Antec Titan 550 eATX Full Tower Case

Intel dual processor architecture has kept a good consideration on chassis compatibility. Many Intel dual-processor extended ATX (E-ATX) system boards can still fit in most ATX cases. This is possible because the two sockets for CPUs are located toward the rear I/O on the board. Only high-end E-ATX boards with CPU sockets located toward the front that an E-ATX system chassis is required. For AMD architecture, only older E-ATX boards using AMD Athlon MP series can fit in most ATX cases. The same is not true for AMD Opteron architecture. With two Opteron CPUs spread apart on the 12x13-inch layout, the board ultimately requires an E-ATX system chassis.

When searching for an E-ATX system chassis to fit my need, I had a few design type and name brand on the list. These were Yeong Yang YY-W201/2, Supermicro and Antec. Unlike ATX system chassis, the option on E-ATX is thin, and the Yeong Yang YY-W201 was the first on my list. With its base price of $150, without the power supply and accessories, I figured that the projected cost for the entire system would be too high. Since I needed a chassis for my workstation that will sit next to me while I work, I require a system case that emits the least amount of noise. Antec Titan550 was the next choice both for price and noise consideration. It comes with power supply and all the accessories for the complete setup. I paid $184, ordered from www.zipzoomfly.com. At the time, www.newegg.com had it for $185 + $25.50 for shipping. The power supply alone can cost up to $100. Thus, it was considered an excellent deal; and the Titan550 supports six (6) internal hard drives.

The retail package consists of:

-Titan550 chassis with 120mm rear fan
-Antec TP2.0 550-Watt EPS12 power supply (installed)
-8 purple rails for 5.25-inch drive bays, 4 5.25-inch EMI shielding
-12 metal rails for 3.5-inch hard drives
-1 5.25-inch to 3.5-inch adapter
-Motherboard stand-offs, screws, a set of two keys for the front door
-Intel CPU backplate panel, PCI long card holder, rear vent cover plate
-manual
-quick reference, warranty information sheet
-I/O shielding (a usable one!)

The Titan500: Its Design, Board Compatibility, Installation

The Titan550 is designed to support Extended ATX motherboard and is EEB 3.0 compliant; but it can of course accommodate ATX or micro-ATX form-factor motherboards as well. It is probably too overkill to use this case to house a micro-ATX board as it will appear so tiny inside and look mismatched. Antec keeps updating and modifying the Titan550 to reflect the current trend of system boards and demands. The one I acquired has received a few benefits from the newer design that features the side ventilation grill to provide air duct for AGP or PCI-Express graphics cards. An 80mm fan can be mounted to blow air onto the card.

The Titan550 supports 6 internal hard drives (3.5-inch bays) and up to 4 external 5.25-inch optical devices. It also sports a 5.25-inch to 3.5-inch adapter to support one floppy drive that will use one 5.25-inch external bay, thus reducing the 4 5.25-inch external optical devices down to 3 (that is, if the floppy drive is used, as in my case). The Titan550 is designed to be tool-less for device installation. All 6 internal hard drive bays are equipped with rails mounted onto both sides of the device and individually slide into the slot. The 4 external bays benefit from the same design. In short, anyone who is familiar with (or has used) Antec system case product line will feel right at home.

The case comes equipped with one large 120mm fan at the rear that can operate in 3 different RPM speed modes (1200, 1600 and 2000RPM), known as TriCool. The front panel features a removable fan grill that supports two optional 92mm fan to help cool the 6 hard drives as well as help circulate the air inside the system case. There are two bright blue LEDs at the front panel, one for POWER and the other for hard drive activity.

Intel Dual Processor E-ATX EEB3.0
The Titan550 sports a versatile feature that can accommodate various E-ATX system boards. Intel dual processor boards are a perfect example, since they come with two CPUs either located toward the rear or the front of the board. Antec Titan550 comes with the CPU plate to support both system board architectures. Moreover, because it screws directly onto the motherboard tray, the plate helps support the processor heatsinks, and thus takes the weight off the motherboard (to stress or warp caused by heavy heatsinks). The case will support standard ATX and E-ATX Intel dual processor system boards.

AMD Dual Processor E-ATX EEB 3.0
The Titan550 comes ready for any AMD base system board up to E-ATX and is EEB3.0 compliant. Yeah, the Titan550 is quite roomy, and it would be a great setup even for an ATX motherboard, especially if one is concerned with the temperature inside the case.

