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Antec Fusion


Date
: 08/31/06 – 03:32:09 AM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Antec

Price
: $219.00 MSRP / $164.99 (Newegg)

Antec is one of the oldest companies in the chassis industry. Established in 1986, Antec is now 20 years old and continues to lead the industry in high performance, high quality do-it-yourself components. An example of this is the Antec NEO, a high performance modular power supply, released earlier this year.

This latest case called the Antec Fusion is the newest member to the LifeStyle series and first hit the world wide web in early 2006 with a press release that generated a lot of buzz. Finally, the case is ready to hit store shelves. Was the wait worth it?

Page 2 : Package

The Antec Fusion arrived directly from Antec's warehouse and it came very well packaged. The first thing I saw was a standard brown box, pretty unappealing if you ask me.

However, that's just the protective shell for my case. Pulling out the real package we see a far more colorful box.

The front of the box is shows the front of the case which includes the Volume dial, VFD display and stealth optical drive.

The box also indicates an ultra quiet 430W power supply has been included in the case. Overall, the front is quite simple, but the bright blue is a huge contrast compared to some of the other cases we've seen.

On another side of the box we have a perspective view of the case showing the front and the top. The top is pretty bland and painted flat black.

There are a couple quotes printed on various sides of the box indicating some features and specifications.

Don't squint, we'll have all the above information reprinted in the specifications page.

Also found on the back of the package is a picture of the case broken down into three sections: orange, blue and green.

The different colors represent the different thermal regions. The orange section is cooled by the power supply, the green section is where the hard drives are stored and ventilated and the blue section is where the motherboard rests. All the components in the blue zone are cooled by two preinstalled 120mm fans. We'll have more details on this later in the review.

Here's a quick three-quarter view of the case:

Last but not least, we have the dimensions of the case. Weighing in a mere 22lbs is this case and the power supply. It gives you an idea of what material is used.

Speaking of specifications, let's move onto that page and go over them in greater detail.

Page 3 : Specifications

Once a product is released, Antec has always made all sorts of details available to its customers. Antec is one of the few companies that provide a technical drawing of their cases. We'll start this section off with what Antec has to say about the Fusion, webpage here.

Here are the specifications

some features

and the package contents.

Let's move onto the package contents.

Page 4 : Package Contents

The Antec box came very well packaged. The case itself has a relatively low profile which means all that excess space is filled up with foam padding.

Pulling the case out of the box we get our first look of the entire box.

We'll cover more of the exterior and interior in the pages to come. Included in the box was some paperwork, and a driver CD for the VFD.

Flip to the next page and we'll focus in on some of the key external features in this case.

Page 5 : Exterior

The Antec Fusion is a media case and to me that means it should fit any modern decor around. The last thing I'd want to see is a case sporting with tri-color LED fans or a custom demon looking front bezel. Antec must believe in the same philosophies as me because this case is both sleek and simple.

Starting at the front of the case, a number of features are present. The contribution from each component blends nicely into sleek looking bezel.

On the left side of the case we have a FireWire port, two USB ports, microphone and headphone audio ports, a small LED, a reset button, a larger power button and a very large volume knob.

As we turn our head around the corner on this fine specimen, we see the quality workmanship put into the chassis.

Spaced between the front bezel and the body of the frame is a slotted edge that'll allow some air flow in and out of the case without being too obvious. Located on the sides of the case are additional vents for more air flow transfer.

While the top doesn't look like a vent, it really is!

Around the back of the case we have our power supply off to one side and the IO panel for our motherboard on the other side.

The power supply doesn't look all too special from this angle; a standard 80mm fan is used for exhaust.

The rear IO panel for the motherboard is nothing special. This case is designed only for mATX motherboards so we won't see more than 4 expansion slots.

Spinning around one more time to the other side of the case we see two 120mm fans.

These tri-speed fans will help keep you processor and the rest of the entire motherboard cool. At the slowest speed these are barely audible.

On the underside of the case we're presented with even more features. One particular area of interest is the large perforated section that will help keep your hard drives cool.

There are also two kinds of feet on this case. One is made entirely of rubber and is quite soft. The other is made of hard plastic but has a felt foot.

The case does not slide when pushed and the rubber and felt ends ensure no vibration from the case is transfer to the resting surface.

In order to get to the inside of this case, there's one thumb-screw you need to undo. It's located on the middle of the top panel at the back of the case. Once she's out, slide the panel off and let's dive inside.

Page 6 : Interior

Once you open up the case you'll immediately notice why Antec divided the case up into the three different areas found on the case packaging.

The first zone I noticed was the motherboard compartment. There are a few studs preinstalled and a large number of wires terminating in this bay.

The next region I looked at was where my two 3.5" hard drives would be stored.

The installation looks pretty complicated with Antec requiring some handheld tool use. The last compartment was the power supply and optical drive partition.

Things seem quite packed in here. There's certainly a not of space between the end of an optical drive and the end of the power supply. Luckily our new optical drives are not much bigger than the size of a CD itself.

Apart from the AC power cable tucked away with the power supply, there was a little bag full of goodies.

Inside this bag was a plastic plate which you could install onto the side of the case if you wanted to remove one of the 120mm fans or cover up some of the open vents. We also have a bag full of screws and such to install your computer components.

