Alternatives to Antec P182

[DarkRogue]

Hello,

Looking to build a new system, and one of the first things I need is a good case.
I asked a few friends and their unanimous answer was the Antec P182. So I looked it up and seeing as it was designed with cooling and silence in mind, as well as minimizes cable clutter, I thought, this is perfect!

....Except for one small thing. It's half an inch too tall to fit in my desk.
So, it all goes down the drain and I am wondering if there is a slightly smaller alternative to the P182.. There is the Antec Solo but it's a little too small for me. I will be looking at roughly 4-5 hard drives and 2 optical drives, so the case needs enough room to support at least that much. For the record, I have a Seasonic S12II 380W power supply, so I'm unsure if the cables are long enough for those taller cases (like the P182.)

Thanks in advance.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

The cooler master 690 is a decent alternative and notably less money.

 

[Zepper]

The 690 is designed more for cooling than quiet, though a little effort can yield both. There are lots of 690 threads here to check out for lots of opinions and info.

.bh.

 

[MarcVenice]

Wait wait wait, half an inch ? The p182 comes with a topfan, and it has a grill over it, that sticks out 2cm, I just measured it on my own p182, so I'm pretty darn sure hehe. The grill is erm, useless ? You can easily remove it, it's click and slide, and you won't even notice it's gone when the p182 is under your desk. Long story short, if you remove it, it will fit, right ? Assuming the dimensions include the 2cm from that top grill. So, check out your friends p182, remove the top fangrill, measure it, measure it beneath your desk, and if it fits, be the next happy owner of a p182 !

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Wait wait wait, half an inch ? The p182 comes with a topfan, and it has a grill over it, that sticks out 2cm, I just measured it on my own p182, so I'm pretty darn sure hehe. The grill is erm, useless ? You can easily remove it, it's click and slide, and you won't even notice it's gone when the p182 is under your desk. Long story short, if you remove it, it will fit, right ? Assuming the dimensions include the 2cm from that top grill. So, check out your friends p182, remove the top fangrill, measure it, measure it beneath your desk, and if it fits, be the next happy owner of a p182 !

I was under the impression that the dimensions did not include that top fan shroud but, since you've got one handy why don't you confirm the dimensions without the fan shroud for us?

 

[DarkRogue]

Hmm, I actually don't know.

I was using the measurements reported off the Newegg site. I've no idea if it includes that fan grill or not, and none of my friends have a P182 so I can't have them verify it. They simply said if they were to upgrade, the P182 is the only case they'd consider.

If you have one, can you please measure the height of your case without the top fan grill? That would definitely help if it was actually a little shorter and would fit inside my desk. It's a more practical alternative than my friends suggesting I saw off my desk to make it fit lol.

I'll take a look at that Cooler Master one as well, while I wait. Anyone else have other suggestions or is the Cooler Master one the other de facto standard here?

Edit: typos.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: DarkRogue
Hmm, I actually don't know.

I was using the measurements reported off the Newegg site. I've no idea if it includes that fan grill or not, and none of my friends have a P182 so I can't have them verify it. They simply said if they were to upgrade, the P182 is the only case they'd consider.

If you have one, can you please measure the height of your case without the top fan grill? That would definitely help if it was actually a little shorter and would fit inside my desk. It's a more practical alternative than my friends suggesting I saw off my desk to make it fit lol.

I'll take a look at that Cooler Master one as well, while I wait. Anyone else have other suggestions or is the Cooler Master one the other de facto standard here?

Edit: typos.

Well as far as de facto standards there are a few around here. What I would suggest, as is what I do, do a power search on newegg for coolermaster, antec, lian li, tuniq and silverstone with mid and full tower options and just see what all they've got. I'm personally the type to spend as little as possible on a case and then modify the every loving hell out of it because I know I would have to pay more than $200 to get everything I really want out of a case and I'd ratehr spend $40 on the case, $50 on supplies and a couple weekends making it perfect.

 

[MarcVenice]

My measurement led me to believe my case was 51.5cm high without the shroud, which would be 20,275590551181102362204724409449 inches. Newegg sais it's 21.3 inches high, giving you almost 1 inch of clearance. Oh, don't forget, often p180b's are identical to p182's, but cost less. Although, the p182 comes for 99$ AR right now at newegg.com

 

[DarkRogue]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
[snip] which would be 20,275590551181102362204724409449 inches. [snip]

Needs more decimal places. LOL
If I ever found a ruler that could measure with that much precision...

Anyway lol, this is wholly confusing now. The two measurements don't seem to agree with each other. Both the Antec site and Newegg say it is 21.3 inches high (up from the 18.3 inches of my SLK3700AMB)
HOWEVER, the Antec site also says the P182 is 52cm high which is not quite 21.3 inches. Which one is correct?

I just re-measured my desk with a tape measure, rather than a ruler for a more accurate measurement. I have almost exactly 21 inches of clearance, which according to the tape measure, also says is 53 cm.

So you see, if either one of them is wrong I'm kinda ... lol.
If it is indeed only 51.5cm high, then yes I have enough space. However, if it is actually 21.3 inches, then I'm outta luck with the case.

Just curious, how are you measuring your case, MarcVenice? It's a really tight fit so I want to be exactly sure it will fit before spending $140 on a case (although there's a $40 MIR atm so only $100.)

