Antec Eleven Hundred: The P280's Gloves Come Off
by Dustin Sklavos on April 9, 2012 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- mid-tower
Assembling the Antec Eleven Hundred
Though it may share the DNA of Antec's Performance series, the Eleven Hundred is thankfully far easier to assemble than many of its predecessors were. Antec's engineers took care to make sure the Eleven Hundred was easy to work in, and by and large they were successful.
The motherboard tray comes with standoffs preinstalled, but not so tightly that they were impossible to remove and move around for our Micro-ATX test board. Our I/O shield also snapped easily into place, and the board took just the right amount of pressure to line up and install.
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Just about every peripheral and other component was easy to install, too. The optical drive is installed by first popping off the front fascia of the Eleven Hundred (easier done than said), then twisting out the metal place holder. Apply a healthy amount of pressure, and the optical drive will pop into the toolless mechanism and lock into place with very little wobble (the wobble-wary can also use screws to secure the optical drive). 3.5" drives are just as easy; the rails Antec uses snap into the sides of 3.5" drives. These rails are simple to install and remove despite being remarkably secure while in place. Finally, 2.5" drives slide into a dedicated cage just above the 3.5" drive cage. They're secure enough there, but I'd probably think twice about using a mechanical drive; this cage was clearly designed for SSDs with no moving parts, as there's definitely some wiggle room.
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Expansion cards are installed by removing thumbscrews and ventilated expansion bay covers; slot the card in, then replace the thumbscrews. Finally, the power supply is bottom-mounted and as long as you use a unit that's 180mm or shorter, there's access to a hole in the tray for routing cables behind the motherboard.
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It's mostly very easy to route cables in the Eleven Hundred, but the 2.5" drive cage design continues to be somewhat problematic. Simply put, the back of the drive isn't deep enough and the cage design isn't secure enough to make cabling the 2.5" drives as easy as everything else is. This is probably the only black mark on the cabling design of the Eleven Hundred; the case fans get plugged into a molex-powered hub that has four three-pin headers on it. There are a few gripes I could make about the hub, but it's nonetheless a convenience that I appreciate. I just wish four-pin molex would die already; would it be that much harder to replace this with a SATA power lead?
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All told, though, complete assembly of the Eleven Hundred is very easy and probably the equal of any Corsair enclosure in that regard. This might actually make a good beginner enclosure, as it's pretty simple to put together but has some room for a burgeoning enthusiast to experiment with assembly. My only real complaint is that you can't mount a 240mm radiator to the top of the enclosure; theoretically you could put one in the interior front or even on the left side panel, but not in its usual home. I don't see this being a major issue for most users, but it's worth pointing out.
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Sabresiberian - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Uh, if you don't get why the side vents are there, YOU are the one that's stupid, not Antec.Iketh - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
no no no... if you are still using side vents, YOU are stupidJarredWalton - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Yay for intelligent arguments!The reason some people like side vents is that if you have two GPUs, especially on a motherboard where they're only two slots apart (e.g. a "GPU sandwich"), putting a couple fans right above the GPUs can be very helpful for temperatures. From a noise and dust standpoint, though, it's not a good thing and aesthetically some will dislike panels as well.
Sabresiberian - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
It''s you, the case isn't ugly at all to me.Some people think their concept of beauty in a case should rule over every case a company makes, but, hey, there's a reason that Antec makes so many different types of cases (as well as other manufacturers).
;)
dtolios - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
What's the point of getting a large or mid-expensive range case to combo with mATX again? I don't understand why "enthusiast" oriented cases should be tested using an mATX mobo the first place....ofc it can do mATX and one GPU...big deal...can it do 2x large GPUs and full ATX good enough is always a WAY more valid question - both for an organizational and thermal performance standpoint.Guess it is just me...
ClockHound - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Would it be too much to ask for proof reading before publishing?"If you'll let me beat this dead horse one last time, I'm keen to point out what the Antec Eleven Hundred is that the Antec P280 isn't: a cheaper P280."
I'm keen to understand what you meant. Does this mean that the P280 isn't a cheap P280 or did you mean that the Eleven Hundred isn't a cheap P280? And how did the Three Hundred get into the review text? It's in the text of the overclock page.
I do agree the delta is the better number to display....but it does beg the question with this new test system, why you can't test in a temperature-controlled environment? Why not test with different ambient temps, like room temperature and a 'hot' room temperature?
Thanks for the review.
JarredWalton - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Reviews do get proofed most of the time (by me for Dustin's reviews), but I try to take a hands off approach and I thought initially he was trying to say something else. I've fixed that. Anyway, while you're happily flogging us for minor typos, you might want to research what it means to "beg the question". ;-)As for the temperature controlled testing environment, it would be awesome to have such equipment, but we don't. Environmentally regulated test environments don't come cheap, and they also pose a different problem: 70F ambient without a lot of airflow from the AC isn't the same as 70F with an AC moving quite a bit of air. The difference may not be that large, but I'd bet it would be measurable.
Sabresiberian - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
I get trying to keep the quality of Anandtech high, and I think that pointing out errors in communication is appropriate, but you would make a better point by making a post that is free of spelling, grammar and usage errors itself.;)
kevith - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
Why don't you ever bother to experiment a bit with different numbers and placement of fans? In this case, it would have been VERY interesting to know, what impact that fan behind the motherboard has on temps. AND noise, since it's tugged away far from the user. And there's a lot of other empty fan placements, that, filled up with fans might change the performance and accoustics. But I guess I'l have to buy the case to find out. (And what's the purpose of reading reviews then...?)You'l probably say, that writing a review takes a lot of time, even without digging deeper into fans, their numbers and placement. But why use all that time, and then in the end the review is only half? Who wants to do or read something, that's ALMOST great? The vast majority of people, that would consider buying this case - and other hi-end cases - will definitely want to experiment.
Aand then you spend a lot of time comparing the P280 and the 1100. Except for readings...!? Why don't you show the figures of the P280 in the graphs?
And I don't think you understood Stahn Aileron's question: We all know, why you changed to showing Delta over ambient, but please let us know what the ambient is, so we know how hot the thing is.
PhoenixEnigma - Monday, April 9, 2012 - link
If you read the review, it's noted that the ambient temperature was about 23C for these tests. The 550D was apparently tested in a room about a degree cooler.Of course, it would make more sense for the reader to use their own ambient temperature - that's the advantege to having the delta and not the final number, it's easier to adjust for your conditions.