The first major feature of the Overture is the desktop enclosure design, allowing the case to lay flat on a shelf rather than stand up like a standard tower.  The case is painted with a glossy black paint job, hence the name Piano Black.  The front bezel is silver plastic, with chrome accents and buttons.  Audio jacks, USB and Firewire ports are tucked along the bottom edge of the bezel.  Four of the seven drive bays are external; with two 5.25” and two 3.5” bays located in the front bezel.  The main power switch features a glowing blue backlight when switched on.  Access to the inside of the case is simple thanks to a removable top panel, which is secured with thumbscrews.  In typical Antec fashion, a small cleaning cloth is included for removing finger prints from the shiny paint.  Attention to details like this is what separates Antec cases from the droves of bargain ATX cases on the market.

As the specs reveal, the Overture is designed to handle a standard ATX motherboard, giving the user a great degree of flexibility when building a system.  The layout of the Overture is unique, to accommodate the desktop design.  The power supply resides in the extreme front right corner of the case, with a power cord snaking to the rear of the case for the external plug.  The power supply fan intake is hidden on the side of the case with a nice black grill, and includes a removable, washable filter.  The 5.25” drive cage is removable, using a latching mechanism similar to other Antec cases we have reviewed in the past.  The front internal 3.5” drive cage is mounted on top of the low profile power supply, and is secured with two small screws.  To the rear of the case is an additional 3.5” drive rack, which is also secured with two screws.  Removing this drive cage aids in motherboard installation, as the inside of the Overture can get tight when all the internal components are in place.  Keeping with the silent PC design, the 3.5” drive cage features rubber grommets to minimize vibration and dampen drive noise.  A rear 92mm Antec Smart Cool exhaust fan is located just behind the 3.5” internal drive cage, providing additional cooling for installed hard drives.

The cabling inside the case is wrapped in a black sleeve, helping keep the inside of the case free of clutter and stray cables.  This is almost a necessity, since the position of the power supply requires that the ATX power cable be routed over the motherboard.  Motherboard installation inside the Overture is fairly straight forward, and we encountered no difficulties during the assembly process.  With the unusual design and layout of the Overture, attention should be given to cable management inside the case when all components are installed.  As previously mentioned, the ATX power cable runs over the motherboard because of the location of the power supply, while the hard drive ribbon cables are routed to what would normally be the top of the case.  This could interfere with larger heatsinks or cooling solutions, but given that the Overture has been designed as a home theater system, some concessions had to be made.  Cooling inside the case is accomplished through two fans; one pulling air in through the power supply, and the second exhausting out the rear of the case behind the 3.5” drive cage.  Not exactly the cooling system we are used to seeing, but more than adequate for standard cooling.