Antec Big Boy 200 - 200mm Tricool Computer Case Fan

My installation is a departure from most applications. I wanted to convert a glass china cabinet into a multiple use AV equipment and display case. Since it wouldn't have served my purpose to leave the cabinet door open, I resorted to modifying it to provide adequate ventilation so as to avoid overheating of my sensitive electronic equipment, which throws off a good deal of heat. The cabinet has an elevated "floor" about 4 inches off the carpet, so I cut oval holes large enough to accommodate grommets that I also purchased from Amazon, through which I ran the cabling from behind the cabinet and into the interior from below. That solved two issues; how to get the cabling inside and, importantly, how to provide a source of cool air as the cabinet was exhausted. The cabinet top has both a finished "ceiling," with a small "attic" or air space above, and then is covered with a "roof" - that's 2 separate layers. I took the roof off and cut two rectangular holes in the ceiling to accommodate 2 oak louvers that I stained to match the finish of the cabinet interior, so the interior looks very professional. Some people have remarked that it looks like it was factory made that way. Now to the installation of the case fans; I fabricated a new roof out of 3/16-inch mahogany veneer in which I cut two (2) holes to accommodate the 2 Antec Big Boy case fans, positioning them so they exhaust upward into the room, running the wiring up to the top side. I sealed the edges of the case fans to the roof and the roof to the top of the cabinet by applying some caulking to ensure that air would be pulled from below, rather than leaking into the attic and then immediately exhausted. I had a variable voltage transformer with a in-line controller that I Used as a power supply, directly wiring in the fans on the 12v side and added a 120v AC cord to the other. That completed the installation. I can vary the speed of the fans and, unless I turn them up to maximum rpms, it's very difficult to hear them running. They do a great job of creating a negative pressure inside the cabinet that effectively draws cool air from below to keep my electronic equipment cool. I'm very pleased with how well the project worked out and extremely happy with the amount of cooling it provides. I'd recommend this fan to anyone who wants a high flow at minimal noise levels.

Exact replacement for the fan that stopped working. The replacement was quick and easy. Unplug the old fan, remove the screws holing it to the top of the case (remember to save these to reuse, new ones don't come with the fan), install new fa and screw back to case. Plug in and go. This fan is as quiet as the original. It does not have the led illumination that the original fan did, but I had turned them off 10 minutes after powering on the computer for the first time. The speed switch is nice if I am overclocking and want the additional air movement. My system temp is usually 2-3 degrees f. higher than the ambient temp.

This fan is advertised as a 200MM, works great but for this case (HAF X) the bolt holes do not quite line up with the cases orginal holes. I like the veriable speed but have to open case to switch speeds. Noise is just about illiminated, quietest fan in the case. really cannot tell if fan is operating at full speed or not. I would recommend this product to anyone but be aware the fan is a little bigger than most 200mm fans.

I bought this case fan for the unusual application as a twelve volt solar operated greenhouse ventilation fan. I found this fan to be adequate for air movement in my small greenhouse. It brings the internal temperature down about ten degrees or more and helps to remove excess humidity. I have it set up as an exhaust fan and if it stands the test of time I will be purchasing and additional fan as an inlet. It is now more than one year after I installed this fan in my 5'x7'x6.5' green house and it still comes on every day with the sun from the solar panels and stays on for several hours after the sun goes down until my temp. sensor automatically shuts it of below 75 degrees. It survived an E. Wash. State winter an many rain storms. I am updating my review here Today because I am very satisfied with the fans performance in the application that I am using it for and I am here to purchase a second fan as I previously stated over a year ago.

