Antec Three Hundred Two: Stay Cool, Budget Enthusiasts
by Dustin Sklavos on January 24, 2012 7:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- mid-tower
Conclusion: Performance, No Compromises
Antec's Three Hundred Two seems to be designed with thermal performance first and foremost on its agenda. When you're dealing with sub-$100 cases, it's always going to be a balancing act between acoustics and thermals, and for the Three Hundred Two, Antec has opted to swing the pendulum towards the performance end of the spectrum. The included fan controls for the TwoCool fans give the end user some leeway and honestly I prefer the simplified two settings instead of the three on the old TriCools, so if you do want to quiet the Three Hundred Two down, it's within your power.
I honestly find the exterior of the Three Hundred Two to be a little on the bland side and kind of chintzy, and I can't help but hope that the $79 MSRP doesn't persist. The basic black plastic lacks the spitshine of BitFenix's lineup, and while the Three Hundred Two is a pretty smartly designed big steel box, it still looks like a big steel box. Between the iffy looks and the mild assembly issues with the interior, though, the only major knock you can take at the Three Hundred Two is noise, and even there you have the option of silencing the enclosure some in exchange for a little more heat.
That price tag is justified in a couple of different places, though: the toolless mounting systems used for 5.25" drives and 3.5" drives are smart and convenient, the side-removable air filter for the power supply is a nice touch, and native USB 3.0 support is still having some trouble trickling down. Still, at $79 this isn't quite the homerun I'm looking for. At $69 it'd be a good deal, and at the $59 the current Three Hundred sells for, it'd be a steal. If you're an enthusiast on a budget, though, the Three Hundred Two should be on your short list.
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Stuka87 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I own an original 300, and the filters up front do a VERY good job of keeping dust down inside the case. I get almost no dust build up after 2 years of running. I just clean the filters every 2-3 months.Ratman6161 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I've had my original 300 from (I think) about 2 years ago that I got for $39 at Microcenter. This case just can't be beat for the price.My experience with the filters is also very good. We have 4 cats in our house and once a week or so I just run my hand over the front of the case and wipe the accumulated hair off of it. None gets in the case through the front. Some cat hair and dust does get in via the side fan though.
Montrey - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
Odd, my experience with my 300 is just the opposite. I have it on a stand about 18" off of the floor, and it is the only machine in the house that gets dust on the inside, despite the filters and a not particularly dusty house. I have the 120mm mounted on the front behind the filter, and the 140mm on the top exhausting, both set on low. I have to blow out the fins on my Arctic Freezer 7 at least every month or they get completely clogged. I suppose I could try upping the speed on the front intake fan, but I trade the convenience for quiet.MilwaukeeMike - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I experience this with my Antec P180. It uses negative pressure and I get dust build up on all the little cracks around my unused 5.25 drive covers. The filters do their job and get most of it, but i do have to spend a little extra time cleaning because of the setup.I should just move my fans and be done with it.
rodrigu3 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
As I understand it, negative pressure systems work if you have a large filter that allows for low resistance airflow. The majority of air will flow through the path of least resistance and so will probably enter through the relatively large opening in the front of the case through the filter, rather than all the tiny little openings. So, the majority of air entering the case will be filtered, although some dusty air will still get through. You can minimize that on this chassis by putting high resistance filters on the side panels without any fans and just using the two fans that come with the case.7Enigma - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
The original is a fantastic budget case that really is impossible to beat for the $30-40 on sale with free shipping you can regularly find on Newegg. Guess that will be coming to an end as its replacement is finally here but it was great while it lasted. Just starting to read the review but wanted to mention this before I forgot.7Enigma - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
Wow I'm shocked you didn't give at least a silver award for this case!?!?! Similar to the original this case's performance is far beyond its pricetag.Stuka87 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
I have an original 300, and i love it.However, I am looking at this case, and it looks like it only came with 2 fans, rather than the previous generations four fans? The first 300 had two intake fans on the front behind the filters. This case doesn't have those fans, or the filters?
I am thinking it would have been a bit cooler if it had them, although possibly a bit louder. Although mine set to low is barely audible.
I am also glad they made the opening behind the CPU larger, as I had to cut this area on mine to get the rear bracket for my CPU heatsink on there.
ZekkPacus - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
The original stock 300 only came with 2 fans (top and rear), it was the Illusion that came with 4.Anyway, though I do think AnandTech does some of the best reviews on the net when it comes to cases, I'd love to see them start using the fanbays in these cases. For example I just swapped cases (from a 300 actually to an 1100), and instantly added two more fans to the stock two. That turns the case from a negative pressure design to a neutral or slightly positive pressure design, which improves dust and also lowers temperatures somewhat. Negative pressure is easiest to achieve when you're talking only stock fans, which is why these designs are so common, and when a manufacturer's making a sub$100 case, they need to cut corners to make a profit out of it. Getting positive or neutral pressure out of a stock design of only two fans would involve a high-RPM screamer in the front bays and the 140mm top fan. That config would likely please no one.
But it's very very unlikely that anyone buying these cases will be using them with stock fan configuration, a little bit of sense from AT concerning where your fans would be best placed out of the many options (I agree with the earlier poster about the uselessness of behind-the-CPU fan bays) and what you can expect out of them would be great.
SBTech86 - Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - link
looks okay but for $79, i would go for corsair 400R (64 ish when sale)