HEXUS.net - reviews :: Antec P182 - the system case the P180 should have been?

[Bob Crabtree]

Last summer, we reviewed Antec's P180 case, discovering a bunch of issues that we got pretty vocal about.

Fast forward to today and we now have the chance to find if the second incarnation of the P18X series, the P182, is a better proposition.

Find out more.

[Aez]

Mine had thumb screws on both panels.

[frazered]

sweet case - very tempted to get one

[sitalchauhan]

Mine had thumb screws on both panels.

Are you sure about that? My p180 is like in the review, where the left side pannel has thumb screws and right uses normal screws. Not a problem for me though because I never need to remove the right side pannel.

I absolutely love my p180 and the only problem that I had with it is cable management. However, cable management is now fantastic in the p182

[jwr3]

Open the case front and look carefully at the grates over the air intake areas. There will be a small arrowhead midway down the right side of each of them. Press in gently and voila. At least, thats how it works on mine.

-j

[lost eden]

Again, no shot of the case with the test system installed? Am I the only one who finds shots like that useful for gauging the size & layout of the interior?

[Vowo]

Again, no shot of the case with the test system installed? Am I the only one who finds shots like that useful for gauging the size & layout of the interior?

Agreed, very useful

[MSIC]

Do we have any people here who previously had a 180 and since upgraded to a 182?
Any thoughts?

[onestep]

My P182 has 4 thumb screws for both side panels, so perhaps you lost/never received the other 2. Also the cpu power socket & 24pin mobo power socket on my Asus P5N-E SLI are reachable routing the lead round the back of the case with my corsair hx520. Perhaps your mobo simply has bad positioning of this socket?

2 other things, you don't have to take the whole front of the case off to get to the dust filters as there's a spring loaded door in front of them both. You simply open the case door and push in slightly on the right of each flap & they spring open 2 reveal the dust filters (very handy indeed).

Also the middle front fan (the 1 nearest the top front dust filter) screws into a removalable fan tray which takes regular 25mm thick 120mm fans which when secured you simply drop back into the case (like the HD cages) and it clips into place, there's no need to use low profile fans at all It's also worth noting that this is the only availble front intake fan mount as there isn't 1 for the bottom as it relies on the pre-installed 120mm fan in the lower chamber behind the PSU to pull air from the front

Anyway good review dude, but could you maybe edit your review or re-clarify some of the things I mention above. Thanks

[MD]

My P182 has 4 thumb screws for both side panels, so perhaps you lost/never received the other 2.

It's highly possible our sample didn't have the thumbscrews on as its was an early unit, but its good to see this has been corrected on the new builds.

Also the cpu power socket & 24pin mobo power socket on my Asus P5N-E SLI are reachable routing the lead round the back of the case with my corsair hx520. Perhaps your mobo simply has bad positioning of this socket?

Its of course dedicated to the ATX power port location, although the cut-out was in line with the cut out in the mobo tray.

2 other things, you don't have to take the whole front of the case off to get to the dust filters as there's a spring loaded door in front of them both. You simply open the case door and push in slightly on the right of each flap & they spring open 2 reveal the dust filters (very handy indeed).

We didn't say you had to remove the front to gain access to the filters We just said that by opening the front door you can see the filters

Also the middle front fan (the 1 nearest the top front dust filter) screws into a removalable fan tray which takes regular 25mm thick 120mm fans which when secured you simply drop back into the case (like the HD cages) and it clips into place, there's no need to use low profile fans at all It's also worth noting that this is the only availble front intake fan mount as there isn't 1 for the bottom as it relies on the pre-installed 120mm fan in the lower chamber behind the PSU to pull air from the front.

I'll double check on this and how its written it may not have come through very clearly.

Anyway good review dude, but could you maybe edit your review or re-clarify some of the things I mention above. Thanks

Where applicable we will adjust it if its factually incorrect, Ill review that last issue, although the others in our circumstances were correct.

Thanks for your feedback everyone

Matt.

[onestep]

"With the front-panel swung open, you can see a pair of washable filters pre-fitted to the P182. The downside, though, is that the front-panel can only be opened after you've removed both side panels. And that can become annoying - the right-hand panel doesn't have thumbscrews, so requires use of a screwdriver."

The fact that you mention nothing of the front dust filter bay doors AT ALL & only mention being able to see the dust filters when the front of the case is off definately leaves the impression that you believe the only way to get at the dust filters is to take the whole front of the case off.

C'mon fess up, you didn't notice the dust filter bay doors did you!

Don't worry, I didn't either until I flicked through the manual a week after I built my new PC in the case

[stoppit]

My P182 only had thumb screws on one side and the hinge on the door was broken , so back to Scan it goes...

[Wikkus]

C'mon fess up, you didn't notice the dust filter bay doors did you!

Don't worry, I didn't either until I flicked through the manual a week after I built my new PC in the case

Must say, that's the way it read to me, also, especially with the accompanying photo showing the case with its front panel swung out the way...

For my 2p worth, I've been running a P180B for about 4 and half months now and from your review and the guff on Antec's site, I really can't see the difference other than cosmetic between the 180B and the 182.

What I do know is that it's neither cool or quiet when you fill it with a QX6700, four SATA drives and an 8800GTX! The top and rear fans need to be on their "mid" setting during a gaming session to keep the "case" temp around Intel's 39 deg C max. If the room temp rises to 22 deg C or above, they have to be whacked up to "high" or I risk temp-related BSoDs as the case temp climbs over 40 deg C

I use an Antec Neo HE 550 PSU and, with a little jiggery-pokery, it's *just* possible to get the mobo power connectors to run around the back and up through the slot in the chassis provided for that purpose. It is a bugger though as it means I have to loosen the retaining screws and "cage" on the PSU if I need to remove the mobo

It's a solidly built case and I do like some of the features, particularly the ease of concealing cables within the case to give a nice, uncluttered look whilst maximising airflow in the chassis. The lower compartment fan (which you guys had problems with on the original 180) is a slimmer profile device in the 180B and actually does a fantastic job of keeping my 4x SATAII drives cool (typically, 39 deg C) in the location that Antec recommend. Heat kills hard drives, too! In my old rig (Antec Sonata) the hard drives were regularly running over 55 deg C

I'm building a similar spec system for my other half in a month or so and plan on getting either an Akasa Eclipse or maybe even a Zalman GT1000.

After that, I'm considering water-cooling for my own rig to get the noise and heat back down to the sorts of levels I was comfy with using my old 3.0GHz P4 -based Antec Sonata rig.

Cheers!