My Antec P182 Review -Not so happy

HighlandeR

HighlandeR

HighlandeR

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Got my P182 the other day.... pretty gutted with it had my perfectionist views so I guess wasnt gonna be pleased.

My P182 review (warning some people will hate me afterwards!)

I tried the panels and sound dampening or 3 layer shielding which doesnt do anything.... no difference to fan noise much to warrant a mention no where on same level as NX hushes noise dampening!

Found it very tedious to work inside, just no space simply put, the size to work with is the same size as the full size ATX mainboard...
I could fit my entire arm in my old Eclipse 62 that was with it all built !


Took me an entire day to manage the cables/keep it clean and just about managed to squash the cables on the right hand side panel again just too small to work comfortably and speedy with.

The mid bay Ive removed otherwise the GTX is already coming quite close to it/ but I noticed u can put a fan on the end of it/ that would certainly aid in my hot GTX ..... but then theres no space I dont think ! Can anyone confirm this?

The bottom cage is where I was looking to place my 3x hdds but was mortified to see theres some pointless silver frame at the front which well doesnt come out, so its like theres a space for a 120mm fan but you cant put one in? I maybe mistaken on that!

So again no active hdd cooling well not on the bottom cage at least/ so slightly higher hdd temps which aint good. even the bottom front panel has a design/style for air vent holes but there all closed and solid? I understand it can still get air from side vents but it looks like they almost made the botton front and inside for a fan/ventillation for better cooling but then decided not to at last minute of design !

Good points I felt were:

Hdd grommets, they did actually make a difference in overall noise and reduced it a good 20-30% id say.

Large rubber feet good again, and silicon strips around the p/s cage to stop vibrations so again good stuff there.

My GTX fan revs up quite badly even with a 120mm fan on the middle with no cage there its on full blowing across my GTX, however on the Antec 900 I had 2x120mm fans blowing across entire pc/graphics/ so never had this issue and cpu/mainboard system temps were nice and low as well as the hdd temps.

Overall my Antec 900 was a lot more solid and thicker plastic/way better cooling for hdd/GTX/mainboard/cpu, and just about the same size, it prooved just as silent with just 2 front fans blowing over every component ;)

Oh and the Door.... worst design ever, I went to push it back and it has a nasty snapping into position clicky system... cos I needed to use the dvdwriter and it just snapped on top and fell off (Case is 3 days old note!)

That last bit was the cheese on the cake for me lol

Anyhow my Antec 900 was way better in terms of cooling/while not as organised with cable managment and the modular systems the case was sturdy/harder solid plastic.... a good mid size, bit cramped in comparision but it meant the front cooling could cool all parts of your pc perfectly unlike the antec 182. There both close id say Antec 900 wins, my Eclipse 62 wins on space/easy of build but it suffered from vibrations here and there and was more prone to noise leakage.

Gonna see about returning my Antec 182 obviously ;)
 
HighlandeR said:
The mid bay Ive removed otherwise the GTX is already coming quite close to it/ but I noticed u can put a fan on the end of it/ that would certainly aid in my hot GTX ..... but then theres no space I dont think ! Can anyone confirm this?

The bottom cage is where I was looking to place my 3x hdds but was mortified to see theres some pointless silver frame at the front which well doesnt come out, so its like theres a space for a 120mm fan but you cant put one in? I maybe mistaken on that!
Click to expand...

There are two wire clips which attach to the end of the mid drive bay and hook onto the fan. Unfortunatley I can't use mine either due to my GTX.

It is annoying that you can't fit a 120mm fan in the bottom as that's what I wanted to do as well. It appears to definatley be designed to accept something as it has the fan filter and stuff.
 
I can't fit a fan to the mid drive bay either! The bay has basically turned into a funnel for the intake fan since I removed the hard drive clips all together.

Maybe a modder has a solution to fitting a fan at the bottom in front of the bottom hard drive bay? :)
 
If I have read this correctly one problem was fitting an intake fan in the bottom HDD/PSU bay? This can be done but it has to be a 120mm X20mm thick fan, which I found only one. It is a Yate loon and is sold by an american company which I cannot name arrgh

Enter this in google and you might get lucky... YATE LOON 120x120x20mm Case Fan - D12SL-12C Low Speed.
 
Too much hassle for that, Antec clearly didnt think when creating this case.

Sounds harsh and no doubt its still the most popular/best overall Case for most but come on... u gotta support GTX and even longer cards.... u gotta provide cooling for it as well!

And You gotta consider active hdd cooling or just cooling for system temps ie front case fans or side panel ventillation at least.

My system temps go like 10c+ higher once the side panels back on, thats with all fans inside running on full even so its obviously not designed well.

Antec900 now theres a case that knows what its doing...if only it was a lot more wider/longer and support for GTX + longer cards and fan filters that would be utter perfection.

I see P190 has a side fan but P182 nothing... I think they need to redesign the case and look more towards the TJ10s/Latest Lian Lis and others.

