If you’re a gamer or an enthusiast, then I probably won’t need to tell you about Antec. For those who don’t know, Antec are synonymous for producing excellent computer chassis and power supplies. Their great designs, affordability and features make them extremely popular among gamers and enthusiasts alike. Take for example the Antec Twelve Hundred chassis, it’s been one of the best selling computer chassis for the past few years, and this is thanks to its solid construction, excellent cooling features and great price.
Thermaltake, Coolermaster and many other manufacturers of thermal/chassis products have tried to keep up with Antec’s aggressive stance, but in the end most users seem to prefer Antec over other brands. So why is this the case? Well, I think there are several reasons for this. My personal experience with Antec chassis is that they offer solid construction, excellent cooling performance, but most importantly, they’re extremely affordable and cheaper than the other big brands. This makes them ideal for system integrators to build affordable and feature-rich gaming PCs … in fact, I know of 3-4 distributors/e-tailers that use Antec Chassis exclusively for their high-end gaming PCs.
Antec have recently experimented on different styles of chassis. You’ve probably seen and heard of Antec’s Skeleton open air enclosure, which was released a couple of years ago. It was one of the first open air enclosure / workbench on the market … perfect for enthusiasts and overclockers. Continuing their success, Antec have now introduced the LanBoy Air, the most customizable modularized chassis in the world.
Antec have been producing computer chassis and power supplies for many years. Their products are extremely popular among gamers and enthusiasts alike. For those who are not familiar with Antec or its products … here’s a little blurb taken from their website.
|
“Antec, Inc. is the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in the industry and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of quiet, efficient and innovative products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Please visit www.antec.com for more information. “ |
In this review, we’ll be taking a look at the Antec LanBoy Air chassis. It’s the world first modularized chassis that can be customized according to the user’s needs.The chassis measures 20.4″ (H) x 8.7″ (W) x 19.3″ (D), and features open-frame mesh panel construction offering unprecedented cooling performance. It comes with some very unique features such as the AirMount™ HDD suspension mount system for up to 6 HDDs, as well as the front I/O with USB 3.0 SuperSpeed Connector. There are also built-in handles for easy transportation … perfect for LAN parties (hence the name “LanBoy” Air).
For expansion, the Antec LanBoy Air supports upto 6 x internal 3.5″ HDDs, 3 x external 5.25″ HDDs and there’s also 2 x internal bottom-mounted 2.5″ SSD bays. Front panel I/O includes reset switch, power-on button, 1 x USB 3.0 SuperSpeed, 2 x USB 2.0, 1 x headphone out and 1 x microphone in. The chassis is just like a midi tower, so there shouldn’t be a problem fitting a large CPU cooler upto 160mm in height.
The whole chassis uses mesh panels which allows for excellent air-flow and cooling. There are 2 x front variable-speed 120 mm blue LED fans with stepless control knobs, 1 x rear 120 mm TwoCool™ blue LED fan and 2 x side 120 mm TwoCool™ blue LED fans for graphics cards cooling. In total, the Antec LanBoy Air allows upto 15 fans to be installed, there’s also two pre-cut holes for watercooling. This is more than enough, even for the most extreme of enthusiasts.
The Antec LanBoy Air is really unique and flexible. You can literally install your components how ever you want. For example, normally the power supply bracket is located at the bottom, with the motherboard tray directly above it. The LanBoy Air allows you mounted these in the reversed position … power supply bracket on the top, with the motherboard tray underneath. And there’s more … you can also mount the 5.25″ rom drives and the 3.5″ hard drives in 3 different orientations …. it can be forward facing or side facing (left/right).
We’ll be testing the Antec LanBoy Air Chassis using the following componets, which includes an Intel Core i5 – 650 @ 3.2Ghz, Gigabyte P55-USB3 motherboard (full-size ATX), 4Gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer and a Silver Power 650W power supply, and an Arctic Cooling Freezer 13 CPU cooler. It will be interesting to see what sort of temperatures we can get from the LanBoy Air. With an open-frame mesh panel construction allowing excellent air-flow and cooling, I’m expecting really low temperature readings. Let’s find out.
OK … let’s get going and take a closer look at the specifications and features of the Antec LanBoy Air Chassis.
Related Products:
