Antec ISK 110 VESA Case Review

1. Introduction2. Antec ISK 110 VESA: Packaging and Bundle3. Antec ISK 110 VESA: External4. Antec ISK 110 VESA: Interior and Installation5. Installing the VESA Mount6. Closing Thoughts7. View All Pages

Today we are going to look at the Antec ISK 110 VESA which is a small form factor PC case that can be attached to the back of your monitor to save space.  It's designed to be as compact as possible, only supporting the smallest components.  This makes it ideal for those looking to build an office system or perhaps a basic home desktop.

We know Antec best for producing affordable gaming PC cases like the One, Three Hundred and Nine Hundred.  That said, the company have a large range of cases which cater to all audiences, so it's not surprising that they have designed a small form factor model like this.  We look forward to seeing how Antec have managed to make room for all the necessary components in such a small chassis.

Specification

The ISK 110 VESA is supplied in a very compact cardboard box which reflects the tiny size of the case within.  The box itself has a very basic livery which consists of some text and images printed in plain black.

Turning the box around reveals details of the features and specifications of the case alongside some further images.  The back of the box features an identical design to the front. The box itself feels  substantial and should do a good job of protecting the case inside.

The bundle of accessories is fairly limited.  It consists of all the screws required for installation, an external power supply unit, some power supply cables, a desktop stand and a VESA mounting plate.

The case itself is about as compact as you could possibly expect, without considering a pre-built barebone unit with a custom-sized motherboard.  It's clearly designed to be as compact as possible, while allowing just enough room for a mini-ITX motherboard  and the smallest of other components.

Antec have opted for a fairly plain design for the front of the case, which features four USB2.0 ports and headphone and microphone connectors.  There is also a large power button on the front, as well as power and hard drive activity indicators.

Moving round to the side panel of the case, there is a large mesh area which provides the components within with air flow.  It's popped out slightly which just leaves enough room for an Intel reference CPU cooler within.

There is also a large vent which spans the top of the case, providing some passive airflow to the power supply board at the top.

Moving round to the back of the case, the I/O panel fills most of the real estate.  There are no expansion slots on this model, but there is a Kensington lock slot and an AC-in jack.

It comes as no surprise that there is very limited room inside the case.  The side panel can be easily removed, requiring us first to remove two screws before popping it off.

There is a long and narrow power supply circuit board along one side of the case, with a single plastic connector.

The supplied power supply cables can be plugged into this, breaking out into a 24-pin ATX power connector, a 4-pin CPU coonector and twin SATA connectors.

Underneath the motherboard, there is a metal bracket which has mounting points for two 2.5″ hard drives or solid state drives.  We would recommend installing these before the motherboard, as it saves removing the bracket from the other side.

Installing the motherboard is slightly more difficult that you might think.  The tiny dimensions of the chassis can make it difficult to manoeuvre it into place.

As we mentioned previously, there is very limited headroom over the motherboard, only leaving room for the shallowest of CPU coolers.  The Intel reference cooler just fits so we would recommend sticking with this as it is fairly quiet too.  Connecting all the cables up is fairly simple, but we found that the SATA power cables were a little short for comfort.  It isn't too difficult to route the cables out of the way as there are only a few of them.  We doubt they will restrict airflow.

This case is designed to be mounted on to the back of your monitor, using the supplied VESA bracket.  The installation process is fairly simple.

First of all, we must secure the bracket to the back of the monitor using the four provided screws.  The orientation of the system will depend on how you orientate this bracket so it's important to consider this before proceeding.

We decided to attach the bracket so the fixings were on the right hand side.  This means that the front panel connections will point towards the top of the monitor and the rear connections will point down.  We think this way will let you manage cables and access the front panel connections most effectively.

Once the bracket is in place, the system can be hooked on and then secured into place with the three thumbscrews provided.  We would recommend tightening them with a screw driver to ensure that the system doesn't come loose over time.

Overall we are quite impressed with what the Antec ISK 110 VESA has to offer.  It allows you to easily build an extraordinarily compact computer which can be hidden out the way on the back of your monitor.

You may have noticed that we didn't conduct any performance tests with this case.  Unfortunately, we didn't have a system available which fell within the power constraints of the 80W integrated PSU.  The CPU cooler limitations pretty much rule out overclocking in this case too, and there are no fans in the case so the only noise generated will come from the CPU cooler.

Installing components into the case is fairly simple, although the small interior dimensions can make things a little fiddly.  Most of the cables can be stowed at the front edge of the chassis, so that airflow isn't restricted too much.

While the ISK 110 VESA is designed to be mounted to the back of a monitor, it wouldn't look out of place as a media centre PC or even as a standalone desktop.  This means that you're not restricted to mounting it on the back of your monitor should you require a small form factor PC for another purpose.

The Antec ISK 110 VESA can be purchased from Scan for £65.  While this may initially appear a little expensive, we have to consider that the case comes with an integrated power supply.  With other small form factor cases, the cheapest of power supplies will add £20 to the price, effectively bringing the price of this unit down to £40 – £45.

Pros

• Appropriate for a number of uses.
• Very compact.
• Attractive design.
• Good value.

Cons

• No USB3.0.
• 80W PSU limits component choice.

KitGuru says: A quality small form factor case from Antec that is very compact indeed.

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