Antec Cases Keep On Keeping Cool

Antec's tower cases are designed to provide extra cooling for Advanced Micro Devices' and Intel's most demanding file server systems. Case in point: Antec's server-class Performance TX1050B SOHO super mid-tower case,

The Performance TX1050B arrives with a large 120mm TriCool fan in the rear that runs at a maximum of 2,000 rpm, producing 79 cubic feet per minute (CFM) of cool air. The fan is capable of supplying more than adequate cooling to server motherboards.

PRODUCT: Antec Performance TX1050B PRICE: $109 to $179 WARRANTY: 3 years DISTRIBUTORS/ INTEGRATORS: ASI, D&H, Ingram Micro, Synnex, Tech Data COMPANY: Antec Fremont, Calif. (510) 770-1200 www.antec.com

The door to the TX1050B has a chassis air guide and vents that push air directly to the CPU area. The duct includes a 92mm fan hood that sits about 4 inches inside the case. The air guide also can be adjusted, accommodating many motherboard designs and CPU locations. For example, this air guide arrives based on Intel's CPU location. With just a little tweaking of the vents, the air can be distributed so that AMD systems also receive plenty of airflow. By placing a fan in the air guide, a CPU and memory area can receive around 60 CFM of dedicated air.

The front of the case has two 80mm fan mounts and one 80mm mount on the side panel for the VGA card. The front fan mounts are aligned with the 3.5-inch hard drive cages to cool them directly. All of Antec's fans run on three speed modes, allowing technicians to adjust airflow at different points in a case. Overall, the TX1050B's cooling far exceeds 1U cases and many tower cases from competing vendors.

The TX1050B also includes Antec's SP-500 SmartPower 2.0. The SP-500, which is a 500-watt power supply, complies with ATX 12V specifications and has two 12V output circuits to reduce power consumption. In addition, it comes with four six-pin output sockets to power hard drives and peripherals. The SP-500 arrives with a fan signal connector to monitor and track the power supply fan speed. This is useful in allowing system builders to assess a system's power and heat production.