Written By:
Date Posted: February 15, 2002

Longtime makers of high quality cases, is a name familiar with many who have sought a quality retail ATX case. The top of the line, "Performance", series are extremely popular, especially for it's capacity for case mods. It helps that the construcion quality is excellent, and the pricing is very competitive, especially when it includes their highly regarded power supplies.

I was in search of a small LAN box that I could easily carry around. It needed to be big enough to hold my components, stylish enough so that people won't laugh flat out at it, and cheap enough so that I could still pay bills. That immediately ruled out the Lian-Li PC30 series, which was what I originally planned to purchase. Having been impressed with the Antec SX1030B, I'd thought I'd take a look at the smaller Antec SX630.

Looking at the SX630, it looks like a baby version of the . Like the other cases in the Performance series, the SX630 has the lockable swing doors and the familiar vents on the front. The case, especially when fully loaded, is actually quite heavy, considering it's size. I guess the lightweight Lian-Li I currently has turned me into a girly-man :\

Specifications

Case Type: Mini Tower
Case Dimensions: 17.25" (H) x 8.1" (W) x 18.6" (D) 440 x 180 x 460 mm

Drive Bays: 8
Front Accessible: 3 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5"
Internal: 3 x 3.5"

Expansion Slots: 7

Cooling System: 3 x 80mm fans 2 front (Optional) 1 Rear (Standard)

Power Supply: 300 Watt SmartPower ATX12V, 2.03 compliant including Pentium 4

Material: 1.0mm SECC

Net Weight: 23 lbs.
Gross Weight: 25 lbs.

Motherboards: Fits standard ATX / Pentium 4 Up to 12" (W) x 9.6" (L) 305 (W) x 300 (L) mm Fits standard ATX / Pentium 4 Up to 12" (W) x 9.6" (L) 305 (W) x 300 (L) mm
Special Features: Swing-out side panel with handle

Quick-release drive bays with release lever

Snap-in fan mounts

Large front panel vent

Package includes:
1 Tower Case
1 300 Watt ATX SmartPower (PP303XP) - installed
1 Power cord
1 Case fan
1 Set of screws and motherboard standoffs
1 complete set of drive rails ( 6 rails )
1 Installation manual

That fact that it comes with an instruction manual, rather than a piece of paper or even nothing at all, is a nice plus. Then again, it doesn't take a genius to figure out how to plug the power cable into the power supply. Like their other cases, you get plenty (extreme understatement) of screws, keys for your swing doors and a case badge.

For those of you who are wondering, the SX630 is the same model as the SX635, but with a 300W power supply, rather than a 350W. I know a lot of power users have fast CPUs and probably a ton of drives, so you may want to opt for a beefier power supply. The 300W was more than enough for me.

Two fans came standard for with my case, and the SX630 accomadates a third. The fans are of decent quality, and there will probably be no need to replace them. I do like the fact that all the fans can be attached with clippable fan holders.

The only problem with the fans, isn't really the fans themselves, but the metal grills on the back of the case, as well as the front. Depending on how fussy you are about airflow, the grill may obstruct it a little. Nothing you can't fix with a pair of metal cutters or dremel tool. Depending on how dusty your work area is, you may want to consider an air filter, since none is included.

Like the SX1030B I looked at, the hard drive rack is removable, via a locking latch. I don't think any explanation is needed, since it's pretty obvious which is the locked and unlocked positions. The third fan area is located in the hard drive bay, which will be handy (and cool) for fast spinning drives.

The side door is totally removable, making for quick and easy access. It's also self locking, in a way. You have to lift the latch to swing the door out, and listen for it to click when it closes. There are no screws, which is great, and if security is an issue, you can use the included keys to lock it.

I was a little bothered by the fact that there was no removable motherboard tray. My reasoning is that some motherboards have their sockets very close to the power supply, and in some cases, it makes for some tough times when trying to work a screw driver in there to attach a heatsink. In these cases, I put the heatsink on before installing the motherboard.

The case interior is fairly spacious, though keep in mind, "spacious" is relative. For a mini tower, it has quite a bit of room, but for those accustomed to large towers, it's tight. This wouldn't be such a concern if it didn't have this annoying stabalizing running right across the case. If you have a large heatsink (pre-installed on the motherboard for the previous reasons I mentioned), it can be tricky working it around the bar. I don't think anyone is going to use this case as an ottoman, and since it's pretty solid, this bar could have been left out, or at least placed higher.

The front bezel. The bezel consists of two parts. The above picture, to the left, is illustrating the push button (there are two, one on either side) needed to remove the upper half of the bezel. To the right, you can see the area to grip when removing the bottom half, which only requires a slight tug.

Typically, removing optical drives can be a pain, since for most cases, you have to remove both side panels to access the screws holding the drive. Antec has chosen to include drive rails. I said it in my last Antec review, and I'll say it again, they rock. You simply attach a rail on either side of your optical drives, and slide them right into the 5 1/4" bay. The floppy doesn't use the plastic rails, but a metal one that slides out of the chassis.

The last notable feature worth mentioning will appeal to those Mac loving crowds. The floppy drive is quasi-hidden. Yeah, it's still there, but this solution looks nicer than seeing an ugly 1980s floppy. This is high-tech baby! :P

Final Words

This case is currently housing my KT7A-RAID and Thunderbird 1.4 system. With the RAID array, and overclocked GeForce 2 MX I got for this project, I have a pretty hot little system. Average case temperatures hover in the 28C to 31C range, which isn't bad considering the heat created in such a relatively tight space. Whenever I can work up the courage, perhaps I can add some mods, such as a window and paint. Even in it's basic beige, it's still a cute little bugger.

I do wish that Antec would add a removable motherboard tray, and do something about the stabalizing bar in their next revisions. Both are functional changes that I think would be a welcome change for most enthusiasts. Other than that, I don't have a single complaint about it. Sure, it's a bit small, but I find it roomy for a "mini" tower.

For about 130$ Canadian or about 70$ USd, you can snag yourself a solid mini tower, albeit a large-mini, with an AMD and P4 approved 300W power supply. Construction is top notch, and the case is just begging for some mods.

Antec Inc.:

90%

Pros: Looks cool, solid design, lockable doors, tooless entry, 300W power supply, drive rails.

Cons: No removable motherboard tray, bad placement of stabalizing bar.

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