P182 Special Edition - One of the best cases gets better
by Joshua Buss on April 12, 2007 1:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Interior
Inside, not much has changed through the various iterations of Antec's P18x series. Their design places the power supply at the bottom but does not invert the motherboard like other cases with this layout. Although sometimes this can make certain motherboard/power supply combinations impossible fits for the case, Antec believes it is still worthwhile it to have this layout, and for a few reasons it really does make sense.
Most notably, the design allows for all the hottest air that collects around the CPU and motherboard power regulators to be taken away very quickly by the two large exhaust fans placed at the top-rear of the case.
In this shot of the fan in the top plate, a USB-powered flexible work light is visible. When not in use, the light stores away in its holder. It's an interesting inclusion, but of course it's only useful if the system is powered on; this is generally not the case when people are working on the interior of their computer.
Unlike the P180 we reviewed earlier, the entire inside of the P182 SE is black - right down to the drive cages and motherboard mounting tray. To hold the hard drives, two separate removable cages are used. The top unit can contain two drives, each one in its own removable sled, and the bottom cage can hold four with vibration-dampening rubber grommets.
Each cage is guided securely in place along rails and held fast with a single thumbscrew. As for the power supply, it's held with a piece of metal with rubber along some of its edges that goes around three sides and then fastens with screws onto a platform underneath. Four more screws can go into the PSU itself in the back, regardless of which way the unit is oriented - a nice touch a lot of cheaper cases still have not implemented.
Our Zalman PSU's plethora of cables still all fit through the collapsible opening, but longer power supplies might require the removal of the fan in this bottom section. For the longest power supplies, the entire plate that the fan mounts onto can be taken out. The handy sliding cover serves to keep the cabling neat, and simultaneously it segregates the different airflow zones of the case; unfortunately it's still a bit flimsy in its construction and use. There are actually two holes in the cover, one for the power supply cables and one for cabling to go to the lower hard drive cage. Both can be opened and closed individually.
Inside, not much has changed through the various iterations of Antec's P18x series. Their design places the power supply at the bottom but does not invert the motherboard like other cases with this layout. Although sometimes this can make certain motherboard/power supply combinations impossible fits for the case, Antec believes it is still worthwhile it to have this layout, and for a few reasons it really does make sense.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Most notably, the design allows for all the hottest air that collects around the CPU and motherboard power regulators to be taken away very quickly by the two large exhaust fans placed at the top-rear of the case.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
In this shot of the fan in the top plate, a USB-powered flexible work light is visible. When not in use, the light stores away in its holder. It's an interesting inclusion, but of course it's only useful if the system is powered on; this is generally not the case when people are working on the interior of their computer.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Unlike the P180 we reviewed earlier, the entire inside of the P182 SE is black - right down to the drive cages and motherboard mounting tray. To hold the hard drives, two separate removable cages are used. The top unit can contain two drives, each one in its own removable sled, and the bottom cage can hold four with vibration-dampening rubber grommets.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Each cage is guided securely in place along rails and held fast with a single thumbscrew. As for the power supply, it's held with a piece of metal with rubber along some of its edges that goes around three sides and then fastens with screws onto a platform underneath. Four more screws can go into the PSU itself in the back, regardless of which way the unit is oriented - a nice touch a lot of cheaper cases still have not implemented.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Our Zalman PSU's plethora of cables still all fit through the collapsible opening, but longer power supplies might require the removal of the fan in this bottom section. For the longest power supplies, the entire plate that the fan mounts onto can be taken out. The handy sliding cover serves to keep the cabling neat, and simultaneously it segregates the different airflow zones of the case; unfortunately it's still a bit flimsy in its construction and use. There are actually two holes in the cover, one for the power supply cables and one for cabling to go to the lower hard drive cage. Both can be opened and closed individually.
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yyrkoon - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
IF they do sell for $170usd, I would have to say that is too much. I have seen the regular P180's at around $100 usd, and sometimes less. Having said that, I personally own a Lian-Li PC-G50(silver), and while without buying the add-on 3x5.25" to 4x3.5" drive converter, you would not be able to get more than 3 drives in it. Now, I do own one of these bay converters, and I do have 4 HDDs internally (soon to be 6), and I have to say, comparred to this case, it is much more of a bargin. Keep in mind that I am a fan of Antec, and I love the fact they make good, solid cases (and PSUs), that are very functional, with lots of room.This Lian-Li case I own, is also far more in-expensive, made of 100% aluminum, looks very good( clean, no bright colors, or 'fancy' lines ), very functional, is a reverse ATX layout (if you are into that sort of thing), very quiet, even with the stock fans, and is only 15" tall ! Add the bay converter kit, and you start to encroach on the Antec case in price.
Now the one major thing I have as an issue with my own case . . . No room for a HUGE third party CPU fan, in fact, the best I could probably fit in it, would be the cooler supplied with some AMD Opterons, which is exactly what I bought, just have not put it in yet.
All in all, I'd have to say, the P182SE sure is a flashy case, probably too bright for me, and I would probably prefer a black P180 instead. That being said, the internal layout is pretty dahmed nice.
BPB - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Forget about $170usd. Here's http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N8...">Newegg's pricing: $229.99 + $23.72 for shipping for a total of $253.71! Yikes, that's awfully high.strikeback03 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
The review stated that the normal P182 is around $170, with the SE version (which you linked to) at $230yyrkoon - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Still, for $250, you can get a very nice Lian Li case, somethign I myself would preffer.yyrkoon - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Forget about newegg, they tend to jack up prices because . . . Someone gave the item a good review, people are buying it moderatly and they have a script that jacks the price up(cost, and demand), and hardly seem to be in a big hurry keeping the 'hot' item in stock.I bet if you froogle around, you'll find someone like eWiz, ZZF, or mWave has it for a much better price. All of thee companies are as reputable as newegg, just some of them do not have as good shipping (ZZF usually has free shipping on everything though), and may take up to 7 working days to arrive at the doorstep . . .
cbuchach - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Yes, I own a P180. The case is great except for the fact that all the cables from the bottom power supply/hard drive compartment route through the panel opening. The new cable routing features, instead of the mirror finish should have been the focus as in my opinion this is the best update to the case.Gigahertz19 - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
I'm definitely interested in this case for my new comp build at the end of this summer. My goal is to try and build a computer that is dead silent, I want to be able to sleep in the same room at night with my computer 10 feet away and not hear a single whisper. Not sure if this is possible with air cooling but I'll try, so would most people say this is the silentest case you can buy?tydas - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Well, I did not go for a silent build but I wanted quiet and with the p180B and my components its very quiet. I'd imagine with the right components like samsung HD, fan less cpu and fan less cpu it could be done. A nice 120mm fan with low rpm is silent so it comes down to components.hubajube - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Nice case but doesn't allow for good cable management. It looks like a rats nest in there. Oh well, I guess I'll keep my Aspire case for a few more years.JoshuaBuss - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Actually that's not true at all.. there are a ton of options for cable management. I just didn't take the time to manage them all very carefully because we wanted to get this review out asap.