Antec Inc was once a giant in the computer case world before most other case companies came into being and for while they were King of the cases. In the early part of computers an Antec case had the first Modular tool-less snap in hard drive module and they were heavy as a full grown Rottweiler. Then came the case heard around the world. The Antec 900 that was introduced back in 2006 that is still in production and also still one of the best selling cases of all time. That one case revolutionized gaming cases all over the computer case market and many cases are true copies of this monumental case even up until now.
The Antec 900 made true case history with the little Mid Tower monster and his big brother the Antec 1200 gaming case. These cases were the first case with a huge 200mm exhaust fan and it revolutionized air cooling computers for a decade to come and with its dual 120mm lighted intake fans in the front and that giant top 200mm exhaust and even a 120mm fan attached to this case, it was a piece of computer aerodynamics history that was proven over and over by temperature tests by owners and reviewers all over the world to be the best they had ever witnessed. There were revisions over the years and a second generation to the 900 case, and it went over okay I guess; but the price and the look of the original real thing was so incredible it was hard to get people to buy the next gen cover model. Even, now I am almost sure that there are a few Antec 900 user’s out there reading this review on the internet right now. It has been Newegg.com’s Most Sold computer case ever in history and has been on the number one spot of the Electronics’ Billboard Charts of production cases since its inception almost a full decade ago.
Now 9 years have passed and sure there have been lot of Antec cases since then but nothing to rate or to make history like the Antec 900, but Antec has a new Economy case called the Antec P70. I really don’t think that this case is going to make history like its grandfather but he is quite a case of it’s own.
The Antec Website describes the P70 case this way:
“Builder-Friendly Case For Performance And Silence
The P70 is engineered to be a builder-ready case with all the features you want for a powerful, silent build. Advanced cooling options, room for expansion, and Quiet Computing components such as sound dampening material on the side panels, a removable sound-blocking top panel, and rubber grommets on HDD rails make the P70 a winning combination of performance and silence”
Well let me begin by saying that I really like this case but the case we tested had .10 mm stick on insulation stuck on the outcropping of both side panels. That is 1/10th of a millimeter for the outcropping of the panels and the dual fan top ventilation cover is slightly rubberized if you decide to take out the top blow holes.
The metal is thin but not paper thin as most of the econ-o-cases that I have tested lately. The steel is not thick but it resists bending slightly and not ultra bendable as others on the frame. All the edges of the steel access hole are rolled edges for added strength safety and durability.
There is only one SSD mount on the top of the 4 drive module at the bottom front of the case and there is more air resistance that I would care for from the front case but it is semi open in the front.
Each Mechanical hard drive must have rails applied to the sides but they are tool-less and have rubber insulation on them and the rails fit clean and neat.
The Size of the Motherboard and build area is about what you would expect from a mid-tower case with the flat top type access above the motherboard. Not much but the two 120mm fans that come stock with the unit should be sufficient for keeping the inside cool without much difficulty unless you are using a space heater type graphics card that produces enough BTU’s to keep a small room warm this case should do well for you cooling wise. The front can take both 120mm and 140mm fans but fitting them in will be problematic so I don’t really recommend them to be installed unless they are very thin. The air current from the Exhaust fan and the two top blow-hole fans should be plenty to keep the interior of an air cooled build nice and breathable inside for a long time to come.
The front panel is super clean and very well cut for fit of ODD drives and a nice 3.5 inch card reader if you want to use one. The front top has all the controls which three fan controllers that can contro 5 fans with a Low/Off /High setting. There is a switch in the back of the top but that is for locking and unlocking the back top of the top panel of case.
While Antec P70 case is not the award winner that the Antec 900 was let’s look see the good points of this case and the problems that you may run into building in it.
