Antec KS282 ATX Case w/300watt P/S

Company: Antec
Product: KS282 ATX Case
Street Price: ~$80USD
Date Reviewed: November 14, 2000
Reviewed By: Mark

Introduction:

I was looking for a case to house my ATX Board (ABIT KT7.) It needed to have a 300watt power supply, and plenty of room for expansion and cooling fans. It didn't need to be anything fancy, but nothing terribly hidious either. The cost was not an issue--only the time in which I would have to wait to get it, and the features it had to offer.

Since I put in minimal part time hours at a retail computer store, I figured I would see what products my place of employment had to offer. I had thought of building another plexy glass computer, but it would have required more time than I was willing to spend. That's when I saw the Antec KS282 sitting there, all alone, in that glass case. I quickly glanced over the spec.'s of the case: 300 watt p/s, ATX Form Factor, 7 expansion openings in the back, 3 drive bays in the front, and "shotgun" holes in the side of the case for good heat circulation.

I knew that this case would work for me, and for $68USD I could not go wrong. I didn't even wait until I got home to open this thing up to see the goodies of which I had just purchased: case (good,) power cable (standard,) and A FULL BAG OF SCREWS! I can not even imagine how my life was in production without this full bag of miscellaneous screws! There are board mounting screws, case tightening screws, card holding screws, and even CD-ROM/FLOPPY/HARD DRIVE screws.

From A Technician's Viewpoint:

The KS282 has all of the features that I was looking for at a good price, but the question that comes next is "how easy is this thing going to be to maneuver around in?" Being a computer technician, I realize that there is nothing worse than a Hewlett Packard or E-Machine case -- that is, one which the power supply needs to be removed just to get to the components of which me, and people alike, change each god-given day.

The power supply is at the top of the case. If the power supply at the top of the case is truly a concern of yours, than you are probably the type of user who is better off just building your own case to fit your cooling needs. This is not a server case. By this I do not mean that it is too small to maneuver around inside. Simply put, there are not enough expansion slots in this puppy to be a server case. The inside of the case reminds me of a MicronPC case, in that it is large enough to do almost anything without having to remove other devices.

Smooth edges are a must, thankfully long gone are the days of razor sharp edges in cases that required the precision of a surgeon's hands to work with. No more battle scars with this case (no more war stories either).

Modifications:

I realize that most of you reading this article are like me -- by that I mean that you love to modify your stuff to make it cooler than it already is. Since the KS282 is a descent size, there are plenty of modifications which can be done to it. Click Here for examples of modifications. As you can see on that page, there are plenty of modifications which can be done to help out with cooling issues, or just to make the case look better.

As you can see, there are already 2 extra 80mm fans mounted in the case to give decent airflow. The front one is inside the cheesy plastic bezel that dubs as a guide for full length cards (who runs into those these days? I think they died out with the 486.). The rear fan is in an excellent location being able to suck out the hot air right next to the CPU.

Conclusions:

I really do enjoy having this case. I give it an 08/10 rating! The case could have had a better placed power supply, but who am I to bitch? It works perfectly for what I use it for, and it's not an expensive case. If you are in the market for a new computer case, you may have just found your calling. This case will be able to host most anything you want to put in it, and it has a 300w power supply.

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