Antec ISK 110 VESA Case Review: Just About As Small As It Gets
by Dustin Sklavos on August 31, 2012 12:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Mini ITX
- Antec
Conclusion: Good Deal, If You Need It
When you're talking about the Antec ISK 110 VESA, it's important to note-and I've stressed this over and over-what you're giving up. Even for a Mini-ITX system, you're sacrificing a lot to hit a form factor this small. That's not necessarily a bad thing; the ISK 110 VESA isn't intended for full-powered or even compact-powered systems and Antec makes no bones about it on their product page. It's meant for kiosk and basic lightweight corporate and personal use.
I'd argue that for those purposes it's actually more than adequate. It's very easy to make it a quiet system (just use a quiet heatsink), and as long as your expectations are properly adjusted, you should be perfectly happy with it. Antec charges a competitive price for it, too.
With all that said, though, there are still definitely a few places where Antec could improve the design. Ease of assembly is always going to be an issue with a case this small, but the ISK 110 VESA is more difficult than it needs to be. While I'm not an electrician I find it hard to believe that the power board needs to be laid out as clumsy as it is; the caps are just too tall, and the precarious way it's mounted makes it needlessly difficult to remove and replace. The power leads on the separate cable are fine for the most part (a sheath around the cables would go a long way), but the AUX 12V line is just plain too short.
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Antec could also make plugging headers into the motherboard easier by employing completely removable cables similar to how BitFenix handles them in the Prodigy. These wouldn't actually take up much more space than the existing black plastic box, either, but would again go a long way towards making the case easier to assemble.
Finally, the panel on the underside just plain needs to be ventilated better. As the case is designed it does run the risk of cooking 2.5" drives housed there, and there's no reason not to increase the ventilation.
Whether or not USB 3.0 connectivity should be added in an update (or a reset button for that matter) is going to be a matter of some controversy. I see the pros and cons for going either way, so I can't hold it as a strike against the ISK 110 VESA. I'm also wondering just how difficult it would be to switch to a 120W power adapter instead of the existing 90W; the case has enough thermal headroom to it that I don't think it's out of the question to try putting a standard 95W processor inside.
All of that essentially leaves us with a case that's pretty good at what it does, but definitely has room for improvement. This is a fairly old design from Antec, too, so it's ripe for updating. Let's hope they do it.
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sligett - Monday, September 3, 2012 - link
Well, there's an optimal size for anything. It costs more to make it larger, and it costs more to make it smaller. It also costs more to make something with non-standard parts. Sure, an ATX power supply is cheaper - they make them by the bazillions. And finally, if you *need* an enclosure this size, then you will pay to get it.That's life.
plext0r - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I've been using the M350 case from mini-itx.com with my Zotac IONITX (Atom + Nvidia) motherboards and it's a great little case (MythTV). It includes the VESA mounting holes on the back (no bracket needed). I ended up sandwiching a Scythe 100mm x 12mm fan into the case since 40mm fans are too loud and I couldn't run fan less.Geraldo8022 - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I too think that is a nice little case (M350) with one exception; the power button is over the ATX connector. Makes for a barely doable installation. I use Sapphire E350 (Zacate). I have an SSd and a 500G 2.5 inch HD. I use the integrated graphics and it works for me. I also would like to see Express Mini PCI utilized more. I use a PICO and prefer it to what Antec has implemented. I plan on moving mine into some kind of flat bottomed duffel bag and start taking it into cafes rather than my laptop. This ITX system is mounted on the back of a 24in Asus IPS monitor. Involves a powerstrip and, of course, has no battery. I think someone is missing an opportunity by not making a specialized bag for something like this. I see these people with their little tablets and I will sit here with my 24 incher. Course I will just pack it from car so weight is not that big of a deal. We'll see.TrackSmart - Wednesday, September 5, 2012 - link
That last part, about taking your 24" monitor + attached case out-and-about, is hilarious. Kind of like going back to the early suitcase-style computers where the top lid was a keyboard.Personally, I'd take one of the many cheap, lightweight, E350 powered laptops over your suitcase style E350 system, but I'd be amused if you actually did this.
Seraphimcaduto - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I have this case as well, mine has a llano A8-3820, 8gb of ddr3 ram, a crucial m4 64GB and a 250GB WD HDD. I have to say that I love this case for its portability and power, but I had to mount an internal (low profile) 100mm processor fan to cool it better; the cooling was adequate before, but i was pushing the onboard graphics more than most (sane) people would. After using this case for several months, I can say a slightly larger power supply (even 120w) would be appreciated. Currently you are limited on your processor/main board selection and the extra 30w would greatly expand what you could use.Seraphimcaduto - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Forgot to say that I needed an extension cable for the 4-pin power connector as well and I used the asrock A75-itx. Only some of the asus mini-itx motherboards seem to have the 4-pin power socket close enough...coder543 - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
isn't the A8-3820 a mobile APU? how did you manage that?Seraphimcaduto - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Fusion#section_...http://www.amd.com/us/products/desktop/processors/...
Actually the A8-3820 is a revision of the A8-3800 CPU. Both processors are 65W desktop socket FM1 but are next to impossible to find, as mentioned in the review here of the Pudget AMD system with the same case. Both have the 6550D graphics, which means my little guy quite the portable LAN box.
DanNeely - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Looking at the way wires end up jammed into every open space above the board it seems a pity none of the even smaller board sizes have gained any traction outside of with VIA. Using a slightly smaller board would allow for routing all of the thinner wires behind the board and then just having them pop up around the edges; leaving only the fat power cables clogging things up on top. The case doesn't have support for even a half height expansion card, which eliminates the main restriction against going smaller.Belard - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
They could have made it slightly bigger... making better airlflow perhaps as well as more room to hide some wiring. Since it has a power adapter, they could have made all the wires BLACK, including the USB to help make them disappear... actually, the inside should be painted black as well.This also shows how well the Apple MacMini is well designed, eh?