A Closer Look - Outside

Taking a first look at the ISK-100, it makes a good impression. While I personally am not a fan of the two tone approach, this is purely subjective. It is a bit obvious that the case uses a lot of plastic, as even the sides are made of that material mostly. It would have been nice if Antec had chosen to use more metal or Aluminum instead. That said, for the price and what the competition offers at this price point, the ISK-100 is surprisingly sturdy and well constructed.


You will not find too many extras in the front of the chassis. A power button, a pair of audio plugs and four USB 2.0 connectors is all there is. I would have liked to see small features like a reset button or maybe even an SD-Card reader. Turning the chassis around, the entire back is taken by the mainboard connectivity. There is no space for an expansion card, but this should not come as a surprise to you considering the dimensions of the chassis.


One side is made mostly of metal mesh, along with a 100 mm fan, right above the CPU area. While I am no fan of an all mesh side, as this allows dust to enter the chassis and noise to escape, the cooling unit is actually really useful. Many ITX boards offer a small - noisy fan on a small heatsink to cool the CPU and chipset. With the ISK-100 you may be able to remove that and use the larger, quieter fan instead. The other side of the chassis is covered by a plastic part with air vents on top and bottom.


Taking a closer look at the afore mentioned fan, it extrudes the chassis slightly, but Antec has made sure to maximize compatibility by using a 10 mm thick unit, so that it does not obstruct things within the case itself.