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
Testing Methodology
For testing Mini-ITX cases, we use the following standardized testbed with and without dedicated graphics cards to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Mini-ITX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i3-2120 (65W TDP) |
| Motherboard | Zotac Z68ITX-A-E |
| Graphics Card | Intel HD 2000 IGP |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives | Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD |
| CPU Cooler | SilverStone NT07-1156 with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | Included 90W AC Adapter |
Each case is tested with just the Core i3's integrated graphics as well as with a discrete graphics card when possible. The system is powered on and left idle for fifteen minutes, the thermal and acoustic results recorded, and then stressed by running four threads (three with a dedicated GPU) in Prime95 (in-place large FFTs) on the CPU, and OC Scanner (maximum load) is run when the dedicated GPU is installed. At the end of fiteen minutes, thermal and acoustic results are recorded. If the enclosure has a fan controller, these tests are repeated for each setting. Ambient temperature is also measured after the fifteen idle minutes but before the stress test and used to calculate the final reported results.
We try to maintain an ambient testing temperature of between 22C and 24C. Non-thermal test results aren't going to be directly comparable to the finest decimal point, but should be roughly comparable and give a broader idea of how the enclosure performs.
Thank You!
Before moving on, we'd like to thank the following vendors for providing us with the hardware used in our testbed.
- Thank you to Puget Systems for providing us with the Intel Core i3-2120.
- Thank you to Zotac for providing us with the Z68ITX-A-E motherboard.
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the NT07-1156 heatsink/fan combo.
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SodaAnt - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Well, the mac min has a different set of design criteria. Apple doesn't have to fit a specific form factor, so they can mount pretty much everything on the board itself and do away with most of the cables. When you realize that you can get the same power as the $600 mac mini in a laptop $200 cheaper, you also realize how much more expensive it is.If antec were designing something like the mac mini, they could mount all the power hardware on the board, have a direct connection for the power, hdd, and fan. Further, the mac mini doesn't support two hard drives like this case does.sligett - Monday, September 3, 2012 - link
Apple will sell you a Mac Mini with two drives:750GB Serial ATA Drive @ 7200 rpm + 256GB Solid State Drive
deruberhanyok - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
a mini ITX motherboard with a pair of mini PCI Express slots. One for wifi and one for an SSD.You'd have less cabling and the SSD would get cooling from airflow off the CPU heatsink.
Unfortunately, it seems mini ITX boards with mini PCI Express slots usually only have one. Still, better to put the SSD there and use a USB wifi dongle, I'd think.
drfish - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I'm hoping to put an AMD A300 APU in one of these things. We don't need much power for the Solidworks models we produce but we do need the BS certified drivers so I'm hoping this will make a solid tiny workstation, err, a tiny Solidworkstation I guess.Termie - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Thanks for covering this hot new area of case design. I think ITX is really the way a lot of people will be going.While this case is smaller than I'd consider reasonable or necessary, it's definitely interesting to read about.
I'd be very curious, however, what your opinion would be of two cases I recently considered for an ITX build:
(1) The Antec ISK 310-150, the big brother to the ISK 110 (which has that extra PSU headroom you're wishing for).
(2) The Bit Finex In Win BP655, which is just slightly larger than the ISK 310, and which I ultimately chose for a recent ITX build.
The Antec is slightly smaller (in one dimension only - height (in the long direction), and also has venting for a PCIe video card. The Bit Finex is much cheaper, has more PSU headroom, takes a 3.5" drive and a full-size optical drive, and has just a bit more room to work in.
Again, thanks for covering this area of case design!
Termie - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Sorry, I mean In Win BP 655, not Bit Finex.Zap - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I'm using the ISK 300-150 (different face than the ISK 310-150, all black with flip-down)http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=22326...
In Win traditionally has somewhat mediocre PSUs. At least Antec's is somewhat known, as a review site used a load tester on it (hardwaresecrets?) and found it does put out what it claims without issues, other than lower efficiency than what is now considered normal. Only redeeming part of In Win's case is that it uses a standard TFX PSU, unlike Antec's proprietary PSU. Seasonic makes 80Plus Gold PSUs in the TFX size up to 350W. Good luck fitting 350W worth of parts into such a small case!
I believe Antec uses slightly thicker steel than In Win for the case panels.
AssBall - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
"...while it relies solely on the heatsink/fan combo to actively cool the system, it also relies solely on the heatsink/fan combo to actively cool the system."What?
Termie - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
I think that was an attempt at humor.One fan means it runs hot, one fan means it runs quiet...
Lonyo - Friday, August 31, 2012 - link
Do you have any alternative PSUs to hand? Might be interesting to see if something like a PicoPSU would make the entire job any easier than dealing with the built in one (as odd as that sounds).http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=12383
The main issue would be the fact there is only one SATA connector on that specific model, but you could get an adapter (although it would take up a little extra space), or re-wire a SATA connector instead of second PATA.