- Jan 16, 2001
- 31,528
- 3
- 76
*EDIT 17 Nov*
Well, I finally made the time to get it all installed. And as always, this thread would be useless without pics, so here we go. Along with the pics, are my thoughts on the case. The review/MHO on the temps will have to wait as I changed HSF's and the AS5 needs time to cycle.
I firmly believe in honest reviews. I'm not a fanboy of any manufacturer; my thoughts are on my experiences and opinions on whatever I'm using; WYSIWYG. <--geek term
First up, a few niggles. (Don't worry, there's "good" later!
)
1. Hey Antec, remember CASE SCREWS? Those big old screws that hold the side panels on and PCI cards in? You used to cram 100 of them into the little parts bag? Well, WTF happened to them? There were none, zero (0) in my parts bag. Now you have these little tiny POS screws that don't have heads big enough to bite into anything! :| In order to install my PS, I had to cannibalize the screws from the PCI slots in my old case. I used the four real case screws that formerly held the cage in, to secure the PS to the rear of the case. Four screws to screw the PS to the rear of the case, four screws (from my old case) to hold the cage in. Did I really NEED the cage? No...but, it does have lots of silicone strips lining it, and it did help with noise reduction, IMO.
2. Quality control on the moving parts; you need more of it. The side panels were a bitch to get off...understandable b/c the case is new. So I thought...until I tried to put them back on. They just wouldn't close completely. I had to slide-slam each one a few times to get them to mate with the front edge of the case totally flush. It should NOT have been that hard. NO; there were no wires in the way, etc. I've been doing this long enough to check for those things first.
3. Case needs to be about 2" longer. The PSU/HD area is way too short. Routing the wires/keeping them out of the GRILL-LESS FAN was a PITA. If you removed the fan in the PSU/HD area, then it's a non-issue, but then you also remove the cooling for that section. Also, there's very little space b/t the HD's and the fan. Even with svelte SATA cables, space it tight. Another 2" of space would be perfect.
4. The user's manual is a JOKE. Do you really need a manual to put a PC together? Of course not; but wouldn't it be nice to know which one of the 3.5mm jacks on the front panel is for the MIC and which one's for the HEADPHONES? Darn right it would. They aren't marked. Quality control, anyone?
5. Why did you put the HD activity LED BEHIND the door? DUH. I know the Power LED is outside...as it should be, but the HD activity light should be too. This is a minor niggle, though.
OK, that's the end of the niggles. Like I said, I tell it like it is.
Here are the pics; I know it's not the neatest cabling job. Believe me when I say I spent hours on it to get it to this point! It would've been a little neater, but I ran out of zip ties. Seriously.
It's a pretty standard system (full specs in sig), and it really looked good inside until I started running the power cables. LOL!
I'm proud to say that there are no wires run under the MB, no holes drilled in the MB tray and all the fan wires are run flat up the sides/top/rear of the case. Addtionally, I have full front panel USB and MIC/Headphone connections.
Here's a wide shot of the interior.
You'll notice there are no cables anywhere near the CPU/memory/video card.
Close up of the upper chamber.
Like I said, I really worked hard to get it to look "this good." Look at the top fan; you can see that the speed controller is zip tied where it's easy to reach. I did this with all three fans. Speed changes are simple; no digging thru cables required.
Almost zero room to move the PS wires around!
Another 2" of space down here would be most welcome.
But, you can see that there are no wires near that fan at all!
It was a PITA to get this space like that!
The HD cage.
Note very little space b/t the data cable and the fan. More room would be nice.
Here's where I hid the fan connections and the slack FP wires.
Notice that I daisy-chained all three fans. To make this space bigger, I removed the little toolbox. Cute, but just took up valuable space.
I used the other side of the PS to hide some of the unused PS wires.
Zip tie bases, FTW!
Other Notes
I used clear tape to seal up the vent where the video card duct used to draw air from (before they deleted the VGA duct from the newer cases)
Zip tie bases! You need lots of them. They really help out a lot!
