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Antec P182


Date
: 06/4/07 – 11:11:35 PM

Author
:

Category
: Cases

Page 1 : Index

Manufacturer
: Antec Inc.

Price
: $177.95 shipped @ Newegg

To me, the name Antec immediately brings forth mental images of reliable power supplies. I've never had the pleasure of working with an Antec case until now and have only heard of the classy, sleek designs that everyone raves about.

It's been a few months since Michael reviewed the Antec P180. Today, we have the next version of the P180 – the
Antec P182
advanced super mid-tower ATX case. At first glance, it just seems to be a differently colored P180 but the P182 has some minor changes to differentiate it from its predecessor.

Page 2 : Package & Contents

The Antec P182 arrived double-boxed, with the case's actual box packaged inside a larger box with a lot of packaged air. The box was relatively heavy.

Even though the box was packaged extremely well, it suffered some minor injuries on the sides which were not protected by the air. Antec's color choice looks very elegant.

The front of the box is very minimalistic, featuring few graphics. The Antec logo is omnipresent; there are also several insets of the case's many features which we will explore in the next section. Also present is a stylized image of the front of the actual case. Looking towards the bottom of the box, we have the words "Without Compromise" as well as the identification "P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower" which is a part of the Performance 1 series of Antec cases.

We see that the top of the box is also very minimalistic and features some identifying information.

Both sides feature slots cut out to serve as carrying handles. There are more insets of features as well as a side profile of the case. A specifications table, contents list, and obligatory UPC labels and the like round things off.

Unlike the other sides, the back features a lot of information. There are four more feature insets. Also, we have an inside view of the case. It is easy to see the three-chamber design that Antec seems to be so fond of.

Cracking open the box, we find a well-protected P182. A trilingual manual lies on top of the case which is surrounded by a cardboard buffer as well as suspended by Styrofoam blocks on two sides.

Removing the cardboard buffer reveals the beautiful P182, further protected on the three lateral sides by plastic film.

Inside the case, there is a box containing accessories. We will look at the inside of the case later.

Before looking at the case itself, let us familiarize ourselves with the features and specifications.

Page 3 : Features & Specifications

Antec's website for the P182 describes the case as follows:

The features and specifications are also listed:

Based on Michael's review of the P180, the only differences other than the color are the addition of external fan controls and also the rubber grommeted ports in the back to aid liquid cooling.

Now that we know all the specifications, let's see the case.

Page 4 : Exterior

Removing the protective plastic from the P182, we can appreciate the true beauty of the case. The brushed gunmetal finish looks very good; the pictures don't do it justice. It is slightly reflective yet elegant and not at all flashy.

The front features a door that hides the external drives and fans. There is a small indentation on the side to aid in opening the door and the front panel is ventilated along the sides. Everything is simple and elegant except for the front I/O panel which includes a FireWire port, two USB ports, audio ports, and a locking mechanism for the door.

Antec's name appears on the top right of the door. Note that the power and reset buttons are nowhere to be seen.

The door latches onto the front panel thanks to two magnets. It freely swings out 180º to reveal four external optical drive bays, a floppy drive bay, and two air intakes for 120mm fans. Also, the power and reset buttons become accessible.

Pressing the air intakes causes them to open so that the fan filters can be accessed. Note that there are no fans installed in these two positions though the case includes three Antec TriCool fans which are installed elsewhere.

For those who prefer to have the double-hinged door open all the time, an extra push and snap causes the door to swing back 270º so that it lays flush with the side of the case. Personally, I think the case looks better with the door closed.

At the top of the case, we have one 120mm fan which comes with a detachable shroud/spoiler.

Turning our attention to the back, we see the standard I/O panel, seven expansion slots, a 120mm fan, and two rubber grommets for water cooling tubing. Also, at the top of the case, there are two switches for controlling the top and rear fans. Note that the power supply is found at the bottom of the case, just like in the P180. This could cause some potential problems when using power supplies with shorter cables.

Using the switches, the speeds of the two fans can be set to either low (L), medium (M), or high (H).

Time to take a look inside.

Page 5 : Interior

Accessing the interior requires the removal of two thumbscrews.

Immediately apparent is the three-chamber design. We have the top chamber which is where the motherboard, optical drives, and some hard drives reside. The lower back chamber houses the power supply while the lower front chamber houses more hard drives. The top chamber has two exhaust fans, one at the top and one at the rear.

The accessory box we looked at in the Package & Contents page was stashed in the lower drive cage. Both cages are completely removable and have a ring to aid in that. If you look closely, you will see many white washer-like objects – these are silicone grommets used to mount hard drives which will help to absorb vibrations. The lower cage holds four 3.5" hard drives while the upper chamber holds two. Between the two cages is a space to mount a floppy drive.

