My fault... I didn't see that.

Thanks again for the answers, Lee!

I am thinking of building a similar pc:
DFI like yours (or the SLI because I heard that the packaging of the Ultra is terrible and many arrive broken).
Any problem getting it to boot after set up? I read there are quite a few problems!
Leadtek 6600GT PCIe because the 6800GT like you stated are way too hot + expensive, power hungry and need a separate power connector.
Neopower 480w (has a PCIe connector) or OCZ Powerstream 420w.(doesn't have one) ... I don't think the 6600GT needs one anyway!
And a 3200+ / 90nm... is the retail HSF adequate and not too loud; or is it better to use an aftermarket one?

We should probably take this to the System Advice forum. It is probably better to only discuss 3000B issues here. My 3000B conclusion: I like it!

I have a retail 3000+ / 90nm. Since you're here at SPCR, I suspect that you're going to find the retail HSF not terribly quiet. I am much happier with an XP90.

After remove and replacing a PCI card a number of times, I stripped out the threads in the PCI cage for the screws holding the PCI cards in. I would like to glue a nut to the back side of the cage.

Does anyone know what the size and thread count is? Where can I get a nut to fit (Plan to glue it in place with epoxy).

Does anybody know if the case (3000B) will have the proper mounts for mATX board. (9.6" * 9.6").

Mounting Hole Locations are different from ATX Form.

Can anybody tell how many holes there are total for mounting mobo?

Thanks!

I am considering MSI - RS480M2-IL
( 9.60 in.(L) x 9.60 in.(W); Micro- ATX
• 2 DIMMs w/ DDR 400 upto 4 GB
• 1 PCI-E 16X; 3 PCI; 8 USB
• 6 Ch. Audio; 10/100 LAN; IEEE 1394; RAID; SATA; ATA133
• ATI Radeon Integrated Graphics

I don't have this case, but if you look at the picture on page two of the review, then you can see the hole at the third PCI slot and the hole a bit lower to the right of that (in a vertical line with the one stand off that is screwed in. Those holes are not used by ATX but are used by mATX.

How does the purple fan bracket at the front affect noise? Would it be significantly quieter if I took it off and mounted it with zip ties?

Maybe this is a little off topic, but...

I have the 3700AMB. I'm interested in finding out if anybody who owns both the AMB and the 3000 could check to find out if the 3000 sidepanel (with duct) will fit on the AMB?

I'm trying to see if it's possible to ditch the fan on the cpu, ad I'd rather spend $20 on a sidepanel, instead of buying an entire case, as well as the hassel of moving everything, redoing the wiring, etc.

Aren't the 3700AMB and 3000B different colors?

The SLK300B door fits perfectly onto the SLK3700AMB. I've done it. Keep in mind though, the AMB is dark silvery gray while the 3000B is satin black.

I have a question regarding the motherboard brass standoffs and screw package. In the review on page 3, it says that the case comes with, a set of motherboard standoffs, mounting screws and insulating washers. What are Insulating washers? My 3000B did not seem to come with these. Does anyone have a pic of these? Also, i just moved my pc parts from a 3700BQE (my wife got the BQE now) and i noticed that i have this humming type noise that i didn't have in the 3700BQE, with the exact same parts. Seasonic SS300w, Zalman 7000cu at 1350rpm, fanless vga, 80g sata western digital HD, front antec 120mm fan at 5v, rear 120mm tri cool set at lowest setting. The only new component is the tri cool fan, but when i disconnect it the hum is stiil there. Is it possible that the 3700BQE does a better job at silencing the hard drive noise? Any help would be appreciated...Marco

The Antec SLK3000B has a left side CPU duct and side vent holes near the video card, neither of which are persent on the SLK3700-BQE. Lets cool air in, but lets noise out.

It is not the side vents, i taped them off to check that already and the noise is the same as it is with the vents uncovered. Insulated wahsers ???

So far i am very disappointed with my 3000b, the front panel makes an intermittent buzzing noise that comes and goes, you can stop the noise by pressing the front panel or with the front panel removed it doesn't make this noise. What is the deal with Antec's front plastic panels buzzing? Does anyone know of a fix for this problem? My 3700BQE does the same thing..

Meh. I knew of the color difference. I would rather have matching colors, but I'm more interested in having a potentially passively cooled cpu than having a pretty case.

Well, whoever answers Ridgerunner, it would be much appreciated.

To answer Marxx and a few others. The purple fan mounting system is awful and is probably the biggest cause of the vibrating/buzz. I had my orange yate loon mounted using the purple fan mounting system, and it made quite a racket. Using the twisty tie method removed almost all of the sound. The only other major concern I have is when my nec 3500 burner spins up. It makes the front panel vibrate like crazy creating a similar buzzing sound, which might be why your front panel makes the intermittent buzzing noise. All that is left is to do is minimize the vibrations of my DVD burner and my 72k50 sata hitachi's.

