Alaska Eclipse or Antec 900?

bfar · 26 Jan 2007 at 15:34

Considering

Alaska Eclipse 62 (will cost me €200 inc fans and del)
Antec 900 Gamer (can pick it up locally for €130)

I like the look of the Alaska, but money and hassle are an issue, and the Antec has great cooling/looks. I wouldn't mind butchering the antec for cable management.
What do you think? Any other suggestions?

platypus · 26 Jan 2007 at 15:53

Read about some problems with the Antec 900, which I'm also keen to know about:

platypus said:
I like the look of this case, but have read about quite a few problems. Unfiltered fans, motherboard tray not removable (I keep my PCs tidy by shoving most of the wires behind the mobo tray, this would be a concern), and also that, due to poor manufacture the top graphics card slot isn't usable?

bfar · 26 Jan 2007 at 15:58

platypus said:
Read about some problems with the Antec 900, which I'm also keen to know about:

Yea, I believe cable management is messy, along with awkward drive bay installation, but I can live with that if it all runs nice and cool ;-)

I reckon I'll get the Alaska - a lot of class there.

allllec · 26 Jan 2007 at 16:02

Akasa eclipse definitely gets my vote

both are very nice cases, if your not to fussed about the "technicalities" then i would go for whatever is more aesthetically pleasing.

Alex R · 26 Jan 2007 at 16:02

platypus said:
Read about some problems with the Antec 900, which I'm also keen to know about:

Can't comment on the Akasa. But I have just taken delivery of the Antec 900. Lovely case.

The fans aren't filtered, but then again you could put those in yourself.

The mobo tray isn't removeable. I didn't have a problem tidying the case though. There are a couple of fixed and re-useable cable ties in the case top and bottom which help keeping everythinh out of the way and looking ship shape.

I didn't find the drive installation awkward at all. Just undo the 4 thumbscrews and the cage slides out. The hard drive is screwed in and then the cage slotted back in. I suppose it depends how often you are going to move your hard drives around. The only thing that bugged me is that the 965 mobos only seem to have one ide connector so you are have to use the one cable - forcing you to put the hd towards the top if DVD-RW and HD are ide.

It is much quieter than my previous case, although this is always subjective the 900 is much quieter than my previous case (generic). It has also dropped temperatures considerably, down +/- 7 degrees on the board and my 1950xt gpu is down to 31 degrees from 42 according to Catalyst CC!

The only thing that does need to be watched is the length of the 4 pin power connector on the 965 mobos. It is right at the top and the psu sits right at the bottom, you might end up stretching it over the side of the graphics card. I have a 580 hiper and it fitted.

Oh, yeah, and the graphics card slot has been sorted out, no prblems whatsoever.

platypus · 26 Jan 2007 at 16:14

Thanks Alex, much appreciated, I realise I could buy fan filters but would hope that, in designing such a case, Antec would have had the forethought to include them, and not make you have to spend extra.

Other then that, looks good, I think if I dont go the water cooling route I'll get a 900.

PinkFloyd · 26 Jan 2007 at 16:21

Definitely go with the Akasa Eclipse.
Its basically a flawless case if you like the looks of it.

Huge amounts of space, easy for wire management, I have one and don't have a single complaint.

easyrider · 26 Jan 2007 at 16:57

PinkFloyd said:
Definitely go with the Akasa Eclipse.
Its basically a flawless case if you like the looks of it.

Huge amounts of space, easy for wire management, I have one and don't have a single complaint.

Agreed

I have had loads of builds over the years and my eclipse has seen them all.

The perfect case IMO.

Yewen · 26 Jan 2007 at 20:31

Eclipse has been around for over a decade (at least) in one form or another. Will be around next decade as an almost certainty.

The 900, I doubt if you will be able to buy it in 2009.

Eclipse = best case money can buy being objective, in almost every area bar build quality. This makes it the best all round case available.

900 = Beats the Eclipse on number of fans, which is a bad thing.

How I see it.

Street · 27 Jan 2007 at 10:24

I have never used the Antec case but I own an Eclipse and can highly recommend getting one. They are about the best cases I've ever worked with. I even use them for quite a few non rack mount server builds I've had to do!