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
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from Antec's design. The case seems pretty standard for an ATX design despite the smart internal layout, and my feelings towards negative air pressure designs have been stated previously (i.e. I'm not at all convinced they're the best approach). Yet there are some very pleasant surprises to be found with the Three Hundred Two.
Thermally the Antec Three Hundred Two is among our best and brightest, and even at the low fan speed it doesn't sacrifice much in the way of performance. Rosewill's Ranger tends to top our charts at the stock configuration, but the Ranger is also much more difficult to assemble and service than the Three Hundred Two is. But thermal results are only part of the equation....
Rosewill's enclosure is slightly louder, at least relative to the Lo fan speed setting. BitFenix continues to be our winner for silent budget enclosures, but the Three Hundred Two isn't particularly offensive at idle, and its load performance falls mostly in line with the other enclosures that don't enjoy any soundproofing. Where the Three Hundred Two really comes into its own is in our overclocked configuration.
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stren - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
I have actually drilled my own water cooling ports on my older Antec 300, PM me on the forums if you want to see it. So yes they're good to have. Unusually placed on the top, the rear is much more normal. Glad to see they fixed the major flaws with the old Antec 300, but really they could have gone a few steps further and painted the inside black as well as offering a windowed version. An improvement, but not worth paying $80 imo, there are other better cases out there.mbf - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
...to take the original 300 and make it look like crap. I'm saying this purely from an aesthetic point of view and I'm specifically referring to the the curved front. It seems to be what Antec is best at these days considering the hideous DarkFleet series, the LanBoy Air and also the new P280. It's a shame....GuyIncognito_ - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
That's exactly what I was thinking!The only thing I didn't really like on my 300 was the pair of protrusions on the front. So they made them even bigger! XD
I hope that either the USB 3.0 panel fits the old 300 or the 300 plastic front fits 300-2.
marc0871 - Sunday, February 12, 2012 - link
yep.the curved front is my greatest issue with this case too.
the rest of the case on the other hand, is to much of an improvement over the 300 to not put it on my shortlist.
and pretty high on that too.
still, i would like to see the 300 bezel on the 302.
8steve8 - Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - link
why bother reviewing full-size atx cases?who buys these clunkers?
what percentage of people need atx over microatx? why? and for the masses, mini-itx...
Stuka87 - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
Are you being serious?bnolsen - Thursday, January 26, 2012 - link
mostly agreed, but the old 300 is excellent for holding a small raid array excellent drive cooling, etc. I was hoping antec would release a microatx version of the 300 (same number of hard drive bays, dump the extra 5.25's).ZekkPacus - Sunday, January 29, 2012 - link
The issue is that most hobbyist builders won't have great cable management skills, bigger cases are easier to tidy.Added to that, I'll always have full ATX cases. Granted I only run a GPU and a soundcard nowadays, but spacing them out makes me happy. Show me a MicroATX case that has thermals equivalent to an antec eleven hundred/p280/corsair carbide 500r, and as much cable management.
The P180 mini isn't far off but have you seen the size of it? It's more or less a mid-tower case. Added to which it is now badly out of date.
Cybertori - Saturday, February 11, 2012 - link
I have a Three Hundred that I am very happy with. Only downside is the fan noise, which is kind of inherent in a well-ventilated steel case for gamers. Its nice they went to USB 3.0, and made the side panels easier to attach. Very solid case, easy to work with, and keeps a gaming rig cool and stable.nikhil2004 - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
i brought this cabinet and i m satisfied with the performance.unfortunately this one is no longer available, never the less almost all antec products are eequally good...
i bought it from martnext.com gave me best price along with COD facility
try out yourself for best deal on Antec products
http://www.martnext.com/computer-components/brands...