Cosmetically, the Titan550 is quite appealing. It features a conservative and simple design, in plain black color all around. Its front panel is plastic with metal hinges. On the bezel, the top half is a double-hinged door that opens up to 270 degrees wide. The door is lockable (with the key provided). The bottom half is the standard Antec grilled design to allow air to pass through to cool the inside area. Accessible options are two USB, one IEE1394 and audio ports. The side panel can be locked by using the standard (small) lock via a metal tab with hole. This will basically prevent the side panel from being slided open.

Installation/Operation
Antec Titan550 is a bit different from other Antec cases currently in the product line, or at least those I have used. To open the case, two thumbscrews at the rear of the side panel must be loosen. Then slide the panel toward the rear slightly and flip open vertically downward and pull out the panel completely. I use this case to house my E-ATX motherboard, Tyan S2885. The accessories provided in the retail package perfectly accommodate any motherboard. My Tyan S2885 motherboard mounts onto the board tray easily. The PCI panels have metal springs to help support and install any type of PCI peripherals easily. The PCI long card holder can be installed to help support long PCI cards from sagging down on their own weight.

The Titan550 comes with a very powerful power supply unit (PSU), Antec TP2.0 550-Watt EPS12/ATX12. This is one of Antec top-of-the-line PSU offering both EPS12V and ATX12V power, both for E-ATX dual processor system or standard ATX single processor system. The PSU comes with 24-pin (20-pin detachable), 8-pin ESP12V (4-pin detachable for standard ATX motherboard), 4-SATA power lines, 5 4-pin molex power line, two floppy, two 6-pin PCI-Express, two fan connectors, as well as system fan information cable. I did use the PSU briefly, but then replaced with my trusted PSU by Enermax. I reserve the Antec TP2.0 550-Watt as a backup unit.

To install optical devices and hard drives, the front panel must be removed completely (or swing to the side). With the side panel removed, the front panel can be opened by pushing onto three lockable hinges, then swing to the right and detach it from the removable hinges on the right. It is a lot of work, but the process is far better than Antec's previous front panel design with their poor plastic guides and hinges (that often break off). Even though the panel is a cheap plastic, it sure does not break easily.

Optical devices (CD/DVD burners) can be installed easily by mounting the side rails on both sides and slide individually into the drive bay. I use two optical devices. I also install one floppy drive at the bottom drive bay using the adapter.

To install internal hard drives, the front fan grill must be removed by unscrewing the two thumbscrews; swing it open to the left or remove completely from the hinges. There are no air filters on this model. But I custom make a filter by placing a window screen on the grill by screws that are used to mount the two 92mm fans. This way I secure both the two fans and the filter to help keep the inside area clean. It works great!

Each internal hard drive can slide into the drive bay by drive rails (each mounted on the side of the device). The whole unit locks itself in the bay by two notches on the rails. There are rubber grommets placed between the hard drive and the rail to help reduce noise from the unit during operation. The screws that are used to mount the rail require a flat face or a star screw driver. Now, each hard drive has three screw holes on each side. But the rail has only two; the third one has a pin that basically sits in the third hole of the hard drive. For some reason, it is too big. I had to file each of them to fit in the screw hole of the hard drive. Did Antec test this?!! Worst yet, each hard drive can be mounted in the bay using these rails in only one way, since there is a metal strip at the back of the bay to keep the drive in place. If the drive is mounted incorrectly, it simply does not fit.

For the front panel port, I take out the audio connecting cable to free up the space inside the chassis. I use both USB and IEEE1394 cables connected to my motherboard. Antec Titan550 comes standard with HD LED, Reset Switch, Power Switch, etc, and their connection is straightforward.

Overall Performance

One nice thing about the Titan550 is its easy installation procedure, particularly the motherboard and optical devices. Although internal hard drive installation is also easy, accessing them requires a lot of work and unnecessary hassle. Antec coins the Titan550 as the server case. Equipped with a high wattage power supply unit (550-Watt), it rightly deserves so. However, I do not think Titan550 is truly a server case, since quick hard drive swapping is not possible. To change or add a hard drive, it requires shutting down the system, open the side panel, remove the front panel, remove the fan grill, then slide out the hard drive. I often change hard drives, and the procedure has become quite a work out. Now, if you require a server system that will not require accessing internal devices often, the Titan550 would be a great choice.

I am particularly impressed with the operation noise. My entire system has eight (8) fans: 2x92mm front grill, 2x80mm CPU fans, 80mm & 92mm PSU fans, 120mm rear fan and AGP fan. The entire operation noise is extremely quiet. If I listen closely the noise emitted is basically the flow of air. I set the rear 120mm fan to operate at 1600RPM with a noise of 28dBA. The PSU fans (Enermax EG465P-VE FM) are regulated by temperature and they are probably operating at around 22dBA. The two CPUs fans (Thermaltake Silent Boost A1838) also operate at around 21dBA. The two 92mm fans (Zalman ZM-F2) are also operating in silent mode.

