I was originally looking for a minitower case but Antec convinced me the Performance TX1088 AMG would be a better fit, especially given the cooling requirements of the system. After taking a look at the specs I definitely agree. It uses 1.0-mm cold rolled steel for a very solid enclosure.
The case has significant cooling features, including a rear mounted 120-mm Tricool fan with 3-speed switch, two optional 80-mm fans in the front, an optional 92-mm intake fan with a Chassis Air Guide, and an optional side panel vent for an 80-mm fan that would cool the video adapter. The 7800GTX adapters used are definitely heat generators. The built-in washable air filter will undoubtedly help even in environments that are not very dusty.
The standard 480-W power supply was replaced with a TruePower 2.0 550-W power supply. The extra power is great for the dual-core processor and the almost full complement of adapters. You may even want to consider a 600-W or higher. Both power supplies handle the new power designs as well as older ATX power requirements. The TruePower power supply also includes SATA and PCI Express connectors as well as connectors dedicated for fans.
The Seagate 500-Gbyte hard disk is so large it is likely to be the only one needed, but if you are doing video editing then multiple drives in a RAID configuration would work best. The case has the space; the motherboard has the controllers, and there is now enough power to handle whatever you want in terms of expansion.
The double hinge door opens up to 270° to reveal a plethora of ports. These include two USB 2.0 ports, an IEEE 1394 port, and audio input and output ports. The motherboard can put these ports out the front or back, so it’s your choice.
The case has 10 drive bays: 4 internal 3.5-inch, 4 external 5.25-inch, and 2 external 3.5-inch bays. It can support up to 7 expansion slots.
