and getting a quality case, the enthusiast looking to maximize the distance their dollar can go may not be willing to shell out for something big and fancy. For those users, there are cases like the Antec GX700.
When I saw it on display at CES, I was surprised at the incredibly low $59.99 price tag. Now that I've had it in house for testing and review, I see more of how they got there. This isn't necessarily a good or bad thing, but simply a fact of life when you're buying budget. Still, a case at this price point featuring a pair of 140mm fans, a single 120mm fan, a fan controller, and support for increasingly common 240mm radiators? There has to be a catch, right? As it turns out there are a couple of small ones, but not the ones you'd think.
.jpg)
That's what a review and in depth analysis is for, but the Antec GX700 is interesting if for no other reason than to just see the approach Antec took towards serving this market segment. The GX700 was one of the cases that impressed me at CES this year because of the integrated fan controller, and that's something I think we're going to see more and more of at these low price points in the future. That's a good thing, too, because it simply and cheaply allows end users to decide if they want to skew more towards acoustics or performance instead of having to find some nebulous halfway point to satisfy both.
| Antec GX700 Specifications | ||
| Motherboard Form Factor | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX | |
| Drive Bays | External | 3x 5.25" |
| Internal | 5x 2.5"/3.5" | |
| Cooling | Front | 2x 120mm fan mount |
| Rear | 1x 120mm exhaust fan | |
| Top | 2x 140mm exhaust fan (supports 2x120mm) | |
| Side | 1x 120mm fan mount | |
| Bottom | - | |
| Expansion Slots | 7 | |
| I/O Port | 2x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0, 1x Headphone, 1x Mic | |
| Power Supply Size | ATX | |
| Clearances | HSF | 160mm |
| PSU | 200mm | |
| GPU | 290mm | |
| Dimensions |
19.7" x 7.9" x 17.7" 500mm x 200mm x 450mm |
|
| Weight | 13.8 lbs. (6.26 kg) | |
| Special Features |
USB 3.0 via internal header Two-speed, four channel fan controller Support for 240mm radiators |
|
| Price | $59 | |
As you can see, the GX700 has a pretty healthy amount of cooling capacity. Antec continues to lean on negative air pressure cooling designs, but to be fair, that hasn't really set them back. Positive pressure is generally better in terms of keeping dust out of the enclosure, but the Eleven Hundred's stellar performance proves negative pressure can work just as well.
What's mostly impressive is just eyeballing the spec sheet and then seeing the price. The GX700 isn't readily available yet, but if Antec really does hit $59, the other vendors may wind up having to at least take notice.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
infoilrator - Saturday, January 19, 2013 - link
Blocking off top fan holes is easy. Cutting boards, toaster oven bake pans, wood, or that imitation graphite sheet appliqué. With a couple standoffs a fan guard that allows air flow and on top stacking works.Trouble is I do not see a reason to choose this over other cases.
ac2 - Sunday, January 20, 2013 - link
Thanks for the suggestions folks...dingetje - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
yeah but for the right money i'd still give hilary what she wantsEzioAs - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
I'm somewhat surprised by the cooling and acoustic performance, it kinda reminds me of the Eleven Hundred. Really didn't figure this case could compete with more expensive cases on the market. I suppose looks are an acquired taste and the short front audio header could be an issue (really hope they fixed this one) but performance is where it counts in my mind and to be honest, for $60, people buying this thing really shouldn't expect much except that they've got excellent cooling and low noise.The only true drawback in my opinion is the small GPU clearance that could present as an issue to some longer HD7970 (reference could fit, no problem). There's also no removable hard drive cage. Although people having a $400+ card should really look into more expensive cases as well.
The four 5.25" bays are still silly though. When are manufacturers going to realize that?
Robert in Calgary - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
For me, this is another indication that Antec is now an "also ran" when it comes to computer cases.They couldn't make the Solo II any bigger, yet this piece of junk is both longer and taller. And the Solo II is still in available is any colour, as long as it's black!
Is the market for this bigger than the Solo II? Antec pours resources into this, Corsair into the massive 900D.....
The Fractal R4 is what the Solo II should have been.
Skidmarks - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
I don't know if it's just me but I thought different people have different tastes.It's not the type of case I'd buy but I think they didn't to too bad a job for the price.
dj christian - Monday, January 21, 2013 - link
"Solo II is still in available is any colour, as long as it's black!???What do you mean? Where you drunk when you typed that? There's only the black version and none else.
Ening - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
looks fine to me...nagi603 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
It might be cheap, but that ugly mil camo means you either hide it in the basement or spend some extra cash on black paint to cover it. It is hideous!Bonesdad - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
far too ugly to look beyond any goodness inside...try try again Antec.