There is a 120mm fan between the two lower chambers. The lower back chamber has a cage for mounting the power supply that is lined with a rubber-like material that should help absorb vibrations from the power supply.

Since two more 120mm fans can be added, the cooling performance of the case shouldn't be disappointing at all.

Between the lower and upper chambers, there is a separator to help route wires. Speaking of wires, the case features the usual connectors including power switch, reset switch, power LED, IDE LED, front panel audio (HD and AC'97), front panel USB, and front panel FireWire; there is no case speaker.

Looking at the other side of the case, there is a small area behind the motherboard mounting area which can be used to hide cables. As a matter of fact, Antec even includes some cable ties and loops.

That covers the interior. Let's move on to installation.

Page 6 : Installation

Though the P182 doesn't have a removable motherboard tray, it's large size made it easy to install all the components.

I first installed the power supply, an Antec SmartPower 2.0 400W. To do so, I had to remove the PSU holder/cage from the case and place it over the PSU. Then, I placed the entire assembly into the case and secured it on all the sides. The cables had to be routed through the separator.

The next step was to install the motherboard. This was easy considering the standoffs were already installed. There were no clearance issues with the Zalman CNPS8000 cooler.

Next, I installed an optical drive. Since the P182 uses a rail system, all I had to do was attach one rail to each of the two sides of the drive and slide it into place until it clicked.

Hard drive installation was also very simple. I chose to install it in the lower cage. The hard drive was secured to the cage using four screws which were inserted through the silicone grommets, effectively suspending the hard drive in the middle.

After installing the video card and wireless card, I proceeded to connect all the cables. I had some trouble getting the ATX 24-pin and 4-pin cables to reach as they had to arch over the video card but a little bit of stretching and better cable management did the trick.

Page 7 : Testing

Since the P182 is a large case with a lot of fans, the temperatures should not be too high. I will be testing how effective the P182 is at cooling when compared to using no case.

Temperature measurements were taken under different conditions using Lavalys Everest Home Edition 2.20. SMART was enabled for the hard disk in order to allow temperature readings. Idle measurements were taken with the computer idling at the desktop for 2 hours and no CPU or hard drive intensive programs, such as antivirus software, running. Load temperatures for the CPU were taken while runnig SP2004 Orthos for 2 hours three times and taking the average. HDD load temperatures were taken while running HD Tach's "Long Bench" test 3 times and taking the average.

The fans were set to "medium" and ambient temperature was 20ºC throughout all the tests.

The CPU temperature measurements show the P182 to be at a slight disadvantage. The temperatures were slightly higher as expected since a case will always have less fresh air available to it than without a case. The idle temperature difference with respect to the P182 was +3ºC while the load difference was +2ºC.

Looking at the HDD temperature measurements is a different story, however. The Antec P182 kept the hard drive cooler than without a case. This may be because of the way I laid the hard drive on my desk for the "no case" measurements – one side made contact with the desk; with the P182, the hard drive is mounted in its own chamber and perhaps the fans in the chamber create a tunnel effect to aid in cooling. The difference in the idle temperatures with respect to the P182 was -3ºC and the load temperatures was -5ºC.

Overall, the noise level of the P182 was nowhere near quiet even at the "low" setting for the fans. However, it was bearable and easily masked by other sounds, especially at the "low" setting.

Page 8 : Conclusion

All things considered, the Antec P182 is a great case. I really enjoyed working with it.

Improving on the already popular P180, the P182 should satisfy almost everyone's needs. The design is visually appealing and also very utilitarian. To set itself apart from competitors, the case has many refinements such as the silicone-grommeted hard drive cage and sound-absorbing panels. Also, with room for five 120mm fans, cooling should not be a problem at all. Special features include the water-cooling grommets and the fan control switches.

I have only two gripes with the case. One, it is very heavy but this is expected since it is made with high-quality, heavy duty materials. Two, the three-chamber design which places the PSU on the bottom might be incompatible with certain PSUs that have short cables; I really had to stretch and route the cables in order to make it reach on Antec's own SmartPower 2.0.

Ignoring these very minor shortcomings, I highly recommend the Antec P182 as it is one of the best cases I have had the pleasure of working with.

Advantages:

Huge with lots of room for expansion
Very elegant and refined design
Good thermal design thanks to three-chamber design

Disadvantages:

Heavy
Three-chamber design may be incompatible with some PSUs with short cables

Overclockers Online would like to thank Antec for making this review possible.