Antec 1200 or Antec P182

Adam123 · 13 Mar 2009 at 17:31

Howdy...

Im am looking into a new case (currently have the antec 900 (1st version)) and i want something a little quieter with better cable managment + a bit bigger.

i am currently eyeing up a 1200 or P182 or Lian Li PC-A71B.

Budget of around £130 - £160.

I am after plenty of room, good cable managment and excellent air flow (with dust filters as my antec 900 is a hoover) - and a nice looking case is always a bonus)

Have i missed out any other cases that could sort me out?

Cheers

EsaT · 13 Mar 2009 at 20:58

Adam123 said:
currently have the antec 900

1200:
More of the same with higher airflow, same zero noise damping ability (no matter what you do) and bling bling design&LED fans etc.
Also depth has grown by only something like thickness of finger or two so still cramped with long graphics cards/cramped rear access to 5.25" bays.

P182:
Best stock noise damping ability you can find.
For not fully cramped fitting of longest graphics card you need to remove upper HDD cage. Intake capacity of upper chamber (where nearly all heat production happens) is somewhat limited because of only one intake. (plastic mesh also restrictive)

A71:
Design second to P182 in amount of silencing friendly features but because of light (~5kg lighter than P182) aluminium construction needs damping mats (at least mass damping) for realizing that capability.
Lot of internal space without any component/device blocking access to other and ways to direct airflow internally toward components which can need more cooling. (accessory PCI/graphics card cooler kits and you can attach fan to vertical pillar for blowing to memory/chipset)
Not much of built in cable management but plenty of space for doing that. (would take lot of cables and work to get them to block airflow)

Adam123 · 13 Mar 2009 at 21:08

Thanks

spotter300 · 13 Mar 2009 at 21:09

I've got a P180 and my friend has a P182 so i've played with both versions, personally i love these cases their very quiet, plenty of room and the P182's cable management is excellent. I've got a 3870x2 which meant i had to remove the top cage, but this wasnt a problem as i was using the bottom one anyway becuase i meant for neater cabling.
I've found it to be very cool, very easy to keep tidy and the stock fans arnt to bad.
mine is now rougly 4 1/2 years old and its been moveing back and forth in the holidies in uni not to mention a few house moves and its super tough construction hasnt let me down.

Blackhawk47 · 13 Mar 2009 at 21:38

Definatly the antec p182 from those, ticks all boxes and would be a joy to use and build with. Unless you prefer the styling of the antec 1200 (perhaps check out 900-2 if the 1200 is a bit too big for you).

Adam123 · 13 Mar 2009 at 21:58

Thanks for the replies

its just come to my attention that my mobo has the 24pin on the left hand side, which may cause A MASS AMOUNT of ball ache when trying to make my cables nice and pretty... as im still going to have a thick black cable infront of the mobo.

Its looking to be the P182 at the moment, loving the 2 chamber doo-dar.

Antec 900-1 = 49.3cm (H) x 20.6cm (W) x 46.7cm (D)
Antec 1200 = 58.2cm (H) x 21.3cm (W) x 51.3cm (D)
Antec P182 = 52cm (H) x 21cm (W) x 51cm (D)

Size isnt really putting me off, its the silly left handed 24pin... grrrrrr

Its a shame that the main "high-street" shops dont stock fancy cases, as i am pretty reluctant to buy a case on the web that i havent actually seen in person.

EsaT · 13 Mar 2009 at 23:43

Adam123 said:
Its a shame that the main "high-street" shops dont stock fancy cases, as i am pretty reluctant to buy a case on the web that i havent actually seen in person.

At least you have shops nearby, for me that would be 350km away. (and Lian Lis availability isn't good in here)

So next best thing is to go through reviews you can find for pictures.
Here's what I collected from A70/71 when searcing for case in last spring/summer... starting from that hated positioning of motherboard's power connector:
http://hardwarelogic.com/news/135/ARTICLE/1311/2007-08-21.html
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/LianLi/PC-A70/4.html
http://www.nordichardware.com/Reviews/?skrivelse=532&page=5
http://www.3dgameman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=47658
http://www.overclock.net/computer-cases/301650-lian-li-a70-pictorial.html
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/reviews/Lian_Li_PC-A70/index3.shtml

alex24 · 14 Mar 2009 at 00:11

Another vote for the P182 here, it's very well organised and refined. The lian-li is also nice, and much easier to handle (the p182 is an extremely heavy beast!) but if it's not moving around much it shouldn't be a problem.

