The P180 - not quite living up to the hype?

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Shorehn

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EDIT: For the benefit of certain individuals who apparently refuse to look over the rest of this thread, I bought a P180 and AM HAPPY WITH IT.
 
When you're ready to sell it, let me know. I already own one (as you've probably seen from my numerous posts about my P180), and I have a friend who wants one, too.
 
your too paranoid, the way i think of it. it lives up to all of my expectations and cools greatly. Even though theres only 2 fans on the top chamber fullfilling the air, it does it good and it does it quietly. If you dont care at all for the quietness dont buy this case, this case was designed by the people at spcr.
 
It's not a matter of "when" I'm ready to sell it, it's a matter of "if" I'm ready to sell it. I'm looking for some opinions on this before I make a decision one way or the other because I already jumped the gun once in this whole ordeal.

And if I do sell it, there's a local around here who's willing to pay me a fair amount for it so I'll probably just sell it to him to avoid shipping costs.
 
If your gpu is heating up, then get a good hsf like Artic Cooling's NV or ATI Silencer (the correct version for you gpu) or Zalman's VF-700ALCU (or 700CU if you don't move your computer that much). If you really wanted to get great air cooling, then cut some holes in your case and use any material you want to direct cool air directly to you cpu and gpu (using fans at the intake of the vent work better than just a plain duct, and make things a bit quieter with the same fans, as there isn't as much turbulence over the heatsink(s), but you aren't so worried about silence).

If you want to try and keep your P180 and cool your gpu well, then stick your hard drives in the bottom rack (possibly with a 25mm thick fan if you have hot hds and/or your psu isn't up to cooling itself and your hds), take out the top hd rack, and stick a 120mm fan intaking for the top (possibly the 38mm fan from the bottom section, if you want to take it out). Have you actually installed your hardware into your P180 yet?
 
i returned my p180 and got a stacker. The p180 would've been awesome if they didn't make it so cramped up inside. Have fun trying to watercool the system if you have that case.
 
yea the case is cramped, but you cant expect much from a mid tower case vs a full tower case.
 
You're not alone in thinking that the P180 is overrated. While it did get a lot of attention at SPCR (which was to be expected, since the site's owner had a hand in designing it), it was one of the SPCR reviews that first exposed most of the shortcomings, especially the poor VGA cooling and the terrible positioning of the motherboard and power supply in relation to each other. (Who thought that was a good idea? The quietest fanned PSUs of all, SeaSonic, are notorious for having short ATX power cables!) While I'm all in favor of experiments to correct the airflow problems inherent in the ATX form factor, the P180 is in my eyes a failure. Lian Li's V1000 series did it first, and is still better IMO. The CM Stacker is also notable for it's modularity. I would choose either before the P180.

As far as watercooling, I've had enough of trying to cool my dual Athlon setup without having it sound like a Harrier jump jet. I'm currently converting it to water cooling on the cheap, and in the end it's going to cost less than any of the cases I've mentioned earlier. (I'm using one of those old Enlight mid-towers that everyone and their grandmother had back in the day, because it's what I have on hand. Any generic case could be made to work.) If you're not averse to modding, I wouldn't rule watercooling out.
 
SPCR's been a pretty valuable source of information in the past, but these days the answer to every case question is "get the p180". The problem with that is when people do get the p180, they're right back in there with build-quality issues, bulging panels, busted doors, psu extension cables not working with motherboards, etc.

I picked one up a few weeks ago, the super-silent 3-layer paneling starts warping at different rates for the different metals, mine went back to microcenter. It's a $60 case, period.
 
I bought an Antec 3700BQE, and then put the Acoustipack custom kit for the case in it. Then I put a Caseskin on it, and I ended up with a pretty nice, damn quiet case. I also installed an Arctic Cooling NV5 Silencer on my 6800GT AGP.

My temps are 24C ambient, 37C case, 40C CPU idle, 54C CPU under load, 59C GPU idle. This is with 2 Antec 120mm Stealths front and back, and an Antec Neopower PSU.

The fact is that super quieting a case takes work and money. You don't want the P180, there are choices.
 
AznAnarchy99 said:
your too paranoid, the way i think of it. it lives up to all of my expectations and cools greatly. Even though theres only 2 fans on the top chamber fullfilling the air, it does it good and it does it quietly. If you dont care at all for the quietness dont buy this case, this case was designed by the people at spcr.
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I've built machines in P180's before. The cooling is pretty good. Not the best I've seen. What I hate is the cheesy front door, and that goofy ass grill on the top blowhole. (Which is removable, but looks like ass when you do take it off.)