The case is dead quiet. I have all three fans on low. Compared to my Antec 1040 case, this is literally 100%+ quieter. All I hear is a very low pitched and quiet fan noise. The silicone mounting of the HD makes it dead-silent when idle and the seek noise is almost inaudible. The case doesn't vibrate, shake or make random squeaky type noises...it just sits there...quietly. OH, the Power LED is a nice shade of blue, and it's brightness is perfect. Not too bright, not too dim. Perfect.
All the noise-quieting features of this case (you've read about them in the reviews, so I won't go into it) really work. Everything from the big silicone case feet, to the composite side panels and silicone HD mounting add up to make the system quiet. As long as you run the fans on low, you're golden.
I'll have to wait in order to give my opinion on temps. I swapped the stock Intel HSF (E6400) for an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, as well as changing cases, so i'll have to wait for the AS5 to break-in/thermal cycle and then I'll state my opinion. So far though, it idles about 8C cooler (as measured with Intel TAT). More to come on that.
OK, that's it. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thanks for reading my thread and participating. :thumbsup:
__________________________________________________________________________
Call me late to the party, but thought I'd post some thoughts here, as I've not had a new case in YEARS. As in at least 6 years! My old Antec 1040 (no windows, no side panel vents) has served me well, but the 4x80mm fans have gotten really noisy and annoying.
1. Wow. I mean, WOW. So much has changed! And I'm not talking about the semi-BTX layout either. I'm talking about the quality of construction.
The 3-ply side panels make a satisfying "thud" when you tap them. The fit and finish are really superb. I've had LianLi cases and as nice looking as they are, that .5mm aluminum just feels flimsy and cheap.
The P180 is solid steel and everything fits really well. Everything slides easily, clicks into place loudly and just works.
2. 3x120mm fans, with 3-speed control on each, stock. :Q What more could you want concerning cooling, stock out of the box?
I hooked them up to an ATX PS I had laying around and played with the speed controls on the fans. "Hi" is freakin' LOUD, but it's all the airflow you could ever want, no matter what you've got going on in there. Medium is just as noisy as the old 4x80mm fans on my current case...albiet, I was running them w/o the side panel on...but they were loud enough. Airflow was subjectively about 3/4's that of the "HIGH" speed.
"Low", ah, LOW, was as silent as any corporate Dell or HP PC I've ever heard, and I've heard hundreds, literally. Airflow seemed a great deal less than "medium' but still easily equal to 80mm fans running at regular speed. That's a sweet deal, IMHO.
Once I get all the parts in there, airflow might not be fantastic on "LOW", but with the side panel on, that will help a lot. I'd gladly sacrifice a 3C increase in case temps for a dead quiet PC. I'm not too keen on the vented PCI slot covers...dunno about those. Good airflow = front to back airflow...not a mixture. But, I am assuming the Antec engineers know what they are doing. BTW; my P180 is a newer version. It has a standard 25mm thick fan in the lower PS area (not the biggie 38mm one) and NO video card vent thing like the earlier versions had. I'm happy about this.
3. The front door is not flimsy like I've read it is. Of course, it's plastic and you can't stand on it! Common sense, people. It closes smoothly and latches positively. The front air filters (2) are easily accessible and removable. I don't foresee any issues there.
4. The upper HD cage can mount an additional TWO (2) 120mm fans! One in front of the cage in a standard Antec-type snap-in holder bracket, and another on the back side of cage using the included metal "paperclip" type brackets. If you use the latter fan, you cannot mount HD's in the cage b/c using that fan necessitates removal of the HD mounting sleds. The lower HD cage can hold 4 HDs, so I don't see the need for the upper one too (it doesn't hold the floppy either, FYI). If you need more than 4 HDs, you need a separate SERVER, which is another thread.
I'm waiting on an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro before I move my system over. The parts going into this case are:
Gigabyte DS3
E6400 (currently at stock speed w/stock HSF)
2x1GB Corsiar PC6400
EVGA 7900GTO
Antec Trupower 2.0 550w
2 DVD burners
1 SATA HD
1 floppy
I'll report back once it's all moved over. Hope this post helps someone else. I searched on "P180" in this forum and read every single thread before making my purchase. Though I've not used the case yet, I can already tell that wiring will be a PITA, but the end result will be VERY worth it.
