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Antec SLK3700-BQE Black Quiet Super Mid Tower Case |
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Usage and Conclusion
Installing the power supply was a little more difficult than I expected. The top of the case is secured with a number of rivets and cannot be removed, and the metal cross-bar and top lip of the case mean that the power supply cannot be slid directly into place. I needed to slide the power supply into position by lifting it under the cross bar and up behind the CD bays. Once it is installed there is only a little room on either side of the power supply, so I doubt that it could be removed from the case after the motherboard and CPU cooler has been installed. But at least there was enough room that the CPU cooler could be installed and removed fairly easily.
The case’s motherboard tray was pre-fitted with one rounded brass standoff, this standoff, which fits into the central motherboard hole just behind the AGP card, made positioning the board much easier. Installing the motherboard was not more difficult or easy than normal – for a case that does not have a removable tray that is - simple install the brass standoffs and then screw the board into place. With the Abit NF7-S installed there is about 25mm free space at the top and side of the motherboard, so you could squeeze a larger board in if you needed to.
The SLK3700-BQE, like a number of other Antec cases, has sideways facing hard drive mounts. To install the hard drive, you first slide out the little removable tray, and then attach the drive, via the bottom screws. The hard drive trays are fitted with 4 rubber grommets, and the drive is attached using the special spaced screws, all part of the effort to make the system as quiet as possible. It must be said that the sideways facing hard drive bays and trays make it significantly easier to install, adjust and remove the drives. The design of the drive bays also allows for a much neater case interior and improved airflow from the front fan intake; there are no drive cables facing directly toward the motherboard and an assortment of cables and wires can easily be hidden behind the drive bays.
The floppy drive on the SLK3700-BQE is also mounted via a removable tray mechanism. Initially I thought that this would be a useful addition, but it does not really make the floppy any easier or harder to install. The floppy drive tray slides out toward the back of the case, and while I was able to remove it after the RAM had been installed, it would be a tight fit if the CPU cooler was already in place. To actually install the floppy drive, I still had to slide the tray back into position, replace the front cover, align the front of the floppy with the bezel, remove the tray, screw in the floppy and then replace the tray. I also noticed that pushing the floppy drive tray back into place, it required a surprising amount of force to snap it into position. When the floppy drive tray is back in place, the connections on the floppy drive are easily accessible, unlike in some cases where they often very hard to get to.
5.25” drives are easily mounted and removed via drive rails. After screwing the drive rails to the centre holes on the DVD drive, I realised that the rails are designed to align with the bottom of the drive and had to reattach them. I found that when sliding in the Sony DVD the drive bay was a very tight fit, so much so that I had to remove the small serial number sticker on the side of the drive, before it would slide in easily. While drive rail mounts could potentially allow the drive to move or vibrate slightly after it is installed, the drive fits so tightly that it is not going to move. As with most cases, care will be needed if using the lowest 5.25” drive mount, as installing a larger drive could easily overlap the motherboard or connectors.
With everything in place, including the CPU heatsink and fan, it was simply a matter of tidying things up. I was able to neatly tuck the excess power supply cables (no SATA drives yet and no need for the Aux connector) into the small space behind the power supply that was created by the folded down power supply rest. The drive cables could be conveniently routed along the back of the drive bays, so the only cables left in the middle of the case were those required for motherboard power. This will allow for a good internal airflow to cool the case with minimal noise. Note that the spiral-wrap and copious quantities of cable ties are a personal addition, but one extra cable tie was included with the case.
The on/off switch, reset switch and all the external drives are located behind the door on the front bezel, I expect that this design will minimise any drive related noise. While the drive door is not really flimsy, the clip does attach and detach quite tightly, so this means that care may be needed to open or close the door at the middle, so that it does not warp after repeated use.
It must also be noted that this system is quite heavy. The quality steel construction and other components, including the power supply which weighs just over 2kg, combine to make a sturdy and well constructed but heavy system. With everything installed, including a single DVD drive and two IDE hard drives, the system weighs just less than 16kg. This is not an issue for me, but may be a concern if you were often lugging your PC to LANs or the like.
While in use the system is noticeably quieter than my existing systems, but is not yet silent. The power supply and case exhaust fan are hardly noticeable and hard disk and DVD drive noise is also well muffled. I expect that some planned additions; quiet hard drives and alternate CPU cooling will bring the noise levels down quite considerably.
Conclusion
Overall the SLK3700-BQE “Black Quiet Super Mid Tower” lives up to Antec’s reputation for quality construction and design. The case is solid and well finished, with a number of nice additional touches. However, the inclusion of a removable motherboard tray and front mounted Firewire and audio ports would have been welcome additions. Designed for quiet computing the case also allows for an uncluttered interior and unimpeded airflow, however the trade-off is that the case is quite heavy.
The SLK3700-BQE has a street price of about $85 - if you can find them without the power supply - or about $155 including a 350W SmartPower. It has many features found in more expensive enclosures, and is recommended if you have a mid-range case budget. I would also suggest that the features, build quality and quiet design are worth spending a few extra dollars even if you are comparing it to a generic-budget case. Other than cosmetics and weight there is little to differentiate this case from many of the the more expensive options.
I purchased the SLK3700-BQE case and TruePower power supply at Computer WonderLAN.
Antec products are distributed in Australia by Altech Computers.
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