Ive been a long time reader and a lurker.
Reviews like this just makes me wonder if people actually give thought to their system that they are going to build or just see videos on youtube and imitate it. you may have just used the parts you have on hand but readers will just see it and then copy it thinking if it works for you then it will work for them.
For instance the complain about the cable being too short is a fault of the builder because they choose the power supply. Power supplies with top mounted fans are designed in mind to be mounted at the TOP of the case, that why they have the fan on top. The wires are too short because the start from the window side of the case, i bet if you flip the power supply over as it is designed to be installed you will get an extra 5 - 6 inches of length that will be more than enough to connect the 8pin to the CPU power.
when you use a case that have a top mounted exhaust the power supply should not have a top mounted fan. It should have a front mounted fan. Perfect example are the Antec CP series or the Antec Signature SG-850 850W. This way the power supply do not pull the airflow away from the top exhausts. Many builders fail to notice this because they just want it to look cool and not taking performance into consideration. i learned this after my first 900 and i used the Antec Neo Power Blue 650W
Another quirk i have is that you were too soft on the case and it is a thing that reviews do just so that they can get more on the manufacture good side. I own a 902 after i upgraded from the 900 and it still a PITA case.For instance in order to clean the dust filters you have to remove 24 thumb screws. Yes 24! That is because you have to remove the left side panel (2 thumb screws), right side panel (2 thumb screws),then 8 screws per drive cage (4 on each side). Who wants to go through all that just to clean out the air filters?
Also you hit the nail on the head about the top and rear fan control. Antec fails to realize that when someone finish building their PC they do not want to go behind there for anything especially if its in a nook or under the desk. Antec fails to move the controls up front.
They also fail at HDD mounting. They refuse to change the design all these years. The more serious cases mount the HDDs horizontally so all the cables go out behind the motherboard tray. If Antec only made the case inch wider or not even make it wider as there are plenty of space behind the side panels. I use 7 HDDs inside my 902 and would have loved to use the air duct feature with a push/pull system but the HDD mounting messes this up. If they were mounted on the side then it would have been possible.
Antec refuse to change their ways and charges over $100 or old designs. Even the new Dark Fleet series (DF-30 and DF-85) shown at CES 2010 are lame. Getting to the front dust filters are easier but no dust filter on the side window, and fan controls for rear fans are behind the case. The 902 will be the last Antec case i buy unless they change their design or stop charging over $100.
BTW when did you get your case? My case came with a CPU cut out in the motherboard tray for the cooler retention plate back in December.
My system
Antec 902 (With CPU cut out)
Abit IP 35Pro
Intel Q6600 OC at 3.2GHz
8GB kingston DDR 2
Antec Signature SG-850 850W (CPU 8pin and 24 pin behind the motherboard tray)
Zalman CNPS 9900 (mounted horizontally as it should be in top exhaust cases)
PNY GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3
ZALMAN VF1000
6 Samsung 750 HDD
1Samsung 500 HDD (OS)
Windows 7 X64 Ultimate
all 120mm set to low
200mm set to high
Temps almost never pass 40c when gaming, ~23c idle