Well, I finally made the time to get it all installed. And as always, this thread would be useless without pics, so here we go. Along with the pics, are my thoughts on the case. The review/MHO on the temps will have to wait as I changed HSF's and the AS5 needs time to cycle.
I firmly believe in honest reviews. I'm not a fanboy of any manufacturer; my thoughts are on my experiences and opinions on whatever I'm using; WYSIWYG. <--geek term
First up, a few niggles. (Don't worry, there's "good" later!
)1. Hey Antec, remember CASE SCREWS? Those big old screws that hold the side panels on and PCI cards in? You used to cram 100 of them into the little parts bag? Well, WTF happened to them? There were none, zero (0) in my parts bag. Now you have these little tiny POS screws that don't have heads big enough to bite into anything! :| In order to install my PS, I had to cannibalize the screws from the PCI slots in my old case. I used the four real case screws that formerly held the cage in, to secure the PS to the rear of the case. Four screws to screw the PS to the rear of the case, four screws (from my old case) to hold the cage in. Did I really NEED the cage? No...but, it does have lots of silicone strips lining it, and it did help with noise reduction, IMO.
2. Quality control on the moving parts; you need more of it. The side panels were a bitch to get off...understandable b/c the case is new. So I thought...until I tried to put them back on. They just wouldn't close completely. I had to slide-slam each one a few times to get them to mate with the front edge of the case totally flush. It should NOT have been that hard. NO; there were no wires in the way, etc. I've been doing this long enough to check for those things first.
3. Case needs to be about 2" longer. The PSU/HD area is way too short. Routing the wires/keeping them out of the GRILL-LESS FAN was a PITA. If you removed the fan in the PSU/HD area, then it's a non-issue, but then you also remove the cooling for that section. Also, there's very little space b/t the HD's and the fan. Even with svelte SATA cables, space it tight. Another 2" of space would be perfect.
4. The user's manual is a JOKE. Do you really need a manual to put a PC together? Of course not; but wouldn't it be nice to know which one of the 3.5mm jacks on the front panel is for the MIC and which one's for the HEADPHONES? Darn right it would. They aren't marked. Quality control, anyone?
5. Why did you put the HD activity LED BEHIND the door?
DUH. I know the Power LED is outside...as it should be, but the HD activity light should be too. This is a minor niggle, though.OK, that's the end of the niggles. Like I said, I tell it like it is.
Here are the pics; I know it's not the neatest cabling job. Believe me when I say I spent hours on it to get it to this point!
It would've been a little neater, but I ran out of zip ties. Seriously.It's a pretty standard system (full specs in sig), and it really looked good inside until I started running the power cables. LOL!
I'm proud to say that there are no wires run under the MB, no holes drilled in the MB tray and all the fan wires are run flat up the sides/top/rear of the case. Addtionally, I have full front panel USB and MIC/Headphone connections.
Here's a wide shot of the interior.
You'll notice there are no cables anywhere near the CPU/memory/video card.
Close up of the upper chamber.
Like I said, I really worked hard to get it to look "this good."
Look at the top fan; you can see that the speed controller is zip tied where it's easy to reach. I did this with all three fans. Speed changes are simple; no digging thru cables required.Almost zero room to move the PS wires around!
Another 2" of space down here would be most welcome.
But, you can see that there are no wires near that fan at all!
It was a PITA to get this space like that!
The HD cage.
Note very little space b/t the data cable and the fan. More room would be nice.
Here's where I hid the fan connections and the slack FP wires.
Notice that I daisy-chained all three fans. To make this space bigger, I removed the little toolbox. Cute, but just took up valuable space.
I used the other side of the PS to hide some of the unused PS wires.
Zip tie bases, FTW!
Other Notes
I used clear tape to seal up the vent where the video card duct used to draw air from (before they deleted the VGA duct from the newer cases)
Zip tie bases! You need lots of them. They really help out a lot!