 

[MarcVenice]

Hmmm, I used a roll kind of thing ? You know, like a few feet long, used for construction work? I measured three times. The shroud actually makes the case 54cm high, 51.5cm + 2.5 = 54cm. That's even weirder. I'd simply email Antec and ask them how high the case is with and withOUT shroud. Just for you, I measured it again, and from the top down to the stand my p182 sits on, its exactly 51.5cm, so that's including the rubber feet on the bottom.

 

[Zepper]

The Silverstone Kublai KL01 is not specifically designed for quiet like the Antec p180 series and other Antecs like the Sonatas and the Solo, but it is. Just needs a bit of work to get the breathing right. See my review here: http://www.techimo.com/articles/ . It's definitely short enough.

.bh.

 

[imported_Scoop]

Originally posted by: Zepper
The Silverstone Kublai KL01 is not specifically designed for quiet like the Antec p180 series and other Antecs like the Sonatas and the Solo, but it is. Just needs a bit of work to get the breathing right. See my review here: http://www.techimo.com/articles/ . It's definitely short enough.

.bh.

I was actually looking at the KL01 before I got my CM690. But I read in a review that the GTX doesn't fit with the hard drive rack loaded full. Somehow I'm thinking even 8800 GTS (G80) didn't fit but that may have been another enclosure.

I also read that you can move the HDD rack around to get a clearing but when you place the fully loaded rack to the top, with the PSU on top, the center of gravity is just way too high and I wouldn't be comfortable with it like that. The hotswap HDD thing is nice, but I happily chose the CM690 instead, saved me a ton of cash as well

 

[MichaelD]

I have the P180...I'd assume it's the same height as the P182. I measure exactly 20 3/8" without the shroud. If it's under your desk, removing the shroud won't matter.

Will it fit? (Figure 20.5 inches...rounded up). If not, put your desk up on some shims! Get creative! If you want a P18x, buy one.

/stomps foot

ps
If a 20.5" case wont' fit under your desk, I have to ask this: Are you a midget...er, vertically challenged? What kind of weirdo shorty desk do you have that the opening underneath is slightly more than 1.5 feet tall?

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
I have the P180...I'd assume it's the same height as the P182. I measure exactly 20 3/8" without the shroud. If it's under your desk, removing the shroud won't matter.

Will it fit? (Figure 20.5 inches...rounded up). If not, put your desk up on some shims! Get creative! If you want a P18x, buy one.

/stomps foot

ps
If a 20.5" case wont' fit under your desk, I have to ask this: Are you a midget...er, vertically challenged? What kind of weirdo shorty desk do you have that the opening underneath is slightly more than 1.5 feet tall?

it's probably an opening in the desk that has at least one drawer above it and/or is raised off the ground. If it has one 6" drawer and it raised 3 inches off the ground that would put it pretty much exactly at 30" which is the standard ADA approved desk height.

 

[DarkRogue]

Well, I took that idea and emailed Antec support to clarify their measurements, let's see if they can help at all.
Those measurements do sound hopeful though, thanks for retaking them.

If it doesn't work out I'll take a look at those cases too.
As far as my desk goes, I have limited space in my room so I had to get a fairly compact desk. I think I got as big a desk as my room could hold.
I think the specific model has been discontinued, but here's a pic from the manufacturer's site:
http://www.bushfurniture.com/b...ies/environ/Jagger.jpg

The area from the bottom plank to the keyboard tray is only 21 inches.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

There's always the F-it-all option of just putting your tower up where either the lamp or printer are in that picture. hopefully one of those is up against a wall, just in case.

 

[DarkRogue]

lol, the case alone weighs what, 31 pounds? With a full case of components it's probably going to be near 40-45 pounds..

Those little things with the lamp and printer are only rated for 25 pounds max if I remember correctly lol.

Antec support replied though, asking if I wanted the measurements with or without the feet... lol.

 

[Rike]

If you're not in a hurry, you could hold out for the new mini P180.

Anandtech image gallery of the new mini P180

 

[DerwenArtos12]

Originally posted by: Rike
If you're not in a hurry, you could hold out for the new mini P180.

Anandtech image gallery of the new mini P180

It's uATX though.

 

[DarkRogue]

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing.

I saw Mini P180 and thought there was a smaller ATX variant of the P180, but yeah, it's MicroATX. I'm going to be using the ATX formfactor.

 

[MarcVenice]

any news yet ?

 

[DarkRogue]

Nope, nada yet if you mean from Antec support.
I'm still waiting though..

 

[ChefJoe]

I measured my 182 v1.2 for you. It's 51.5 cm tall without the shroud (so just over 20.25"). It'll fit fine and, if you want to make it easy to slide out of a cubby you can just remove the rubber pads on the bottom of the case and put some ratpadz slides on there or somthing.

 

[DerwenArtos12]

I hate to complicate your decision so near to the end but the CM 690 is 19" tall and $15 amir at ClubIT.

 

[MarcVenice]

See, chefjoe measured the exact same amount as I did, it can't be coincidence anymore. Although the CM 690 is a decent case, and very cheap to boot, the p182 is better. But, for 15$ you could actually just order one and check it out.