Antec Nine Hundred Two (902)

Results Analysis

As we expected, the Antec 902 is suitably impressive when it comes to cooling prowess, delivering a very well rounded performance in every single one of our thermal tests. With all the case fans set to full speed the CPU cooling performance is well up with the big guns at both load and idle, although interestingly it’s still the Silverstone FT01, which uses a similar cooling layout as the 902 but with the large top fan used as an intake, that sits atop our charts.

While CPU cooling is decent, it’s the GPU cooling that really blows us away though – it’s a full 3°C cooler at load than the previous best case and that’s without even using a side panel mounted fan which historically has had the biggest effect on GPU cooling. The fact that the 902 is able to cool our passive GPU so well despite the lack of a side panel fan really is a testament to the excellent airflow inside.

Sadly though this awesome cooling comes at a price and that’s the ludicrously loud noise of the combined cooling fans at full speed. We’ve thrown the term "wind tunnel," around in the past but the 902 really is a full blown fan powered shriek machine and sounds like a rack mounted server being tortured with the cooling fans all set to maximum. Frankly we just couldn’t stand the 902 on a desk next to us with its fans at full speed, whether we were busy gaming or not – it’s simply far too intrusive.

Thankfully though the 902’s individual fan controls go a hell of a long way to resolve the problem and with all the fans set to their lowest speed the 902 is refreshingly well behaved acoustically. While admittedly not as quiet as dedicated low noise cases like the Akasa Omega, it’s still very well behaved, and the hard drive was clearly the loudest thing in the case. What’s more impressive is that the cooling performance doesn’t dip too much at all when the fans are slowed down and while some of the awesome cooling power is lost, the 902 still remains a contender.

Value and Final Thoughts

I must admit coming into this review with a somewhat tarnished opinion of the 902. The 900 has simply become so ubiquitous amongst gamers that I’d grown to resent it just because everyone and his dog seemed to have one. However, having spent some time with the 902, it’s clear that Antec has taken a lot of feedback from the 900 on board and as uninspiring as its looks might be, we simply can’t argue with 902’s excellent feature set, build quality and thermal performance.

While there are still plenty of niggles involved with building a system into the case, namely the cramped interior and the issues it generates with larger graphics cards, there’s a lot to like about the 902 that you just won’t find elsewhere at this price point. Individual fan controllers for all four cooling fans and excellent removable dust filters are the standout inclusions, but there’s plenty of attention to detail here too with rubber PSU mountings, much improved cable management and the ability to switch off the LEDs in the 200mm cooling fan.

It’s also extremely well priced, and has just recently slipped below that magic £100 price barrier, placing it a good £20 cheaper than the competing Cooler Master Sniper and just £20 more than the original 900 that remains on sale as a budget option. However, the raft of improvements make the 902 well worth the extra £20.

There’s also the Cooler Master HAF 932 available for the same price, which packs cooling that’s just as capable as the 902’s while being a whole lot easier to build a system into. If the HAF 932 was still £120 (as it was when we reviewed it), we’d pick the 902 every time, but now the two are priced identically it’s much harder to choose between them, although the 902 with its superior build quality and better feature set just about edges it.

While it’s certainly far from ideal for frequent upgraders, modders or those with specialised set ups like watercooling loops, the 902 is the perfect chassis for someone looking to build a system and then leave it alone for a few years without ever having to worry about overheating – the exact reason that the original 900 was so popular in the first place amongst first time system builders and gamers who just wanted fire and forget cooling.

Simply put it’s as close to perfectly engineered for its target audience as a gaming case can be.

• Features
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• -
• 9/10

• Build Quality
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• -
• 9/10

• Ease of Use
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• x
• x
• x
• x
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• x
• -
• -
• -
• 7/10

• Performance
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• x
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• x
• x
• x
• -
• 9/10

• Value
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• -
• 9/10

• Overall
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• -
• 9/10

Score Guide