Antec Performance One P182 ATX Mid-Tower Case
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- Platform: PC
- Cabinet Form Factor: Mid-Tower
- Motherboard Form Factor: ATX
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399
ANTEC P182: Amazing Case.
Pros
Design, Cooling, PSU placement, access / routing
Cons
Quality problems (minor), included fans 2-wire only, not very quiet (even in low setting)
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
An excellent choice, and I hope you get one without the QC issues of mine.
I am not a hardcore gamer and neither do i want a cookie cutter design either. Once those two worlds are eliminated from the choices, the number of elegant designs is still relatively low despite Apple's example that design sells. Design is only one side and both accessibility and cooling performance an equally important aspect. Eventually that let me retire my Thermaltake Tsunami VA3400 case and bring in Antec's new Performance One series.
IN A NUTSHELL
The P182 is an amazing case with lots of well thought out features like the unconventional PSU placement and using the back plane of the motherboard tray to keep most cable out of sight. Even a little toolbox for typical wrenches etc. is included and hidden out of sight until needed.
The box is as square as one can be and the complete lack of any accent lighting may deter "modders" but it sure makes for an elegant design to fit more adult offices. Even the HDD LEDs are hidden and the power LED very small. The top fan cover is the only real distraction and can be left off at the expense of not having a smooth top. Of course you can always install lighten fans and PSU etc..
The cooling is effortless and overall usability make this $140 investment a smart one. However, the "Quiet" label is certainly in the "ear" of the beholder. At low settings it's well behaved, and high setting certainly makes its presence known. Fortunately it's generally not required to run anything other than Low (at least with my system).
A large selling point for the P182 is the excellent layout which makes cable routing and component access one of the best I worked with so far. The intelligent placement of cut-outs for routing and the bottom mounted PSU as well as front installed 5.25" devices (quick connect) and removable HDD bays make it very easy to have a good looking system on the inside as well (and by that maintain best cooling).
DETAILS
Installation: [*****] The case comes nearly fully assembled and most internal wires (i.e. to front panel) are pre-routed as well. Simply place the motherboard on the wel fitting spacers (ATX) and you can start plugging the remaining components in. The power supply sits tightly in the lower chamber along with up to 4 hard drives and a fan. The latter clears my 650W Antec PSU well, but I have seen reports where larger power supplies might require to remove the fan. Either way, it's highly recommended to us 90 degree SATA cables for the 4 HDD slots to prevent interference with the fan (which might stall it).
Design: [****-] It's cool and has a destict adult yet stylish flavor. Materials are chosen wisely to create the needed look, even if there is probably more plastic than anybody would expect from a case made of "cold rolled steel". The front door is double hinged to allow full fold-back and that fact can be easily missed since the second hinge is snapped in for normal use.
Quality: [****-] This could have been an easy category to ace for the P182 as the housing and chassis are extremely well made. However, the plastic doors for both filter covers and the actual front door leave room for improvement. In fact, neither filter cover closes and one of the snaps even was broken upon arrival. Beyond this there is very little to complain about as the finish is just gorgeous in its understated way. Overall fit is excellent.
Access: [*****] Both side panels can be fully removed and allow easy access. Cost considerations appear to be the reason for the use of regular screws one one and thumb screws on the other panel. (Unlike the easy access I was used to from my Thermaltake Tsunami.) The power supply is a bit difficult to install due to the close chamber on the bottom and the cage that needs to be assembled around it. However, wiring is a dream and maintaining access to most components by simply moving it behind the tray is simple and yet special. The 3.5" drive bays are both easily sliding in and out to make the installation of HDD easier. The Floppy slot is not removable (but front inserted). if there are any space issues then with how closely the motherboard sits relative to the wall between the chambers. That makes access to the typical connectors (i.e. USB, front panel etc.) difficult with cards installed in the PCI slots.
Cooling: [****-] Two of the three 120 mm Tri-Cool fans are located near the CPU and sign responsible for significant air flow. The third is located inside the bottom chamber to move air around the hard drives and the power supply. All three are 2 wire fans with an external speed selector switch (Low, Medium, High). Designed to be directly plugged into a 4-pin Molex connector, they won't fit on a motherboard which wouldn't be of much use anyway since the third sensor wire is missing anyway. In my case, I replaced the back fan with a 3-pin Tri-Cool 120mm to let the motherboard regulate the speed (Q-Fan2). Another improvement for the air flow is that the backside of the motherboard tray is designed to allow routing most of the cables behind the board and therefore have free air around the main components (CPU, Memory, GPU), provided you use SATA drives with the much smaller cable.
Noise: [****-] Three fans and at least one on the motherboard along with high speed DVD drives don't exactly make for an easy task to keep noise down. Frankly, with all three fans set to High and say you have a 20X DVD drive spinning, there is nothing quiet about the P182. Nevertheless, the efficiency of the cooling allows in most cases to keep the fans on low and the added insulation of the panels help further reduce noise. Of course, the fans are large openings and certainly allow internal noise to bypass the padding at least from certain angles. In normal use (with 2 fans on low and one controlled by Q-Fan), the noise level is quite low and very acceptable. It's not super quiet but impressive relative to the achieved cooling.
Routing: [****-] As mentioned, the case allows to route wires out of sight (and out of the way of the cooling stream). I paired the P182 with an Antec 650W EarthWatts PSU and installing it "fan down" allows for the power cables (ATX and PCIe) to reach the respective spots though the tray openings nearby without problem. In fact, since the motherboard is directly lined up with all drive trays in the upper chamber, you shouldn't encounter any short cable situations when trying to get from the bottom left corner of the MB to the right top corner in the case (i.e. DVD drive).
