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, Overclocked
Antec's Three Hundred Two put in a solid showing in our stock settings, but as you'll see, it's under the increased thermal load from our overclocked testbed that it really starts to come into its own. This is why enthusiasts on a budget will want to take note: long, long ago overclocking was about maximizing bang for your buck, and that's what Antec is aiming to do here.
It's very nearly a clean sweep for Antec. The low fan speed continues to do a good job of keeping thermals down and idle CPU and GPU temps are among the best we've seen. The only test where the Antec doesn't place quite as high on the charts is in SSD temperatures, but anything south of 40C is more than adequate.
Of course, that performance comes at a cost. While idle noise isn't that bad at the low fan setting, the high fan speed is among our biggest offenders. The Three Hundred Two is an excellent performer, but you'll pay for it in noise. This is where all the ventilation in the sides and front comes into play, as it lets cool air in and hot air out, but unfortunately it doesn't do much to mask the noise of our test build.
Note that we are well aware of the difficulties of using a "one size fits all" testbed, but the real takeaway here is relative performance. We'll likely update to a more mainstream testbed after the Ivy Bridge launch, but whatever we choose as our baseline, there will always be other ways we could have customized for better cooling and/or lower noise levels.
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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...