The interior is way too cramped to build in. It's not a very pleasant case to build in. Personally, I think its a better case then alot of these crappy cases that get released every year, but honestly, I think that the P180 is highly overrated.
 
I've had the P180 for 3 months and am content with it overall. Yes it is cramped and the power supply cables look messy, but my Seasonic S12 can connect to a DFI nf4 just fine. I might have been the first consumer to break a couple door clips as well...

What REALLY impresses me and lets me overlook the faults is how the hard drive cage silences my raptors seek noises. In every other case I've used, they've been noticeable and irritating, especially when the hard drives start seeking for no apparant reason (backround processes).

The general noise dampening and taking the bite out of the raided raptor's seeks make this case worth it for me.
 
If you use the case as intended, it lives up to the hype, imho.

Every disgruntled p180 person is somebody who wants to f*ck with the case and turn it into something it isn't.

If you buy it and want to watercool, you messed up.

if you buy it and want to rip out all of the fans and replace them, you messed up.

This isn't a case for modders. It should be pretty obvious. No split-cooling zone case is for modders.

Is it a royal pain to work in? Hell yes. Did I buy it planning to be inside the case on a daily basis? Hell no. Do it once, and leave it alone.

I have exactly one complaint with the case, and that is the front door. I knew I'd have that complaint before I even bought the case, though.
 
any case can be set up to have good all around cooling, anything from a tiny shuttle xpc all the way up to a cooler master stacker.

you are very paranoid, and for no real reason. a case is not an excuse for poor cooling.

step 1) analyze your cooling needs, you will probably want at least one fan up front and one in the back. for most situations (including mine) this is fine. you can also put one on the top if you really wanted to.

step 2) Wire managment, this is by far the most important part. bundle your wires and tuck them away from air flow paths

step 3) If you are really worried about video card cooling impliment a slot cooling situation, or invest in an aftermarket gpu cooler

step 4) try various configurations with you cooling setup, for example switch your cpu fan from suck to blow, rear fan to intake and front to exhaust etc. just mess around with it until you are happy

step 5) use high quality cooling components, stuff like xp-90/90c/120 for the cpu, name brand fans like panaflow or sunon and artic silver thermal paste insted of cheap/generic stuff.
 
eastvillager said:
If you use the case as intended, it lives up to the hype, imho.

Every disgruntled p180 person is somebody who wants to f*ck with the case and turn it into something it isn't.

If you buy it and want to watercool, you messed up.

if you buy it and want to rip out all of the fans and replace them, you messed up.

This isn't a case for modders. It should be pretty obvious. No split-cooling zone case is for modders.

Is it a royal pain to work in? Hell yes. Did I buy it planning to be inside the case on a daily basis? Hell no. Do it once, and leave it alone.

I have exactly one complaint with the case, and that is the front door. I knew I'd have that complaint before I even bought the case, though.
Click to expand...

Word, this case is so kick ass in stock form there was no reason for me to hack away at it. It offers farking awesome flexbility, cooling and air managment change options the way it is. If you got this case for continual upgrading, modifying, frequent changing of parts or watercooling then you obviously didn't do you homework.
 
Heres my take on the P180. I love this case and hate it at the same time. First off, i love the appearance. There are too many cases today that are infested with neon lights, and leds, and all kinds of useless addons. No offense to those who find this appealing, but to me, it just looks cheesy. I love the "plain" look of the P180. I also like the quietness of this case. I really don't hear my computer anymore, unless i'm listening for it.

Now, this case certainly isn't easy to work in. The spaces are cramped, it's hard to hide wires, and there really aren't a lot of options on where to route them. However, i knew all that going in. My OCZ PowerStream cables were a pain to route (and i ended up using the second opening (intended for the lower HD chamber cables), and found that this made things a lot easier.

As for watercooling, is this the ideal case for watercooling? Certainly not, but it can be done. Personnaly, i put my pump in the spot where the upper HD cage was. I have my Rad hanging on the back, and everything works fine. I don't really see how anyone could fint a rad internally, but i'm sure someone has. The only concern you should have if using this case for watercooling is that the Powersupply is at the bottom of the case. Should you have a leak from your CPU or GPU block, its possible that your going to have water dripping on your PSU, obvisouly not a good thing.