Actually, with a nexus fan at ~800rpm on top of the cpu, it provides an extra intake and it's pretty quiet as well. I found that by cutting pieces of air filters and either duct tape (bottom vent) or using the original screws (cpu vent) it blocked out much of the noise. Even better, there's less dust and it looks cooler too!

I have removed the fan and the purple bracket and it still buzzes. I noticed that when i boot up without the hard drive connected, it doesn't buzz anymore. I called antec support to ask them about this and i was told that my hard drive is defective causing irregular vibrations throughout the case. I do not believe that my hard drive is faulty as i had the same drive in other cases with no problems at all, i think it is just a poor hard drive cage design that tranmits the vibrations to the front panel. I am going to try a brand new drive to see if it still buzzes, if it does then I know Antec's tech support is full of crap, and will return my case, and new hard drive and will look into buying another manufacturers case.........

It is definitely possible. The BQE (like the Sonata) uses drive trays where they are mounted from underneath so the screws do not have to support the weight of drive. The 3000B mounts the drives from the sides, and it is inevitable that there is more pressure on the metal screws against the grommets. You might try to loosen the screws just a bit, or use some other type of mounting system (softer grommet or other material).

The older Western Digital drives (made before late last year) can vibrate quite a bit on some samples. I have some them on my server (paid about $30 after MIR) and one of my drives vibrates so much that is illegal to sell it in Alabama. You should be able to feel the drive in order to tell how much it vibrates.

I also noticed more hard drive vibration in the front of the 3000b case than my cheap older case that had a single unit, non-removal drive cage for all the drives.

A buzz was coming from the lower front corner of the right side panel as it stopped when I pressed in on it. I took the panel off and bent the lower panel tabs in a little and that stopped the buzz.

Since the HD cage is removal, it would have been nice if Antec has some way to isolate the entire cage. If not, perhaps having a couple of screws to secrue it fimly in place could have helped.

I'm happy with my 3000b.

I thought I'd comment on some minor things that other people haven't mentioned yet.

1. I like the non-descript, low-key styling. You don't even have to attach the Antec logo/ badge on the front of the case, if you don't want to. The case doesn't attract attention to itself, sitting under the desk, which is a good thing imo.

2. I haven't found a need to block the side vents, I don't perceive any additional noise with the side vents covered versus uncovered. I do find that dust accumulates on the outer side of the grills of the side vents. I assume dusty air is being sucked in the direction of the vents, and getting deposited there. I'd guess more dust is getting into the case, too. Has anyone tried to make a dust filter for the side vents? What materials would I need to use for something like that?

3. Not too impressed with the HDD mounting system. I have my 3.5 inch drives sitting on foam on the floor of the case. Would like a cleaner, neater solution. Maybe I'll try the Novibes III product?

I have not found the lower side vent to add any additional noise, and it seems to keep the case a little cooler so I left it open. The upper cpu vent does increase noise, but this can be minimized by cutting about 1/2 inch off the duct with a razor blade knife, removing the horn flange, and lining part of the duct with a 3/8 inch thick piece of sound absorbing material. Slight reduction in air flow, but noticable sound reduction.

To filter the lower side vent, I mounted a 120mm fan shell (removed the fan blades) to the inside of the side with black push lock fasterners, and installed a 120mm plastic washable fan filter and guard to the other side of the shell.

On other cases for the cpu cooling fan, I have screwed several 80mm shells together and put a 92mm shell and plastic filter assembly at the the end. With this case, I wanted to keep the Antec upper duct so I just shortened it a little. I have thought about taking an 80mm shell and cutting a slot in it and making a slide in frame and filter, but have not gotten around to it.

With the poor alignment of the CPU duct and my CPU, I found that leaving the CPU duct open actually increased case and hard drive temperatures since the exhaust fan was just venting that air directly. I have found the VGA vent to be useful to case temperatures.

If I get ambitious with my tin snips, I'll cover both side vents and make a hole in the bottom to feed my VF700 with fresh air through a circular vent. I expect this to help GPU and nF4 temperatures.

Can anyone please post pictures of the misalignment of the Antec 3000B cpu duct and the DFI Ultra-D cpu?

Would the duct get in the way of the video card?

I'm thinking of getting the Gigabyte X800 XL w/heatpipe and the Thermalright XP-120, so they will be tight fits.

Sorry, my vent is sealed. It overlaps my 7000 by about 20%, with the vent being too far toward the upper left. I can't see how it could interfere with a video card, and I doubt an XP-120 is an issue either.

Thanks ilh

Just received an SLK3000B. When unpacked, I discovered one of the plastic latches for the front bezel was broken off. In general, the whole front bezel is extremely flimsy feels very cheap. However, this doesn't surprise me as I also own an SLK3700BQE. Anyway, I am building this for a friend and he can't be bothered to return the case.

I also find the mounting of the two front USB ports to be overly flexible - it has been necessary to jiggle these around a bit in order to ensure that the ports are accessible when the bezel is on.

