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
Installation
To finish our look at the special edition of the P182, here are a few pictures from the installation of our new test bed.
A plastic grill is included with the case to prevent objects from covering up the rear top fan and thus render it useless. Also notice the switches for the two fans mentioned earlier.
The main hard drive cage is simple and easy to use, and plenty of long screws are provided to make installing the drives worry-free.
Optical drives and other 5.25" drives are installed with rails, which certainly work well. Enough rails are provided for all four bays to be filled.
In addition to holding two sleds for more hard drives, the other drive cage also has a small accessory box on its backside for storing extra case screws and whatnot. Nice.
A picture of our test bed almost totally installed once again shows the adequate but not really ample room inside the P18x series of cases. It's a case that's really just as big as it needs to be to hold a moderate desktop configuration. Thankfully, it is big enough for large coolers like the popular Zalman CNPS 9500.
To finish our look at the special edition of the P182, here are a few pictures from the installation of our new test bed.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
A plastic grill is included with the case to prevent objects from covering up the rear top fan and thus render it useless. Also notice the switches for the two fans mentioned earlier.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
The main hard drive cage is simple and easy to use, and plenty of long screws are provided to make installing the drives worry-free.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
Optical drives and other 5.25" drives are installed with rails, which certainly work well. Enough rails are provided for all four bays to be filled.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
In addition to holding two sleds for more hard drives, the other drive cage also has a small accessory box on its backside for storing extra case screws and whatnot. Nice.
 |
| Click to enlarge |
A picture of our test bed almost totally installed once again shows the adequate but not really ample room inside the P18x series of cases. It's a case that's really just as big as it needs to be to hold a moderate desktop configuration. Thankfully, it is big enough for large coolers like the popular Zalman CNPS 9500.
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Anorax - Sunday, July 15, 2007 - link
Hi Joshua. Just read this review. To be honest this is a fairly average review. What sets the P182 series apart from other cases is specifically the ability to route cables behind the backplate the motherboard is fixed to and between the rear case cover. There are cable ties, fixing points, and access holes for just this purpose.By removing the cable mess from the area over the motherboard you give the case a much better airflow and therefore lower overall ambient temperatures. You say the review was rushed but there would have been little if extra time involved in quickly routing the cables behind the keyboard.
So really you have defeated the whole purpose for using this case in the first place. Sorry but a little more attention to detail next time would be good.
Anorax - Sunday, July 15, 2007 - link
The word *keyboard should read *motherboard.Jodiuh - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Why must they continue to put the bottom 120 in the middle of the case? My HDD's will roast 10C hotter in that config as opposed to blowing cool air OVER the HDD's. :(Leth - Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - link
You can move the middle mounted 120mm fan to the front of the case if you wish, or even add an extra so you have two 120mm's in the bottom part. Having two gives you a push/pull airflow setup for hd's mounted in the bottom ;)afilis - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Correct me if i'm wrong but i haven't seen anywhere in the review if you can fit a pair of 8800gtx with both cages installed, as these gfx cards are extra long...??bamacre - Thursday, April 12, 2007 - link
Don't get me wrong, this case, and others have a lot of features not found in a Dell, but take a peek inside a Dell XPS 410 or Precision 390.Dell's assembly for the optical drives is one major thing that no other cases I have seen have tried to duplicate. The Precision 390 case design even allows for the changing of the optical drives to be rotated so that the system can be used as a desktop or a tower, and this change takes literally 90 seconds. It is just so incredibly easy to add or replace an optical drive in a Dell because of the case design.
This complaint is personal but would apply to any of us who would only want one or two internal. Again, Dell's design for hard drives is so simply and yet so brilliant. Two pull-out plastic enclosures. No screws needed. Pull one out, slide in a hard drive, and pop it back in. It is just so easy, and this is definitely something that some case makers could easily implememnt.
Reference:
http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_04.jpg">http://www.majortoker.com/images/xps410a_04.jpg
The hard drive enclosures are located on the bottom left and center.
JarredWalton - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Already done http://www.anandtech.com/systems/showdoc.aspx?i=28...">months ago. A quote you'll probably agree with:That said, the XPS 410 chassis is not designed to house dual GPUs or a variety of other options. It's a good all-in-one system for a non-enthusiast (i.e. people that don't care about overclocking), but it's not inexpensive either.
bamacre - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Yeah, I remember the article, it was very good actually.But what I meant to say was that other case-makers should implement some of the nice features that Dell has in their cases.
JarredWalton - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Ah, I see... maybe they want to avoid patent infringement lawsuits? ;)One possibility is that they want to make sure their cases are more compatible. You have to be able to fit anything from an old P3 up through the latest Core 2 Quad or X2 in a standard ATX case. Part of the reason Dell cases can be easy to work with is that they are often designed for a specific, proprietary motherboard. I'm still surprised we haven't seen more screwless designs that actually work well, however.
bamacre - Friday, April 13, 2007 - link
Yes, patent infringement is certainly a possibility.And yes, Dell has an edge in that they are specifically made for their motherboards. They've done a good job utilizing that, too. One particular nice feature is that blue thing that gives physical support for heavier video cards, to prevent them from bending over time. I work on a lot of Dells, I've replaced everything possible in the xps 410 and Prec 390, except for the case/mobo/psu. They are just so damn easy to work with. Even replacing the cpu is a breeze.