Antec Flux Rear Case Review

Antec gave the Flux Rear an unusual name, however there is solid thinking behind the decision. F-LUX is an abbreviation of Flow Luxury and the major feature of this case are the five PWM fans that come with the package. The three 140mm PWM ARGB fans are easy to spot, but the two 120mm PWM Reverse fans in the power supply shroud are less obvious.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction
00:53 A look inside / Cooling support
03:27 Flip side / Cable Management
04:16 Building a Test PC
06:05 Smoke Air Flow Testing
06:46 Testing Methodology
07:02 Noise and Temperature Testing
08:17 Closing Thoughts

Main features

• Flow Luxury: F-LUX Platform, abbreviation of Flow Luxury, features ultra case structure design for excellent airflow and 5 fans included, delivering enhanced GPU cooling performance.
• Flux Airflow: Multi-directional vent design, featuring extensive air intakes at the bottom, power supply chamber and lower sides, along with top vents and large-area mesh at the front, creating a dedicated Antec Flux airflow channel.
• Pre-Installed 5 x High-Performance PWM Fans: 3x 140mm PWM ARGB, 2x 120mm PWM Reverse
• Flux Vertical Cooling: Designed with a front-mounted PSU chamber, this layout opens up space for improved airflow at the bottom of the case, enhancing heat dissipation around the graphics card.
• Flux Horizontal Cooling: Air intake via the front mesh provides a smooth venting channel throughout the case.
• Optimised Chassis Design: The recessed front design enhances airflow while minimising noise for better thermal and acoustic performance.
• Supports 360mm water cooling at the top
• Supports 140mm rear fan installation with radiator thickness ≤ 55mm.
• Supports 120mm rear fan installation with radiator thickness between 55–70mm.

Specification:

• Motherboard support: ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX (including rear connection)
• Power supply support: ATX.
• Expansion slots: 7.
• Included fans: 2x 140mm front, 1x 140mm rear, 2x 120mm PSU shroud.
• Fan mounts: 2x 140mm front, 3x 120mm/2x 140mm roof, 1x 120mm/140mm rear, 2x 120mm PSU shroud.
• Radiator mounts: 280mm/360mm roof, 120mm rear.
• 5.25-inch optical drive bays: None.
• Internal drive bays: 1x 3.5-inch and 2x 2.5-inch.
• Front I/O ports: 2x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, audio.
• Dimensions: 460mm H x 460mm D x 240mm W.

Testing

To put this case through its cooling paces we will be using a test system consisting of an AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D, Palit RTX 5080 and an SSD. This system allows us to produce a substantial amount of heat and effectively test the Antec Flux Rear's cooling capabilities.

Test System:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D
• CPU Cooler: Montech HyperFlow ARGB 360
• Motherboard: Gigabyte X870E Aorus Master X3D Ice
• Memory: 32GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NeoX RGB DDR5-6000
• Graphics card: Palit RTX 5080 Gamerock OC 16GB
• Power supply: Deepcool PN1200M Gold
• SSD: Crucial T700 Gen5 M.2 NVMe
• OS: Windows 11

Cooling Performance

Cooling Performance Overview

The Antec Flux Rear did a decent job in our testing but it got noticeably louder as the fan speed increased. We found the best approach was to leave the fans running at a slow speed which meant the case performed well without causing any annoyance.

Closing Thoughts

It is relatively easy to review a case that is either excellent or appalling, but much tougher to deliver a verdict on a case that is fairly average. The Antec Flux Rear falls into that category as it has a reasonable specification and does a decent job but fails to leave a lasting impression.

We welcome the fact that the Flux Rear is supplied with five fans so all you need is a CPU cooler to complete the job. If Antec could have done something – anything – to make the Flux Rear memorable it would perhaps have scored higher but instead we feel it is likely to be forgotten.

You can buy the Antec Flux Rear for £85 HERE.

Pros:

• Tool-free design makes the build easy.
• Airflow is effective.
• Decent access for cables.

Cons:

• Build quality is marginal.
• A PWM fan hub would sweeten the deal.

KitGuru says: Antec Flux Rear does a reasonable job at a reasonable price.

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