Antec has just released a new series of cases called Dark Fleet, comprised of three models, DF-30, DF-35 and DF-85. While the first two are mid-tower units, DF-85 is a high-end full-tower case.

The Dark Fleet DF-85 comes with a total of seven fans, all of them with speed controllers, and a place for you to install a 120 mm fan on its left-side panel, featuring two silicone spacers for reducing the vibration and therefore noise produced by this fan. The left-side panel has two transparent windows.

click to enlarge
Figure 1: Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 case

click to enlarge
Figure 2: Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 case

The front panel of the Dark Fleet DF-85 can be seen in Figure 3. This case has three external 5.25” bays featuring decorative tabs (see Figure 4). These tabs make the case look nice, but you will need to open them every time you need to access peripherals installed in the 5.25” bays, like your optical drive. Ejecting your optical drive tray won’t open the tab in front of it, so we have mixed feelings about this feature. We understand that it makes the case look nicer, but it can be really frustrating to have to move the tab every time you want to insert a CD or DVD.

click to enlarge
Figure 3: Front panel

click to enlarge
Figure 4: Decorative tabs found in front of the 5.25” bays