Antec GX700 Case Review: Just What You Can Get For $59.99
by Dustin Sklavos on January 17, 2013 10:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- ATX
In and Around the Antec GX700
Antec's design for the GX700 is pretty much coming from the same place as Corsair's Vengeance C70; there's a military-inspired styling to it, and it takes the ostentatious gamer enclosure off in a new direction. Antec uses a baseline two-tone of black and olive green, spicing things up with red for some of the switches. There's also a yellow-black-striped decal for the cover over the fan controller. I'm not a fan and some of you won't be either, but my answer is going to be pretty much the same as it ever was: at $59, assuming the case comes through on performance, who cares?
.jpg)
The front of the GX700 is something the rep was pretty proud of. Antec uses clamps to hold solid metal drive bay shields into place, opting for an "ammo case" motif. Beneath the four drive bays (technically three, but more on this later) are the red power button, a recessed black reset button, and a metal grate held into place with four thumbscrews that hides the bottom two fan mounts. The rest of the fascia is black plastic; the price had to come from somewhere.
.jpg)
When you move to the top, you can see the fan mounts are slightly extruded. I've seen a couple of cases (Rosewill's Armor Evolution, for one, which has a review due soon) that have taken a similar tack to the top cooling. It's not the most attractive solution, but it does make a feature out of the cooling system, and it actually adds a little bit of headroom for mounting radiators to the top of the case.
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
_thumb.jpg)
The rest of the body of the GX700 is black-painted SECC steel with a plastic flip cover for the expansion slots, and honestly, this is where they cut corners. The plastic and steel they've used for the GX700 is pretty chintzy, and the front fascia isn't held on particularly securely. I've assembled and moved dozens of cases, but when I went to move this one from my work area to testing, the front actually popped off and the case fell, damaging one of the feet and warping the rails for the fan filter so that it won't stay in place. Most users first instinct is going to be to grip from the front and the back, unfortunately.
.jpg)
Thumbscrews hold the side panels into place, and they employ the same notched mounts we're accustomed to on these less expensive cases. When you do get inside the GX700, it's pretty business as usual. The five 2.5"/3.5" drive sleds all use trays, while the 5.25" bays enjoy snap-on clamps. There are cable routing holes throughout the motherboard tray, a healthy cut out for CPU backplates, and smartly, the tray itself is slightly recessed with a cabling channel to the right. This is a good way to cut down on case size while still offering a healthy amount of space for routing cables.
Honestly, the big deal with the GX700 is again that it includes a lot of features at a low price, but note that build quality is a little bit iffy. The steel is easy to dent, and the plastic used throughout the case isn't the greatest. What we have is a weird melange of building materials, none particularly great, but together they do help to hide just how cheaply built the case actually is. We're still not in the realm of a $30 bargain bin bleeder, though, which is good.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
View All Comments
headbox - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
The catch: uglier than Hillary Clinton in a thong.It's 2013. So much more can be done with plastic than this. When it comes down to it, "how it looks" is one of the main factors in choosing a case.
The Von Matrices - Thursday, January 17, 2013 - link
I haven't yet seen a case that pulls off a military/camo theme. I wish manufacturers would just stick to solid colors.StevoLincolnite - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
I personally think the Corsair C70 gets close to the military theme.But they could do a bit more like release a digital camo or multicam version, lots of enthusiasts would eat it up as they don't have to pull out the spray cans.
Oh and a decent Corsair PSU and fan controller that matches the theme/colours would be perfect, we already Gold Corsair Vengeance memory and the Asus Sabertooth motherboards that match colour wise.
ac2 - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
Don't worry, you don't need to sleep with it...Want to change my el cheapo case, but for ME this one won't work... Kid managed to spill a glass of water over existing case, luckily it doesn't have a top vent so all is well...
Now which good case can I get that doesn't have a top vent I wonder... Most of the good Antec, Corsair and Bitfenix ones seem to be ruled out...
Samus - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
I don't want to lock it in the cellar like some retarded offspring, either. You need to live with these things. I look at my case every day, and I'm glad its a silverstone. Not everyone can have a 10, though. But everyone should have at least a 6 or 7, and for $50, you can. It just isn't this.ShieTar - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
Bitfenix have the Merc Beta, and Antec has the whole "New Solution" line without any top vents. Prices are similar to the 60$ price point too.Blibbax - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
Fractal Core 1000?infoilrator - Saturday, January 19, 2013 - link
Fractal Core 1000 is good for what it is, a cheap mATX case, but it does have compromises. Not in love with verticle HHD mounts, among others.Wonder why Lian Li doesn't get mentioned (price probably).
danjw - Friday, January 18, 2013 - link
Put it on top of the desk. Top vents are very common in cases these days; You will have trouble finding one that doesn't have on. I actually think Antec hit a home run. It is light, so easy to move around. It hits a very low price point. I couldn't care less about front audio headers; I prefer USB headsets for voice and speakers for everything else. I am more concerned with functionality then I am with looks. This case gets the job done, just don't go kicking or hitting it. As light as it is, it shouldn't be a problem to carry in a way that doesn't do it harm.I currently have a P180 case, and it is hell to work in. I just swapped a Core2Quad for a new Ivy Bridge Z77 system. I had scrapped up both my hands pretty good just getting the thing put together. I hated working in the case; I wouldn't mind babying a case a bit, if I didn't have to deal with the wiring hell I had with the P180. Sure, it doesn't have the sound dampening of the P180, but I usually am playing music, so it doesn't matter.
bigboxes - Tuesday, January 29, 2013 - link
Yeah, but Antec made improvements in all that you say with the P180b, P182 and P183.