Construction Quality
The Antec DF800 FLUX is a fairly lightweight case, but it is solid. The fit and finish overall are excellent, and we didn’t run into any issues installing our ATX test rig inside.
Packaging
Antec has used the standard white Styrofoam packaging, which kept the case well-protected during shipment. The accessories box is stowed in the 3.5″ tray on the bottom of the case, while the reversed flow fan is secured to the top of the PSU shroud.
Cooling Potential
Antec is supporting a standard ATX layout of three front intake fan positions, three top exhaust fan positions, and a single rear exhaust fan position – as well as up to two fans on the power supply shroud for intake that pull air through the right case panel.
For air cooling, Antec’s default arrangement of fans works well, though it did fall short of keeping our 10900K from throttling when overclocked to 5.0GHz.
Of course, trying to air cool a 10900K at 5.0GHz isn’t a terribly good idea – and thankfully the DF800 FLUX has the proper provisions for AIOs, for the CPU and GPU if desired.
For a custom water loop, the DF800 FLUX has just enough room on the paper for a combination of two 280mm or 360mm radiators, but there is no special provision for things like pumps or reservoirs. Overall the internals are tight and potential purchasers are advised to pay close attention to the fitment of computer components and water cooling components if choosing to go down this route.
Installation Notes
The Antec DF800 FLUX is straightforward to build in, save for installing the reverse fan. As one might imagine, this should be installed before anything that rises up from the motherboard like GPUs and even CPU coolers to ensure that one has room to fit a screwdriver for the fan screws.
Our Build Recommendation
- Install any radiators for water cooling
- Install any additional fans
- Install memory, CPU, air CPU cooler if used, and the CPU 12v leads into the motherboard
- Install the motherboard into the case
- Run the fan power leads and any lighting cables to their appropriate headers and secure them loosely to the back of the motherboard tray
- Run any remaining front-panel connections to the bottom of the motherboard along with any other cables needed, loosely securing along the way
- Run the remaining power supply leads for GPU(s), 24-pin motherboard header
- Connect all power supply leads while the power supply is still outside the case
- Install the power supply
- Route the power supply leads along the back of the case and secure
- Fully secure all other leads
Discussion (8 replies)
Join Discussion →But can it fit a STRIX 4090? ;)
It actually should, fitting GPUs up to 405mm in length, where the Strix 4090 is at 358mm. Height should be okay too, but one won't have much room for that PCIe power connector and may wish to consider CableMod's right-angle adapter.
I like Antec. This should pop up on sale for under a hundy at some point. I don't really care about glass or LED disco lights, so if they offer a cheaper version omitting those that would be cool (not one listed on their site tho).
What I don't like is no dust filter for the front 3 intake fans. It has a bottome, side and top filter, but not on the front, where the primary intake is. Dust filters are a must for me and really cuts down on the cat hair intake.
The subtraction of glass should cut the price a bit, though I don't expect there to be much savings from dropping the RGB fans. You can just choose to not turn them on if you like, as they're the 5v kind that can be run from a motherboard header.
Only thing I could think of was the limited intake up front; a front filter is going to cause further restriction and potentially increase fan noise, or otherwise potentially limit cooling.
Yeah I mean when done right they can make a huge difference without impeding airflow. But all too frequently not. My P100 has a nice front filter, easy to pop off and clean. It doesn't eliminate dust intake but it helps a lot... and I have 3 cats so it gets cleaned frequently
They were my go to brand for power supplies, and cases back in the day. They seemed to fade away, but I'm glad to see them coming back into the market again. As far as this case goes, it's a nice case, but the only thing that sets it apart from other cases is the front. The overall case seems like just about any other mid tower out there.
Not much anyone can do. This configuration has become a standard of sorts, and is really the limit of performance while keeping the system compact as well as using the most accessible components.
Most innovation is being focused on either larger or smaller systems. Many higher-end boards are EATX now, and even some more mid-range boards. On the other end, if one is willing to put up with a few compromises, ITX delivers quite a wallop in a small package. But that's just considering 'features' and 'specifications'; cooling is an entirely different matter!
You're probably right there. It's kind of up to the end user to make it their own.