Extras: [****-] There is very little non-essential in this design. No transparent panel or motorized doors etc., but that doesn't mean the P182 doesn't have little unexpected features either. The one that certainly is a welcome addition is the little tool box that's behind the upper 3.5" drive bay. The only let-down was the fact that tools aren't included but at least there is a neat nook to keep essentials (though admittedly very small).
© 2008, theuerkorn
IN A NUTSHELL
The P182 is an amazing case with lots of well thought out features like the unconventional PSU placement and using the back plane of the motherboard tray to keep most cable out of sight. Even a little toolbox for typical wrenches etc. is included and hidden out of sight until needed.
The box is as square as one can be and the complete lack of any accent lighting may deter "modders" but it sure makes for an elegant design to fit more adult offices. Even the HDD LEDs are hidden and the power LED very small. The top fan cover is the only real distraction and can be left off at the expense of not having a smooth top. Of course you can always install lighten fans and PSU etc..
The cooling is effortless and overall usability make this $140 investment a smart one. However, the "Quiet" label is certainly in the "ear" of the beholder. At low settings it's well behaved, and high setting certainly makes its presence known. Fortunately it's generally not required to run anything other than Low (at least with my system).
A large selling point for the P182 is the excellent layout which makes cable routing and component access one of the best I worked with so far. The intelligent placement of cut-outs for routing and the bottom mounted PSU as well as front installed 5.25" devices (quick connect) and removable HDD bays make it very easy to have a good looking system on the inside as well (and by that maintain best cooling).
DETAILS
Installation: [*****] The case comes nearly fully assembled and most internal wires (i.e. to front panel) are pre-routed as well. Simply place the motherboard on the wel fitting spacers (ATX) and you can start plugging the remaining components in. The power supply sits tightly in the lower chamber along with up to 4 hard drives and a fan. The latter clears my 650W Antec PSU well, but I have seen reports where larger power supplies might require to remove the fan. Either way, it's highly recommended to us 90 degree SATA cables for the 4 HDD slots to prevent interference with the fan (which might stall it).
Design: [****-] It's cool and has a destict adult yet stylish flavor. Materials are chosen wisely to create the needed look, even if there is probably more plastic than anybody would expect from a case made of "cold rolled steel". The front door is double hinged to allow full fold-back and that fact can be easily missed since the second hinge is snapped in for normal use.
Quality: [****-] This could have been an easy category to ace for the P182 as the housing and chassis are extremely well made. However, the plastic doors for both filter covers and the actual front door leave room for improvement. In fact, neither filter cover closes and one of the snaps even was broken upon arrival. Beyond this there is very little to complain about as the finish is just gorgeous in its understated way. Overall fit is excellent.
Access: [*****] Both side panels can be fully removed and allow easy access. Cost considerations appear to be the reason for the use of regular screws one one and thumb screws on the other panel. (Unlike the easy access I was used to from my Thermaltake Tsunami.) The power supply is a bit difficult to install due to the close chamber on the bottom and the cage that needs to be assembled around it. However, wiring is a dream and maintaining access to most components by simply moving it behind the tray is simple and yet special. The 3.5" drive bays are both easily sliding in and out to make the installation of HDD easier. The Floppy slot is not removable (but front inserted). if there are any space issues then with how closely the motherboard sits relative to the wall between the chambers. That makes access to the typical connectors (i.e. USB, front panel etc.) difficult with cards installed in the PCI slots.
Cooling: [****-] Two of the three 120 mm Tri-Cool fans are located near the CPU and sign responsible for significant air flow. The third is located inside the bottom chamber to move air around the hard drives and the power supply. All three are 2 wire fans with an external speed selector switch (Low, Medium, High). Designed to be directly plugged into a 4-pin Molex connector, they won't fit on a motherboard which wouldn't be of much use anyway since the third sensor wire is missing anyway. In my case, I replaced the back fan with a 3-pin Tri-Cool 120mm to let the motherboard regulate the speed (Q-Fan2). Another improvement for the air flow is that the backside of the motherboard tray is designed to allow routing most of the cables behind the board and therefore have free air around the main components (CPU, Memory, GPU), provided you use SATA drives with the much smaller cable.
Noise: [****-] Three fans and at least one on the motherboard along with high speed DVD drives don't exactly make for an easy task to keep noise down. Frankly, with all three fans set to High and say you have a 20X DVD drive spinning, there is nothing quiet about the P182. Nevertheless, the efficiency of the cooling allows in most cases to keep the fans on low and the added insulation of the panels help further reduce noise. Of course, the fans are large openings and certainly allow internal noise to bypass the padding at least from certain angles. In normal use (with 2 fans on low and one controlled by Q-Fan), the noise level is quite low and very acceptable. It's not super quiet but impressive relative to the achieved cooling.
Routing: [****-] As mentioned, the case allows to route wires out of sight (and out of the way of the cooling stream). I paired the P182 with an Antec 650W EarthWatts PSU and installing it "fan down" allows for the power cables (ATX and PCIe) to reach the respective spots though the tray openings nearby without problem. In fact, since the motherboard is directly lined up with all drive trays in the upper chamber, you shouldn't encounter any short cable situations when trying to get from the bottom left corner of the MB to the right top corner in the case (i.e. DVD drive).
Extras: [****-] There is very little non-essential in this design. No transparent panel or motorized doors etc., but that doesn't mean the P182 doesn't have little unexpected features either. The one that certainly is a welcome addition is the little tool box that's behind the upper 3.5" drive bay. The only let-down was the fact that tools aren't included but at least there is a neat nook to keep essentials (though admittedly very small).
© 2008, theuerkorn
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