Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Really well thought out case. My new favorite., July 7, 2007
This is a very well thought out case. The design makes it easy to install the motherboard, hard drives and adapter cards. The exterior is very slick looking. This case has become my new standard by which other cases are judged. And I'm considering moving my other boxes over to the Antec P182.
There are two types of disk installation. On the top bays, you attach a black plastic strip with metal spring locks to either side of the drive and slide it in from the front of the case (not the back). In the two detachable disk bays, you mount the bottom of the drive onto its tray using the long screws and a vibration-damping rubber gasket. Once mounted, the trays slide easily back into their tray and the tray slides easily back into the case. Finally, the two internal disk cases are secured by a thumb screw. Sweet!
If anything, the manuals could be a little more explicit about how to install the hard drives. Once you've figured it out, it's very easy. (That's what a friend used to say about physics: "It's easy once you know it.")
Cabling is easy as there are channels behind the motherboard and between disk sections for routing your cables. Antec provides some nifty tie-downs to keep the cables out of the way too.
The case comes with no power supply, so make sure to have an ATX, SATA or whatever PSU you require. Even with the two 120mm standard Antec case fans and the PSU going, the case is very quiet. There are two switches on the top back of the case to vary the two fans' speeds.
This is a large case. This is the largest case I have right now. That allows you a lot of space to maneuver around when working on your case. There are so many drive bays that you will probably run out of power or hard drive budget before filling them all. My particular configuration probably under-utilizes the space. With 4 SATA RAID drives and a single PATA drive and the PSU mounted in the bottom third of the case, my case definitely has a LOW center of gravity. That's fine by me.
|
|
|
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best Case Ever, June 1, 2007
Previously a test engineer for a server company, I am very picky when it comes to computer chassis. While I like performance and good airflow, I also would like noise to be minimal at home since I have to hear servers like airplanes at work 11 hours a day. This case was not a noisy airplane, it has very minimal noise at the medium fan speed setting(just enough to know your computer is on). The low noise also is attributed to the sound dampening side panels and all the sound deadening gadgets for HDD/PWS/etc... vibrations.
The next best thing about it is the layout. All the cables I have were hidden very well with no obstructions to airflow. My CPU and GPU SLi setup was running relatively cooler with this case. Also, the tool-less parts made it even better.
As for build quality, this case is the nicest and one of the highest quality controlled products I've seen in the industry. The only negative is that it is ~40 lbs (for you LAN guys who don't like to move it around) but for me, I can carry it just fine. This guy is running as my media center for home theater right now. All you need to remember is it takes a bit of time (45 - 60 mins for me) to route wiring and everything, but once done, it was well worth it.
All the reviews you have read about it are true, this case is definitely a flag ship for Antec. If you want quality, performance, and functionality this is the case and I stand behind it 100% from past experiences in thermal management, cable routing, and server testing.
MY SETUP:
Asus P5N32-E 680i
Intel Core 2 Quad QX6700 2.66GHz/1066MHz
4 x 512MB Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800MHz
2 x XFX Geforce 8800GTX 630M XXX
2 x 150GB Western Digital Raptors
PC Power & Cooling 750W Quad Power Supply
5 x Antec Tricool Blue LED Fans
|
|
|
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Antec P182 ATX Case (Black), January 5, 2008
Bought this case for my new system build: Intel 975XBX2 board, 2.4 Quad core processor, Antec Neo HE 550 power supply; X1650Pro video card.
First, this case is absolutely beautiful, and in case you didn't know, it also comes in a special edition (P182SE) with mirror finished side panels and door, a black interior, and a built in flexible case light; it's priced about 20-30 dollars more. My case is listed as black, though the side panels and door are actually gun metal brushed aluminum, as opposed to the silver case, which has the mirrored side panels and door.
My motherboard fits very nicely in this case with plenty of room. Some people may complain about the case being too heavy (weighs about 30lbs) but the only time I move it is for maintenance, and I don't think its any heavier then my old Antec SX1000II series SOHO file server case. It's also slightly wider and deeper then the SX1000II so it'll pretty much sit in the same spot.
The case comes stocked with 3 120mm case fans which are adjustable to low, med, and high. You have a fan at the top, rear, and bottom of the case where the power supply goes. If you need more cooling, the upper hard drive bay can be used to add another 120mm fan, which will sit right behind your video card for extra cooling. Nice! I have my fans set to medium, and as I sit here, the only thing I hear in the case is the video card. If you have your heat or AC running you probably won't hear the case; it's that quiet, especially when coupled with an Antec Neo HE 550 power supply, which is extremely quiet in its own right! The case also comes with a screened scoop that fits at the top of the case to keep large debris entering the case and hitting the top fan. This case is designed to keep your components cool and it does a very nice job of doing that.
Not recommended, but I over clocked my processor to 3gig on the stock heatsink, ran the case fans on high... well... the case kept the processor at about 75 degrees Celsius load. As a reference, this is a B3 stepping processor that runs around 55 degrees Celsius stock at idle. I've since then dropped the processor to down to 2.6 gigs with no problems and temps stay around 57 degrees idle, 63 load with case fans at low to medium settings.
The other nicety about this case is the two removable dust screens behind two swing open panels in the front of the case behind the swing open door. These screens do a nice job of keeping dust to a minimum and are easily removed for cleaning.
Another thing I like is the fact that you can hide your cables behind the right side panel (looking at the front of the case). Some might complain about the case being too big for the power supply cables, again, no problems here using the Antec Neo HE 550 power supply, with the modular cables being long enough to reach the 2x4 12volt power connector at the top of my motherboard.
Other cool points include rubberized grommets and sidings to reduce vibration, tie-down points for cables, a small built in case on the upper HD bay to hold extra screws and stuff, rubber grommet ports for water cooling, and blue HD and power LED's.
I do have two recommendations though: 1- get a power supply with a forward facing fan (example: Antec HE 550) as there's not much room for efficient cooling with a fan facing up or down, 2- don't sit the case directly on the floor. Reasons: the power supply area is enclosed, and at the bottom of the case.
The only "worry" I have with the case is the front door panel, which swings open from right to left, fully resting on the left panel. Since I have my case in an enclosure, I can't fully open the door, and I have to be real carful not to accidently hit it and break it; but that's a personal problem.
Overall, I'm extremely satisfied with the P182's design, style and function.
Quiet, cool, looks, price! Buy!
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
