Antec Dark Fleet DF-35 User manual

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DF-35 U SER ’ S M ANUAL
Congratulation on your purcha e of the Antec Dark Fleet DF-35.
The DF-35 i a completely unique cha i – ma ively convenient, but in a wifter, lighter mid-tower ize. It
tart with the brilliant white LED et in variable- peed, knob-controlled Fleet-Relea e™ 120 mm acce door
fan . They open to allow rapid acce to the DF-35’ 11 total drive bay and two Fleet-Swap™ modular SATA
interface , in a blacked-out pre entation interior with cable routing. Two more SATA bay – one external hot-
wappable bay on the front panel for convenience, and another floor-mounted in ide for internal SSD –
round out the feature et. With full-tower capability and convenience and wift mid-tower ize, the DF-35 i
the paradox that perform .
The DF-35 come without a power upply. Make ure you choo e a power upply that i compatible with your
computer component and ha a long enough power harne to reach your motherboard and peripheral device .
We recommend our High Current, Signature Serie , TruePower Quattro or TruePower New power upplie
for the late t ATX pecification compliance, broad compatibility, and power aving capability.
At Antec, we continually refine and improve our product to en ure the highe t quality. A uch, your new ca e
may differ lightly from the de cription in thi manual. Thi i n't a problem; it' imply an improvement. A of
the date of publication, all feature , de cription , and illu tration in thi manual are correct.
Disclaimer
Thi manual i intended only a a guide for Antec’ computer enclo ure . For more
comprehen ive in truction on in talling the motherboard and peripheral , plea e refer to
the u er’ manual that come with tho e component .

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T ABLE OF C ONTENTS
S ECTION 1: I NTRODUCTION
1.1 Getting to know your ca e…………………………………………………. 5
1.2 Ca e pecification …………………………………………………………. 6
1.3 Before you begin…………………………………………………………… 7
1.4 Locating and po itioning your computer…………………………………... 8
S ECTION 2: ARDWARE INSTALLATION
2.1 Setting up…………………………………………………………………... 10
2.2 Motherboard in tallation…………………………………………………… 12
2.3 Standard ATX power upply in tallation…………………………………... 14
2.4 Cable management…………………………………………………………. 15
2.5 Internal 3.5” device in tallation……………………………………………. 16
2.6 External 3.5” device in tallation…………………………………………… 17
2.7 U ing Fleet-Swap™….…………………………………………………….. 18
2.8 U ing the top 2.5” hot- wap bay…………………………………………… 22
2.9 External 5.25” device in tallation…………………………………………… 23
2.10 Internal 2.5” device in tallation…………………………………………….. 24
S ECTION 3: F RONT I/O P ORTS
3.1 USB 2.0…………………………………………………………………….. 26
3.2 AC’97 / HD audio port ……………………………………………………. 26
3.3 Power witch / re et witch / hard di k drive LED connector ……………. 27
3.4 Rewiring motherboard header connection ………………………………... 27
S ECTION 4: C OOLING SYSTEM
4.1 Included fan ………………………………………………………………. 29
4.2 Top 140 mm red LED fan…………………………………………………. 30
4.3 Front 120 mm red LED fan ……………………………………………… 30
4.4 Rear exhau t 120 mm TwoCool™ fan ………………………………….... 31
4.5 Optional fan .…………………………………………………………….... 31
4.6 Wa hable air filter ………………………………………………………... 32

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I
NTRODUCTION
S
ECTION
1

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1.1 G ETTING TO KNOW YOUR CASE
Drive bay Hardware mount
15.25” drive bay 9 Motherboard tandoff (pre-
23.5” drive bay in talled)
3Fleet-Swap SATA bay 10 Power upply mount
42.5” internal SSD bay 11 Front I/O port
52.5” external hot- wap
Cooling
6 140 mm top TwoCool™ fan
7 120 mm rear TwoCool™ fan
8 Fleet-Relea e acce door
module w/front variable-
peed 120 mm red LED fan
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1.2 C ASE S PECIFICATIONS
C ASE T YPE
Mid Tower
C OLOR
Matte black
D IMENSIONS
19.1″ (H) x 7.8″ (W) x 19.1″ (D)
485 mm (H) x 198 mm (W) x 486 mm (D)
W EIGHT
15.1 lb / 6.9 kg
C OOLING
1 x top 140 mm TwoCool™ fan
1 x rear white 120 mm TwoCool™ white-bladed fan with white LED
2 x front variable- peed 120 mm white-bladed LED fan with white LED
1 x ide 120 mm fan for graphic card (optional)
D RIVE B AYS
6 x internal 3.5 ″
3 x external 5.25 ″
1 x top external 2.5” hot wap SATA drive bay
2 x internal 3.5” Fleet-Swap™ SATA drive bay (po ition changeable)
1 x internal bottom-mounted 2.5” SSD bay
E XPANSION S LOTS
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M OTHERBOARD S IZE
Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX
F RONT I/O P ANEL
2 x USB 2.0
AC’97 / HD Audio In and Out

