The Antec company was founded in 1986 in California, but is now headquartered in Taiwan. Since the late 1980s, the company has focused mainly on the development and production of computer power supplies and cases. Especially with the Three Hundred, Nine Hundred or Twelve Hundred series, the manufacturer could make a name for itself in the gaming community.
At the beginning of February, the manufacturer introduced a new midi tower, the NX410. It looks a bit like the compact midi towers of the market competitors, but is supposed to stand out from the rest with special features. These include a hinged side panel made of tempered glass, three pre-installed ARGB fans and a good airflow potential due to a lot of mesh. Antec also offers the NX410 in a black or white variant. Whether the approx. 80 euros (current: € 83.14 *) expensive midi tower can pick up a recommendation, you can find out in this review.
Technical details
| Model: | Antec NX410 |
| Case type: | ATX |
| Dimensions: | 210 mm (W) x 485 mm (H) x 390 mm (D) |
| Weight: | 5.10 kg |
| Material: | Steel, plastic, tempered glass |
| Color: | White |
| Front connectors | 1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 2x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x headphone, 1x microphone |
| Drive bays: | 2x 3.5″/ 2.5″ (internal) 3x 2.5″ (internal) |
| Expansion slots: | 7x horizontal |
| Shape factors: | ATX, mATX, ITX |
| Ventilation: | Front: 3x 120 mm or 3x 140 mm. Rear: 1x 120 mm Lid: 2x 120 mm or 2x 140 mm |
| Radiators: | Front: 1x 360 mm or 1x 280 mm or 1x 240 mm. Rear: 1x 120 mm Lid: 1x 280 mm or 1x 240 mm |
| Max. CPU cooler height: | 168 mm |
| Max. Graphics card length: | 335 mm |
| Max. Net part length: | 165 mm (with HDD cage) |
| Cable management space: | 20 mm |
| Price: | € 83.14 |
| Features: | Dust filter, cable management, tempered glass, RGB fan |
Scope of delivery
Antec packages the NX410 in a plain cardboard box made of brown cardboard. On the sides, a product image of the case, general technical specifications and key features have been printed in black color. Inside, the case is encased in two blocks of soft foam and a plastic film. Since the tower only weighs 5.1 kilograms, this should be more than enough protection. The accessories are in a small box and have been placed in the HDD cage. There are all the important screws, five black cable ties, an MB speaker, four white PCI slot covers and an installation guide. Also included are the three pre-installed case fans with RGB lighting (1x 120 mm, 2x 140 mm) and two pre-installed dust filters.
Exterior impression
Externally, the NX410 presents itself as simple and unagitated. The front panel has a flat design and is made of plastic. A fine mesh grille spans most of the front and should allow for a high airflow. Unfortunately, Antec has completely omitted a dust filter. The lower part of the front panel is made of plastic, but is completely closed and has the manufacturer’s logo printed on it. Pulling off the front reveals mounting rails for three 120- or three 140-millimeter fans behind it. Antec installs two 140-millimeter fans with RGB lighting here ex-works.
The lid continues in a similar fashion. This consists mostly of a large ventilation grille, which provides holes for two 120- or two 140-millimeter fans. Antec has also placed a magnetic dust filter in front of the opening. Finally, the I/O panel can be found in the front area of the lid. This has two buttons (power, reset/LED), three USB ports (1x USB 3.0, 2x USB 2.0) and one jack each for headphones and microphone. Especially the single USB 3.0 port seems rather poor in this price range.
The left side panel of the NX410 is made of 2.9 millimeter thick tempered glass and is mounted on two hinges at the back end and is held in place by magnets in the front area. The panel can be opened easily via a small plastic handle and the glass remains free of fingerprints. Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that the window doesn’t span the entire left side. Instead, it closes flush with the mesh panel at the front. The right side panel is made of steel, is 0.65 millimeters thick and has a recessed grip. It is attached to the body via two white knurled screws.
There are no big surprises at the rear and bottom. The midi tower stands on four simple plastic feet that have been covered with a layer of rubber, and a conventional mat made of mesh has been placed in front of the PSU. Above the power supply housed in the base, the NX410 offers seven expansion slots, but unfortunately their bezels are not reusable. Fortunately, replacement covers are included in the scope of delivery. At the very top, there is the third pre-mounted RGB fan with a frame width of 120 millimeters.
The workmanship leaves us with a mixed impression. While the paint job is clean and there are no sharp edges, the whites of the fans, body, plastic and mesh grilles are all visibly different. In addition, the overall weight of 5.1 kilograms isn’t much for a midi tower. That indicates a lower material thickness.
Interior impression
Inside, you encounter a popular and now proven layout with two chambers. Thus, the division is made into a large main chamber and a smaller power supply chamber in the lower area. The main chamber is very open and allows the installation of ATX mainboards or long graphics cards. The mainboard tray is completely flat and has a total of seven openings for cable management. The steel of the tray has a material thickness of 0.5 millimeters. It’s also worth mentioning that there is 50 millimeters of space above the mainboard to the lid.
