Antec P100 review

The Antec P100 is a great-looking case that’s ideal if you want to build a quiet PC. It looks unobtrusive, with a solid, brushed-metal-effect flap to cover the front panel. The flap has integrated soundproofing, while behind it is a fine mesh dust filter that can be easily removed and cleaned. Although it only opens to the left, the flap can be folded all the way back so it never impedes your access to the external drive bays.

On the front panel above the flap are two USB and two USB3 ports, plus mic and headphone ports. There are only two 5 1/4in drive bays in the case, while the remainder of the space behind the front panel is occupied by a tall drive cage containing seven drive trays which can house either 3 1/2in or 2 1/2in drives. Unlike many current cases, you can’t remove any part of the cage to make space for very long graphics cards. The case’s main bay is still long enough for graphics cards of up to around 300mm, though, and has plenty of room for our powerful 275mm AMD Radeon R9 290 test card.

The interior felt much bigger than we expected, with plenty of room for our 165mm-high CPU cooler and easy routing of our cables through the rubber-grommeted holes leading to the back of the motherboard tray. The chassis ships with two 120mm fans installed: one in front and one at the back. There’s room for another three, so you can put one more at the front and replace a soundproof section at the top with two 120mm or 140mm fans.

The case does a good job of reducing noise from all but the loudest components. It’s fairly dust-proof, too, despite the lack of a dust filter on the rear fan. At under £70, the Antec P100 is reasonably priced and well worth having if you want a system that looks good, runs quietly and is easy to build. It wins our Best Buy award.