ANTEC SX350

[farfolen]

I'll make it quick an simple. I'm getting a few new components that I'll be throwing into a new case. The case will (hopefully) last me awhile and take me through a couple more upgrades over the next year or two. I'm looking at the SX835 and was wondering if anyone had it. also...

1. would the included 350 watt power supply be rather "futureproof" as one can get for a computer case that's expected to be around for two years max? in all likelihood one of teh barton's will go in it when they come out.

2. any problems with any of teh features or airflow in the case?


and before any points it out, ive already read the review for the SX830 that TR did. Thanks in advance.

[balzi]

I can't help out, but I'm interested in this case aswell.. I was going to go for hte 350W to future-proof my box somewhat..

I'll be looking for some answers here aswell.

[johnleiwoo]

350w from antec is more than enough. Their power supplies are one of the better ones. I have 300W powersupply from them and here is what i am running: Two optical drives, one floppy, one harddrive, two case fans, and of course a motherboard. It has been running without any problems, so 350w could give u a few more drives, fans, and be able to increase the voltage on the motherboard without worrying.

[Starfalcon]

I would probably recommend a 400W just to be safe. The rumors say that hammer is going to need more power to run as compared to the current T-breds. I say a 350W is good for now but is rather close to the low end, especially if you intend to run a bunch of drives. I currently use a 550w Enermax right now in my computer, but I have a lot of stuff in there right now. I had a 400W in there at first, but it was unstable and had all sorts of voltage flux. I decided to go for overkill and make sure that I would not have any problems in the future with my power supply.

[farfolen]

I wouldnt expect it to be a problem withdrives. it's a mid-tower case with three 5.whatever slots and i think five 3.whatever slots (two are for the floppy and zip drive, if it so suits you). that and two intake and outake fans. its a nice little case...not too big, not too small. is 350 still iffy?

[Starfalcon]

It really depends what you are planning to run in there hardware wise. If you are planning to run just some mild hardware you should be fine, but if you want to put some power stuff like high-end video card and fast drives you may run into trouble. I alway say to plan for the future so that you do not have to buy stuff twice.

[farfolen]

probably the most power hungry thing that'll be in there is the RAID im planning on doing this time out. otherwise, we're talking XP around 2400 and DVD drive, CD-RW, etc... and a Radeon 9000 (it's what I've got now...it's works...eh)

[Starfalcon]

You should be fine with that, just make sure you get a good 350W and not some low end one. Everthing looks fine to me.

[farfolen]

Davis said it best when he reviewed his first few antec cases. one of teh best reasons to get an antec case is because it comes with an amazingly good antec PS.

[Starfalcon]

Enjoy the case, hope your new system bolts together with no problems. My last upgrade had some fun issues. Computer almost got thrown out the window in frustration. Good luck

[highlandr]

350 should be good, 400 will be plenty for anything you put in that case.

I have an antec 1030B (fabulous, by the way) with a 300W antec PS, and with an XP1800, GF2MX, 2 optical drives, floppy, and 2 HDDs, I have no problems.

Good Luck with the new case.

[balzi]

I bought my SX835-II with Antec 350W P/S.. it works perfectly.

WD400JB, Duron 900, Epox 8RDA+, CDROM, 2 fans.
not exactly a struggle is it...

[slymaster]

I bought an Antec case a little over two years ago, and I expect to be using it for a long time to come. It only has the 300 W PSU, but I when I first had it, I was running a Thunderbird 900 @ 1050, 3 x 7200 rpm HD (40 GB boot drive, and 2x20 in a raid 0 set), promise pci raid controller, Geforce 2 GTS, SB-Live, two optical drives, a pci nic and two case fans. The rig ran many hours in a very hot room, and was always stable. Even with the 3 HD and two optical drives, I had plenty of space for more stuff.

I have recently moved the t-bird into a lesser case now, where it can fold in relative anonymity, while the Antec hosts my T-Bred B 2200+. I expect to use this as my main case for a long time to come, probably as long as the ATX form factor survives. I would expect you will get much more than two years out of this case. If you like to swap components in and out, this case is for you.

As far as air-flow goes, I run the 2200+ at stock speed with a Thermalright SLK-900u heat-sink/Vantec Stealth 92 mm combo, and no case fans - even without case fans, the system is very stable (folding 24/7 - CPU maxed out) and near silent.

You cannot go wrong - if you want to have a raid set, you may want to look at the Antec Sonata - it has the drive cage rotated 90 degress to allow for more space internally, and neater cabling.

Cheers !