Antec P180 Owners Thread

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I thought it would be wise to start a thread for P180 owners so that users don't have to wade through seven pages of hype before the information.

Mine arrived today and my transplant is complete.
Before I post some pics, here are things that may be useful for others who are about to build in it:

Useful Tips

- Thumbscrews are not all the same size, the internal thumbscrews are low profile, the side panels will not fit on if you use the wrong ones inside.

- Use the correct motherboard screws, they are the small ones with a very plain head. I saw on another forum that someone fried their motherboard by using the wrong ones.

- Screws are behind the upper harddrive cage in an attached plastic box.

- Remember which side panel is which, they should not be put on the wrong way round as this may damage the case.

- I recommend not installing a floppy drive an using the bay to hide cables.

My thoughts
It is a very big case. It is taller and wider than my wavemaster, however I think it looks just as good. I feel the front door is a little flimsy, it is mostly plastic in construction with just a thin aluminium sheet covering, and the side grill that can fold to allow the door to open 270 degrees I was also worried about breaking, but it is still intact :).

The case is of a very good built quality, even the foam padding it came in, I thought was very high quality and useful to keep for transport. It is a very heavy case, definately not for regular moving. I am now less worried about it being stolen at uni next year as moving the fully installed computer at any speed is nigh on impossible.

As you would expect the case is also very quiet. I removed the (very very thick) 120mm fan from the bottom before even using the case, as I think this will only be needed with fanless psu's. The case really does cut out vibrations, and the gel mounts on the harddrives are very nice indeed, and of a very high quality. The fans three settings are very good. The low is very quiet, the high pushes LOTS of air, and the medium is a nice in-between.

Installation takes an age. Leave at least three hours. A lot of stuff needs moving to do a full install, and everything has to be done very carefully. However it is worth it. I found spare cables could be put in a spare drive bay and it doesn't look too untidy (removing the bottom fan and routing some cables up through the second hole through this gap helps).

A few little things I didn't like. I was unable to put my audigy in the bottom PCI slot as my power cables were in the way, not a very big problem. I was however very disappointed that on a £100 case designed for quietness, one of the fans supplied was rattling! I have now removed it and replaced it with the fan from the bottom. However I shall be contacting Antec about the matter.

PSU/Mobo Compatability
I will add to the list as other users post.

Confirmed
Enermax Noisetaker (specifically 485W) with Asus A8N nForce4 Premium (all A8N are same board layout though, so should work on all in the series)
ALl cables reach all connectors, including the P4 12V which should fit over any PCI cards and reach. I used an extender to make the routing more tidy by bringing it down to the right alongside the motherboard power connector. On a side night, a Thermalright XP120 also fits this configuration nicely.

Jeantech 500w psu and Asus A8N nForce4 Delux (all A8N are same board layout though, so should work on all in the series)
jonph said:
power leads reach with ease

Akasa Paxpower psu and Asus A8N-E - P4 12V lead too short
TMHatter said:
The 12 4pin was nowhere near long enough and I have had to use an extension cable

Images
Feel free to request an image of anything to do with the case, and I'll do my best to get one (by do my best I mean, if it involves dismatling much of my setup I will probably say no)
The empty case
p180_02.jpg

Fully installed system (sorry about the corruption, I think twain did something weird during the transfer)
p180_08.jpg

Case under my desk
p180_07.jpg

Lower harddrive caddy (holds 4 drives)
p180_06.jpg
 
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Got mine from OCUK today and I wont be transplanting a system to it until the weekend.

Initial thought:
Looks a lot sexier than I thought. Build quality looks good but as you say the front door feels a little flimsy. It might just be mine but im having problems with the side door. I have great difficulty removing the panel as it seems to catch at the bottom :( . I can see that it should just slide back and lift straight up but it just doesnt want to. It would have been nice if these lugs were metal as I cant see mine lasting that long!

More comments when I actually get to build the thing!
 
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MrCake said:
Got mine from OCUK today and I wont be transplanting a system to it until the weekend.

Initial thought:
Looks a lot sexier than I thought. Build quality looks good but as you say the front door feels a little flimsy. It might just be mine but im having problems with the side door. I have great difficulty removing the panel as it seems to catch at the bottom :( . I can see that it should just slide back and lift straight up but it just doesnt want to. It would have been nice if these lugs were metal as I cant see mine lasting that long!

More comments when I actually get to build the thing!
Yep the plastic lugs are very concerning. However they are plastic to reduce transmitting vibrations.

I found the best way to get the side of is:
- Undo screws/thumbscrews.
- Slide the panel backwards as far as it goes without any force.
- Tilt the top of the panel towards you, so that you can see the bottom lugs just come out of the holes
- Now remove the panel

There seems to be enough clearance to be able to tilt the panel in this manner without breaking the bottom lugs.
 
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just finnished transplanting mine.I agree with the observations from riven,took me 3hrs roughly. all the fans on mine seem ok,door does feel a bit flimsy.No problems with cables. I have a jeantech 500w psu, power leads reach with ease.My previous case was only a cheap, so the difference is amazing. with fans on low setting my case temps are several degrees lower at idle.I have noticed that my lower gpu temp is about 6 degrees higher than the top one in SLI (it was the other way round in my old case)but they are 2 or 3 degrees lower than my old case. Don't have the gpu tunnel in yet so I'll play around a bit to see what works best.I did manage to get my audigy card in the bottom pci slot(only just).Drives seem much quieter.Only noise problem I have at the moment is the chipset fan(If you have an asus A8N-SLI deluxe, You'll know what I mean lol),new one should be here in the next few days.Overall I am very Impressed with the case,but you should bear in mind I have never spent more than £25 on a case.Marks out of 10, I'll give it 9(the flimsy door lets down what I otherwise would say is a pretty fine case).maybe other more experienced forum users wiil give a better assesment on this case.
 
