Results
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.
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