Antec VSP5000 Mid-Tower Chassis Review

Introduction

Antec has a long history of creating durable, competitive and affordable products. Of course, they also make high-end products, but it’s their budget ranges that have long dominated the market and that’s a trend Antec seem eager to continue with the release of their VSP5000. The new chassis has a big focus on silence, and it comes with sound dampening materials in the side panel, side intake vents, a sound blocking top panel, triple channel fan controllers and more! If you like a system that barely makes a whisper, this certainly “sounds” like the chassis for the job.

The Antec VSP5000 isn’t immediately striking as the most beautiful box in the world, but it’s certainly far from ugly. The left side panel has a raised section, which serves little to no purpose, but it does match the right side panel; a little symmetry never hurt anyone.

As I was saying, both the left and right side panels are of the same design. Of course, on the right side, this panel is more practical as its shape allows extra cable routing space behind the motherboard.

The front panel is neat and tidy, although admittedly nothing fancy. There’s an LED light strip at the top, although why this is included is beyond me, as those who want a silent build, likely aren’t too keen on a front panel light either; I personally never connect the power or HDD LED on my own chassis for this reason. On the top half, you will find 3 x 5.25″ drive bay covers, one of which has a 3.5″ pop-out.

From the top, there’s a slide lock for the top fan panel cover, two rubber routing grommets, a pre-installed 120mm exhaust fan and seven expansion slots. Unfortunately, the expansion slot covers are a snap-off design, but that’s not exactly uncommon in sub-£40 chassis.

The top panel features two pre-installed fans, which are slightly recessed behind the top panel cover. This cover also features a sound-proofing layer, albeit with cut-outs for the fans, to help reduce unwanted noise from the chassis.

The front panel is very well equipped, with three separate fan controllers, that feature both low and high settings, but most interesting of all, a stop function; you’re not going to get your fans any more silent than that! Also of interest, the USB and HD audio jacks have rubber caps, which helps keep debris out.