Antec NSK1380 review

Antec’s NSK1380 microATX case closely resembles a Shuttle barebones PC and has a similarly cramped interior.

Building a PC in this case involves working in a narrow space with little room to manoeuvre. The drive cage must be removed entirely before you can install or access the motherboard or components, but it lifts or hinges out without any hassle.

We were only able to fit our microATX board in the cramped case by removing the top and the side, and sliding it into position. Adding expansion cards in the four slots was similarly fiddly and we had trouble routing the power and header cables in the available space.

The drive cage has space for three 3½in internal and one 5¼in external drive, both of which were easy to fit. There are no external 3½in drive bays, so you can’t fit a memory card reader and optical drive.

The NSK1380 comes with a 350W power supply. This has four Molex and three SATA connections, and 24-pin and 4-pin motherboard power connectors. There’s no PCI Express power connector, so you’ll need a Molex-to-PCI Express adaptor if you want to fit a graphics card. The cramped interior limits you to using single-slot cards.

The NSK1380 is harder to work with than most of Antec’s cases. If you want a small case, Antec’s Minuet 350 is a better deal, while those looking to build a full-size PC would be better off with Antec’s Solo.