The original fan in my decade old Antec 1200 case finally failed and this was the perfect replacement. It doesn't have the blue LEDs like the original one did, just the pre-drilled holes. I swapped the 3-speed fan switch case with the original so it fits neatly in the case, leaving the LED on/off section empty. Very quiet. I would definitely recommend if your fan needs replacement/

PROS: Fairly well-known for good air flow & reasonable noise. Non-sleve ball bearing (better than sleeve bearings for non-vertical mounts). CONS: Mounting hole pattern not consistent with fairly common gaming case (might not fit yours!). Flat edge around most of the fan might prevent top-case horizontal exhaust installation in your case, especially on the motherboard side (what was the need for that edge, I must wonder? the CM Megaflow 200 and NZXT 200 don't have this edge and fit more cases!) I have a HAF 912 case (which is fairly popular). This Big Boy will NOT fit in the top exhaust spot in my case (and maybe yours). You might find these two issues in your situation: 1) Some big fans (like the CM Megaflow 200) have more than 4 mounting holes, allowing for versatility in cases that can fit (it fitted mine). The Big Boy has 4 holes and, lo and behold, they do not match the 200mm top mounting hole pattern in my case. I couldn't find on the web for the interhole distance specs for this fan but you might be luckier. Amazon should post this as it tells the buyer whether the fan will work or not for us. Apparently, mounting hole distances are not standard for the big fans (furthermore, apparently NTXZ also has special distances to fit THEIR cases as per their web site as of the time of this review; keep this in mind). You can always drill on your case but this might lead to vibration (& noise) from uneven or non-planar mounting (if you combine case holes with yours, well, some cases like mine have recessed holes that you can't really mimic...). Better to get an adequate fan for your case... 2) For top-of-case horizontal setups: due to the massive size of the 200mm fans, some cases won't have enough space to fit these fans even if their mounting hole design is compatible. What this means is that a top fan would probably make contact with the left or right walls, particularly with the side where the motherboard goes. In the HAF912 (and similar cases) there's an opening north of the motherboard top edge that allow SOME fans to squeeze a bit in there so they can be mounted. The round design of the CM Megaflow 200 fits in this case. The Big Boy has this flat edge (look at the picture) surrounding most of the fan (except the two flat parallel cuts) . This flat edge prevents the fan from fitting in the case opening in the HAF912 (independently from the mounting hole issue). You might want to keep this in mind for any 200mm fan you consider for your case. IMPORTANT: It's frustrating but even though I mention that the CM Megaflow DOES fit this case, It's a sleeve bearing design, apparently not designed for horizontal setups. I didn't find many 200mm non-sleeve quiet fans besides the Big Boy, so I decided to put two 120mm fans (which my case allows to do; I went with Scythe's proven quality). You might want to do the same until more 200mm options reach the market. Otherwise this fan seems to have great reviews for CFM (a measure of air flow) & noise levels if it fits in your case :)

I did not use this fan as intended, but I still love it. I actually used this fan and a 12v wall-wart (AC->DC converter) to push air through an 8 inch duct pipe that runs from my basement (where the wood stove is) to my upper floor. Unlike normal duct fans, It is extremely quiet (though not entirely silent), and pushes plenty of air for it's intended purpose (I can feel the breeze a solid 10 feet away from the duct register upstairs). By pushing hot air from the wood stove room through the duct to the upstairs like this allows me to keep my upstairs comfortably warm, and helps me keep the downstairs from becoming uncomfortably hot when the wood stove is stoked up good and hot. If you were to use this as a case fan, I am sure it would go a long way towards keeping your gear cool - it moves a LOT of air by computer case fan standards, without being overly noisy about doing it.

For my purposes its a good fan. Im just glad that i have the tools and enjoy modifying things. This fan's mounting holes werent even close to lining up with the holes in my Cooler Master RC-942-KKN1 HAF X ATX case. Ended up moving the current fan up to the front(of the top) and drilling new holes for this antec in the rear slot. I dont know if this was necessary but the original fan isnt as long so i thought that it might not interfere with the power and usb wiring as much. Needed to also clip a tiny bit of the inside in the back of the cover for the cover to seat completely. Although i enjoy messing with stuff, id rather not have to. Sounds like this fan needs some modification of most cases. i could be wrong though. No mounting screws come with it? Strange. Luckily i had a few 6/32 screws laying around. So after all is said and done, its a good fan as far as operation. As far as compatibility, not so much. Lots of people say the blades are easy the break but i havent had any problems yet. The fan came set on high and i didnt think to check that before i plugged it up. Still just fine after me accidentally shoving my finger into the blades at top rpm. Seem ok to me.