Rear: It’s all the wrong way round
Round the back of the '280 we get a first glimpse of some of its quirky design elements, the first being the PSU up top, usual for all but Antec chassis.
The motherboard, on the other hand, has been flipped on its head, with the ports located on the right (as we look at it here). As a result, the fan has been relocated too. This time, however, it’s a 120mm model, pre-fitted as standard.
As you can see, there are a number of additional ports punched into the back plate of the '280, mostly for water cooling, but additional COM ports are also catered for if your motherboard ships with the breakout panel for them.
The second picture allows us to explain the location of the fan mount on the side panel. Understanding that the motherboard is flipped it now makes sense that the fan mounts are the opposite to the norm, too.
In addition to the side panel fan, there is also a meshed panel above the PSU, aiding heat dissipation. It will be interesting to see if it has much of an effect in the thermal tests later.
Obviously, there is one more thing to add about the motherboard arrangement in the '280, and that’s a big problem for those who like to build quiet HTPCs. Heat-pipe-cooled solutions for the bridges are a no-no with the '280, as, understandably, the effect is the opposite of what’s required.
