Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside
After removing all the side panels, we can have a closer look into the interior of the Antec DF700 FLUX. The black color remains constant throughout the entire case. The PSU shroud covers almost all the bottom of the case, while leaving a cutout to display your PSU and a small bit of space at the front to mount a radiator or any other cooling device. I personally prefer to hide my PSU as I do not find it to be the most attractive component in a PC. We have very little space underneath the shroud, given how there is a drive bay here as well, which will make cable management a bit trickier. There are two breaks between the motherboard tray and the right side of the chassis to allow for better cable routing points.
Alongside the top are two more cable management cutouts. I found the cutouts to be satisfactory in fitting the CPU power cable, as well as routing some fan and ARGB cables from front to back. On the top of the case, you can mount up to three 120mm fans or two 140mm fans. Additionally, the top supports 120, 240, 280, and 360mm radiators. There is a magnetic dust filter to reduce dust from coming through. There is enough space in the area to not have to worry about whether or not there is enough space for your CPU cable, even after installing a radiator. There is a preinstalled 120mm fan at the back and preinstalled standoffs for an ATX motherboard. A small complaint I have with the standoffs is how they were not properly tightened. This is a small issue, as you can double check these standoffs on your own, but not everyone remembers to check if they have been tightened. Continuing on, there is a large opening at the back of the motherboard tray for users to install a backplate for third-party CPU coolers. This is helpful for anyone looking to install or replace their CPU cooler after the motherboard is already installed. The Antec DF700 FLUX allows for coolers up to 175mm in height, giving plenty of space for most units. The back of the case has seven expansion slots as mentioned on the previous page.
There are three cutouts on the PSU shroud for cable routing. There is no dedicated cutout for GPU power, making cable management a bit trickier and less aesthetically pleasing. This omission is made for a good reason, which I will expand on shortly. The Antec DF700 FLUX has a 405mm clearance for graphics cards. Antec provides three more 120mm ARGB fans at the front of the case. The DF700 FLUX supports front mounted radiators up to 360mm. The space provided for a front mounted radiator is adequate and quite spacious.
Antec actually provides an additional 120mm fan to be used as what they call a reverse fan. Antec has also used this in their P10 FLUX. The use of the reverse fan is to pull air from beneath the PSU shroud and push it out through your graphics card and the rest of the case. This is the reasoning behind the ventilation holes on the right side panel. However, as suggested by Antec, this is only functional when mounted in the middle section, as the PSU will block most of the area around the rear mount. The position of the PSU will severely limit the effectiveness of air intake, which is counterintuitive to its purpose. You can add an additional fan above the PSU, but the only purpose I see in this is to add some additional RGB LED lighting. Generally speaking, the five fans Antec has provided in this mid-tower are more than enough for any system.
On the topic of fans, the three included 120mm ARGB front fans do not have anti-vibration pads, meaning they may run louder given the vibration. The same thing applies to the rear exhaust and reverse fan. Fortunately, the front panel acts as a pseudo-dust filter, reducing the amount of dust from entering the system. It is not a real dust filter, but a reasonable tradeoff given how the DF700 FLUX is primarily designed for maximum airflow in my opinion. When I place my hands in front of the case during operation, my hands begin to feel quite chilly, being a good sign of airflow, as the fans are definitely not being choked out as compared to a case with a tempered glass front panel. All the provided fans are 3-pin. This means there are no included PWM fans, as they are missing the pulse width modulation pin. The downfall to not having PWM is the lack of precision speed control. Antec opts to use an integrated controller, which interestingly accepts a PWM signal, using a SATA connector for power. The result is an easy-to-use hub capable of controlling up to six 3-pin fans as well as their ARGB LED lighting.
The back of the Antec DF700 FLUX looks standard to many other cases on the market. The DF700 FLUX includes a designated mounting location for three 2.5” drives across the middle of the case. A single 3.5” drive can be mounted on the top left. Antec provides a drive bay capable of holding either two 2.5” or two 3.5” drives or a mix of the two. This case has two preinstalled Velcro straps and three tie-down points. Luckily, Antec provides extra Velcro straps and cable ties. The position of the tie-down points is fine, but could be better. If shifted slightly towards the left, it would allow for more space for cable management, but at the cost of less drive mounting points. The area behind the front has a gap of about 30mm, while the gap between the motherboard tray and the side panel is about 25mm. This is an adequate amount of space to run cables through, but you may still struggle with cable management due to the drive bay being in the way.
Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging, Specifications
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion
