Antec Performance Plus 660 AMG 9/10 - Date Posted 23/09/2002

This is probably one of the smartest cases I have seen (along with the ones made by Dell). Finished in charcoal grey, the case is made of steel, with only the front being plastic. Opening the case is quite simple. Unscrew one screw, then pull a plastic catch, and it opens! Included are two fans, one at the rear and one at the side. You can of course add two further fans at the front, since there are already holders in place for them, or alternatively move them. I used a Zalman Flower Cooler to cool my processor, but I found that I could do without the extra fans (but I did not use an overclocked processor!). In any case the extra air holes for the fans, help airflow (even with removing the fans). The positioning of the fans is very good, and as such I am sure this case would be ideal for overclockers who need to maximise cooling. The power supply is a TruePower 330 model (which I reviewed separately earlier). This is one of the quietest power supplies I have ever used!

Lots of other similar "stylish" cases do not have power supplies included (or if they do they tend to be the noisiest and cheapest PSUs around). There are several free bays on the case. The 5 1/4 inch bays are quite special. Included are small plastic implements that you screw to the side of your CD-ROM etc. You then push the CD-ROM into place. This "tray" like system is quite useful, enabling you to quickly remove 5 1/4 bay peripherals. It would be nice if other manufacturers included this feature. A small metal box holds the 3 1/2 hard disks. Here you have to screw the hard disks in place, but you can easily remove the box, without resorting to the screw driver.

One slightly annoying aspect of this case, is the fact that some of the screws are non-standard. True, all these screws are provided with the case, but I know small things like this easily get lost, and it would be pain to replace them. Apart from that this case is perfect, easy to open, and with a fantastic PSU, solidly built, I can see this case selling very well!