A Well Built Case From A Well Known Company...

[Programer1]

And what about the Antec Performance TX series? Anyone tried one?

Thanks...

[Programer1]

And also I just noticed that the P180 is steel inside in the reply by Limnos...

Any one confirms that because the Antec website says it's Aluminum...

[ChiMax96]

uh...I dunno if its steel, and i dont want to check BUT... Before arriving to the choice of the P180, I did look at the Stacker as well, I think you should check that out.

 

i've already scratched one of the side panels to my P180 (just need to buff it), so maybe that's attesting its' fragile nature...

 

Anyway, the P180 is HEAVY, but it might be all the components and me being a weakling :cat:

 

You should check the For Sale Threads, there was a Lian Li in there for about $100.

 

Oh And... I'm happy with my P180 thus far, except for it not having an easy way to carry it.

Certainly brought a lot of components - big bang for the buck compared to the other cases I had.

 

Suggestions:

P180, Gigabyte Aurora, CM Stacker, Centurion, Lian Li in FS Forums.

[Programer1]

So here are my choices so help me out:

Antec P180 - Gigabyte 3D Aurora - Cooler Master Centurion 2 - Cooler Master CM Stacker 830.

Thanks...

[koldbrann]

The Antec P180 is full steel and a heavyweight. Around 14kg emtpy. I would not buy it again.

 

Nice aluminium cases:

NZXT LeXa (the front is plastic tho, just has alu look). Very nice case, very light but i dislike the look.

Gigabyte Aurora

Coolermaster Stacker 830 (expensive)

Lian Li PC 101A (best quality wise but also expensive)

[koldbrann]

LOL, did you get a pre-production version or something?

 

1) The fan in the bottom works great as long as you get a standard sized PSU (i.e. 140*150*86mm, or even 150*150*86). You can also just throw in a thinner fan.

 

I think its kinda useless since you can also install a fan in the front.

 

2) Sure the side panels have clips, but they also have screws (thumb-screws on access side) at the back.

 

I mean the side walls. They re heavy and only have 4 very tiny plastic noses to hold em.

 

3) What is the problem with vertical drives? The little silicone grommets work great IMO and wow, it took me all of 3-4 minutes to screw 2 drives in.

 

Personal dislike

 

4) There are absolutely no sharp edges on my case...they are all rolled edges so you must have pretty fragile hands if you are getting cut on this case.

 

The cage for the PSU is razor sharp in mine. Also it was hard to get that installed.

The edges of the hard drive cages are also razor sharp.

 

 

5) I admit it takes a bit of time to put together, but it might have added 10-20 min. max to my build and that was just planning for the cable management.

 

Compared to most other cases it took me very long. I also consider the GFX card air duct useless.

 

That all said...most of the internals in this case are steel & not alluminum, as programer wanted.

 

All internals are full steel. Just the outsides of the side walls and the front door got aluminium parts.

 

123

[Guest finz]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16811133132

 

The Matrix case my Thermaltake is supposed to be great. I'd recommend the tower that I use, but Newegg no longer sells it and it weighs around 40lbs. Love my supertower though...

[Programer1]

reduced my choices to:

Antec P180 - Gigabyte 3D Aurora - Cooler Master Centurion 2

help me out...

[Guest nibs]

I think you should still consider the Antec P160. I've read some horror stories to do with cabel problems with the P180. I love my P160 and it fits all my components well. Provantage, where I got mine, has them for $88.15 http://www.provantage.com/antec-p160~7ANTG02H.htm and the windowed one is only a few cents more.

[dab]

^^ I agree, suggsested it on page 1. It comes with a filter for the front intake and the sideways mounted hard disk cage is nice to work with. Install the hard disks backwards and hide the cables entirely!

[White_Hair]

Go for Lian-li product if I were you. I have been really really happy about my Lian-li case.

 

Review for most of the Lian-li cases

 

Pos:

-Roomy

-Built with Quality

-Everything is removable

-Great airflow design

-Thumb screws for almost everything

-Light weight

-Strong

-Beautiful

 

Cons:

- Too roomy sometimes, you might need longer cables

- For some model like pc-v 1000 series, the PSU bay only fits standard size PSU, OCZ powerstream will not fit

 

Take a look. Probably you will like it. However, it all dependes on you r going for water cooling or not. If you are, you can also take a look of the Thermaltake products.

 

Spending a bit more on the case is an investment for the future

[p0tter]

Antec P180 was a POS in my opinion, hated mine.

 

Look into a Cooler Master Stacker (not the newer model) fits a good W/C system and the kitchen sink.

 

rant on

 

Reasons to stay way from the P180

 

Lower chamber fan is useless (cables kill the airflow) and the lower drive cage gets little airflow.

 

VGA cooling system is a joke, not worth explaining.

 

Cramped. Looks roomy, but once your routing wires its a pain.

 

HEAVY...

 

Cheap plastic front door, never mounts flush and eventually will break off (small plastic mounts are small and plastic )

 

Since VGA cards are getting longer and longer, you will have clearance issues with the top drive cage and your videocard. My 7800GT was a tight fit.

 

Routing the ATX 20/4 pin power is tough, because of the PSU location and the NF4 LP socket

 

Top exhaust is useless, and if you attempt to make it an intake.. your case becomes a dust bin.

 

No case window option (if you w/c you would like to see the flow or check for leaks, but not likely with the limited space)

 

I could go on.. but I wont.

 

I have owned the following Antec P180, Super Lanboy (nice small light cause for mininal hardware) and a P160. I should have kept the P160, alot of room, good cooling, stealth;d drive bays, nice window design, very light.

 

rant off