Antec 1200: Looking for Pro's & Con's...

I would actually recommend the Cooler Master ATCS 840. An air-cooling beast case with solid aluminum construction and great cable management. The 1200 has some issues but it does have excellent stock airflow and good cable management as well.

Pictures of the ATCS:

I must say, I second the recommendation of the ATCS 840.

Pros and Cons of the 1200:

Pros: Amazing airflow, somewhat attractive, dust filters, great cable management and an already black interior.

Cons: It's not very deep, looks aren't for everyone, the Tri-Cool fans can be loud.

I own an Antec 900, it's basically the same case, but smaller.

Owned an Antec 1200 a few months ago....

Lots of room inside the case vertically, not much from front to back
ALOT of fan wires stock
Great airflow
Tons of mods already depicted by people like TJharlow, and room for even more if you're creative
Filters on front of 1200 are a ***** to clean
Hard drives should be rotated 90 degrees...A PAIN to work with
PSU is very low in a very big case...expect a 8 pin extension if you're shooting for cable management.

In my mind, worst part of the Antec 1200 is...it's an Antec 1200. It's similar to the HAF varieties...everyone seems to have one. If you're looking for originality, I'd do something different. Especially with the 1200 stock, I felt it looked very nerdy. I sound like a bit of a dweeb from how I talk, but when other people would see it in the bedroom on a Friday or Saturday night, my nerd level went up a few notches.

I think the biggest decision for you to make is whether you want clean, sleek lines and a more professional look (Lian Li) or if you're going all out for performance and like the futuristic lines of the 1200.

As far as resale (a factor I think WAY too many people forget to factor in), you're going to be screwed on shipping either way. The Antec 1200 would be much easier to find a person to buy relative to the Lian Li, but still not a breeze at any amount that would get you a chunk of money back. The Lian Li would take longer to find a buyer, but if you find someone who wants that same model, then you'd be set to make a bit more of your money back.

And finally, let the whoring begin: You should buy my Silverstone FT-01

What are you planning on using the case for? Gaming, videos or just surfing? It's a large case that can hold a lot of hardware, hard drives, optical drives, graphics cards, ect. It has the best cooling between my 2 cases. I own a Coolermaster Storm Sniper too and between this and the A1200, the sniper is quieter but the A1200 cools better. It keeps my sig rig running at approx. 36c idle and 70c P95 loaded.

The inside is painted black which looks very cool and cable management is awesome! No need to drill any holes. The clear side panel has the option for a 120mm fan and that blows directly on my GPU and northbridge, perfect! So, (3) 120mm fans in the front blowing directly over your drives, with filters, (2) 120mm in the rear pulling hot air from the CPU cooler. A large 200mm fan on the top to exhaust and all fans are adjustable. What more could you ask for?

I love my case and made it my primary gaming rig. The only bad thing is that there isn't much to mod!

For the money it's a win-win!

EDIT:
For the guys mentioning the filter access. Yes it can be a pain but if you remove the thumbscrews from the rt side, then you only have to remove the (windowed) side panel to gain access. Also, yes it is a tall case and a lot of power supplies might not have the length on the ATX 12v 8-pin plug to reach without an extension. Not that bad of a deal though.

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This will be the home-office rig...my personal toy box It appears I'm the mortar between two bricks All the fans, including the "big boy" will be replaced with Xiggies which I think will look sweet but that's all I can possibly do. I might be able to get a little more creative and mod the panel door but that's about all I can see. I think I will have more flexibility to mod the Lain Li case. I do want a roomy case and I can clearly see that the Lian Li has more room. Also, I want a sturdy case...I've heard Lian Li full tower cases can be on the flimsy side. Cable management is a very important factor!!! I simply want a case that I will not get tired of looking at. At one moment when I look at the 1200, it does have that futuristc appearance...almost on the trendy side. Lian Li cases are very simple & clean which can even provide clean mods that will not take away the simplistic appearance.

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Nice case Did not know it even existed (cause I usually overlook Cooler Master cases). This looks like it has some great modding potential. What's with that front piece w/ the logo? Kind of distracting...can it be removed?

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The price factor is not a problem but at the same time I do not want to spend too much. Whatever case I decide, the Xiggie fans will replace the stock case fans. I wish I was able to view the Lian Li case in person. I've been looking at the 1200 @ MicroCenter and I had felt the wallet trembling

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Since this ATCS 840 has been mentioned, I had a chance to check out the site. I'm going to MicroCenter today and I'll think I'll observe it personally. Need to investigate the front bezel with the logo...like I said earlier, it's rather distracting. Wonder if I can mod that...not clear with the ideas at the moment. I'll also take a look at this "[email protected]@king" HAF 932 and see what I think. I see that Cooler Master has gotten much better with their cases

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About as heavy as my Dell case

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Oh, I was only using that pic from Frozen PC. MicroCenter & Tiger Direct is a 20 a minute drive from me. Also, there is a small pc shop an hour away that sell Lian Li cases but will not let you physically observe them (which sucks ). FYI...MicroCenter price match anything NewEgg & Tiger Direct sells

Pros: Lots of fans, a lot of HDD space, all black, adjustable speed fans, flippable PSU bracket, AMAZING cable management

Cable Manage



Cons: not very deep, can get very tight for water cooling (depends if you can stand to have little room to move around in, heavy, looks aren't for everyone.

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This my friend is absolutely nice. Great handy work on the cable & water tubing arrangement

You've just made it even harder for me. This is what I was hoping could be done with the 1200. Thanks for this showcase of yours

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Oh it can be done, BUT, depends, if you want more hard drives, it's gonna be hard with a triple radiator up front. It takes up 9 drive bays. That is why I got rid of it, cause I wanted to be able ot have multi rads and have room for expansion still.

Other than that, I truly miss my 1200, I don't mean to show off or brag, but my case setup I had on those pics above is one of the nicest 1200 setups I've seen in a while.