I have seen great improvement on every component's operation in this case. The noise of the Enermax EG465P-VE FM power supply is an excellent example. It used to operate a bit noisy and warm in another smaller system case. Now it runs very quiet and cool. I often had the system run continuously up to 8 hours and the result was the same. The Titan550 handled nicely with excellent temperature control. My two CPUs run at 33 and 36 degrees Celsius with their fans spinning at 1245 and 1264 RPM. The motherboard's temperature is a bit high, though, 45 degrees Celsius.

I left the side panel air duct open and put a window screen to act as a filter. An 80mm fan can be mounted on it to help provide more air flow into the system. Overall, the inside system has a lot of room to breathe with air flowing from the front and rushed out in the rear. It is worth to mention that I have 6 hard drives in the system. This is a full load, and the temperature is well maintained. The entire system noise is so low that I can hear my system hard drive during operation.

I did use the Titan550 with its original power supply briefly during the first phase of my system installation. With its dual fans, the entire system was quiet -- and I judge no more different than what I have running currently; the system would have been just as quiet.

With the rear 120mm fan set to low mode (1200RPM), the noise decreased slightly, but I could hardly discern the difference. At this speed, the temperature does not change much, even a slight one degree on my CPUs. At the high speed 2000RPM, operation noise increased slightly and it seemed the temperature did not change much to be of noticeable. For heavy performance, it maybe good to set the rear fan to run at 2000RPM. For me, the middle mode at 1600RPM was perfect, both for low noise and excellent control of temperature.

Summary & Conclusion

Overall, I like the Titan550, even though I have a few complaints and reservations about it, especially the complication in hard drive installation procedure. Restoring the front bezel requires careful orientation (by placing the metal hinges in the right place) and carefully turn to snap in on the other side. I have performed this operation countless times and still I cannot get it right the first try every time I do it. Similarly, the front grill with its thumbscrews for quick install and uninstall does not work well. It requires careful alignment while screwing those two thumbscrews that may cross-thread and ruin the screw holes. If I get one in, I can't seem to get the other in. Sometimes, I just leave one unscrewed. No rattling noise from it during operation, though.

The side panel has two thumbscrews permanently attached to the panel. They have springs inside to provide a good feel when pushing and screwing into the screw holes. After a number of operations, one of the thumbscrews (and its spring) does not work well any more; the spring seems to be broken or misaligned inside. Now it is very difficult to unscrew or screw when I have to remove the panel to access the inside components. Their three-year warranty should cover these "defects"; but I think it would be too inconvenient to make such an effort. In retrospect, I sometimes have second thought about getting the true server case by Yeong Yang (YY-W201) with its quick swap feature; and should have followed my first instinct.

I like the Titan550 physical design. It's not fashionable -- no fancy designs or decorations; it's simple yet sophisticated. Overall, it has nice features and very detailed. The entire unit seems well structured and sturdy, though I think it is not quite sturdy for a server case. When placed next to a mid-tower ATX case, the Titan550 is only about 5 inches longer, with roughly the same height. Thus, it blends in quite well with any ATX case. Due to its low operation noise and good control of temperature, as well as extensive support of 6 hard drives and 4 external optical devices, the Titan550 should be a great case for a workstation system.

PROS:
- nice design, externally and internally (except internal hard drives accessibility)
- excellent operation noise and temperature control, roomy
- good for ATX and E-ATX with foot print up to 12x13 inches
- supports 6 hard drives, 4 CD/DVD-ROM drives (or 3 if a floppy drive is used)
- good price

CONS:
- accessing internal hard drives is very difficult (too much work)
- a few components stop working properly
- no filters

Due to various complications in hard drive installation procedure (and a few components now don't work properly), the Titan550 does not deserve a five-star rating. It's a nice case, nonetheless; and perhaps mine is a sample variation (not a perfect one among the crowd).

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Specifications: Antec Titan550
Board Compatibility: ATX, E-ATX, EEB3.0 Compliant
Support: Intel Dual XEON, AMD Dual Opteron
Hard Drive: 6
Optical Devices: 4, one Floppy via 5.25-to-3.5 adapter
Fans: one 120mm rear (pre-installed), 2 optional 92mm fans, front grill
Fan regulation: 120mm in TriCool mode, 1200RPM, 1600RPM, 2000RPM
Dimension: 120x120x25.4 cm
Rated Voltage: DC12V
Warranty: Three years