Antec Three Hundred Two Case Review

BluePanda - November 7, 2012
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Testing:

Testing the Antec Three Hundred Two required pushing my hardware to heat things up as much as possible. Testing involved recording temperatures for the CPU, GPU, chipset, hard drives, and overall system during idle and load phases. Recently, OCC upgraded to the ForceGT 240GB SSD from Corsair and has removed the HDD temps from case reviews. Thus, HDTune is no longer a part of the case benchmarking process.

Load was simulated by running Prime95’s small FFTs along with 3Dmark Vantage looping for one hour. The maximum temperatures were recorded using HW Monitor. It is important to note that each case is tested from its factory setup, including location of fans, unless otherwise noted.

Testing Setup:

Processor: Core i7 2600K @ 4.4 GHz 100 x 44
CPU Cooling: Noctua NH-U12P SE 1366
Motherboard: GIGABYTE Z68AP-D3
Memory: Mushkin 991996 Redline PC3-17000 9-11-10-28 8 GB
Video Card: XFX HD 7970
PSU: Antec TruePower New TP-750
Storage Drive: Corsair ForceGT 240GB
Optical Drive: N/A
OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-Bit SP1

Comparison Cases:

Results:

Temperatures seen in this case were all over the place. It wasn't a sure winner, nor a real loser in the all-around category. In terms of CPU temperatures, it was a bit high at idle but seemed to be one of the lower ones under load. The video card seemed to stay nice and cool under load and at idle. I'm not sure if it's the top fan helping out, but it does well and that is what counts. The chipset on the other hand is what turns the smile upside-down. Both idle and load are top of the charts; not impressive at all. Overall it rounds out, but I'm thinking if you add in an extra fan or two you might be able to bring down the chipset closer to ambient temperature.

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