Home > Consumer Reviews > Antec SLK1600 Biege Mini Tower

I've used many cases building for friends. Some cheap cases are band-aid dispensers: their sharp edges are just waiting to cut fingers. While this case may not be up to the standards of the more expensive Antec cases, for a vauleline case, its great.

**PROS**
Holds 8 drives in three drive cages. At the top it'll hold three 5.25" drives (such as CD-ROMs, DVD drives). In the middle it'll hold three 3.5" drives (i.e.: a floppy or Zip drive)of which, 2 are accessible to the outside. In the bottom cage, it will hold two 3.5" drives that aren't accessible (i.e.: Hard drives). Both the middle and bottom cages can be unscrewed and removed from the case which makes putting in drives that much easier.

Its very easy to mount a motherboard in the SLK1600, mostly because you can remove the drive cages first.

There are two spots for 80mm fans, one for a fan that bolts directly to the back of the case and the other is a holder in the front of the case. No fans are included however.

There are two front USB ports that one can use provided your motherboard had the necessary headers. Most newer boards will have them.

The 300W Antec SmartPower sounds like it may be too small, but its a quality power supply capable of providing power (280W with the 12V connector) at the level of many cheaper 400W supplies.

Easy to get into. There are two thumbscrews on the back. Once those are off, the top comes off and both sides simply lift off.

**CONS**

Its not the best looking case around (personal opinion).

Distinctly cheaper feel than the bigger (and more expensive) Antec cases

Power supply has only one fan. I would liked to have a power supply with a fan that draws air in from the case and exhausts it out the back.

Does not ship with a case fan. You'll have to buy at least one 80mm fan.

Before this SLK1600 case, my computer got problem on modem. It always hang-up by itself. After I moved to this case, the problem is gone. This is probably because my old PSU provided unstable power or the case was too hot inside.

The only problem of SLK1600 is you cannot put a CDROM into the 3rd 5.25" space since the rear is too close to mainboard. If you want to fully use the 3 spaces, go with SLK2600 or SX630II. Other than that, this case is very good, very quiet (I don't know if Antec TruePower is really quieter than SmartPower), and PSU is powerful enough. Don't save 10 or 20 bucks on some cheaper cases. You'll regret.

One thing, you might need 2 fans for rear and front.

Although it is not built to the "tank" standards that the higher end Antec cases it's certainly no cheapie by any stretch of the imagination. The 300W power supply rivals many rated at 400W and higher. Interior is just right for a mini ATX motherboard but really no more. I've built a few systems with this case and for systems without many additional drives it delivers great value.

I have used the SLK1600 case on 10 custom machines and for the money, is far superior to any other mini-tower case I have used.
You rarely need that third large bay so room is not an issue.
I use an Arrow Power Supply rated at 550W. The main thing about this PS is that it is very quiet(120mm fan)but moves plenty of air. I use Thermaltakes Silent boost A1889-01 Processor fans and this combination works well in this small case with no case fans and the low profile but very hot operating Maxtor Hard drives.
5 of these computers have AMD XP-3200's processors. No heat problems and 2 of those are being used by mechanics in a repair shop in South Central Texas!! That's hot..