Antec NSK6580 Case Review

From a distance, the Antec NSK6580 is as anonymous as an enclosure gets. This is typical for Antec's "New Solution" series, which is aimed for home users and office users who need a basic, solid enclosure. That said, the NSK6580 is not to be mistaken for the average major-brand econobox. While the front facade is plastic, it doesn't look like plastic, a change that people used to budget-priced PC cases will greatly appreciate. This theme of higher-than-average quality continues throughout the case, which, besides the front, greets you with nothing but sturdy black steel. Up close and personal, the power button looks and feels solid, and becomes downright attractive when the PC is turned on, thanks to a blue LED which circles the button. The audio and USB jacks, located on the lower right side of the front facade, look solid but do feel a little squishy when headphones or USB drives are plugged in, reminding the user that the front of the case is made of plastic, even though it may look like steel or aluminum.

In terms of options, the NSK6580 gives you two - you can either have this case with a silver front facade or a black one. It seems that the silver one is far more common, as many online retailers don't even seem to carry the black model, which is called the NSK6580B. Personally, I prefer the black one, but it does appear more monolithic and unfriendly - if I were building PCs for a small business or a family desktop, I'd probably choose the silver. But no matter what you choose, you can count on the NSK6580 not attracting attention, although anyone who does give it a good once-over will likely be impressed with its exterior build quality.

Once you're done examining its exterior, you'll want to crack the case open. This is not an unpleasant experience, as the case is kept closed by thumb-screws and two easily operated hinge mechanisms. Inside, you'll find a typical mid-range Antec case, featuring lots of high-quality metal with no sharp edges. The Antec NSK6850 is not a small case, but the interior room is not as large as you might expect. A steel reinforcement bar in the top portion of the case can make the installation of 5.25" drives a bit harder than normal, and the same goes for PSU upgrades, though the NSK6850 does come with a very nice 430W Earthwatts PSU. The motherboard area is not particularly roomy - in fact, it can be rather crammed - and there is no removable motherboard tray. In total, this isn't the easiest case to work with, and for that reason an enthusiast who frequently messes around inside their PC should simply look elsewhere. That said, more routine users, including gamers, shouldn't mark this one off their list, as the NSK6850 did fit a Radeon 4850.

Strangely, the Antec NSK6850 does include one very convenient feature - a removable hard drive rack. Why this particular feature is included is a bit of a mystery to me, but it is nice to have. Even nicer is the fact that the removable hard drive rack includes a rubber mounting system. These sort of mounts are intended to reduce hard drive noise, as the rubber absorbs the vibrations coming from the drive, and in this case the system works very well. The hard drives were very nearly inaudible, and mostly drowned out by the case fans.

Overall, the NSK6850 isn't particularly spacious for a case of its size, but it is very quiet and should fit virtually anything that you could desire. It is clearly aimed for users who do not intend to frequently work on their PC.