Antec ISK Series ISK 100 Black & Silver 0.8 mm SECC / ABS Plastic Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case 80W Power Supply

Pros: This case is great for a low power, quiet, small, on-all-the-time system, which is exactly what I was going for. The fan is nearly silent, even at the high speed setting. I can't hear it at all with the ceiling fan in my office turned on.

Cons: It is not easy to install a board in this case without some interference between case components and board components. (Specifically, the USB cables in the case got in the way of the CMOS battery, while installing my board.) The IO shield that came with the Intel D525MW board I used, did not fit correctly. It appears that the case standoffs are askew from the punched hole in the back. I didn't think leaving it out was a good plan, so I modified the IO shield slightly. It is for these reasons that I wouldn't recommend this case for a novice system builder.

Overall Review: Install the your drives first, route cables, then install your motherboard. You won't be able to pass the end of a SATA sable through the gap with the motherboard installed. The cables that come with the case are somewhat long, so I was careful to collect and tie them neatly back away from the RAM and CPU to allow for proper cooling. The plastic base is a bit difficult to install, but I found that by using a wide standard screw driver, you can get the back lock to slide into place with very little effort.

Pros: - allowing the exposed PSU 'board' to be cooled with the 100mm fan means it's quiter than if the PSU had it's own 40mm fan - 4 front USB ports - sleek design - space for two 2.5" drives - small, small, small!

Cons: - just doesn't quite have the quality feel i expect from antec. - fitting a mini-ITX board is a bit of a task, but OK once it's in - the 2.5" drives won't get cooled being on the otherside of the mobo and fan, best to use ssd.

Overall Review: because of the confined space, it's going to be a bit of a task to fit and sort all your components and cables, but when you close it up you'll be happy. i paired it up with the fanless asus e-35m1-1 deluxe and a ssd, put the fan on low and let it's rpm be managed by the mobo. i've built silent machines before, but this makes less noise than the humm coming from the monitor!

Pros: Power supply is very efficient. Intel D525MW board draws 15W idle (with intel SSD). Fan at low speed is virtually silent (I can not hear it at all within 1 foot). The large D525MW heat sink stays at 39C with the fan at low speed. Power measured at plug with Killawatt meter.

Cons: Case is tight... took an hour to get board and drive installed. Had to remove parts to get motherboard in, and then replace parts. I don't expect to replace boards very often, so this is a very small con. A 5% increase in case size would completely solve this con.

Overall Review: I was looking at the Lenovo IdeaCenter Q150, as the smallest form factor x86 server... but I am very satisfied with with this case and the D525MW. I am using it as a home sever (with large capacity usb drives). A full feature Ubuntu server at 15W idle.

Pros: Small, light, runs cool, plenty of air flow, can build a pretty powerful system at a great cost savings.

Cons: Front cover required removal to get the motherboard installed, some tricky wiring routing was required to keep things neat. We had to remove the case fan to make room for the stock Intel heat sink and fan combination. Biggest problem we ran into was that the case is not grounded. It comes with a 2 prong power supply, and when completely assembled it is easy to trigger a static shock through the plastic cover that is powerful enough to reboot the system and reset the bios. We've put the project on hold until we can locate a suitable grounded power supply or convenient method to ground the case.

Pros: Cool Case. Easiest build you'll ever do. If you just need a htpc that can pretty much do everything in the smallest form factor...this is it. - Great Case ventilation due to mesh externals - Extremely small, simple, yet elegant design - Cools fine with stock intel i3 3220 cooler...with AC MX-2 paste, I get 29-37c browsing the internet, watching videos. Haven't really done any video editing yet...but this thing is almost silent at idle. I set it to automatic fan control in the bios and it's whisper quiet and hardly noticeable. With the I3-3220 I have a system that can basically do anything with the exception of playing graphically intensive games. - External PSU is great - 4 usb in front - Nice mounting options..I like the nice little stand - Sturdy plastic casing, and nice looking paint / color combo

Cons: - Size constraints means no dvd drive or discrete video card - Negotiating the motherboard inside the case can be tricky. You need to tidy up the wires well - NO USB 3.0 in the front, USB 2.0 only. Doesn't come with adapter. - No memory stick option in the front either. I really think this should be standard in a case like this. - While the plastic material is sturdy, and the finish is smooth and feels great, aluminum would be a lot nicer. I love this build. And while it lacks additions the isk-300 offers, it sure is a lot cooler looking than the isk 300 with it's very small footprint. Gamers will scream for a video card slot...unfortunately having a video card slot makes any case that much longer and bulkier, making guy/gals like me screaming for a smaller case. It's a juggling act, and you really need to decide what you need. I can live without a graphics card and games. If you can't step up to the bigger ISK-300 or a cube style case. I would recommend the A10-5800k apu type system that could play games but unfortunately the psu probably won't be able to handle it...it would definitely be pushing the limits any way.

Overall Review: Components: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 Windows 7 Intel i3 3220 Asrock H77Mitx Samsung 120GB SSD for OS 500GB Seagate 2.5 inch 5400rpm drive for storage

Pros: Small form factor Relatively Easy Installation Lots of USB Ports on Front Perfect Size for HTPC

Cons: Power Cables are a little short for hard drive but still workable

Overall Review: Overall very pleased with my purchase ZOTAC GF9300-K-E LGA 775 NVIDIA GeForce 9300 Mainboard Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0ghz 4Gb Memory Antec ISK Series ISK 100 Case

Pros: There is no way a case for a mini-ITX could be significant smaller. The price is relatively OK, the fan is near-silent and does, what it is supposed to do efficiently. Plastik as main case material allows for mini-PCIe WiFi with internal antennas.

Cons: It could be prettier. Placement of the hard drives is not ideal. Depending on motherboard, the 4-pin ATX connector is too short.

Overall Review: It really depends. Some people might want a bay for an optical bay, others may be a discrete video card (no space here for such thing). I just wanted a very fast, silent, small PC. And this case together with an 1155 H67 motherboard, (low-voltage) memory, a XEON Sandy Bridge a small SSD and a 750GB hard drive for movies and musik (I do not game) delivered. It all makes sense. The Intel P3000 integrated HD graphics is more than sufficient, yet it does not use much power. The XEON will most of the time idle, sleep or do some decoding but if it needs be it can offer 4 x 3600GHz. The point is, that the 90 W powersupply is perfectly capable driving the system with a 90W TPD for the processor alone. Note: the XEON Sandy Bridge is of course overkill. But if the goal is to have the best graphics possible (P3000), lowest (actual) power consumption then why not?

Pros: The case is tiny and very good looking.

Cons: Not enough room inside. Mobo mounting holes to not line up for mini itx board

Overall Review: I tried to install my Zotac 9300 wifi mini itx board in this case and there is no was it will fit correctly. I got it to fit in but it will not work with the I/O shield. IMO what good is this sharp looking case when i cant use my IO shield and there is a huge hole in the back. Also, you have to remove either the case fan or the processor fan for it to fit. the board has a e7500 dual core processor on it with the stock intel cooler and there is no way it is fitting. I still dont know if i am going to keep the case or not, I think i am going to try to get a d525 atom board with ion to see if that fits.