The case is dead quiet. I have all three fans on low. Compared to my Antec 1040 case, this is literally 100%+ quieter. All I hear is a very low pitched and quiet fan noise. The silicone mounting of the HD makes it dead-silent when idle and the seek noise is almost inaudible. The case doesn't vibrate, shake or make random squeaky type noises...it just sits there...quietly. OH, the Power LED is a nice shade of blue, and it's brightness is perfect. Not too bright, not too dim. Perfect.
All the noise-quieting features of this case (you've read about them in the reviews, so I won't go into it) really work. Everything from the big silicone case feet, to the composite side panels and silicone HD mounting add up to make the system quiet. As long as you run the fans on low, you're golden.
I'll have to wait in order to give my opinion on temps. I swapped the stock Intel HSF (E6400) for an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro, as well as changing cases, so i'll have to wait for the AS5 to break-in/thermal cycle and then I'll state my opinion. So far though, it idles about 8C cooler (as measured with Intel TAT).
More to come on that.OK, that's it. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thanks for reading my thread and participating. :thumbsup:
__________________________________________________________________________
Call me late to the party, but thought I'd post some thoughts here, as I've not had a new case in YEARS. As in at least 6 years! My old Antec 1040 (no windows, no side panel vents) has served me well, but the 4x80mm fans have gotten really noisy and annoying.
1. Wow. I mean, WOW. So much has changed!
And I'm not talking about the semi-BTX layout either. I'm talking about the quality of construction. The 3-ply side panels make a satisfying "thud" when you tap them. The fit and finish are really superb. I've had LianLi cases and as nice looking as they are, that .5mm aluminum just feels flimsy and cheap.
The P180 is solid steel and everything fits really well. Everything slides easily, clicks into place loudly and just works.
2. 3x120mm fans, with 3-speed control on each, stock. :Q What more could you want concerning cooling, stock out of the box?
I hooked them up to an ATX PS I had laying around and played with the speed controls on the fans. "Hi" is freakin' LOUD, but it's all the airflow you could ever want, no matter what you've got going on in there. Medium is just as noisy as the old 4x80mm fans on my current case...albiet, I was running them w/o the side panel on...but they were loud enough. Airflow was subjectively about 3/4's that of the "HIGH" speed.
"Low", ah, LOW, was as silent as any corporate Dell or HP PC I've ever heard, and I've heard hundreds, literally.
Airflow seemed a great deal less than "medium' but still easily equal to 80mm fans running at regular speed. That's a sweet deal, IMHO.Once I get all the parts in there, airflow might not be fantastic on "LOW", but with the side panel on, that will help a lot. I'd gladly sacrifice a 3C increase in case temps for a dead quiet PC. I'm not too keen on the vented PCI slot covers...dunno about those. Good airflow = front to back airflow...not a mixture. But, I am assuming the Antec engineers know what they are doing. BTW; my P180 is a newer version. It has a standard 25mm thick fan in the lower PS area (not the biggie 38mm one) and NO video card vent thing like the earlier versions had. I'm happy about this.
3. The front door is not flimsy like I've read it is. Of course, it's plastic and you can't stand on it! Common sense, people. It closes smoothly and latches positively. The front air filters (2) are easily accessible and removable. I don't foresee any issues there.
4. The upper HD cage can mount an additional TWO (2) 120mm fans! One in front of the cage in a standard Antec-type snap-in holder bracket, and another on the back side of cage using the included metal "paperclip" type brackets. If you use the latter fan, you cannot mount HD's in the cage b/c using that fan necessitates removal of the HD mounting sleds. The lower HD cage can hold 4 HDs, so I don't see the need for the upper one too (it doesn't hold the floppy either, FYI). If you need more than 4 HDs, you need a separate SERVER, which is another thread.
I'm waiting on an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro before I move my system over. The parts going into this case are:
Gigabyte DS3
E6400 (currently at stock speed w/stock HSF)
2x1GB Corsiar PC6400
EVGA 7900GTO
Antec Trupower 2.0 550w
2 DVD burners
1 SATA HD
1 floppy
I'll report back once it's all moved over. Hope this post helps someone else. I searched on "P180" in this forum and read every single thread before making my purchase. Though I've not used the case yet, I can already tell that wiring will be a PITA, but the end result will be VERY worth it.
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