Antec Performance One P182

[Kougar]

Reviewer: Ryan "Death_Incarnate" Kerschner

Date Published: May 9, 2007

Excerpt: "Does the newest addition to the Performance One series from Antec have what it takes to keep your components cool? We think so. Come take a look and decide for yourself. "


http://www.bjorn3d.com/Material/revimages/case/Antec%20P182/P182FrontAntec.JPG

Please feel free to post your comments and questions here!

Link To Review (http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=1091)

[werty316]

Great review but there are a few things I don't like about this is case like the PSU location which makes it hard to relocate the 4/8-pin connector which is always in the top left corner of a motherboard; another thing is the intake grills which look quite restrictive.

[slugbug]

It looks like a well thought out design :smile:

[Bio-Hazard]

Glad to see that Antec fixed a few of the most complained about shortfalls in their first edition of the case. now if they would only open up the air flow to the front of the case.

[Death_Incarnate]

I think that there is plenty of air flow at the front of the case for most users. The grills and filters are really not that restrictive. Even when the front door of the case is closed, there is plenty of intake flow from the vents in the side of the front panel.

[Bio-Hazard]

I guess everyone has their own idea of accepable air flow I guess.............;) I do know for a fact that when I had my old AMD X2 rig in the case it got hot, even with water cooling, open the door and the overall temps dropped several degrees. And when I cut out the front grills and installed some nice pretty mesh, the temps dropped even further. That in it's self tells me that the air flow need to be improved upon..................:)

[Techdomain.com.au]

Not everyone has a case with 400 120mm fans in the front :P (ok... that might be a slight exaggeration.)

[Unregistered]

i use the scythe kamabay . that is a 120mm fan intake that u can place right under your dvd-drive .
it takes up 3 bays positioned horizontal but it gives a great extra airflow
my casetemps dropped by 5 celcius

[Xero (1)ne]

Looks like a fridge....





....A nice fridge :wink:

[Slartybartfast]

This case is almost the same as the P180. It is a reasonable value case, but I do not like the plastic feet and front panel design. To be honest I think 9 out of 10 is a bit generous. It is much cheaper than the Silverstone TJ07 and 09, which have similar internal compartmentation. However, if I wanted a full tower I think I would prefer to spend a little more on the CM Stacker 832. It is heavier and bigger than the P182 but it can handle pretty much any oversize internal hardware setup you can imagine, and the quality is superb.

[Death_Incarnate]

It is a reasonable value case, but I do not like the plastic feet and front panel design.

Well that's good, since it has soft silicon rubber feet. What don't you like about the front panel?

To be honest I think 9 out of 10 is a bit generous. It is much cheaper than the Silverstone TJ07 and 09, which have similar internal compartmentation.

Maybe we can get one of those two cases in and see how they compare to this one. I would love to take a look at the TJ07.

[Antar]

I still got the P180 but must admit that I am very tired of it.
There was several things that came to a short coming which I see that they have changed only a few of.
First off... The overall weight. When first you got this thing placed, you don't want to move it, since there is a big chance of getting back hurts.
Secondary, the dust... I had problems with eather the temperature getting to high in the case when closed and when open there was too much dust.
With the new one I see that they have added some extra wholes for the water cooling, but for those who use fans, it will still be a problem since it will just be another way in for the dust.
The best thing about the system which I wouldn't ever want to anyone to change, was the way the harddrives and the optical drives can be slided in and out. That is one of the best methods above any other cases I have seen to date.

[Death_Incarnate]

You can't lay all of the blame for dust on the case. Dust doesn't come from the case, it comes from your carpet, your skin, your pets, etc.

The watercooling holes are great, even if you don't watercool. They have the rubber grommets that minimize the amount of air and dust that get through.

I think this case is one of those classic, "either you love it or you hate it" cases. I lean more towards the "love it" side.

[Unregistered]

You can't lay all of the blame for dust on the case. Dust doesn't come from the case, it comes from your carpet, your skin, your pets, etc.

The watercooling holes are great, even if you don't watercool. They have the rubber grommets that minimize the amount of air and dust that get through.

I think this case is one of those classic, "either you love it or you hate it" cases. I lean more towards the "love it" side.

I lean toward hating it, mostly because I am dreaming of something lighter, and just as silent as this case and with better airflow and lesser chance of dust in the case. :)

I am contemplating building my own case, but that is still only if I do not find the type of case I want...

Also the aestethic of this case is really nice and that is something I really is looking into finding in other cases, though I would go for an option where there is no door on the case. I have found out it is more obstructing then usefull.

[Kougar]

While weight can be a valid concern, respectfully no one should expect a tower or sturdy midtower to be lightweight. :) Not unless they desire a cheap, thin aluminum sheet case that suffers from flex issues! I have seen many smaller mid-tower cases that weigh in just as much and even more than the P180 series, and one thing I can say is they are all solid beasts. Flexing, case bending, and similar damage just isn't very likely with a solid case.

[tomato]

I think this case is one of those classic, "either you love it or you hate it" cases. I lean more towards the "love it" side.

Ditto ;) 8)

[Unregistered (Antric)]

I read there are some concerns over air intake into the case through the front (door closed vs. door open). Would it help to reverse the flow of the top fan so that the air comes in and exhausts out the back through the other? At first, I thought that was the original plan (since the door is meant to be kept closed most of the time) to solve that problem.

I own the case, but i haven't used it yet. I like the simple style. I don't intend to show off any components, so no need for a window or LEDs. I think if you don't plan to move the computer around much (or at all), weight should be a non-issue.

[Covids]

I have a question about this case. Has anyone fitted this case with an nVidia 8800GTX? And if anyone did, wasn't it too long to get it in there?

tia

Covids

[Frag Maniac]

I'm a big fan of Antec cases but my main gripe about the P182 is it's too much like the P180 to justify paying at least $30 more. The only changes worth noting are the cable management and fan controllers. They totally botched the external rad hole placement and because of it a Radbox would not mount easily using them.

They should have skipped the external rad holes and instead made the HD bays like those on the Sonata cases. Sideways mounting them utilizes space so much better it's like having up to 1.75" more depth for longer video cards and is actually easier to attach or stuff away cables depending on which way you face the drives. I also would have preferred they put the fan speed controller at the front of the case and tied all 3 fans to the same control.

Heck, sideways mounted HDs would also fix another common complaint of the P180, 182 cases. The lower chamber fan could be positioned foward futher to more easily facilitate long PSs and their cables. The floppy drive cage is also longer than it need be.

[zachig]

Thanks for a GREAT review, Kougar! :grin:

It seems that the guys over Antec did a GREAT job with that case and it's good to see they've implemented in this one all the features that were missing in the P180 case. ;-)

I owned a P150 case about a year ago (won it at a contest held over Antec website) but had to sell to sell it since I already ahd my Thermaltake Soprano, and I was too lazy to move all parts to the new case. :frown: :lol:

I personally think I've made a mistake, since the P150 is a great performer, not talking about the P182 which is way better...:grin:

Anyway, thanks for a great review, as it's always nice to read good case reviews, mainly when they're coming from Antec and Lian-Li, which are my favorite case manufacturers...;-)

Hopefully I'll get to own one day one of their top performance cases, like this one...:roll:

['Amp!']

^^ Then stay tuned Zachig cuz I have a doosy for ya

[zachig]

^^ Then stay tuned Zachig cuz I have a doosy for ya
WOW!!! Really??? :jawdrop: That would be great! :grin: Looking forward...;-)