If you lower your gaze, you can see the power supply tunnel. This covers the power supply, all cables as well as the HDD cage and thus makes the interior look much tidier. The perforated top side also makes it easy to install the PSU with the fan facing upwards. Finally, the manufacturer has also equipped the cover with two cable management openings and the obligatory cutout for a front radiator is also present.
Let’s now turn to the back of the motherboard tray. There is a total of 20 millimeters of space for cables and numerous eyelets for attaching cable ties. The cables of the I/O panel and the fans have already been pre-routed by Antec. In the lower area, you can dare a look under the PSU cover. This chamber houses the PSU, resting on four steel points that have been covered in rubber for decoupling. Antec has placed the HDD cage in the left area. This can be removed if necessary, creating space for longer PSUs.
The Antec NX410 offers space for a total of five data carriers. Thus, three 2.5″ SSDs can be attached directly behind the mainboard tray. This is done once with a steel frame and twice via direct screw connection to the tray. Unfortunately, the latter covers two of the three lateral cable management openings. In front of the power supply, the usual HDD cage offers space for mounting two 3.5″ hard drives or one 3.5″ and one 2.5″ data carrier. Again, there are differences in the mounting. A plastic frame is available for the lower HDD. The mounting in the second slot is done with screws.
System build in the Antec NX410
Now we come to the system build. For hardware, we’re using a AMD Ryzen 5 1400 on a MSI B350 PC Mate with 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport LT gray DDR4-2666. The Ryzen is cooled by an Enermax ETS-F40 Silent Edition and is overclocked to 3.8GHz (1.25V). A GTX 1060 6GB from Gigabyte AORUS is responsible for the image output. The power supply is handled by the fully modular LC-Power LC550 V2.31 Platinum with an efficiency rating of 80 Plus Platinum.
Despite the, for a midi-tower, quite compact dimensions, the installation and cabling of the test system did not cause us any problems. There is enough space in the PSU compartment and behind the mainboard tray to route important cables or hide superfluous cables. Thanks to the partially pre-installed spacers and the cable management system, the main components were also quickly installed and wired. The overall result looks clean and tidy.
In terms of hardware compatibility, the Antec NX410 doesn’t have to hide. Thus, 168 millimeters are available for CPU coolers and 335 millimeters for graphics cards. The latter is of course limited if you install a radiator in the front. If the HDD cage has to remain installed, the PSU can be a maximum of 165 millimeters long. Without the cage, there is no limit. There is also enough space for radiators. Thus, you can place a maximum of a 360-millimeter radiator in the front and a 280-millimeter radiator in the lid.
From the factory, the Antec NX410 comes with three pre-installed ARGB fans. On the white variant, the fans have a white fan frame and a milky rotor with nine blades. On the other hand, the connection options are about meager. All fans only have a proprietary connector that ends in an old-fashioned Molex plug. Thus, it is unfortunately not possible to regulate the speed. Since the fans are quite audible from the system, the NX410 is probably not for silent fans.
Finally, we come to the temperatures that were reached in the Antec NX410. During the stress test, Prime95 and FurMark were run at a room temperature of 20°C for 15 minutes. In addition, the test was performed with two different fan speeds.
Scenario |
Temperature |
| CPU: 50% PWM (1050 rpm) GPU: 50% PWM (1650 rpm) 1x 120 mm, 2x 140 mm on 100% |
CPU: 63 °C GPU: 69 °C |
The maximum temperatures are fine and are at a level that is to be expected for a midi tower with mesh. However, as mentioned above, this is at the expense of the volume. Namely, since the fans cannot be controlled, there is an audible hiss.
Lighting Options in the Antec NX410
As mentioned at the beginning, Antec equips the NX410 with three RGB fans. However, it is disappointing here that they can only be controlled via the reset button in the I/O panel. Connectors for direct connection to a motherboard are unfortunately missing. Unfortunately, this reduces the possible applications for this midi tower. Finally, a few impressions of the lighting.
Conclusion on the Antex NX410
Now let’s come to the conclusion of this review. Antec can’t really convince us with the NX410. But let’s start with the good features. Despite its compact size, the NX410 is very spacious and offers plenty of room for hardware. It also knows how to convince with three pre-installed RGB fans and a good cooling performance. The hinged side panel also allows a look into the interior and the look of the white variant is very good at first glance.
However, if you take a closer look, the looks are also the first point of criticism. We could determine a total of four different white tones (steel, mesh, plastic, fan) on the NX410. Furthermore, the frame on the tempered glass looks a bit out of place as the only black element. In addition to these visual aspects, the absence of a second USB 3.0 port in the I/O panel and the overall borderline material thickness are also negative points. Finally, there are the fans. In 2021, installing fans that only have a Molex connector is an absolute no-go in our eyes.
All in all, this might sound like criticism on a very high level. However, considering that the white variant already costs € 83.14 *, we cannot give the Antec NX410 a buy recommendation.
Antec NX410
Workmanship
Structure
Features
Cooling
Value for money
79/100
The Antec NX410 is a compact midi tower and can convince with a lot of RGB and airflow. However, non-controllable fans, the partly low material thickness and the comparatively high purchase price prevent a purchase recommendation.
