Antec Eleven Hundred Review

👤by David Mitchelson Comments 📅14-12-11
Conclusion

Antec have been furnishing the gaming segment of their chassis range with smaller, cheaper alternatives and it’s been a while since we have seen them catering for the mid to high end range. So what do we think of the new Eleven Hundred?

Aesthetically the Eleven Hundred is a great looking case inside and out. Antec have gone straight down the middle with this case and given it characteristics from the gaudy gamer and the subtle enthusiast preferences. Inside, gamers and enthusiast alike will discover lots of space to install their kit. Clearance is probably one of Eleven Hundred’s stronger points especially when we consider the gap behind the motherboard tray. It’s always pleasing when a manufacturer is generous in this aspect of case design because it means the consumer can benefit from good cable management.



Though the Eleven Hundred has plenty of positive aspects to it, it also has some slight niggles too. Due to it having no intake cooling fans at the front, the Eleven Hundred breaks out of the conventional case airflow design. Having only exhausts means that air is only dissipated and not driven across and out of the system. I’ve found manufacturers choosing to design cases without intakes at the bottom end of the market generally and had the Eleven Hundred been priced cheaper I would have understood why any kind of intake had been absent but this case is priced at £110 inc. VAT meaning it is up agsinst the likes of CM 690 II, Thermaltake Overseer RX-I, NZXT Phantom and the even cheaper Corsair 500R – all of which are equipped with positive airflow. Though these fans are absent, there are still plenty of options for those who want to completely customise the cooling configuration.

The bottom line – Eleven Hundred is a great looking case. It has lots of space inside with clearance for key components which also means that cable management is fantastic. Consumer’s will almost certainly be encouraged to install their own intake fan though.

Pros
+ Great aesthetics
+ Lots of clearance for great cable management
+ Support for XL-ATX motherboards
+ Plenty of options to add more cooling

Cons
- CPU power doesn’t route behind motherboard tray if PSU fan is facing downwards
- Lack of intake fans diminishes airflow
- Price




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