Introduction and First Impressions

A massive full tower is Antec’s new flagship

The Antec Signature Series S10 is the company's new flagship enclosure, and it looks every bit the part. A massive full-tower design with seemingly no expense spared in its design and construction, the S10 boasts many interesting design details. So is it worth the staggering $499 price tag? (Update: A day after our review was published Newegg cut the $499 MSRP by $150, taking the S10 down to $299 after a $50 rebate.) 

The Signature S10 is an interesting product to be sure. Antec, long renowned as a maker of premium cases has in recent years lost some of the cachet that they once had with enthusiasts. This is no reflection on Antec and more a result of the industy's flood of enclosures into the market, with virtually every brand filling all price segments. Corsair, SilverStone, Fractal Design, Lian Li, Cooler Master, In Win, NZXT, BitFenix, Phanteks, and the list goes on and on…

So where does the new S10 enclosure fit into this market? Antec made the daring move of placing the Signature enclosure directly at the top with a shocking $499 retail price – which subsequently dropped to $449 and then again to $349 before a $50 rebate. I can think of no other recent enclosure this expensive at launch other than the In Win S-Frame, and it positioned the S10 as an unattainable object for most builders. So was Antec successful in creating an aspirational product – even before the recent price cuts?

Is that… Batman??

First we'll take a look at the specs:


Specifications

Enclosure Material: Aluminum, Plastic (version with tempered glass panels available)
Enclosure Dimensions: (HxWxD) 23.7" x 9.5" x 23.2", 39 lbs

Motherboard Size
Up to 12” x 13” (304 mm x 330 mm)
Mini ITX / Micro ATX / Standard ATX / XL-ATX / E-ATX

Drive Bays
6 x 3.5" Quick Release Tool-Less Bays (HDD)
8 x 2.5" Quick Release Tool-Less Bays (SSD)

Top I/O Panel
4 x USB 3.0
5.25” Shallow Depth Bay for Control Panels
HD Audio In and Out
Power / Reset Button (Tap for Power, Hold for Reset)

Cooling
Motherboard Chamber
2 x 140 mm top exhaust fans
3 x 120 mm intake fans
1 x 120 mm rear exhaust fan
Water cooling support :
Top: 240 / 280 mm radiator
Center: 240 / 280 / 360 mm radiator
Rear: 120 mm radiator
Washable air filter – Large
Chamber Dimensions: 14.76 in (W) x 7.08 in (D) x 17.51 in (H)
Power Supply Chamber
1 x 120 mm intake fan (optional)
Washable air filter – Medium
Chamber Dimensions: 15.15 in (W) x 8.07 in (D) x 4.01 in (H)
Hard Disk Drive Chamber
1 x 120 mm exhaust fan
Washable air filter – Small
Chamber Dimensions: 5.51 in (W) x 7.87 in (D) x 18.11 in (H)


Our thanks to Antec for supplying the Signature S10 enclosure for our review!

First Impressions

We had a close look at the enclosure in the studio, and it's an impressively large (nearly 2ft high and deep) and heavy (nearly 40 lbs) thing to behold. With its thin profile the S10 is dominated by the wide side panels, and the case is divided into two separate chambers with thick aluminum doors on each side.

The S10 features Antec's "Three Chamber Design" (Image credit: Antec)

The S10 is large but it has a slim profile with a width of 9.5 inches, tapering down to a very narrow 6.5 inches on the front. This tapered front section is rather surprisingly made of solid plastic (as is the top panel), and it gives the S10 a tall, angular look.

Though there is a 5.25” drive opening on the top above the I/O, this doesn’t support an optical drive as it is very shallow. This seems to be meant for a fan controller or other control/display device, though one is not included with the enclosure.

Around back we have a 120mm exhaust fan and no less than 10 expansion slots (this is full-tower after all), enabling the S10 to support quad-GPU setups for that true cost-no-object gaming rig; appropriate for a case positioned as it is in the market.

Next we'll take a look inside the S10 and then check out a system build with this giant case!

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