Antec NSK6500 Super Mid Tower Review

 The Install:

     To test the NSK6500, I chose a mid-high end gaming build.  The build consists of an AMD Athlon X2 4600+ cooled by an AeroCool GT-1000, 2 x 1GB OCZ PC-4000 Gold XTC Edition DDR, and two NVIDIA 7800 GT video cards mounted on an ASUS A8N Deluxe Motherboard.  The build also includes 2 x Seagate 30 GB hard drives, a Seagate 750 GB hard drive and a 16x Lite-on DVD burner.

     First I installed the motherboard and video cards.  The 4 pin power cable is very short and works well with this motherboard, but some motherboards with the 4 pin further away might have issues.   The front panel runs will be hidden behind the drive bays.  You may have already guessed the shroud had to go making room for that aftermarket cooling monster.

     Here you see the final install.  My original build had a second 7800 and two more hard drives but the SU-430 wasn't able to handle any of the additional parts.  Without SLI support on the power supply, this is probably the maximum system the designers had in mind without them.

     All that's left is to place the Antec badge on and find it a home.  As with all the new Antec cases, the NSK6500 cleans up nicely.  This is one case that would find it's self at home in your living room or at a LAN party.

Conclusion:

     Antec has done a nice job of providing a case that has great contemporary styling at a price you can afford.  I am fast becoming a fan of Antec's black and silver color scheme, though their Piano Black is still my favorite.  It is fitting to start out talking about the NSK6500's looks because ultimately that's what makes or breaks this case for me.  The chassis is a solid design with only the removable 3.5" drive bays to differentiate it from the pack of mid tower cases it competes with.  The single TriCool 120 mm fan is a solid and quiet performer but a performance build will require additional cooling.  I appreciated the more powerful 430 Watt power supply but was disappointed in its inability to run the intended build.  The overall feeling I get from the NSK6500 is more of a blank canvas waiting to be transformed into something great.  With the price point just over $100 with a 430 Watt power supply, Antec has succeeded in providing a great looking entry level case that is more for those who are on a budget.

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	7.0 out of 10
Performance:	8.0 out of 10
Quality:	9.0 out of 10
Stability:	8.0 out of 10
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	8.5 out of 10
Overall Rating 8.0
Skill Level
Project Skill Level (10 being hardest)	4 out of 10