Antec P160 Aluminum Tower: We take a look at Antec's latest high-end case that takes dead aim at the same market as boutique case manufacturers.
Date:
March 8, 2004
Price:
Written By:
Before I move to the rear exterior I want to go back to the front again. Bottom central and out of sight is a gap large enough to put your fingers in, the idea being that you can pull the front off. Now then, we know the side panel is lockable and whilst this side panel is in place a spring loaded lock on the front interior, just below the front intake, will prevent you from removing the front fascia. Once the side panel is off you can go ahead and pull. This will give you access to another two thumbscrews that hold the far side panel in place. What this means overall is that with the near side panel locked with the keys, you can't easily gain access from either of the sides or front as everything is locked up tight. Coupled with the cases weight it should make for a bit of reassurance at LAN parties.
Also accessible from the front once the fascia is removed is two spring-loaded thumbscrews that lock the 3 ½ inch bay in place. Yes even this is a tray style, but unlike the above 5 ¼ inch bays, they use a standard screw to mount. On the fascia itself, rather than tying the fascia to the rest of the frame by the power lead for the three blue LED's, you will find a fan style connector and port arrangement. On the back of the front intakes we find a removable and washable dust filter which doesn't perform too badly and isn't all that restrictive, providing for a nice balance.
Moving to the rear exterior we can see at the top the hole for the PSU which can accommodate a PSU upside down if needed. Below is the I/O Panel which is part of the removable motherboard tray and of course the 120mm exhaust outlet. For a pressed out design it isn't too restrictive and you probably won't find much difference in performance using a steel grill.
Each of the PCI slots are covered with blanking plates and like the rest of the case, the side panels are held in place with two (respectively) thumbscrews.
Everything about the case is designed to make it quiet, efficient and tool free which I think you will have to agree it appears to manage extremely well. It's a shame about those fan mounts but in my opinion Antec would do just as well to add rubber grommets to the case screw holes. However I have to give marks to Antec for at least trying. All the metal work is rolled in the right areas, so no blood needed and overall it is such a joy to work with the case. One thing that is missing, and not for lack of space, and that's a system speaker. There is a large enough area under the bottom HDD tray that would easily accommodate a PC Speaker of either the cone or buzzer type and I don't understand why Antec chose not to include such a cheap component.
