Antec Twelve Hundred v3

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Strength

While the Antec Twelve Hundred is certainly not a weak case – the frame itself is nice and sturdy – the plastic panelling on the top is a bit flimsy. It does bend under weight and could perhaps snap if impacted, but in reality it should protect your internals well enough. The side panel with the window is a little less strong than its opposite other, but it’s nothing horrendous.

Noise and Cooling

The cooling in the Antec Twelve Hundred is very impressive with three front intakes, two rear exhausts and a massive 20cm exhaust in the roof. All of these set to blow at “low” speeds using the rear fan controller will provide plenty of airflow and will remain practically silent also.

If you choose to jack things up a notch and set the fans to medium or high, you’ll begin to notice things a bit more, but amazingly even at full tilt the case is quieter than many others I’ve tested.

On top of this, the Twelve Hundred even makes it possible for further expansion utilising the side panel intake/exhaust option. However, I would have liked to have seen a PSU air intake as well as some more dust filters. Can never go wrong with them.

Features

The SSD placement point is nice as many cases don’t come with any 2.5” drive mounts. However, the inclusion of the silicon spacers was unnecessary.

Cable management is great, handled very well indeed. However, I would have liked to have seen a few more toolless installs. At the very least on the HDD cages – this is where they should put the silicon mounts – and on the ODD cages also. PCI bracket clips like those found in modern Lian Li cases are fantastic, and should be used by all as they’re almost as strong as screw setups and do a better job of gripping the bracket.

I do like that a USB 3.0 socket is included on the front of the case, that makes things nice and future compatible as its certainly the way to go. I’m calling it, eSATA is dead.

Cost

Prices vary quite a bit on this case, with you looking to spend between £130 and £180. Not horrendous at the bottom end of that range, but £180 is a bit much for an enclosure like this. It’s good, but not that good.

9 responses to “Antec Twelve Hundred v3”

  1. I have had this case for a couple of years now. I had a smaller Antec case that I sold so I already knew the good quality. I have all my fans set at low and a massive Noctua NH-D15 Premium cpu cooler. Man that this is massive! When I installed the side fan I had to trim one of the corner tabs to make it fit. No big deal. The whole unit runs pretty quiet even though it’s right next to me. I have been contemplating changing to a Corsair liquid cooler. I have something like 5 hard drives with two being SSD’s. Even with the AMD Phenom Black overclocked it still runs cooler than my older system running at normal speeds. My case is the updated version and did come with filters for the front and side. I also installed fans on the back side of the HHD bays.

  2. Erik Sørensen avatar
    Erik Sørensen

    The big minus for this case, is the problem with big CPU coolers. If you like me have a 140 mm Noctua CPU cooler, there is no room for a 120 mm fan on the side panel. And with today’s large Videocards that get hot, it’s not ideal without the side fan cooling the videocard. I have the Antec twelve hundred v.1 and before I got the big cooler I loved this case very much. Lot’s of space, good solid case made of aluminium and steel. Sad it’s to small for the modern CPU coolers. Antec should make this case wider, like 25-28 cm wide, then it ould be the best case ever made.

  3. hi, in the cons of this product you say there are not dust filters, but it’s not true.
    They are in the front panel, in front of intake fans, and there’s one in the side panel.
    bye

    1. I can confirm as well that there are dust filters, in the side panel window and in front panel case for the hard drives.

      Please be a little more careful with reviews because they can be a little misleading and people can miss out a great product as this one.

      1. It is indeed a great product, however my version did not have dust filters. Perhaps it was a pre-release. I’ve tweaked the review to say that the case now comes with filters in certain places.

  4. is it possible to fit a redeon 6990, in some way, like removing a hdd cage?

    1. I imagine yes, but it would be a tight fit. I’m afraid I don’t have the card to hand to be able to test right now though.

  5. ps:

    the 2.5″ mount is not alone for ssd. It can also be use for 2.5″ hdd (from laptops ect…

  6. As usual, any comments are appreciated. Please let us know what you think of the review. If you feel we could do a better job, tell us here.

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