Before we move onto the installation of some components, here's another quick glimpse of the two 120mm fans.

Once the motherboard is actually installed, you'll immediately know Antec isn't joking about keeping your media PC cool and quiet.

Page 7 : Installation

The first step in any new computer build is picking out what components you want to use. For this case, the heart of it all will be my DFI RS482 Infinity motherboard. In order to slide her in, I had to remove a plastic support bracket that has a function I was completely unaware of. You really actually drop the motherboard in because the space is so tight!

Once the motherboard is in place, you can see the type of cooling our 120mm fans will do. We'll have airflow over all of our MOSFETS, air flow around our CPU which is between both fans and airflow over our memory modules. This case will certainly support some great memory overclocks.

With the motherboard in place, I decide to install my 80GB Western Digital hard drive. The first step is two remove the four screws holding down the side plate.

Once removed, you can slot the hard drive between the two spacers. The mounting holes should line up with the silicon washers on the other side of the case.

Ordinary mounting screws will not be sufficient in securing your hard drive down; they're simply not long enough. Antec has provided eight longer screws for you to use.

For my single hard drive, I screwed the side plate back down and then screwed in two of these longer screws into the hard drive. The final installation step is flipping the case over so you can attach two more screws onto the other side of the hard drive.

The next piece of equipment I installed was my optical drive. The drive cage found on the Antec Fusion can swing out. This allows you to slide in your optical drive and drop the cage back into place. Due to the VFD display, you can only install an optical drive on the top bay. I personally think Antec should build some adapter so a third 3.5" drive can be installed.

The rest of the computer build is pretty straight forward and independent of the features on this case. The full size expansion slots will allow you to install a majority of coolers without a problem but some of those tower designs will be an issue.

After some creative wiring, consisting of using some zip ties and taking advantage of some of the resizable slots making up the partitions, my system was complete.

How did everything perform? Head over to the next page where I'll give you a run down on some of the numbers.

Page 8 : Performance

Before we move any further, here's a complete breakdown of the system installed in the Antec Fusion case.

In order to test the performance of this system, I'll provide you with the CPU and Motherboard idle and load temperatures. The load temperatures will be taken after 3 hours of Stress Prime 2004 running and the idle temperatures will be taking after 3 hours of shutting down Stress Prime 2004.

Just before the end of the load cycle, I will also record the voltages from the power supply using a digital multimeter. The same will be done at the end of the idle cycle. The tests will be done three times and the results averaged and plotted below.

Temperatures

Voltage – 24-Pin Main Power

Voltage – 4-Pin Molex

Voltage – 4-Pin Auxiliary Power

Voltage – PCI-E Auxiliary Power

Voltage – SATA Power

I must say, I'm quite impressed with how the Antec Fusion performed; both thermal and power management wise. The temperatures were very respectable, particularly how the motherboard temperatures faired. It's not a mistake when I say the CPU ran cooler than the motherboard under the idle conditions, those numbers don't lie!

Our 430W power supply had no problems keeping up to the task of powering my machine and the voltages were bang on with little variation under the idle and load conditions.

A case review, however, isn't complete with a look at some of the features. If you recall from the exterior look of our case, there are three distinct features: the volume knob, the VFD and the stealth optical drive. For many years, manufacturers have been plagued with the task of making the optical drive cover close once the tray is tucked in. Like many others, Antec is a victim to this problem.

If you're only an inch or two away from the case this isn't a big deal. However, if you notice it after you've already plopped down onto your couch and only notice the tray is open then, it becomes quite the eye sore!

As you can see in the first picture above is our VFD. All you need to do is run the install file found on the CD and do a little bit of configuring. It's incredibly simple and probably one of the best front display applications every programmed, far simpler than what Matrix Orbital has and what some DIY applications require.

Auto Mode Screen Shot

By turning the big volume knob, you can increase the volume from 0 to 25, zero is mute and twenty-five is full blast. Last but not least and unlike many of the cases I've seen, the power button glows a nice soft white, a welcome change from the usual blue.

Page 9 : Conclusion

We generally don't find many mATX multimedia cases tailored for an overclocker. These cases are generally cramped resulting in terrible airflow and high temperatures. The Antec Fusion has resolved that issue. Its spacious interior allows for some of the larger heatsinks and the two 120mm tri-speed fans does wonders on reducing the overall system temperature.

The sleek looks will allow it to fit into any surrounding, but that doesn't mean the case is perfect. The stealth optical drive cover doesn't work perfectly, but this is a small hindrance. What this case lacks is a remote and receiver so you can control your machine without having to use a keyboard or mouse. For a case with a MSRP of 200 USD it's something I would have liked to see, but thankfully NewEgg actually sells it for 165 USD.

Unlike some of my other cases that generally end up back in the retail box and thrown down the stairs for storage, the Antec Fusion has left a lasting impression and that means I'll let it stick around for a little while longer. What Antec does next will be a surprise to us all, but I certainly look forward to what revisions they'll make to this box.

Advantage

Sleek look
Great cooling, especially over entire motherboard
Extremely stable power performance
Very quiet
Well integrated VFD controls

Disadvantages

Expensive
Stealth bay doesn't fully close

Overclockers Online would like to thank Antec for making this review possible.