I have a question for those of you who are familiar with both the Antec SLK3700BQE and the SLK3000B. I own an SLK3700BQE which looks much better than my friend's SLK3000B. My friend's 3000B (which was ordered from Amazon) has a poor paint job and a very dull looking front fascia. Are these cosmetic differences typical?

I'm not familiar with the 3700BQE other than seeing it on the shelf at Fry's, but there is a significant difference in the glossiness of the paint job, which is intentional. The 3000B is more of a budget silent pc case than the 3700BQE. Antec toned down the gloss, poked some holes into the side for cooling, took out the PSU. and turned the hard drive cage when they were making the 3000B from the 3700BQE. The front fan mount was also improved. I wouldn't consider the paint job 'poor' or 'inferior'. Its alot harder to leave fingerprints on the 3000B material, and it might be more scratch resistant, but I'm not sure. Overall, the 3000B is better for silent computing.

I agree that the 3000B has much better air flow. I built my friend's system with that case and I would like to have one but the poor finish put me off.

No. not in any of the samples that I've seen. They've all looked basically identical.

Maybe your 3000B sample was one that was painted at 4:57PM on a Friday.

I agree with Sandstrom, I've got a 3700AMB (ordered from Newegg) and my roommate has a 3000B (ordered from Amazon), and the 3700AMB has a slick, glossy battleship-gray paint job, where as the 3000B is less glossy, and the paint is sort of globbed on, rather than smooth. I realize the color isn't the same, but the quality is drastically different.

The paint job isn't the only difference. The drive rails were MUCH tighter on the 3000B, far too tight in fact, but I'm sure this varies from case to case even within the same model. One of the feet fell off the case when we were building it. The drive trays don't fit as well as they do on mine. All of these things resulted in a case whose workmanship was clearly inferior to the 3700AMB.

I've had a couple ideas about what may have happened. One is that maybe Antec sent Amazon a bunch of crap cases. Another is that perhaps the factory didn't spend enough time retooling to make the 3000B, and just relied on quick changes to the 3700AMB instead, using cheaper paint and Frankensteining the AMB and BQE internal parts together, then poking some holes into the side panel as stromgald said, and rushing it into production.

However, given the chance, I'd probably still get the 3000B over the 3700AMB now. The little problems with it aren't all that bad.

I have both cases, and I can't say that the finish on the 3000B is inferior to that of the 3700BQE. The fascia is more matte (which I prefer), but I don't find the quality any different.

Are you implying that because the 3000 is cheaper it's meant to look cheaper? Then what about the 3800B?

No, I'm saying I think the 3000B was targeted for consumers on more of a budget, who would be willing to sacrifice some bling for lower cost. My point is that Antec intentionally used a different finish on the 3000B. They didn't just use a poorer quality finish, they used a different finish that I think was mostly cost driven. The 3800B is just a 3000B with a PSU.

Why would any company want their product to look cheap, even if it is?

And also sacrifice the PSU? It think it's the other way araound.



It's an updated 3700. In addition to the case, the PSU with it is also refined.



Maybe to sell more 3700's?

I am beginning to suspect that the 3000B's sold by Amazon are cosmetic rejects which are discounted by Antec. Unlike my 3700BQE and the photo of a 3000B on Antec's site, the unit that I saw from Amazon had a poor paint job and also a fascia that lacked shine on the shark gill louvres and side areas. On the positive side Amazon had the lowest price I have seen and free delivery.

Removing the PSU is generally a positive for silent PC enthusiasts, not really a sacrifice.


It may be an updated/replacement for the 3700BQE, but the Antec rep around here would probably know for sure.

The paint/fascia is different, and I don't think its necessarily worse. hmsrolst seems to have had the same experience. I don't see any paint being 'globbed on' on mine, but the paint is definitely less glossy. I got mines from mwave. There's not much shine on the side of mines. The shine on the front bezel is because its made of plastic rather than spray painted steel. Feels pretty cheap too, I would've liked a sturdier front bezel.

Sure, people that know it's going to be too loud would rather save the money, but that's not neccessarily exclusive to those on a tight budget. That PSU in 3700's is not intended to be a spare or something to sell on ebay.



I'm quite sure it's a replacement for both the BQE and the AMB. The SP2 that comes with it has a much stronger 12v rail. Newegg for example still sells the 3700BQE, but not the AMB.

You can't compare the paint quality or even the color of the 3700AMB and 3000BQE, it's completely apples and oranges.

The 3700AMB (released in October 2002) is painted with a very shiny, dark silver/gray metallic paint. (that Antec calls "Metallic Bronze")

The 3700BQE was released a year later, and was painted a less glossy, non-metallic black, probably because so many bitched about the "odd color" and "hard to care for " glossy finish of the original 3700AMB.

The SLK3000B and the SLK3800B are painted exactly the same as the original 3700BQE, barring normal variations in production. Antec has done nothing to "make the paint cheaper" so if you're seeing funky looking 3000B's (when compared to 3700BQE's, not 3700AMB's) it's either due to the normal sample-to-sample variation in production, or perhaps Amazon actually is selling some sort of "seconds".

I bought a 3000B from Amazon when they sold them with shipping for about $45. Although I don't have another Antec case to compare to - I was very pleased with the case. I think the workmanship was as expected. My only issue with it is that I seem to be getting USB 1.1 from the front ports and I'm positive it is plugged in to USB 2.0 connectors on my Soyo MB.