Website: www.antec.com
Price: £117
Dimensions: 58.2cm (H) x 21.3cm (W) x 51.3cm (D)
The Twelve Hundred is notably bigger than the Nine Hundred as already mentioned. Being nearly 4 inches taller and an extra inch in depth. This will allow the latest GPU's to fit inside the case and we will be showing this later in the review. It also allows you to add/remove hardware more easily as you have more space.
On the top side of the case you will see a large mesh vent. Underneath this cage there is a massive 200mm fan. Being placed at the top of the case where the heat rises, this helps to significantly remove the existing heat that the rear exhaust fans do not dispel. You get the option of being able to control this fan just like the others, selecting low, medium or high for the fan speed with the choice of having the blue neon light illuminating the fan or not. On the top of the case there is also a handy front control panel with two USB slots, an eSATA slot, headphones/mic jack and of course the usual power and reset buttons. This is a great feature; it gives you full support for a wide range of devices. It is interesting that the usual firewire slot has been substituted for an eSATA port which is a lot more popular on devices such as external hard drives on the market at the moment.
Inside the case towards the front there are 3 drive bays. Each bay can host up to three HDD's giving you a maximum of 9 drives. This makes the Twelve Hundred case very expandable and appealing to system builders.
On the back of the case one of the first things you will notice is that there are 2 rear exhaust fan outlets. To control these fans and the large 200mm fan at the top of the case there is a little control panel at the back of the case. This allows you to switch between low, medium and high. There is also the option of having the lighting on the top fan switched on or off. So what we have here is a case that has a multitude of fans which can be controlled. This is a valuable feature and something which however small, is important.
Lower down, there are circular rubber ports above the expansion slots. This is so you can run an external water-cooling kit into the case. Which again gives you more options, if you aren’t familiar with water-cooling but are interested in it this case is a practical case to purchase as it will allow you to move from air coolers to water-cooling in the future.
With the Twelve Hundred, you are given a large perspex window so that you can keep an eye on your components. With the collection of fans inside the case a cool blue glow will be emitted. It’s handy to be able to see components inside your case, especially if you have a motherboard with an LED diagnostic panel. It saves you having to take the side off if you are having problems as you can see it directly. It also gives you the opportunity to show off your top of the range kit to friends! Along with the perspex panel there is a mesh covering, underneath this is space to fit an additional fan (directly above the CPU cooler).
Price: £117
Dimensions: 58.2cm (H) x 21.3cm (W) x 51.3cm (D)
The Twelve Hundred is notably bigger than the Nine Hundred as already mentioned. Being nearly 4 inches taller and an extra inch in depth. This will allow the latest GPU's to fit inside the case and we will be showing this later in the review. It also allows you to add/remove hardware more easily as you have more space.
On the top side of the case you will see a large mesh vent. Underneath this cage there is a massive 200mm fan. Being placed at the top of the case where the heat rises, this helps to significantly remove the existing heat that the rear exhaust fans do not dispel. You get the option of being able to control this fan just like the others, selecting low, medium or high for the fan speed with the choice of having the blue neon light illuminating the fan or not. On the top of the case there is also a handy front control panel with two USB slots, an eSATA slot, headphones/mic jack and of course the usual power and reset buttons. This is a great feature; it gives you full support for a wide range of devices. It is interesting that the usual firewire slot has been substituted for an eSATA port which is a lot more popular on devices such as external hard drives on the market at the moment.
Inside the case towards the front there are 3 drive bays. Each bay can host up to three HDD's giving you a maximum of 9 drives. This makes the Twelve Hundred case very expandable and appealing to system builders.
On the back of the case one of the first things you will notice is that there are 2 rear exhaust fan outlets. To control these fans and the large 200mm fan at the top of the case there is a little control panel at the back of the case. This allows you to switch between low, medium and high. There is also the option of having the lighting on the top fan switched on or off. So what we have here is a case that has a multitude of fans which can be controlled. This is a valuable feature and something which however small, is important.
Lower down, there are circular rubber ports above the expansion slots. This is so you can run an external water-cooling kit into the case. Which again gives you more options, if you aren’t familiar with water-cooling but are interested in it this case is a practical case to purchase as it will allow you to move from air coolers to water-cooling in the future.
With the Twelve Hundred, you are given a large perspex window so that you can keep an eye on your components. With the collection of fans inside the case a cool blue glow will be emitted. It’s handy to be able to see components inside your case, especially if you have a motherboard with an LED diagnostic panel. It saves you having to take the side off if you are having problems as you can see it directly. It also gives you the opportunity to show off your top of the range kit to friends! Along with the perspex panel there is a mesh covering, underneath this is space to fit an additional fan (directly above the CPU cooler).
