Final Thoughts
Pricing
The Antec ISK-600M Micro-ATX Chassis is currently available for £56.99 at Overclockers UK. This also means it’s priced similar to a range of BitFenix, Silverstone and CoolerMaster mATX chassis, but spec for spec, the ISK is still competitive.
Overview
I like what Antec have done with the ISK-600M, which is no surprise given that I liked their mini-ITX offering and this one is simply a little bit bigger. Of course, there are a few aesthetics changes, such as the blue strip has gone from the middle of the front panel in favour of some blue LED under lighting at the front of the chassis.
The chassis isn’t perfect, and there are a few minor niggles that caught my attention while working with this chassis, but nothing that would put me off of a potential purchase. The internal cables look a little scruffy, but as I mentioned before, there’s no window on this chassis and interior design isn’t really a priority. The front panel only has a single USB 3.0 port, which is fine, but USB 2.0 is getting a little old school. Most new chassis now just come with a pair of USB 3.0 ports that are ideal for copying files quickly between two external storage devices. There’s also limited air filtering for the vents on the chassis, so dust could become an issue. Finally, a few extra cable routing cut-outs on the interior of the chassis would have been welcome, trailing the CPU power cable over the motherboard isn’t what I would call ideal.
The minor issues I have with this chassis are easily put aside, as they’re pretty common issues with chassis in this price range and even more so with a chassis in this form factor. What you do get for your money is a decent amount of internal space that will suit a high-end, multi-GPU equipped and partially water-cooled gaming rig. There’s certainly enough appeal here for the smaller form factor gaming market, especially those who need a relatively portable rig for LAN gaming events. The smart looking exterior of this chassis makes it very appealing for the HTPC market, as the brushed aluminium will easily blend in with most AV equipment. Just keep in mind that this isn’t designed to be very sound proof, so HTPC builders may want to choose their internal components wisely.
Pros
- Nice aesthetics
- Lots of room in lower section for excess cables
- AIO water cooling support
- Room for two high-end graphics cards
- Plenty of hard-drives mounts
- Aluminium front panel
- Competitive price
Cons
- Limited air filtering
- Only 1 x USB 3.0 port on front panel
- Interior cable routing could be better
“The ISK 600M is ideal for a small gaming rig that packs big levels of performance. If you need a system that going to look at home in the office, as part of your gaming setup, next to your TV or at LAN, the ISK 600 is well worth your consideration.”
Thank you Antec for providing us with this sample.
