Antec Mini P180 *Rebuild*

[Blackhawk47]

Hey guys,

So here is basically a short review of the case and then me doing a rebuild.

Enjoy

So first off what I got and the package:

With the case out of the box you can see that it looks the part but as far as quality is concerned, it is also top notch, the pictures dont do the justic as anyone with a p182 will understand.

 

[Blackhawk47]

The internals have a very good layout, similar to the p180/p182 expect the top chamber which has one 5.25" drive bay, top hard drive cage (3 hdds), bottom (2 hdds). The bottom chamber houses the power supply and two 5.25" drive bays. Included is two fans both antec tricool, a rear 120mm exhaust fan and a massive 200mm exhaust fan on the top.

The 200mm fan is fantastic as it has high airflow and low noise, even the speed control can be accessed from the back panel. It also acts as good cooling for CPU but also RAM as it basically covers the whole top portion of the motherboard.

Internals:
two removeable hard drive cages, and if removed you can put in two 120mm fans in, ideally the top 120mm fan to be intake for the cpu, and the bottom for gpu.

 

[Blackhawk47]

Right hand side panel removed reveals where cable management can be done:

Along with case is a small white box with the normal screws for installing the motherboard aswell as screws for installing drives, drive rails, 3.5" bay adapter, 4 extra cable ties and more:

Behind the front door: as you can see there is room for two 120mm fans and behind the each fan door is a removeable dust filter.

 

[Blackhawk47]

Right hand side panel removed reveals where cable management can be done:

Along with case is a small white box with the normal screws for installing the motherboard aswell as screws for installing drives, drive rails, 3.5" bay adapter, 4 extra cable ties and more:

Behind the front door: as you can see there is room for two 120mm fans and behind the each fan door is a removeable dust filter.

Internal photo before i start building:

 

[Blackhawk47]

old case - antec 300:

new case - antec mini p180

Motherboard, cpu, ram, graphics card in:

PSU in:

Hard drive in and rear 120mm sharkoon silent eagle

USB, esata, and more case connectors:

 

[Blackhawk47]

Now after connecting everything up i got blue screens when loading windows, a "quick" chkdsk solved that
All finished so now some desk shots:

Internal:

Feel free to comment or ask any questions

EDIT: as for the dvd drive, my old one broke so i will be ordering a new one soon as possible

Cheers

Blackhawk

 

[p4radox]

Good looking case, and seems well built.

I'll stick with my PC-A05 .

 

[Blackhawk47]

Good looking case, and seems well built.

I'll stick with my PC-A05 .

The A05 was my first choice to begin with but this case more than suited my needs and in my opinion has some good features, but each to their own i suppose

 

[Blackhawk47]

Upgrade options for me might be this motherboard and then a quad core cpu/new graphics card. There really is plenty of options considering it is a matx motherboard:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-049-DF&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326

Crossfire? on a matx motherboard ... cool

 

[ShaolinDreams]

nice pics and build mate

though i would have cleaned that GTX abit before putting it in your lovely shiny new case

 

[Blackhawk47]

nice pics and build mate

though i would have cleaned that GTX abit before putting it in your lovely shiny new case

tell me about it, im off out this weekend to get a big can of compressed air though its only a gts 640mb not gtx - though gtx would fit easy enough

EDIT: if anyone is interested, temps have gone up a tiny bit on the gpu from the antec 300. not really noticeable or a concern. cpu is same.

I have 1 rear 120mm sharkoon silent eagle, 1 front intake 120mm sharkoon silent eagle, and the massive 200mm antec fan on top set to low. And the sharkoon fans are the 2000 ones, i have them set to 700rpm using the scythe kaze master fan controller.

the result: the hard drive nearly silent (on its own was very very loud before), the fans simply cannot be heard. With the left side panel off/on you can really tell what the antec sound dampening material does.

New samsung sata dvd drive in the post (cheers ocuk).

Fantastic

 

[chakib]

Upgrade options for me might be this motherboard and then a quad core cpu/new graphics card. There really is plenty of options considering it is a matx motherboard:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-049-DF&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=326

Crossfire? on a matx motherboard ... cool

hahahaha! ive just built the mini 180 too with the lanprty jr. its a FANTASTIC board..i used an OC'd q6600 and its brilliant. it has better port and power socket placement. great little mobo. though now ive sold the mobo to my bro and im waiting for the DFI LANPARTY JR X58 with an OC'd i7 920. really cant wait!

tell me about it, im off out this weekend to get a big can of compressed air though its only a gts 640mb not gtx - though gtx would fit easy enough

EDIT: if anyone is interested, temps have gone up a tiny bit on the gpu from the antec 300. not really noticeable or a concern. cpu is same.

