I've always been a fan of the Nexus Breeze case but all that silence comes at a price... heat. While beautifully made and heavily soundproofed, it has just a single 120mm intake fan and no exhaust fan, relying instead on the PSU fan(s) to draw heat out of the case. So for my latest project (Asus P5N32-E, E6600, 8800GTX, etc.), I plumped for the Antec P180 case after asking a few questions in the OCUK forums.
I duly ordered one in black (not from OCUK I'm afraid) and it arrived last week. The case was advertised as the P180B, the box was labelled P180B EU and the manual inside was for the P180. I set about building my new rig and while the case isn't as quiet as the Nexus, ventilation is far superior and I was well impressed with the quality of the case and several nice touches. In fact I was so impressed I decided to order another P180B from the same supplier in order to rebuild my previous PC from its noisy Thermaltake case which frees that up to be used for my server. So the second P180B case arrived today. Exactly the same box and labelling. Externally the case looks much the same, and the manual was for the P180.
Chuffed? Well not exactly.
The case that arrived today was different internally and lacked many of the nice touches that my first one had, notably:
1. The aperture at the bottom of the case where the PSU cables pass thru was smaller with no second aperture to the side. Bit of a crush getting the cables in but not a showstopper.
2. The reverse side of the motherboard mounting plate was missing a 2-inch cutout that allows you to easily run the P4 12v cable up the back, keeping it out of the main case chamber.
3. The middle section of the rear of the case is just perforated for airflow (so marginally noisier perhaps), where in the previous case it was two apertures sealed with rubber grommets to allow cables to pass thru to the outside if necessary.
4. The speed switches for the two top fans were fixed to an aperture in the top of the first case, allowing the fan speed to be altered manually without having to open the case. In the second case these switches just flap around on the end of their wires and need to be tucked away.
Perhaps these differences aren't huge, but I decided to let Antec know all the same. They replied within the hour, it turns out that the first case shipped to me was actually an early sample of the new P182B case and not the P180B case as per the packaging and manual so I should count myself lucky. Indeed, but the problem as I pointed out to Antec is that I ordered the second case based on my experience of the first. Had the first case been labelled properly as a P182B, or there had been a note inside it to say this was not a P180B but a P182B, then I could have made an informed decision and I would have actually waited until the P182B is generally available before ordering another one.
Antec's response to that is that they aren't prepared to swap the second case for a P182B. Arguably I could RMA the first case as it was not as described (Sale of Goods Act and all that), but at the end of the day I can't be *rsed to dismantle the first PC and ship the case back and then re-order a P182B, so I shall just chalk it up to experience.
My advice? If you're about to order a P180/P180B then WAIT and get the P182/P182B... it's the little things in life that make the difference
I duly ordered one in black (not from OCUK I'm afraid) and it arrived last week. The case was advertised as the P180B, the box was labelled P180B EU and the manual inside was for the P180. I set about building my new rig and while the case isn't as quiet as the Nexus, ventilation is far superior and I was well impressed with the quality of the case and several nice touches. In fact I was so impressed I decided to order another P180B from the same supplier in order to rebuild my previous PC from its noisy Thermaltake case which frees that up to be used for my server. So the second P180B case arrived today. Exactly the same box and labelling. Externally the case looks much the same, and the manual was for the P180.
Chuffed? Well not exactly.
The case that arrived today was different internally and lacked many of the nice touches that my first one had, notably:
1. The aperture at the bottom of the case where the PSU cables pass thru was smaller with no second aperture to the side. Bit of a crush getting the cables in but not a showstopper.
2. The reverse side of the motherboard mounting plate was missing a 2-inch cutout that allows you to easily run the P4 12v cable up the back, keeping it out of the main case chamber.
3. The middle section of the rear of the case is just perforated for airflow (so marginally noisier perhaps), where in the previous case it was two apertures sealed with rubber grommets to allow cables to pass thru to the outside if necessary.
4. The speed switches for the two top fans were fixed to an aperture in the top of the first case, allowing the fan speed to be altered manually without having to open the case. In the second case these switches just flap around on the end of their wires and need to be tucked away.
Perhaps these differences aren't huge, but I decided to let Antec know all the same. They replied within the hour, it turns out that the first case shipped to me was actually an early sample of the new P182B case and not the P180B case as per the packaging and manual so I should count myself lucky. Indeed, but the problem as I pointed out to Antec is that I ordered the second case based on my experience of the first. Had the first case been labelled properly as a P182B, or there had been a note inside it to say this was not a P180B but a P182B, then I could have made an informed decision and I would have actually waited until the P182B is generally available before ordering another one.
Antec's response to that is that they aren't prepared to swap the second case for a P182B. Arguably I could RMA the first case as it was not as described (Sale of Goods Act and all that), but at the end of the day I can't be *rsed to dismantle the first PC and ship the case back and then re-order a P182B, so I shall just chalk it up to experience.
My advice? If you're about to order a P180/P180B then WAIT and get the P182/P182B... it's the little things in life that make the difference
surprise surprise not exactly as my friend has 