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Just a question: Would it be possible to use the lower harddrive caddy in the way, that I can install my 2 Raptors horizontally, which are enclosed in 5 1/4" silent drive bays?
I'd have to drill some new holes of course.
 
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Overlord said:
Just a question: Would it be possible to use the lower harddrive caddy in the way, that I can install my 2 Raptors horizontally, which are enclosed in 5 1/4" silent drive bays?
I'd have to drill some new holes of course.

I would say no without some serious modding. I can check sizes later but im pretty sure its not 5 1/4" wide meaning you would have to add some kind of packing.
 
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MrCake said:
I would say no without some serious modding. I can check sizes later but im pretty sure its not 5 1/4" wide meaning you would have to add some kind of packing.

Thank You, but shouldn't be too difficult modding the lower caddy though ..
 
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Here is a pic of my finished p180

p180small.jpg


It is V quiet and all my temps are down. The only thing that is audible is the fan on my HIS 800xl which is higher pitch and very directional. The drives are as quiet as they where suspended by rubber in my old case.

If I was nit picking (and I am) then I think they should have built it upside down, ie with HD and PSU chamber at the top this would make the cabling a lot better. As you can see with all the board conectors plus power cables its a bit busy at the bottem of the case.
 
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Thats pretty sweet with the evo pointing towards the rear fan. What setting is your rear fan on? Looks like you removed the top one, have you covered the hole with anything? Also how is the fan in the bottom mounted? It not in the little fan holder thing.

One last thing, which akasa PSU is it, and which asus motherboard, any problems with cable length? (for the compatability section in the first post)

In other news Antec said they would replace my ticking fan which is good.
 
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The rear case fan is on low. My CPU temp has dropped by 4 degrees at idle from my last case more than likely because the rear case fan is helping to suck air out of the heat sink. Yeah I have removed the top fan because it is just not needed. I currently have the blow hole covered with a book at it makes a difference in noise terms. I will fashion something a bit more permenant.

The 12 4pin was nowhere near long enough and I have had to use an extension cable, its the one running along the top of the case. The MOBO is an A8N-E. A lot of the connections are at the bottem right of the board which makes neat cables difficult. The HD mounting is superb better than this

bungee small.jpg


I have replaced the "growly" fan in the bottem of the case with an Akasa amber fan on rubber mounts running at 5v and the rear case fan is now on rubber mounts to.

One last thing you have probably noticed that the VGA duct is missing that's because it won't fit with the EVO in place.
 
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Got Mine this mornion and am impressed
pros :
Quiet not silent but at least i can sleep without it bothering me
this case has reduced my overall temps by about 5 degrees C from my P160
Not as hard to put everything in as i thought it took me about an hour and that was with a cigerette in the middle

Cons :
first things first why did they only provide 3 motherboard standoffs???????
installing the front fan was a pain
Cable managment is not easy Im gonna have another try at it when I get time but still

Overall Im very impressed It really feels like a £100 case. Its sturdy,quiet and it looks soooooooooo dam good (well to me anyway)
Im gonna try and get some pics when I have time but at the mo Im gettin ready to go out and get a wee bit drunk
 
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For comparison here are my before and after temps

System is an
CPU a64-3500
Video HIS800xl Turbo
3xHard Disk
Mobo Asus A8N-E Qfan is controling cpu fan speed

Cooler is an Akasa EVO 120 rated 1000-2000rpm

Before in Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Case. 2x akasa amber fans at 5v one front fan one as rear fan. Hard disks suspended in 5inch bay by bungee

Idle
CPU temp 35 at 1150rpm
Chipset 32 at 4000rpm
HD 1 41
HD 2 43
HD 3 46

VGA Temp 43

Playing HL2 for 45mins max detail at 1680x1050 4xAF

CPU temp 41 at 1340rpm
Chipset 33 at 4000rpm
HD 1 41
HD 2 43
HD 3 46

VGA Temp 51

The same set up in P180 as in above picture fan at 5v or low

Idle
CPU temp 31 at 1024rpm
Chipset 31 at 3500rpm
HD 1 34
HD 2 33
HD 3 36

VGA Temp 40

Playing HL2 for 45mins max detail at 1680x1050 4xAF

CPU temp 38 at 1269rpm
Chipset 32 at 3500rpm
HD 1 34
HD 2 33
HD 3 36

VGA Temp 48

Quiet a difference the system is much quieter in terms of fan's and the Hard drives make slightly less noise than they did when they where suspened

Result !!
 
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Here are my pics

This is my previous setup that I moved from - inside a Coolermaster CM201

201.jpg


Whilst cleaning out my case I found a few guests! :)

moth.jpg


daddy.jpg


With everything finally moved in

P180.jpg


Specs of PC are as follows

3700 Clawhammer
DFI UT250
2 x 512MB Corsair XMS3200
9700 Pro
Maxtor 160GB SATA
Audigy 2 ZS
Generic black CD-ROM till I get a black DVD-RW
 
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Henfer which PSU and motherboard combination is it, and did all the cables fit ok?

Can anyone work out how to remove the fan filters? Even following the instructions I can't seem to do it!
 
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Open the door infront of the fan filter by pushing in the right handside to release the catch. Then push down the two clips at the top and pull out. Lift the filter up and out of the bottem mounts
 
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There is one peice of advice to anyone building a system with this case that I would give. That is to get a PSU that you can remove any unused cables from like the Hiper PSU's. I think that Tagan are now making PSU's that are modular aswell. This should make for a much neater bottem chamber.
 
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Ordering mine by monday

with DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR and Hiper HPU-4K580-MK Type R 580W

all ready got all the other bits will post some info temps etc and maybe some pics once ive got it all working
 
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