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1.3 B EFORE Y OU B EGIN
In order to en ure that your building experience with the Dark Fleet DF-35 will be a po itive one, plea e take
note of the following:
•While working in ide your Dark Fleet DF-35, keep your ca e on a flat, table urface. Make ure your
build area i clean, well-lit, and free of du t.
•Antec ca e feature rounded edge that minimize the occurrence of hand injurie . Nonethele ,
exerci e caution and control when handling ca e interior . We trongly recommend taking the
appropriate time and care when working in ide the ca e. Avoid hurried or carele motion . Plea e u e
rea onable precaution.
•Handle component and card with care. Do not touch the component or contact on a card. Hold a
card by it edge . Hold a component uch a a proce or by it edge , never by it pin .
•To avoid electro tatic di charge, ground your elf periodically by touching an unpainted metal urface
( uch a a connector or crew on the back of thi computer) or by u ing a wri t grounding trap.
•Before you connect a cable, en ure that both connector are correctly aligned and oriented. Bent pin
can be difficult to fix and may require replacement of the entire connector.
•Thi manual i not de igned to cover CPU, RAM, or expan ion card in tallation. Plea e con ult your
motherboard manual for pecific mounting in truction and trouble hooting. Before proceeding,
check the manual for your CPU cooler to find out if there are tep you mu t take before in talling
the motherboard.
•Do not it on your ca e. Although it i con tructed of heavy-duty teel and internally reinforced, it i
not de igned to upport the weight of an adult, and may buckle.
•Remember to u e the right tool for each ta k. Do not u e improvi ed crewdriver like coin , nail or
knife blade a they may re ult in damage to crew thread or even injury. Do not u e your fingernail
to eparate edge or lift the ide of the ca e, a paint chipping or injury may occur.

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1.4 L OCATING A ND P OSITIONING Y OUR C OMPUTER
Your DF-35 ha backward - and top-facing exhau t fan , a well a front-mounted intake fan and one ide-
mounted front air intake. For optimum performance, we recommend leaving the front air intake unob tructed.
When open, the DF-35’ Fleet-Relea e™ door take up an additional 15.5 cm of pace in the front. Since
loading and unloading the DF-35’ internal Fleet-Swap™ SATA bay through the door will require opening
and clo ing them, you may wi h to leave pace in front of the computer open for thi purpo e.
The DF-35 can operate re ting ideway a well a vertically. Do not re t the DF-35 up ide down (with the ca e
feet up in the air), a thi will impede operation of optical drive .
The DF-35 comes with a top 2.5” Hot Swap drive bay. While it’s in a handy location, we do not
recommend that users put any liquid-containing items (drinks, ice cream, coffee, perfume, etc.) on the drive
bay. It was not designed for storage purposes.

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H
ARDWARE
INSTALLATION
S
ECTION
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2.1 S ETTING U P
Put the ca e upright on a flat, table urface o that the rear panel (power upply and expan ion lot ) i facing
you. To remove the left and right ide panel , remove the e thumb crew :
Note: Place the panel thumb crew a ide carefully and remember where they are – they look very
imilar to the HDD cage thumb crew , but they are NOT interchangeable.

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Now re t your ca e with the left ide up. Here’ what we’ll be working with fir t:
A – Power supply mounts
B – 5.25” drive bay area
C – 3.5” drive bay area with Fleet-Swap SATA bays
D – Front panel wiring
E – I/O panel
Note: Do not u e your fingernail to pry or lift the panel . Damage to the panel or injury to
your fingernail may re ult.
Note: Thi manual i not de igned to cover CPU, RAM, or expan ion card in tallation. Plea e
con ult your motherboard manual for pecific mounting in truction and trouble hooting.
C
B
D
E
A

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2.2 M OTHERBOARD I NSTALLATION
Before proceeding:
-Check the manual for your CPU cooler to find out if there are tep you mu t do before in talling the
motherboard
-Make ure you have the correct I/O panel for your motherboard. If the panel provided with the ca e i n’t
uitable, plea e contact your motherboard manufacturer for the correct I/O panel.
Make sure you have the correct I/O panel. This mismatched I/O panel
can cause difficulties down the road.
1. Lay the ca e down, with the open ide facing up. The drive cage hould be vi ible on the right ide of
the ca e, with the power upply in the upper left.
2. Now in ert your motherboard, aligning your motherboard with the tandoff hole and remember
which hole are lined up.
Installing the motherboard, step 2. Note that not all motherboards will match with
all the provided holes; this is normal and won’t affect functionality.

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3. Now remove your motherboard by lifting it up.
Lift your motherboard out to install the standoffs.
4. In tall tandoff a needed and put the motherboard back in.
5. Screw in your motherboard to the tandoff with the provided Phillip -head crew .
Step 5: Screwing in the motherboard after standoffs are installed
Caution: Make ure to remove any unu ed motherboard tandoff . They may come into contact
with the back of the motherboard and may electrify your ca e exterior if left connected.