Raziel1 · 14 Mar 2009 at 00:49

Adam123 said:
Thanks for the replies

its just come to my attention that my mobo has the 24pin on the left hand side, which may cause A MASS AMOUNT of ball ache when trying to make my cables nice and pretty... as im still going to have a thick black cable infront of the mobo.

if needs be get one of these

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-021-AK&groupid=701&catid=48&subcat=153

then you should have enough length on the cable to be able to hide it away. I had to get an extension for the 8 pin power cable for the MB so I could hide that as much as possible in my 1200

Adam123 · 14 Mar 2009 at 03:54

Cheers for your replies, i've just been doing a bit of web browsing and came accross:
- HAF 932 (i like but doesnt have any anti dust protection lol)
- Cosmos S Sport (looks nice)
- Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P60B (big fans that are blue so i can pinch my antec 900 120mm fans and put them in and hook all up to controler

) - could even get a window for it. - only takes 3hdd without getting an additional cage Hummph

that lian li that EsaT pointed out - i think i will struggle to get my mobo power cable to it. with it been so close to the rear exhaust fan?

s there not a perfect case out there lol?

Shud be buying beginning on April (if im allowed one lol) so i have a few weeks to think about it.

mjones1 · 14 Mar 2009 at 08:59

alexhull24 said:
Another vote for the P182 here, it's very well organised and refined. The lian-li is also nice, and much easier to handle (the p182 is an extremely heavy beast!) but if it's not moving around much it shouldn't be a problem.

Blackhawk47 · 14 Mar 2009 at 11:03

Well id still go for the p182, and to get an idea of size...:

dlknight · 14 Mar 2009 at 11:11

Adam123 said:
Cheers for your replies, i've just been doing a bit of web browsing and came accross:
- HAF 932 (i like but doesnt have any anti dust protection lol)
- Cosmos S Sport (looks nice)
- Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P60B (big fans that are blue so i can pinch my antec 900 120mm fans and put them in and hook all up to controler ) - could even get a window for it. - only takes 3hdd without getting an additional cage Hummph

The Coolermaster Cosmos does look good, have you looked at any of the Silverstone cases? like the TJ07/TJ09 or the Fortress?

edit: I guess the TJ07/TJ09 maybe outside budget?

Fortress - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-055-SV&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=1092

Some pics of a standard Coolermaster Cosmos in the new cases thread:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17185358&page=71

EsaT · 14 Mar 2009 at 12:08

Adam123 said:
- Lian Li Armorsuit PC-P60B

If you can see fan directly so can its noise reach you with least amount of muffling. And not really anything to stop component noises from coming out behind fans.
Also PSU is in hottest place and graphics cards in collision course with wiring of HDDs:
http://lian-li.com/v2/tw/product/upload/image/p60/p60ss.jpg

s there not a perfect case out there lol?

Let's see...
Case with enough space for big amount of components and some more and which would be conveniently light and fits into backpack for easy moving of it?
Nope!

i think i will struggle to get my mobo power cable to it. with it been so close to the rear exhaust fan?

Doesn't look bad if 24 pin connector is situated lower:
http://www.hardwarelogic.com/articl...i_PC-A70B/Lian-Li_PC_A70B_Case_Built_Side.jpg
Also vertical support pillar of long graphics cards can be used for attaching/supporting cables going upwards.

Raziel1 said:
I had to get an extension for the 8 pin power cable for the MB so I could hide that as much as possible in my 1200

Pretty much mandatory investment when getting case with PSU on bottom because very few, if any, modern motherboards have ATX12V/EPS12V connector near right edge.

Blackhawk47 said:
Well id still go for the p182, and to get an idea of size...:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a316/xangastealer/PA050062.jpg

When I saw 900 for first time IRL my only thoughts were "WTF? Is this tiny cramped POS that case hyped as enthusiasts case by so many!"

thevet · 14 Mar 2009 at 15:11

dont mess with the middle man,go for the 1200,its the biggest,has the best airflow,if i could get an even bigger case i would,the bigger the case the better

EsaT · 14 Mar 2009 at 21:04

thevet said:
dont mess with the middle man,go for the 1200
if i could get an even bigger case i would,

Time for you to take Antec glasses off from nose. Lot of bigger cases around.
Only place where 1200 has space is above CPU and in depth it's cramped and any E-ATX case (like most Lian Li full towers) provides lot more space for graphics card and accessing device bays.
Chieftec's BA/CA01 (Bravo/Mesh) maxi towers again have lot of extra vertical space being one of the highest cases.
Coolermaster Stacker RC-810 accepts even completely ATX dwarfing W-ATX motherboards (that's "quad core" for you) and also ATCS 840 is well more spacious.

Adam123 · 16 Mar 2009 at 20:32

ok, if i removed my budget completely, what would be thee best case out there for cable managment?

preferably with a sep chamber for psu.... as it looks tidier lol xD