*Official* Antec P182 Case's,Builds,Modifications & FAQ's

Ducky Spud said:
These cases look great for cable management, theyre well tidy!! Now if only I could afford one haha :p
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Is it me or have these cases gone up loads in the last couple of years or so?

As I remember I only paid about £70 delivered when I bought mine about 14 months ago? My friend was asking about mine the other day and went out to look for one and the cheapest price he could find on the high street was about £150 :eek:

OC have got them for £103.

Obviously there popularity has bumped the price up...

SW.
 
The poor exchange rate with the US is to blame, coupled with the fact there have been significant Antec price increases recently. I paid £110 for my P182SE just over a year ago now.
 
Just read through all 11 pages of this thread - great read :)

Big.Wayne - yours is by far the tidiest setup, you've done a great job on it. I'm going to be nicking your CurlyWurly cable idea I'm afraid :o :D

Am I right in thinking you've braided the PSU cables? Can I ask how long it took and what kit you used?

Cheers.
 
Well, having just read through the entire thread I feel I must bring it back to the top and add my few thoughts...
I am soon getting a well used and abused P180. Having never even seen one, I know nothing, but am planning to move the bottom chamber fan to the front of the case, using a Yate Loon 20mm thick fan to cool 2 or 3 hard drives. I also want to put a noctua P12 fan in the upper front to bring cool air into the case and a Noctua S12 to exhaust the hot air at the back - top fan will be blocked off in some way. I am toying with the idea of fitting a Scythe Kama fan into 3 of the 5 1/2" optical bays leaving me one free for my cd drive, or maybe a Lian Li HDD converter, thus allowing me to fit a fourth HD as well as a fan.
Now, here is the question. The P180 is known for not having much space for cable management, but no-one seems to have tried cutting out much of the metal sheet behind the mobo to allow space for cables between the outside of the case and the mobo - surely, given the stand-offs for the mobo there ought to be space if one cuts out runs for the cables ???
If I do this, what could I use to protect the mobo circuitry from shorting on the cables over time - any ideas ? Just how much of the back-board is needed to give support to the mobo - I guess not too much if one thinks and is sensible.
I may look into removing some of the mesh at the air intakes to improve airflow, but leave the plastic on the filter holders as they seem to be the main noise blockers.
My main aim is to keep noise and temps down and dust out, plus enjoy the fun of cutting my fat fingers while trying to hide silly cables in places where they don't really want to go while swearing to myself that I am having fun.
Pictures to follow when this all starts, maybe in a week or two.
Lot to learn here, isn't there ???
 
steveinspain said:
SNIP
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Let me get this right, so your thinking of cutting a hole on the motherboard tray so the motherboard will then hide the cables once you put that in.

From what i know you will be able to get thin cables behind the motherboard and there shouldnt be any problems with the cables shorting out the motherboard and they wont cause any problems. I have my CPU fan cable going behind my mobo to try and hide it. No problems...

If that is what your trying to do, its quite hard to understand. :o;)

Also have a look through the HardForum P180/P182 thread for more examples here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1186892

Reminds me to post a pic of my Mini P180 with my fairly new 24inch, i like how its the same height so it matches quite well:
PICT0090.jpg

PICT0092.jpg


Now all i need is to get some new bits for the inside, new mobo/gpu i think is needed. :D
 
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Blackhawk,
Sorry if I am not being clear - it is late, I am tired, and it has been a bad day - our road got washed away in a storm for the 4th time this year..!
What I am trying to say is that there is room behind the mobo for small cables. However, if I cut out sections, rather than holes, of the board behind the mobo (where the stand-off mounts fix to - the tray ?) could I not run larger cables in the space between the mobo and the case side panel if required ?
Now, please bear with me, as all this is new to me, but here is some sort of 15 second attempt at drawing out what I mean - sorry it is so badly done..

cablerunforcase.jpg


The red bits are cables, just in case..

Does that make any sense, when you have stopped laughing at my rather crap drawing abilities..?
I am guessing that if the metal sheet that the mobo stand-off mounts fix to is cut back in some areas then there is room to run larger cables without reducing case rigidity, or am I barking mad ??
 
...cont...
As in your pictures of your rig in post 859, my 24 pin cable runs close to the exhaust fan, but mine connects close to the top.
I may want to run it behind the mobo in a channel cut into the motherboard tray to allow it to re-appear at the top of the mobo then fold over and back to its connector - same with the 8 pin cable - does that help any ?
 
Got a serious problem in my Antec, any HDD I put in the lower drive cage heats up something awful. Used to have both my drives in there, the heat was causing drive corruption and crashes. I've since moved the drive my system partition is on to the middle drive cage and that's been a lot cooler, but I don't like my other one being burning hot to the touch. Unfortunately I can't move both drives there, as my graphics card gets in the way. I haven't been able to put a fan behind the bottom drive cage as I'm scared all the cables might get tangled up in there. I'm not the best at cable management I have to say, but I can't think how anyone would manage to fit a fan in there! I'm using SATA, and the data cables have annoyingly long plugs so I can't bend them away from the fins very easily. Plus they don't really clip in properly so bending too much ends in them not makign contact properly. Gotta say they're not as big an improvement from PATA as I hoped...
 
osullivanpt, could I please see a close-up pic if it's no trouble? Thing is there's cables coming from the drives and cables coming out the back of the PSU. Got a thin Antec fan lying about, but it's still tight.
 
mjones1 said:
What is the difference between the p180 and p182?
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Not sure about all the differences but the big ones are better cable management with space behind the mobo tray, better air inlets and fan controls for the top and rear fans on the back along with water cooling ports. Also the finish is different - gun metal as opposed to black with silver panels.
Later versions of the 180 came with most of the improvements bar the colour.

I expect someone will give a fuller answer, but these are the main improvements.
 
mjones1 said:
What is the difference between the p180 and p182?
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I believe it was cable management holes and i think better or a different kind of sound dampening material. As i have heard that sometimes a p180s panels can warp. Though im not totally sure myself.

I do prefer the white/silver and black exterior that the p180 has. ;)

Both are good cases. :cool:
 
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