I have 1 rear 120mm sharkoon silent eagle, 1 front intake 120mm sharkoon silent eagle, and the massive 200mm antec fan on top set to low. And the sharkoon fans are the 2000 ones, i have them set to 700rpm using the scythe kaze master fan controller.

the result: the hard drive nearly silent (on its own was very very loud before), the fans simply cannot be heard. With the left side panel off/on you can really tell what the antec sound dampening material does.

New samsung sata dvd drive in the post (cheers ocuk).

Fantastic

the rubber grommets really do a great job of keeping the HDD's silent. i went for the noctua fans as oppsed to the sharkoons. really good when used with a cool CPU cooler. i also removed bottom HDD cage and put a fan in a push pull config..temps dropped too as it was blowing cool air at GPU and cpu with the back 120mm fan sucked air out and the 200mm monster did the same.

its a great well build case. though now im really wondering if i can water cool it at some point with some modding.

oh and ive also got the kaze master set up exactly where yours is!!! pretty weird!

 

[VaderDSL]

That's a gorgeous little case, I have the full sized P182 and so very tempted to down to this case.

Any ideas if we'll see matx etc. core i7 mobos in the near future?

 

[chakib]

That's a gorgeous little case, I have the full sized P182 and so very tempted to down to this case.

Any ideas if we'll see matx etc. core i7 mobos in the near future?

http://vr-zone.com/articles/dfi-lp-jr-x58-t3h6-microatx-board-details/6299.html?doc=6299




weep....

 

[Blackhawk47]

http://vr-zone.com/articles/dfi-lp-jr-x58-t3h6-microatx-board-details/6299.html?doc=6299




weep....

Great find mate and thanks for the comments guys

At the moment the 24/4 pin power connector from the psu isnt really getting in the way of airflow, so its good enough for now but that new mobo looks

That motherboard linked above looks really promising. Looks brilliant.

Have you got any pics of your build? I am interested how cable management looks with the better located power connections and so on.

 

[Blackhawk47]

*double post* deleted

 

[Conan257]

I've got the 24pin and 8pin extensions on mine so they can be routed behind the motherboard, makes the internals look a hell of a lot better...

Other mods:

Double laptop optical drive in top 5.25
7"lcd in top fan position on front panel
Red plexi front door window

Just debating a side panel window at the moment... Difficult to make it look good as the panels are metal-plastic-metal sandwhiches.

 

[chakib]

Great find mate and thanks for the comments guys

At the moment the 24/4 pin power connector from the psu isnt really getting in the way of airflow, so its good enough for now but that new mobo looks

That motherboard linked above looks really promising. Looks brilliant.

Have you got any pics of your build? I am interested how cable management looks with the better located power connections and so on.

cable management on this mobo is great. unfortunately i don't have the mobo any more as i'm waiting for the new x58 one to appear on the horizon. which will be real soon. i found it for 233EURO so i i'm HOPING its gonna be around the £200 mark. fingers crossed. as for cables from psu i've got mine sleeved and routed BEHIND the mobo and up again like CONAN257 said below.

the lanparty jr p45 really is a great little board. and the case has really tight air cooling for such a case. i took the bottom HDD cage out. got a 4870x2 so needed the space. 3 hdd's on top cage with POSSIBLE fan to keep them cool. i found some bizzare clip on fan thing!

kaze master on top 5.25. optical drive on lowest and a 2.5" laptop hdd hung up with strechy bands above the optical drive. i use this as light backup.

noctuas all around including PSU, except the 200mm monster which i have on low.

im also stupidly contemplating watercooling! amazing what idiotic thoughts do to ya!

I've got the 24pin and 8pin extensions on mine so they can be routed behind the motherboard, makes the internals look a hell of a lot better...

Other mods:

Double laptop optical drive in top 5.25
7"lcd in top fan position on front panel
Red plexi front door window

Just debating a side panel window at the moment... Difficult to make it look good as the panels are metal-plastic-metal sandwhiches.

ahh, you're the dude that commented on me wanting to water cool my mini p180.

id really like to see how your setup will look like...well id like to see what it looks like NOW. curious about the front door window.

although...

NO NO NO TO side panel. this case is brilliant!!! no hacking!!! mind you...i like subtle monolithic cases so cant say much.

what have you got planned for your watercooling setup?

 

[Blackhawk47]

Just debating a side panel window at the moment... Difficult to make it look good as the panels are metal-plastic-metal sandwhiches.

I have been curious about putting a side panel window on too, but the acrylic would have to be mounted inside/use black edge moulding, rather than rivetted to the outside of the case. Shame i dont have the tools or the know-how

A little tease for you mate

Also my youtube video of my antec mini p180 - like the music?

 

[chakib]

hahaha, i actually saw your video before i knew you were here! then i found it here and just laughed out loud.

HOLY SHIZZLES! check that watercooling! daaaamn thats a tight fit!!
look at the reservoir. its a tiny slight angle!!

and is that TISSUE i see?!?!




ok..you know what...i think im gonna give watercooling a miss!! and here i was dreaming of cooling the NB and SB too!!!! MADNESS!!!