One good thing is that at least the side door fits properly on the new case; this cannot be said for my BQE - when I want to put the side panel back on that, I have to sit on the panel while I force the thumbscrews into their threads.

Another problem I have with the new case is that, as I was bending back the EMI covers for the three 5.25 inch devices that I will have in the top bays, the whole EMI covering came away in my hands (all four bays are now uncovered). There is a set of replacement covers but I am not too sure how to fit one of these into the one remaining empty bay. Can anyone help with this? Problem is that I am building this system at the said friend's house so I only get to see the case and components when I can find time to get over there so a detailed description or even better a picture would be great. Sorry, this is probably a dumb question but as I say I don't have the case in front of me to play with.

A fan question: we have bought three 120mm Nexus fans for this build, along with FM44 fan isolators for the two case-mounted fans. We removed the closed-corners with a hack-saw and pliers (watch your eyes when you crush those things, bits of orange plastic tend to fly around at speed). Then we fed the FM44s through the case and pulled with pliers until the notches came through to the other side (use a sharp tool to ease the notches through at the back of the case where the wholes seem smaller). Then we pulled the FM44s through the fan corners. What we found was that at the rear of the case the mounting does not seem to be as secure as at the front. If you jiggle the fan around it has a tendency to smack into the back of the case and make a tapping sound. Is this normal? We are hoping that, in practice, the fan will not wobble enough for this to become an issue but I am curious to hear whether others have encountered any difficulties with this.

One good thing is that the 5.25 inch expansion box for an Audigy2 Platinum does fit snugly behind the closed door of the case - I was half expecting to have to keep the door ajar after fitting this. Obviously, this will be necessary when using any of the inputs/outputs on the device.

Overall, I cannot really complain too much about the case for the price.

Hi E,

A lot of people are surprised at how the 3000b is packaged so I'm not surprised that there was a broken piece. Anyway, I'm looking at the front of my case with the plastic cover removed and the plates that go over the bays are just pressed into the openings - I think there might actually be a press fit and then they are secured with screws. The screws look like a phillips head, but one slot runs completely to the edge of the screw. On the metal covers there is a small arrow stamped into the cover. I installed mine with the arrow pointing down but now it seems rather obvious that the arrow should point up, but it doesn't seem to really matter. There are 2 screw holes on each side and I used the middle one. One screw on each side.

As far as the noise isolators go I have some but I have never used them. But it does seem like they should provide a snug fit. I would place some foam tape or several layers of duct tape between the edge of the fan and the case to prevent it from moving around. When the fan starts the torque might twist it just enough to cause a bump or something. I guess you can always try it out and see what happens but I think the idea is that the isolators should anchor the fan firmly in place. Hope this helps. - FG

Thanks Frank for your detailed response. These were soothing words .

My experience with my SLK3000B has been somewhat disapointing for 2 reasons, which are huge IMO. First off, the case seems to be extremely flimsy, comparable to a generic case. I was expecting a sturdy thick steel case with a flimsy plastic front panel, what i got is a flimsy case overall, it looks like this case could have been reinforced a little more, it flexes very easily and if you shake the case with all panels and hardware removed you can hear rattles, sounds like loose metal particles rattling around. Second, the hard drive cage transmits your hard drives vibration to the front panel causing an annoying hum, and front panel rattle which is very loud if the rest of your pc is silent (note: this happens regardless of your HD type Samsung, seagate, WD, etc. Antec's support just blames your PSU and Hard drive for this problem, it happens no matter what hardware you have) It seems like Antec has took a step backwards with this case in terms of quality and manufacturing. I have built systems with the Sonata and the 3700BQE, and both those cases do not feel as flimsy as this case. Unfortunately i cannot return this case because i have already cut out the fan grills, my bad. Does anyone know if Antec's new line of cases coming out soon will be more sturdy, meaning made with thicker steel? Anyone have another case recommendation thats sturdy, uses 120mm fans with good airflow? For what it's worth here are the specs on my PC, i know it's not my hardware's fault like Antec's support keeps telling me:

Antec SLK3000B
Seasonic S12 430w PSU
P4 3.2 Prescott Socket 478 w/ Thermalright XP-120 & 120mm Nexus at 7v
Intel D875PBZLK motherboard
1GB Crucial PC3200 Memory
120mm Nexus Exhaust & 120mm Nexus Intake Both at 7v
Seagate 160gb SATA HD
Matrox G650 Video card (fanless)
M-Audio 24/96 Sound card
Plextor 12X +/- DVDRW Drive

please help me, i'm desperate, how the hell do you mount the cd/dvd drive inside this one ?
i've been trying all day with no result.
i've tried to attach those metal bars on the side of the drive, and put in, but it just doesn't go.
i need a very detailed description on how to do it or maybe some relevant pictures.
also the led's are not working, neither one of them, and i've set the cables correctly.
HELP! HELP! HELP!