Regardless of what type of computer you have, AMD, Intel or Mac
there's one things ALL computers have in common, an enclosure...
more commonly known as a case. If you have been in the "modding"
scene for any length of time you are most likely very familiar
with Antec. Their SX series of cases is probably the most modded
case ever produced. I still have two of the many lookalikes that
were produced in my basement. At the height of the modding craze
the SX series was THE case, lots of room and huge modding potential.
Not ones to just sit back and rest Antec kept putting out new
cases that continued to wow, most notably the P160, and last year
the silver P180.
And now, finally a black P180. The P180 is referred to as an
"Advanced Super Midtower" and is designed to address
the needs of both the performance enthusiast as well as those
seeking the ultimate in quiet computing. Antec has a pretty good
reputation for delivering products that perform extremely well,
lets take a look at the P180 and see if it's up to snuff.
When UPS dropped off the package, I thought the driver might
have a hernia carrying the box up to the door, it was HUGE. I
was pretty eager to see this case so I wasted no time in getting
the package open to see what was inside. Everything was well packed
(double boxed and with padding) so the P180 arrived unharmed.
The package art is very stylish and professional (no gaudy colors
or weird cartoon characters jumping out at you) and it also gives
a few details about the case. Inside the box the case itself is
suspended by foam inserts to give additional protection for when
the box is shipped, stored, stacked etc.
In addition to the case itself you'll also find
in the box warranty info (3 year warranty), users manual and
a sheet of paper with additional pin assignment info.
The features below were taken from Antec's website,
if you are familiar with the silver P180 you may notice the
lack of the "cooling duct" that came with the Silver
version. This was a duct that attached over the graphics card
area that you could install an 80mm fan into to blow air down
onto your GPU's. Instead of the cooling duct, there is a place
for an optional 120mm fan that can be attached to the upper
drive cage. Smart move if you ask me considering 80mm fans aren't
known for their silence. More on the optional fan later.
| Features: |
- Unique upper and lower chamber structure
The power supply resides in a separate chamber to isolate
heat from the system and lower system noise
- Innovative three-layer side panels
and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) dampen
system noise, making this one of the quietest cases
available
- Cooling System:
- 1 rear (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed
switch control
- 1 top (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan
- 1 lower chamber (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan
- 1 front (optional) 120mm fan
- 1 middle (optional) 120mm fan to cool graphics cards
- Upper drive cage can be used as a duct to provide
fresh air to graphics cards
- Maximum expandability with 11 Drive
Bays
- External 4 x 5.25"; 1 x 3.5"
- Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
- Motherboard: Fits micro and standard
ATX
- Double hinge front door designed to
open up to 270º
- 7 Expansion Slots
- Front Ports
- 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire®, i.Link®)
- Audio In and Out
- Material: 0.8mm cold rolled steel for
durability through the majority of chassis, 1.0mm cold
rolled steel around the 4x HDD area
- To optimize performance of your P180
the choice of your power supply is crucial. Antec strongly
recommends choosing from our Phantom, NeoHE or TruePower
series
- Silicone grommets in the hard drive
cages absorb vibrations and reduce noise
- Built in washable air-filter
- Dimensions: 54cm (H) x 20.5cm (W) x
50.7cm (D)
21.3"(H) x 8.1"(W) x 19.9"(D)
|
Exterior:
The first thing that came to mind when I removed
the black P180 from the box was "classy" even with
the protective film still attached to the sides and top I could
tell it was a very sleek and stylish case, this is definitely
an enclosure you wont want to hide away under your desk. The
exterior "shell" is a combination of aluminum and
plastic, both of which blend together really well and add to
the sophisticated look of the case.
Starting with the front, the door covers the entire
face from top to bottom, there is a "notch" out of
the door that allows you to access the front USB, Firewire and
audio ports. In order to access the power and reset buttons
you are required to open the door..
The door is double hinged, which allows the door
to swing 270 degrees and lay flat against the side panel, rather
than sticking out at a odd angle from the case. I don't know
about you, but I have broken two case doors because they were
just in the way.
Behind the door you will find 4 bays for optical
drives as well as one 3.5 bay for a floppy drive (if you still
use one) or one of the number of bay devices made for 3.5 drive
bays. You will also find two vents the spring open with the
push of a button to give you access to the removable and washable
filters. I'm generally not a fan of doors that cover the entire
face of a case due to the restriction in airflow this usually
provides. Antec have tried to alleviate that by make the sides
of the front bezel perforated as well as leaving a sizable open
area at the bottom to also provide increased airflow.
Moving to the sides, the side panels look pretty
standard, no windows, now fans etc. But when you take one off
you'll notice there is in fact something different about them.
They are constructed in three layers, aluminum > plastic
> aluminum. This provides additional noise reduction but
also adds a significant amount of weight. Although this case
is for the most part aluminum, the additional plastic added
to help reduce weight packs on a few extra pounds. The top of
the case has a single 120mm blowhole that is positioned towards
the rear rather than the center, there is a wire mesh grill
that looks a lot like a hood scoop on a classic hotrod (except
it is facing the wrong way) If you don't like the wire mesh
hood scoop, it can be removed.
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Moving on to the back of the case, the first thing
you will notice is the PSU is on the bottom rather than the
top, other than this there is nothing out of the ordinary on
the rear of the case. There is a single 120mm fan to exhaust
the hot air out of the case, and continuing with the openness
of the front the back is also well ventilated to aid with moving
cool air in and worm air out. Before moving to the internals,
there's one more thing on the exterior worth mentioning, since
one of the goals of this enclosure is silence, Antec has taken
a lot of steps to reduce vibration (one of the leading causes
of noise) On the bottom of the case you will find four rubber
feet. Using softer rubber rather than the hard plastic on most
cases should reduce vibration significantly.
Next we will take a look at the internals and
deal with installation.
NEXT