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Note: The DF-35 comes with a CPU cutout on the motherboard tray, which
will allow you to change your CPU heatsink without removing the motherboard.
2.3 S TANDARD ATX P OWER S UPPLY I NSTALLATION
The DF-35 can accommodate a tandard- ize ATX power upply.
1. With the ca e upright, place the power upply on the bottom of the ca e.
PSU resting on the standard PSU mount.
2. Pu h the power upply to the back of the ca e and align the mounting hole .
3. Attach the power upply to the ca e with the crew provided.

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Use these screws to secure your power supply to the case.
2.4 C ABLE M ANAGEMENT
There i a cable management compartment behind the 3.5” drive cage. You can tuck or route exce cable in
thi compartment.
1. Locate the cable management compartment with cable tie located behind the wall of the 3.5” drive
cage.
2. Tuck or route your exce cable to the compartment. Thi will keep the cable from interfering with
airflow in your ca e and help with cooling.
3. U e the cable tie provided to hold them in place.
Note: Power upplie with fan on the bottom of the power upply will need to be mounted o
that the fan i facing the top of the ca e. The DF-35 provide mounting hole for power
upplie with tandard mounting layout to be in talled right ide up or up ide down.
Note: If you plan to u e the Fleet-Swap feature, you hould leave one or two cable with four
SATA connector in the main compartment, o that they will be able to reach the Fleet-
Swap bay without tretching.

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2.5 I NTERNAL 3.5” D EVICE I NSTALLATION
The DF-35 include two Fleet-Relea e™ acce door . With the front bezel facing you, they are located by
default on the bottom nine drive bay lot (each door cover three drive bay ).
1. Open the Fleet-Relea e
TM
acce door.
Opening the Fleet-Release™ access door by gently
pressing the left side to release it, and then swing it open.
2. In ert your 3.5” device into the 3.5” drive cage from the front of the ca e. You will feel re i tance
from pre tab on either ide of the drive cage which will create friction again t the drive. Pu h gently
until the drive’ mounting hole align with the crew hole in the cage.
Installing a 3.5” internal device
3. Fa ten the device in place with the provided crew on both ide of the drive cage.

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Make sure to install screws on the left side… …as well as the right side.
4. Mount any other 3.5” HDD device accordingly.
5. Connect the appropriate power and data cable to the device( ), u ing cable routing a de ired.
6. Clo e the Fleet-Relea e™ acce door.
2.6 E XTERNAL 3.5” D EVICE I NSTALLATION
There i one external 3.5” drive bay under the 5.25” drive bay .
Remove this drive bay cover.
1. Carefully remove the 3.5” drive bay cover from the bezel. Load the drive from the front, lining them
up to the front of the drive cage.

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Insert your drive as shown.
2. With one hand upporting the drive, fa ten the drive with the crew provided.
3. Find a mall 4-pin white connector on the power upply and connect it to the male 4-pin connector
on the floppy drive.
2.7 U SING F LEET -S WAP
The DF-35 include one et of Fleet-Swap
TM
3.5” drive bay . Each et contain two connector , for a total of
two hot- wappable SATA drive bay , pre-in talled on the bottom of the internal 3.5” drive cage.
A. PREPARING YOUR FLEET-SWAP™ SATA BAYS FOR USE
1. Remove the left ide panel of the ca e. Open the Fleet-Relea e
TM
Acce Door by pre ing the left
ide to relea e it, then wing it open. Locate the Fleet-Swap bay in ide the drive cage.
Fleet-Swap™ default locations

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A – Fleet-Swap™ SATA and power connectors
B – Fleet-Swap™ bay screws
2. You may wi h to move the Fleet-Swap bay . There are two crew ecuring each Fleet-Swap bay to
the drive cage. To move or remove the Fleet-Swap bay, remove the e crew , lide the Fleet-Swap bay
toward the ide oppo ite the crew , and carefully remove it.
Moving or removing a Fleet-Swap™ bay
3. Now move the Fleet-Swap bay to the de ired location, ecure it in place and crew it in. Fleet-Swap
bay can be relocated to anywhere in the 3.5” drive cage.
4. Before you can u e the hot- wap feature of the Fleet-Swap™ bay , you mu t in tall all related driver
for your motherboard and enable the “AHCI” function in the BIOS to activate the hot wap feature.
A
A B
B
1
2

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One example of AHCI configuration – your motherboard may vary
B. LOADING THE FLEET-SWAP BAYS
Fleet-Swap™ bay are de igned to be acce ible from the front of the ca e, through the Fleet-Relea e™ acce
door .
1. Open the Fleet-Relea e™ acce door, and in ert your 3.5” SATA device into a 3.5” drive bay that
contain a Fleet-Swap bay at the back.
2. Pu h gently until it engage the adapter pin on the Fleet-Swap bay and top in po ition. Do not
ecure the device with crew if you want it to be removable.
Loading a Fleet-Swap drive.
3. Mount any other 3.5” HDD device accordingly.
4. Clo e the Fleet-Relea eTM Acce Door.
C. UNLOADING THE FLEET-SWAP™ BAYS
1. En ure that your HDD i not in u e.
2. Open the Fleet-Relea e
TM
Acce Door by pre ing the left ide to relea e it, and then wing it open.