Antec Titan 550 Case Review

     Next I installed two different 30 gig hard drives to see how they would fit using the front mounting.  The drive mounts feature rubber grommets to reduce vibration and provide a snug fit even on this slim line Maxtor drive.  One interesting choice is the inclusion of screws using the star bits instead of a traditional Phillips screw.  I knew I had those around for a reason!

     With the fan mounting door open each hard drive slides into place.  This easy access makes it possible to change every drive without having to open the case up from the side like most traditional installs.

     The 5.25" to 3.5" adapter is already mounted on rails and makes mounting that old floppy drive easy.  Like the hard drives, front access means you only have to have the floppy when its needed, the rest of the time your drive bay can be doing something useful.  These same rails are provided for the rest of the 5.25" installations.

The results are clean and easily concealed behind the front door.  Concealed is good.

     Don't go for the back button, the Titan looks the same turned on.  Only the blue LED gives a clue things are running smoothly.  The TruePower PSU generates the majority of the sound and its much quieter than the XION Gamer setup.  Though I do miss the lights..  The Titan may not be flashy but it has a solid dependable feel lacking in most cases.  And the rich black paint scheme is attractive in a Darth Vader sort of way.

     All that's left is the Badge.  The guys at Antec should be proud, the quality and feature set in the Titan 550 make this build an easy transition.

     The finished project.  The cabling may not win any beauty pageants but the wide open design allows for plenty of expansion.  Now I am off to the LAN!

Conclusion:

     After toting the Titan 550 around, I can assure you it is not pretending to be anything other than a high end server case.  The Titan 550 may be Death Star like overkill, but there is a certain satisfaction from knowing you are sporting a sleek black Fragging machine!  If you are craving a new server or workstation, the Titan 550 is packed with the features and quality you have been searching for.  If you are looking for a gaming box, I would steer you towards Antec's Performance One Series.  The inclusion of a three year warranty shows Antec is serious about quality and customer service as well.  Overall I found the Titan 550 very easy to work with and the ability to reconfigure without having to take the case out of a rack is a great feature.  The only real negative is a need for aftermarket fans to move the air around this larger chassis.  Antec has packed in a variety of handy and time saving features for the server and workstation crowd without compromising quality or performance.

MSRP: $199.95 direct from Antec

Club Overclocker Rating
Innovation:	9.0 out of 10
Performance:	8.5 out of 10
Quality:	10 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)	4 out of 10