INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   As we've already mentioned in several previous reviews the market is flooded with PC cases of all shapes and sizes and with enough features to cover even the most demanding users. Still with just a few exceptions like the original Level 10 by Thermaltake, Obsidian 900D by Corsair, TJ11 Temjin by SilverStone, H-Tower by In Win, Cosmos II by Cooler Master and the PC-888 by Lian Li we haven't seen many special full towers in the market with build quality as their primary focus (followed closely however by design). We do of course realize that most manufacturers out there focus in catering the needs of the mainstream consumer base since that's where the serious bucks are but we strongly believe that they should all offer products for every single one consumer out there. Antec is among the manufacturers that didn't rush to offer something on par with all the cases we mentioned so when they launched the Signature S10 Premium Tower we asked for one and finally after quite a few months it reached our lab.

   Antec, Inc., is the leading global brand of high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself (DIY) markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in these industries and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of efficient, quiet, and reliable products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators. Antec’s offering of enclosures includes a large range of cases, such as its technically advanced Performance One Series, cost-effective New Solution Series and server grade cases designed for the needs of all workstation and server markets. Antec’s products also include front line power supplies such as its TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are geared toward the gaming demographic, like the Nine Hundred, the premier gamer enclosure. Antec also offers a computing accessories line comprised of many original products, including its patented LED Fans and Notebook Cooling solutions. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in Germany, China and Taiwan. The company’s products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world.

   Much like the Obsidian 900D or the Cosmos II the Signature S10 is aimed towards people who'd like to use one of the larger XL-ATX mainboards so that alone means you can expect lots of interior space. Unfortunately the interior of the Signature S10 may not be just as spacious as the one of the Obsidian 900D (or the Cosmos II) but even so it's three chamber design (separates the enclosure into three thermal zones) should be more than enough for most people so aside the 4 long graphics cards (up to 317.5mm in length) you can also use pretty much every CPU cooler around (as long as it’s up to 165mm tall), can outfit it with a total of eight 120/140mm fans (7 are already present) or 3 radiators (top 280mm, front 360mm and rear 120mm) and can mount up to a grand total of 14 drives (six 3.5" and eight 2.5"). In terms of quality almost the all of the exterior is made out of anodized brushed aluminum (the doors are 4mm thick) while the interior is made out of regular aluminum (rubber and hard plastic are also present in some areas). So the time has come for us to find out whether or not the S10 is worthy to bear the Signature name.

 

 

SPECIFICATIONS AND FEATURES

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PACKAGING AND CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We received the Signature S10 Premium Tower inside a very large (and slightly beaten up) box that has a product picture on both sides and as you can see it has 4 clips around the base (you will need to remove those in order to get the case out).

 

 

The S10 is not only wrapped inside a plastic bag and sandwiched between two thick foam spacers but both spacers are also attached to each other with clear tape.

 

 

Antec has done a good job in terms of bundle since aside the usual warranty paper and user manual you are also getting a large cleaning microfiber cloth (trust me you need it), 6 cable ties, 4 SATA cables and a plastic bag with all the necessary bits and pieces required to install your components.

 

 

THE SIGNATURE S10 EXTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 17.7Kg heavy Signature S10 may not be the largest tower in the market today but measuring 602mm in height, 590mm in length and 230mm in width it's certainly among the largest ones currently.

 

 

Antec ships the S10 with a large piece of plastic at the top used to keep all 4 doors closed during transport (it doesn't do a great job at thet but it may come handy later on as well).

 

 

At the left side we see two anodized brushed aluminum doors (it may need extra cleaning but anodized brushed aluminum looks and feels great).

 

 

There are two clips/buttons on the left side as well but more about those later on.

 

 

You can see the mainboard chamber intake from here (you can also see why that cleaning cloth is needed).

 

 

Since the S10 has no 5.25" optical drive bays the front bezel is simple and looks very nice.

 

 

The I/O is located at the top of the front and includes the on/off/reset button, 4 USB 3.0 ports and the typical headphones and microphone 3.5" ports.