Still thats why this forum has a Case section, were always on a mission to look for the perfect case which we all know doesnt exist;)
 
I'm using a P182 for the HTPC, the HD fan really needs sorting, either make the case deeper, or fit a guard over it. It's quite easy for the SATA cables to brush against the fan blades. I guess if you've now noticed the problem of additional fans is minus point.
 
Yeap noticed that issue too during the cable managment... even with the fan bracket next to the p/s unit theres simply no space for anything cos its being blocked by excess p/s wires anyhow, and I dont know how its suppose to get its fresh air from the side vents its pretty far off.

If u look at the TJ10 there mid duct VGA cooling system is excellent.

I think we need a P200 tommorow ;)
 
I stuffed 4*h/ds in the lower chamber as a sacrifice to making the upper h/d chamber a dual fan setup and therefore sacrificing it as a drive bay.

I had to remove the lower chamber fan to fit my Antec 850 psu.

The manual was a 'mare and only served as an impediment to setup.

The cable management was quite hard to work with, and I haven't managed nearly the sweetness that other posters have, but I probably lack the patience.

All said, I still love it, I treat the door with the respect due an ancient artefact, but temps on my q6600@3420 are lower than my older c2d@3200. and its a fair sight quieter.

I'd still recommend this case, over many others. my 2c, however I'll probably look for something larger next time.
 
mk17 said:
however I'll probably look for something larger next time.
Click to expand...

Ive made that mistake twice this year already, the Antec 900 was 1st sorta notice its an issue when the GTX hits the end of the hdd bar ;)

182 again almost hits the end so like u said mid bay is sacrified.

Im considering the Coolmaster Cosmos, dubbed the most silent case but its not without its flaws and am still debating it cos its cooling system is flawed one intake 120mm on bottom and then 3 fans on top?! and no active hdd cooling.... a poor VGA duct that cant be repositioned over the GTX....

Again its just me being highly anal :D but these guys making these cases should really think about the GTX and hot 500giggers and mass heatsinks cos they been around for a year as it is !
 
htpc2.jpg

HTPC 182

CM Stacker! Big, lots of cooling and plenty of space

stac.jpg
 
Thought correctly moving flow was more important if you start getting hot air pockets not good.
 
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Yeah your right the force of air in and out is what ultimately keeps it cool, but ive just noticed in some cases like in my eclipse 62 its so big and deep inside It never had chance for heat to build up so quickly and that was with only one 120mm fan on the front :)

Obviously if u use a smaller midi size case heat will ramp up fairly fast cos theres no room for the air flow to work with even if there is a 120mm fan on the front n back.

Thats my experiences from an Asus T01 something to the Eclipse62.

My Antec 900 was mid size and cramped somewhat but its brutal front 2x120mm fans on silent was enough to keep all my pc components cool, so design/air flow are all key factors:)
 
Everyone is untitled to an opinion, but I believe the 182 is an ace case with the single exception of installing a GTX or Ultra. For those that need it, fitting a fan to the front of the lower chamber would be easy. The case is definately quiet, I sleep 6ft from mine which is obviously on all the time. An excellent and simply experiment you can do for airflow, is a smoke test. Take a piece of kitchen clear wrap or cling film and cellotape it tight to one open side of your case. Boot up, and the light up a smoker, I used a mole mover, as in little critter that likes to dig up your lawn, like a parrie dog. The smoke does not leave a residue but does smell. Don't use a cigarette as it will leave the case stinking. With the clear side you can clearly see how air moves around the case. Run a CPU intensive app and see how the flow changes when the case warms up. I'm sure the 182 is not the best but it is very good. I used a fan in front of the case about 10 ft away so smoke coming from the back and top didn't swirl round the case. getting in the way.
 
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what i don't get is why so many companies make so many sacifices when it comes to cases. i mean, how many of us are in the situation where an extra 2 inches width would be an issue? but would mean side panel fans would never interfere with the bigger heatsinks. and 2 inches depth, or 4 inches, would still fit fine for 90% of people. space is something i have plenty of, good case choices and designs are something there are very few of. not a clue why everyone insists on making size issues in cases. i mean 5mm for a front fan at the bottom in this case, who can suddenly fit this under their desk because of that 5mm space saved?

i think the case closest to what i want is the P190, big fat heavy steel case with supposedly extra thick padded panels to help with noise, more intake air around the mobo, plenty of space for eatx mobo's so any gfx card would be fine. the only issue appears to be that you can't really use the full 1200w's of power and you can't sell the psu's either. also you can't buy the case without the PSU's.

why oh why have no manufactures come up with a modular system of setting up fans and ducting to cool parts of motherboards. my mem and northy sink are burning up, and despite lots of fans front and back little of it makes contact with the mobo, and even less of it makes pressured contact with the memory, heatsinks.
 
badbob said:
Not enough space for hard drives. 5 on the front isn't enough, and the bay near the top is a bit naff.
Click to expand...

theres enough space........ if your using 1T HDD's :p

it would be hard for a company to make the perfect case as it down to personal opinion
 
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