Introduction

When my system first started out it's life; it was a low-end model from CTX. It was a mid-tower unit that housed a blazingly fast Pentium II 233MHz processor and a whopping 32MB of RAM. It was a decent computer for it's day, but that was before I started realizing how much fun you can have by playing with these machines.

When I realized that more power could be gained by overclocking, I was right there. With overclocking, however, came a lot of extra heat. I started installing some fans to the old case, but that just didn't cut it. Especially when I finally made the plunge and started using the AMD Thunderbird processors. With the heat that these chips produce, I was unable to keep the mid-tower case cool enough.

After doing a bit of research, I decided on an Antec SX1030 case. I chose the case for a number of reasons¡­

1 - it's a tower case but not so tall that it can't be placed under a desk.

2 - It offers as standard equipment the PP303X 300w Power Supply Unit. This unit is consistently being rated in AMD's certified list of PSU's.

3 - It offers some very good cooling options without having to perform case mods.


Specifications

Case Type
SOHO File Server

Case Dimensions
20.6"(H) x8.1"(W) x18.6"(D)

Drive Bays
10

Front Accessible
4x 5.25" ; 2x 3.5"

Internal
4x 3.5"

Expansion Slots
7

Cooling System
4x 80mm Fans
1 Front (Optional)
2 Rear (Standard)
1 HDD Bay (Optional)

Mainboard Size
Up to 12" (W) x 13" (L) - 305mm x 330mm

Power Supply Unit
PP303X 300w unit

Material
1.0mm SECC

Net Weight
30.7 Pounds

Motherboards
Fits any standard ATX and Xeon

Special Features
Swing out side panel with handle
Quick release drive bays
Snap in fan mounts
Large front panel vent