 

 

We were surprised to see a 5.25" optical drive bay cover at the top right over the I/O but as it turns out you can only mount a control panel or a fan controller there.

 

 

Since Antec is using 3 chambers for the hardware components there's a limited amount of space just over the mainboard so you can only mount up to a 280mm radiator here.

 

 

Moving at the rear of the S10 it's the 10 PCI expansion slots that steal the show.

 

 

Unfortunately Antec hasn't made it possible to replace the 120mm exhaust fan at the rear with a 140mm one.

 

 

Right beneath the PSU area we see a removable (and washable) air-filter.

 

 

The hinges for the two main (mainboard chamber) doors are removable (don't know if this can come in handy however).

 

 

As you can see both sides of the S10 are identical.

 

 

THE SIGNATURE S10 INTERIOR

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember the door clip/button found on both sides of the S10? Pressing that pushes out the mainboard chamber door as seen above.

 

 

Both doors are removable to make it easier for you to install hardware inside the S10 (notice the magnetic strip at the end of the door).

 

 

The vent clip/button actually keeps the front air-filter in place (it's also washable).

 

 

All six 3.5" removable drive trays plus three fixed 2.5" ones are placed at the front chamber as seen above.

 

 

The drive trays are not the sturdiest ones we've seen to date but they get the job done.

 

 

I was surprised to find yet another pull-out air-filter at the top of the front chamber (since there's no fan there i wasn't expecting it).

 

 

There's yet another fan placed at the base of the front chamber and since this is an exhaust fan i guess that's why Antec placed that air-filter at the top.

 

 

Moving back to the mainboard chamber we see that the mainboard tray has 5 rubber grommets (unfortunately they come off easily) on it for cable management (plus 1 more on the PSU chamber).

 

 

Right from the factory there are three 120mm intake fans placed at the front of the mainboard chamber but you can always replace them with a 360mm radiator.

 

 

A tool-free mechanism would be nice but still using rubber coated thumbscrews for all 10 PCI expansion slots is not half bad either.

 

 

The PSU chamber is located beneath the mainboard chamber and aside the two large pieces of rubber (used to absorb vibrations from the PSU) Antec has also placed another drive cage.

 

 

This drive cage is only for 2.5" drives and just like the front 2.5" drive mounts you just need to slide the drive inside and raise the front clip/bar.

 

 

This is what the right side of the interior looks like.

 

 

From here you can also remove the drive chamber fan to clean or replace it.

 

 

Antec also gives you the ability to add yet another fan in the PSU chamber for better cooling of the 2.5" drives.

 

 

Installing the fan is not hard just remove the rubber coated thumbscrew and get the mount out.

 

 

With a total of 7 pre-installed fans it makes sense that Antec would had placed a fan hub (unfortunately it's not speed controlled).

 

 

Finally we have two 140mm exhaust fans placed at the top of the chassis.

 

 

These fans (like the front ones) are mounted on a removable bracket and can be replaced with a 280mm radiator.

 

 

BUILDING THE SYSTEM

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always the purpose of this section is not to build a functional system but rather to showcase what you can expect from the case at hand in terms of interior space.

Unfortunately we don’t have “demo” XL-ATX/E-ATX mainboards but we did use our regular ATX one and as you can all see it leaves plenty of space around it.

 

 

There are some CPU coolers taller than 165mm but with 99% shorter you shouldn’t have a problem with the S10.

 

 

We also used our Gainward GeForce GTX 590 card to showcase that even with a 360mm radiator at the front you can fit very long cards inside the S10.

 

 

You can also equip the S10 with the longest PSUs (need to be mounted from the right side).

 

 

Although for most people the front 360mm radiator mount will be enough i was really hoping to see room for more than a 280mm radiator at the top.

 

 

NOISE LEVEL TEST

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving it much thought we decided on performing noise tests with each PC Case we receive by placing our ExTech HD600 vertically ontop of each case to measure the noise levels emanating from the pre-installed fans at both 50% and 100% with the help of a fan controller (if the case doesn't have one we use our own).

