Antec P180 now listed

[Handruin]

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=81800

Silent PC review has a tour of the case. They also mentioned offering a Limited-Edition Black Anodized version which I really like the look of.

May not excite everyone, but I'm happy to see it's almost available. I've been waiting for this case for a long time now.

 

[LiamC]

Funny you should mention Antec. Wife decided all computer gear needed to be in a cupboard/wardrobe type thingy so she could hide the mess. But the Lian Li (PC60) would not fit--it was too deep. So off I went looking for an enclosure that was only 42cm/420mm/16.5" deep. Hey presto and one SLK1650 later...

My first Antec case and I think it's very good. Quieter than the Lian Li (it had 3 80mm fans + P/S, 2 in, 2 out) with its 120mm exhaust, and the Antec SmartPower is the quietest p/s I've used. Things are a bit tight in such an enclosure compared to the Lian Li, but if space or noise are an issue, these things are worth looking at.

 

[Handruin]

I just got back from the store. I bought a P160 to go along side my future P180. Compusa had a decent rebate deal on the P160, so I bought one. It will be $79.99 after rebate. I bought it in New Hampshire, so there was no tax. :mrgrn: I'll be donating my Antec SX830 to my sister when I build her a machine. That was my justification to the P160.

 

[ddrueding]

I used a P160 for nearly a year until I modded it too much to stay in one piece. I'm currently waiting for the P180, and tried using a 2700-BQE in the meantime, but it's too noisy. I currently have all my components just sitting out on the workbench until the P180 arrives.

 

[Santilli]

I just bought a P160. Paid 129 at Fry's, but, no shipping. Nice case.

See how it works...

s

 

[Handruin]

I had to drive about 40 miles to get mine, however there was no direct shipping cost except that of the gas I used to get there and back (probably 3 gallons @ $2.39). If the rebate works out with no problems, I feel like $80 is a decent price for it.

The p160 is a very light case. I was surprised at how light an aluminum case could be. The hard drive cage was a bit of a PITA to setup because it was tight getting the cables behind the drives. One of my drive cages is not clicked in because the SATA cable (with a SATA to PATA converter) doesn't fit very good. I need to find a SATA cable with a 90 degree connection to fix the issue.

The front LED's are fun. I've never had a case with any lights on it, so this is a first. The two thermal probes are being used for my hard drives. I'm also using the provided face plates for the optical drives. I had to remove the front bezel on my DVD-ROM drive because it catches when the door closes. Fortunately the bezel snaps off easy, and can be reconnected later if I ever need it.

The rotating power and temperature display does pose a small problem when rotated 45 degrees up. My cat was on my desk and she usually steps down using my PC case as a step. She did it again today with the new P160 and while she worked her way down from the case, she shut off my computer because she was stepping on the power switch.

 

[Santilli]

Well, I haven't got that far. I'm waiting for a plate for the Swifttech cooler, and brackets so I can use a 92 mm Vantec Stealth fan for a cooler on the 3000+.

I'm waiting to see what scsi card to use with Windows XP
64. Tending towards buying a single channel SCSI LSI 320. I've got a bunch of 68 pin SCSI 15.3 Cheetahs, 18 gigs,to boot from.

As for cat problems, mine is going crazy right now. She is running from jumping on the screen in my bedroom window, back into the bathroom, where she just jumped about 6 feet straight up, onto the shower door railing, and is pacing back and forth, like a lion, or more accurately, panther, on the shower door top railing....

She also just knocked the main power for the internet modem out of the wall. I've now got the computers on APC 1050 UPS, but, I will do that, when school is out.

I had to buy a UPS for school since we had 5 black outs in two weeks, and it fried the iMac disk, in a way where it still works, but, the data is not recoverable, and, complete reformatting is required.

I'm lucky that none of the computers I brought to work got fried... since I brought 3 of the 7, I'm lucky.
S

 

[SYROB]

Case looks real nice. I have alway preferred Antec over most all other cases.

SYROB

 

[Mercutio]

Meh. Wait for Chenming or Compucase to release a less expensive version.