My thoughts on the P182

As they seem to be a little different than the general run I thought I'd write them here.

What I liked:

General Build Quality - better than I expected from previous Antecs.
Space and ties at back of motherboard to keep cables tidy - found I only needed to use the slots between PSU and the main area for one SATA cable.
Cooling performance - pleasantly surprised at around 45-50C running all four cores 24/7 in last Saturday's heat.

What I didn't like:

Fan between bottom HDD cage and PSU area. I know this has been mentioned before, but there are three ways they could have improved this. Firstly the depth of the case being an inch or two bigger would have made life easier. Secondly the fan being adjustable backward and forward (or easily removable) would have been helpful. Thirdly the baffle on the side of the fan is a real PITA. Perhaps this isn't so big an issue with a short PSU like the Corsair, bit you don't need a massive PSU for this to be an issue.

If you want to put a fan on the middle cage to blow over the GFX card, again this is very tight. Again slightly more depth would have made it easier. Or if you were able to fit the fan inside the cage rather thanon the end. IMO this is poor design.

Noise. I did add a fan, but it was a low speed one (in fact another Tricool I had laying around, also set on low). Basically I had the same system in an NZXT Hush and it was much quieter. I'm not sure what the issue is (had to fly back to the US on business pretty much straight away after the build), but the overall noise level was disappointing.

I generally like the noise level the case produces with the stock fans and everything else passive. It's not silent but it's close enough for most people.

The case does have the pontential to be pretty much the quietest high performance case around if you use something like yate loons undervolted of scythe slipstreams.

I can't hear my AAKS hard drives at all in there so that is one noise elminated :)

You will probably get more effective cooling by adding the one fan behind the upper HDD cage rather than on the end of it. I'd only put on on the end if I already had one behind it. It's a nice touch if your graphics card fits in, else it wouldn't hurt just to use the fan behind the cage to get some decent airflow to the graphics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thorsson

What I didn't like:

Fan between bottom HDD cage and PSU area. I know this has been mentioned before, but there are three ways they could have improved this. Firstly the depth of the case being an inch or two bigger would have made life easier. Secondly the fan being adjustable backward and forward (or easily removable) would have been helpful. Thirdly the baffle on the side of the fan is a real PITA. Perhaps this isn't so big an issue with a short PSU like the Corsair, bit you don't need a massive PSU for this to be an issue.

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To make it even simpler, moving the HDD cage backwards by 5mm and removing the parition between the two would have made it even better, have the fan at the front of the case. You can fit a 15mm fan in there already or a 20mm I believe, so why not shift it back by 5mm and have a standard, 120mm fan in there?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Madafwo

To make it even simpler, moving the HDD cage backwards by 5mm and removing the parition between the two would have made it even better, have the fan at the front of the case. You can fit a 15mm fan in there already or a 20mm I believe, so why not shift it back by 5mm and have a standard, 120mm fan in there?

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I agree that is stupid. But the bottom fan (assuming you can leave it in place) generates plenty enough draft for cooling the HDD's and giving the PSU a bit of air :)

Looking forward to get mine hopefully with the rest of the order this week to build at weekend. They run out of the gtx260 Gainward card I also ordered

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Madafwo

To make it even simpler, moving the HDD cage backwards by 5mm and removing the parition between the two would have made it even better, have the fan at the front of the case. You can fit a 15mm fan in there already or a 20mm I believe, so why not shift it back by 5mm and have a standard, 120mm fan in there?

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The forthcoming P183 and P193 have the lower chamber fan relocated to the front of the case, as well as various other improvements related to airflow.

It should make cable management much easier, shame about the nasty holes in the front door...

As thorsson said, short PSU's are fine for cable management but that will certainly make it even easier yeah.

The 183 looks more like the P180 mini which is a shame as you say, The 180 and 182 look understated, apart from being huge mine doesn't look out of place in the office.

What are peoples general thoughts on the Antec Sonata III Piano?

You certainly get a lot for your money. Quiet case with a decent 500W PSU. It looks a bit cheap and the cooling is basic but functional.

When it was £70 or less I'd say it was probably worth it. It would be awesome if the Sonata PLUS was that around £90 - £100 again rather than £110 - £120 as that is an excellent case and PSU.

The III being £80 means it's in the firing line of the Antec 300 and Corsair 450/550VX and so that would probably get my money.

As already mentioned the bottom fan postion is not great, on a recent rebuild I gave up on it and stuck it on the front. Personally I also dislike the side panel fittings

I almost got the Sonata III but opted for a quieter PC

I must say I like the P182 chrome one though couldn't find on in UK