Antec has launched their new Striker case in the USA and it is an odd one. For all the innovations we’ve seen going into case designs over the years it is very rare to see a case that messes with the classic formula of a case as, well, a case. A box you build your PC in. The Antec Striker is something new, bringing a bold, almost concept car-like style, to the ITX case market.
The Striker Mini-Watercool to give it its full name is described by Antec as being intended for water-cooled custom PCs, describing its own design as a challenge for experienced modders. This is an interesting statement of intent, it is one thing for a case manufacturer to acknowledge that their case might be a bit complicated for a neophyte builder, but Antec are setting their stall out with the Striker that the case is a bit of a tricky one.
They are perhaps right to do this because at first glance the Striker does look like a handful. First and foremost it’s not a box you build a PC in. Instead the PC is built almost in layers between two tempered glass outer panels, almost like some kind of hive.
The cooling options include a side and rear mounts for either 2x 120mm fans or 1x 240mm fan. Alternative these mountings can be equipped with 240mm radiators. The cooling is augmented by the fact that this isn’t an enclosed case and so you don’t have to vent hot air if there’s nothing keeping it in the case to begin with. There’s something a bit chaotic about just letting waste heat float away without carefully venting it that might unsettle some users, but there’s no denying it works.
The case includes some opaque lower panels to cover the PSU and to lend the unit a kind of Portal-turret aesthetic. If there’s one trend that unites recent PC cases, even the weird ones like this, it’s that PSUs need to be tucked away out of sight.
The Striker retails for $249.99 in the US and is not yet available in Europe.