XtremePcCentral Reviews Antec SX1030B Case

[jadison]

Hot off the press is our latest review over the Antec SX1030B Server Case.

"The Antec SX1030B has been used by several PC manufacturers such as Alienware, ABS PC, and SystemMax to name a few along with the ever-growing number of enthusiasts who use this very case for their modding and overclocking pleasures. This is one of those cases that could last me through several systems and many years. With enough potential for modding and upgrading, it should keep me busy for quite awhile. Overall, I've found this case to be quite modifiable, economical, priceworthy and has been a joy to work with even to this day."

Read the Review here. (http://www.xtremepccentral.com/modules.php?name=Reviews&rop=showcontent&id=4)

Post your Comments HERE.

[dusty]

I am glad that a professional review has been done on this case. I have this case with an xp2000+, 512 ddram {kingston pc2100}
running xp pro. This might very well be my last case. Could you compare the sx 1030 with the 1080 that antec just released? It looks like the only difference is the power suppy and an extra cooling fan on the side. But I could be wrong.

So far this is the best case I have Had.

Rick

[Fingers]

This is an awesome case. It's roomy and has good cooling, especially for the disk drives because of the fan mounts integrated into the front of the removable HDD racks. Very sturdy.

I've got this one sold by Uneec (http://www.antarescomputinginc.com/Uneec601AE.htm), except it's black. Enermax also markets this case.

[jadison]

...professional review... Why thanks Dusty! :bunny:

Fingers/dusty : I couldn't have agreed more with you guys. It was luck finding this case at the store I bought most of my PC parts from. A review had to be written! :)

[madfish]

I have the Antec SX-1040 for my ECS D6VAA Dualie with ide raid and love it. got the two optional front 80mm fans also when I ordered it.

[Stan]

Antec - Chieftec: they are the same? aren't they????
I have a Chieftec mid-tower and full tower and the mid-tower looks 99.9999% similar...

Stan

[jadison]

Yep! Besides a few minor tweaks they're more or less the same case...I think there's a couple other brands that offer a case just like the Antec and Chieftech versions. NDC would know.

[Stan]

Aren't they from the same group? Chenming? or is this another copycat?

[jadison]

Another "copycat". :)

Some make their choice on which one to buy based on minor differences, location, costs, etc.

[MDS]

I have to Antec 1040's and they are great and have lots of room to spare. I wish I had a raid setup where I could fill al them drive bays :)

[jadison]

From what I've heard (I haven't actually tested this 1st hand) RAID setups don't add that much performance. SCSI offers a far better alternative.

[Stan]

RAID setup don't add that much performance? I don't think so...
A single SCSI disk is better than a single IDE disk... but that's gonna cost you more money. And you will have to buy a SCSI controller.

IDE disks have become extremely fast. I remember a review about the WD caviar with 8MB cache... it was faster than some SCSI disks!

I have 2 SCSI PC, one of them is even RAID0 SCSI.
It is true that with a SCSI setup, you can feel that your PC is faster, more efficient and smoother. But you don't want to know how much I paid for that...

RAID IDE is a great alternative to SCSI drives.
My current RAID IDE PC is my Win 2000 Server and it is configured as RAID1 on a FastTrak66.
You do not see a big improvement in such a setup. This was not the goal as I am looking for redundancy in case of a HD failure.
I used to have a RAID0 IDE PC. I was using a FastTrak33 with 4 IBM 22Gxp 9.1GB in RAID1. That PC was flying!!
Win98 was loading very fast. In general, all applications loading times were shorter.
Of course, if only 1 HD had failed... all data gone... bang!

Remember, a RAID0 setup will not increase your game play!
Games will definitely load faster, but once everything is loaded and cached, it is up to your RAM/CPU/video!!

Stan

[bmery]

Stan,

About the IDE RAID. If I really want to have hot swap IDE raid, I have to buy a hot swap base don't I. For not hot swap IDE RAID, i just use my supported RAID mother board like Gigabyte GA 7VAXP mother board.

Does it have any improvement to use integrated RAID on Mobo or buying a fastrak PCI controller.

I really want to set up my RAID 1 with reasonable price.

Thank you.

Always learning

[Mntsnow]

Welcome to XPC Bmery.

Yes if you want to HOT-swap ide drives you will need to get a seperate hot-swap interface. but if you dont mind powering down so you can change out drives the standard ide raid setups such as the one on your gigabyte motherboard do a great job! I personally have a couple of systems with on-board raid and love them. As for performace differences between on-board raid and a add-on ide raid card I have not seen any differences that you would notice in real world use.

Enjoy!

[Stan]

Hi bmery (and welcome to XPC!!!)
Yep, Mntsnow is right (is he ever wrong??? ;) )

Stan

[Mntsnow]

LOL Stan...Ive been wrong before but I think I made a mistake on that :D

[bmery]

Thank you, it really helpful. Have you used and had any preference on motherboard type with RAID support with AMD processor. Do you have preference among GiGAbyte, Abit,or Soyo motherboard. ( I am about to order on system for my friend)

So far, I like Giga. Your input is appreciated.

Bmery

[Mntsnow]

I love my Gigabyte boards and Soyo boards. I've been burnt by Abit a couple of times so they aren't the highest on my list at the moment but they still do get good reviews

[bmery]

Thank mntsnow,

I will try Soyo later, but now will stick with Giga. Giga comes out one new board with FSB of 400Mhz. However, it is pricy at this time.

Thank gain mntsnow and all -- good and useful board

[Stan]

I like Asus and Gigabyte motherboards.
I had a few of those.

Two years ago, I set up a GA-7DXR (with AMD 1GHz) for a friend. It had an onboard RAID controller and it was used with a couple of IBM 40GB in RAID1. I worked just fine until my friend decided to upgraded!!! He bought another Gigabyte (can't remember which one) with onboard RAID running an AMD Athlon XP.

[bmery]

I am testing the speed of RAID 1, however, it takes awhile to duplicate image and even synchronize small percentage change in one drive.

So far I obtain only 15MB/s ( roughly 60GB takes 77minutes to complete, and roughly 43 minutes to complete synchronization two disk with small change)

Anyone have greate knowledge about the speed. I will look into it and see what I can find out.

Thank everyone. ( my board is GA 7VAXP)

Bmery