 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   The first time i heard about a product by Antec which belonged in their brand new then Signature Series it was a 850W PSU which i also got to review and left me with the best possible impression not only because of its build quality and performance but also because of its nice black color which felt just right next to the yellow Antec logo. That however was many years ago (i reckon it was back in 2010-2011) and since then Antec hasn't really released anything aside a couple of power supply units in their Signature line so naturally i had high hopes/expectations for/from the S10 Premium Tower (besides employing a company like Astro Studios to help design the case played a huge role in that too). In terms of build quality Antec has outdone themselves since it sports even better quality than the Corsair Obsidian 900D which we've been using in our lab for over 3 years now while in terms of design again it's a lot prettier than most towers of its caliber (yes including the 900D). Interior space may not be quite as large as the one of the Obsidian 900D but you can still mount an E-ATX mainboard, 4 of the longest graphics cards (up to 317.5mm in length - 342mm if you remove the fans), tallest CPU coolers (up to 165mm in height), a total of 8 fans (7 already installed) and or 3 radiators and up to 14 2.5/3.5" drives. Unfortunately however the S10 is far from perfect so although one can install a nice 360mm radiator at the front it only supports 280mm radiators at the top and ontop of that these are the two radiators one can mount in it so those two things although certainly not crucial deduct quite a few points from the end result (especially since the 900D has room for a 480mm top radiator and a total of 4 mounts – excluding the rear 120mm mount which pretty much all towers have). What really "bugged" us however were the anodized, brushed finish aluminum doors since while moving the tower around they would all open on their own and although you can always use the supplied cover to keep them closed still i can't figure out why Antec didn't use stronger magnets to keep them in place. Initially we also thought bad of the ten-fan hub located on the other side of the mainboard tray since 7 fans at full speed should be quite loud but after testing them we see why Antec didn’t think it was necessary to add a controller. The lack of any 5.25" optical drive bays will certainly disappoint some people but judging from what we've seen by other manufacturers that's probably how things will be from this point forward (on the other hand having a 5.25" bay for a sound card I/O or a fan controller was a good surprise and certainly not something we see with similar models).

   When launched roughly half a year ago the Signature S10 Premium Tower came at a hefty price tag which rivaled that of the Obsidian 900D by Corsair and the Cosmos II by Cooler Master. Fast forward to today however and things have changed for the best (at least for consumers) since currently the Signature S10 retails for USD238 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and for 325Euros inside the EU (Amazon.co.uk). Unfortunately once again we see a huge price gap between these two markets so although I’d say easily say that in the USA the S10 is price extremely well I really can’t say the same about the EU (although certainly cheaper compared to when launched). Could Antec have made a better job with the Signature S10? Sure they could have just like Corsair could had done a far better job with the Obsidian 900D, SilverStone with the Temjin, Thermaltake with the Level 10 and Cooler Master with the Cosmos II (the truth is we’ve never seen a 100% perfect PC case and chances are we never will). Overall if you’re in the market for a grade-A quality tower with plenty of interior space, excellent airflow, plenty of features and don’t have need for a radiator mount over 360mm and a 5.25” optical drive bay then you can go wrong with the Signature S10 and that’s why it gets our Golden Award.

PROS

- Excellent Build Quality
- Design
- Large Interior Space (XL-ATX Compatible)
- 3Three Chamber Design (3 Thermal Zones)
- Removable Primary Side Doors
- Excellent Airflow Levels
- Room For Up To 8 Fans
- Room For Up To 3 Radiators
- Space For Up To 14 2.5"/3.5" Drives
- 10 PCI Expansion Slots
- Tool-Free Design
- Removable & Washable Air-Filters For All Fan Spots
- 7 Pre-Installed Fans
- Low Noise Levels
- Ten-Fan Hub
- Price (USA)

 

CONS

- Price (EU)
- Top Radiator Mount (280mm Max)
- Side Doors Open Very Easily
- No 5.25” Optical Drive Bays