By: Ben Joubert
May 18, 2018
Here in Calgary, spring has finally arrived after a grueling winter filled with lots of snow shoveling and bundling up. The arrival of spring brings its own host of new ventures before summer fully kicks in. For myself, it is going through and cleaning a couple of different things. This ranges from getting rid of old clothes, emptying out the bookshelf of some books, cleaning the car, and reorganizing a couple of things in the house. This spring it also includes cleaning out the computer. I have had the same case since February of last year, which was the SilverStone Kublai KL07. The case has served me well, but I have not bothered to properly clean the case in all that time. I was quite surprised after removing the front panel, lots and lots of dust fell out the front. It was not the greatest sight to see. The inside of the case was also filled with the nasty stuff, even with the filter at the front. The graphics card and the back fan had visible streaks of dust. After removing the graphics card and blowing on it, plenty of powdery stuff came out of the heatsink. Needless to say, it was satisfying cleaning everything out. The reason for finally opening up my case is because today we have the Antec DF500 up for review. The Antec DF500 is definitely in a completely other genre of cases than the SilverStone Kublai KL07, focusing more on looks than on silence. Read on to find out all the different features it offers!
The Antec DF500 was shipped from California via FedEx International Ground. I do not have the actual shipping box pictured above, as it was shipped in an old Antec P100 retail box -- you are not missing much. The box looked pretty beat up upon arrival, but much of it could be due to age. Otherwise, the corners were a bit beat up and the edges were worn down. I quickly tore open the top and had a good look at the retail box.
The retail box for the Antec DF500 is similar to almost all the other retail boxes for computer cases. Most of the box has the brown cardboard color, but parts of it is painted black like the black stripe on the side highlighting Antec. The name of the case, DF500, is located at the bottom left of the box with the series name as well. The Antec DF500 is part of the "Dark Fleet" lineup of Antec cases. Currently, the only other case in the series is the Antec DF500 RGB case, which includes a couple of RGB fans, RGB hub on the back, and motherboard sync so that all the RGB you have will match up. Otherwise, the retail packaging is pretty standard. The one side has all the technical information of the case, while the back has a blown up image of the case taken apart to illustrate all the different features. It also has a paragraph explaining all the features.
The Antec DF500 has a couple of things to protect the case from any damage during shipping. The usual two Styrofoam blocks is on either side of the case to prevent any bumps hitting the chassis. Otherwise, there is a large plastic bag that covers the entire product to protect it from surface level damage like scratches. The Antec DF500 does not just have a nice large window for the side panel, but also for the front panel. Covering the plastic panels are some thin plastic coverings to prevent scratches, dust, fingerprints, anything that could damage the nice clean look of the mid-tower.
Before we move on to the next page, here are all the specifications as obtained from the manufacturer's website:
Specifications
Dimensions: 470mm x 200mm x 480mm (DxWXH)
Motherboard Support: ATX, Micro-ATX, ITX
Material: SGCC + Plastic
I/O Ports: USB 3.0 x 2, MIC/AUDIO (HD), Power, Reset
Expansion Slots: 7
3.5''/2.5'' (Convertible: 2
2.5'': 4
Fans: Front 3 x 120mmm or 2 x 140mm, Top 3 x 120 mm or 2 x 140mm, Rear 1 x 120 mm (Included)
Liquid Cooling: 360 mm or less at the front, 120mm at the rear.
Cable Management Space: 20mm
Max GPU length: 380mm
Max CPU Cooler Height: 165mm
Max PSU Length: 200mm
Dust Filtration: Top/Front/Bottom
Warranty: 2 years
Net Weight: 5kg
Gross Weight: 6kg
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
