Antec Studio Take 4

Conclusion:

Well, it appears we have come across yet another successful Antec chassis. While in the past we have largely focused upon their ATX desktop offerings, the Studio Series and specifically the Take 4 seem to cite that there are no genuine manufacturing differences between the two. Some of the features for this 4U rackmount chassis include a 450W ATX12V v2.0 PSU, segregated air-flow chambers, USB and Firewire headers, and two TriCool (92 and 120 mm) fans. The quality of manufacturing for this case was certainty top-notch, which is expected from Antec considering they are one of the leaders in this market. However, the Take 4 did have a couple of minor flaws. These issues consisted of the number of screws needed to remove the 5.25" bays, potential issues with the space between the expansion slots and lid, and PSU cable length. While this was not much of a problem in our tests, and should not be much of a problem in properly maintained data centers, would be dust with this chassis. On the front and sides, the chassis is relatively open and while this leads to the necessary air for cooling, it can easily become home to a great deal of dust. It would have been ideal if Antec had implemented some sort of dirt filter for these areas, however, in most environments this should not cause much of a problem. When it came to the performance with the included Antec 450W PSU, we were admirably impressed when monitoring its performance using a digital multimeter while stressing the power supply with a Intel Pentium D processor and a NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX. The +3.33V, +5.00V, and +12.00V rails were all very close to their ideal ranges. The PSU is very similar to those found in Antec's Sonata series. Although this chassis may be pleasurable for the next 4U rackmount chassis upgrade, it certainly does not come cheap with a MSRP of $339.00 USD price tag. Of course, when spending about $340 on a case -- a warranty is almost a given -- and Antec continues to use their three year parts and labor warranty for covering all areas of the chassis.

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