Antec SOLO Mini Tower Case Review

Specifications:

Features:

• Piano black finishing
• Dual hard drive mounting system – two ways to mount your hard drives for best possible quiet operation.
  - Tray Mount – Four HDD trays with extra soft silicone grommets to reduce hard drive noise
  - Suspension Mount - HDD suspension system for up to three hard drives to maximize noise reduction
• Power supply flexibility. Accommodates any ATX12V or ATX12V v2.0 form factor power supply. For truly silent computing, the choice of power supply is crucial. Antec recommends choosing from our NeoHE, Phantom, or TruePower 2.0 power supplies.
• 8 Drive Bays (or 7 drive bays with Suspension Mount of the HDD)
  - External: 4 x 5.25” (one with 5.25” to 3.5” adapter)
  - Internal: 4x 3.5” (Tray Mount) or 3 x 3.5” (Suspension Mount) for HDD
• Dual-layer steel & plastic sound-deadening panels
• Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections
  - 2 x USB 2.0
  - 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire®, i.Link®)
  - Audio in/out
• Cable Organizer behind drive bay minimizes cable clutter
• Built-in washable air filter
• Enhanced Cooling System
  - 1 rear 120 mm TriCool™ fan with 3-speed switch control
  - 2 front fan mounts for optional 92 mm fans to cool the HDD
• Motherboard: Fits micro and Standard ATX

The install:

     To test the SOLO's versatility and noise reduction, I opted to try a high end gaming build.  The build features an ABIT AW8D motherboard with a Pentium D 940 processor cooled by an AeroCool GT-1000, 2 x 1GB OCZ PC 5400 Gold Edition GX XTC RAM, and a Gigabyte Radeon X1800 XL card.  The rest of the build includes 2 x 74GB Western Digital Raptor drives, a Seagate Barracuda 750GB drive and a Plextor PX-755SA DVD burner.  Power is provided by a massive iStarUSA TC-750PD2 750 W power supply that uses a single 80 mm cooling solution.

     Since I have already described the drive installation in great detail, I have taken the liberty of skipping a few steps here.  This picture shows the SOLO with the powers supply and motherboard just installed.  Although the SOLO is compatible with both micro and standard ATX motherboards the AW8D motherboard is a tight squeeze.  Notice the two Raptor drives almost cover the IDE controller completely.  Good thing we are doing a complete SATA install this time out.

     Here is the completed install with some simple cable management in place.  I should mention the back of the 3.5" drive bay enclosure is covered with a dozen cable management hooks to aid in keeping your wiring clean and mostly out of sight.  The front panel cable runs allow the SOLO to reach even the most obscure motherboard ports with ease.

     Here is the completed installation from the front.  I must admit, with no window or display to light thinks up, the SOLO's look is all business.  To not install matching black components would be a crime!  Notice also that the high gloss finish shows every fingerprint mercilessly!

     I just cant get over Antec's brilliant piano black finish.  As always the high gloss looks better in person.  Even more amazing is the quiet hum of the completed build.  In fact the only real noise comes from the iStarUSA power supply with the TriCool fan set to low.

In the dark, my Dell LCD is nearly legible reflected in the side.  That's just awesome.

Conclusion:

     Antec continues to impress with the LifeStyle series of cases and the SOLO is no exception.  Although the smaller size may cause some enthusiasts to look elsewhere, my gaming build shows the SOLO is capable of running a demanding enthusiasts build with ease.  The focus on reducing noise in the SOLO makes this case the perfect choice for a dorm or HTPC installation where noise is a major factor.  With a street price of about $80, you are getting a lot of innovative noise reduction and a classy black finish but no power supply.  Since most PC builders prefer to choose their own unit, this is not really a deciding factor, but it might have been nice to see an option with one of Antec's award winning power supplies to choose from.  If you are looking for a case with looks that will complement your room and tired of HTPC noise the SOLO is definitely the case you have been waiting for.  Now to find a quieter power supply myself!

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	9.0 out of 10
Performance:	9.0 out of 10
Quality:	9.5 out of 10
Stability:	N/A
Overclocking:	N/A
Software/Drivers Pack:	N/A
Value:	9.0 out of 10
Overall Rating 9.0
Skill Level
Project Skill Level (10 being hardest)	6 out of 10