Antec GX700 Case Review: Just What You Can Get For $59.99
by Dustin Sklavos on January 17, 2013 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- ATX
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
As is customary when reviewing any case with a fan controller, the Antec GX700 was tested with its fan controller at both low and high settings. Note that the control switch actually has a middle setting, but that middle setting turns the fans off entirely. That may not be a bad thing for some users, but for the sake of the testbed's longevity, I opted to test with just the low and high fan settings.
Ambient temperature when testing at stock was low enough that it may have slightly affected fan speed results; it's a remarkably cold winter here in California, and ambient temperatures hovered around 21C.
Thermals for the GX700 are competitive at low and frankly pretty awesome at high. At high the GX700 is producing temperatures competitive with Antec's Eleven Hundred, currently one of the best cases we've tested, anda it's doing so at $40 less.
Fan speeds may have been affected by the low ambient temperature during testing, but the GX700 still has some thermal headroom regardless. Our stock configuration just doesn't push it that hard.
At the low setting, the GX700 is also one of the quietest cases we've tested, while the high setting is still mostly competitive.
What we have with the GX700, at least at stock, is essentially a good balance between acoustics and performance, and the fan controller allows you to prioritize one over the other. It's a good demonstration of what I've often said about cooling in general: a good airflow design and multiple fans running at low speeds can often do a better job than any acoustic padding ever could.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
infoilrator - Saturday, January 19, 2013 - link
Blocking off top fan holes is easy. Cutting boards, toaster oven bake pans, wood, or that imitation graphite sheet appliqué. With a couple standoffs a fan guard that allows air flow and on top stacking works.Trouble is I do not see a reason to choose this over other cases.
ac2 - Sunday, January 20, 2013 - link
Thanks for the suggestions folks...dingetje - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
yeah but for the right money i'd still give hilary what she wantsEzioAs - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
I'm somewhat surprised by the cooling and acoustic performance, it kinda reminds me of the Eleven Hundred. Really didn't figure this case could compete with more expensive cases on the market. I suppose looks are an acquired taste and the short front audio header could be an issue (really hope they fixed this one) but performance is where it counts in my mind and to be honest, for $60, people buying this thing really shouldn't expect much except that they've got excellent cooling and low noise.The only true drawback in my opinion is the small GPU clearance that could present as an issue to some longer HD7970 (reference could fit, no problem). There's also no removable hard drive cage. Although people having a $400+ card should really look into more expensive cases as well.
The four 5.25" bays are still silly though. When are manufacturers going to realize that?
Robert in Calgary - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
For me, this is another indication that Antec is now an "also ran" when it comes to computer cases.They couldn't make the Solo II any bigger, yet this piece of junk is both longer and taller. And the Solo II is still in available is any colour, as long as it's black!
Is the market for this bigger than the Solo II? Antec pours resources into this, Corsair into the massive 900D.....
The Fractal R4 is what the Solo II should have been.
Skidmarks - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
I don't know if it's just me but I thought different people have different tastes.It's not the type of case I'd buy but I think they didn't to too bad a job for the price.
dj christian - Monday, January 21, 2013 - link
"Solo II is still in available is any colour, as long as it's black!???What do you mean? Where you drunk when you typed that? There's only the black version and none else.
Ening - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
looks fine to me...nagi603 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
It might be cheap, but that ugly mil camo means you either hide it in the basement or spend some extra cash on black paint to cover it. It is hideous!Bonesdad - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
far too ugly to look beyond any goodness inside...try try again Antec.