Overall i like this case. Everything fits (after some time spent rounting cables), it's cool (with or without W/C), and it's just plain looks nice. just my .02
 
My p180...

I like it well enough... it sure looked cool on the box and spec sheet!

It is cramped for sure in some areas... for instance... if you use the bottom drive cage you will probably not be able to use the wide 120mm fan down there. This is an example of bad design, or poorly tested design... as anyone would have seen that once you attach pata drive cables you cannot use the fan.

it comes with 3 adjustable 120mm fans... these are easy to buy at the store... but the case comes with this side vent thing you have to find a special thin-profile 80mm fan for... (zalman makes one) and these are harder to find in the store... I wish they would have included this fan!

Also... There is a stupid fan grille thing you need to snap to the top of the case... it looks ugly and it is pointless for it to be that way. There are perforations in the case to mount this thing... so it is even worse when it is off... but it looks like it will be easy to mod a normal flat type grille on there.

the front door does not close all the way... this is more bad design because it seems every single person has this problem.

I leave the door wrapped around the side... and the case does look really cool that way. like a pro server look.

The case does have alot of effective sound dampening... and it gives it a nice dead feel to the whole thing...

All and all it is better then my old case... I only expected a bit better execution for all the money. This is a good first effort at a high end case... maybe they will design a rev 2. that is better.
 
In regard to the front door warping slightly, I heard that using the lock helps keep the door in shape.
 
I've always been told use the right tool for the job, and that seems to fit here.
IceWind has it right.
This is not a case to be ultra modded. Rather it ment to be a quiet, and cool case.
I wouldn't try to water cool this case, and the biggest mod i might do would be adding a 120 to the bottom chamber
Overall it seems that Antec did what it set out to do. Yes the case might have a few minor issues, what what product doesn't ?
 
The case is great its super queit but still yeilds great result and temps I have a 3000+OCed to 2.24GHz and its stays a cool 29C inside. The case is not meant to modded why would you its great as it is.
 
yeah its true that the vga duct is no good and just restricts air flow, thats y i made my own air vent with some flashcards, duct tape and a 80mm fan, dropped my gfx cards temp about 6c idling at 40c :)
 
Compslckr already said, you need a project not only a good case. Instead using Coolermaster or Antec you would have to look for quality components or a larger case.

I'm very happy with my Chenbro Genie. Solid, enough room for everything and quite good air flow.
 
I will soon have a P180 case.
How well it performs also depends on the components you choose.
To overcome some of its few, minor shortcomings, I plan to do the following:
PSU: Enermax Noisetaker 701AX (600W) [EG701AX-VE SFMA]
-(in)famous for its extra long cable runs.
-2nd (rear) fan has external speed controller for even more quietness.
120x38mm lower intake chamber fan set to LOW. (2 SATAII HDDs in lower cage).
Extra 120x25mm TriCool intake fan in empty upper HDD cage set to LOW.
Asus A8N-SLi PREMIUM nForce4 w/Asus AI Cool-pipe (no noisy chipset fan).
BlueGears/HDA X-Mystique 7.1 Gold Digital Sound Card on lowest PCI slot
Asus Extreme N7800GTX TOP/2DHTV (2 slot) PCIe VIVO video card
-has an Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 5 Rev. 2 fan to vent the card’s heat OUT of the case.
I will remove the VGA duct and duct tape over the remaining holed surface to seal it.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Dual Core S939 Toledo PIB CPU
2GB OCZ Dual Channel EL DDR PC-3200 400MHz Titanium CL 2-3-2-5 Unbuffered
Plextor PX-716AL Double/Dual DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW internal E-IDE slot load.
That’s it for internal components.
The top and upper rear TriCool fans set to LOW venting OUT.
From all I have read, and if I take special care with cabling, this system should be a very quiet and very cool.
Exactly what the buyers of such a case should be looking for.
 
tip, have the top pulling air in. It helps, no matter what (maybe if you have a fan intake in the front, but i dont.)
 
I have the CM Stacker and it runs extremely cool, there's enough room to put anything in this beast. Maybe it is a little on the big side, but so what. I hardly ever move it. I have my Asus Z71V for lanparties.
 
Yashu said:
My p180...

This is an example of bad design, or poorly tested design... as anyone would have seen that once you attach pata drive cables you cannot use the fan.
Click to expand...

I have 4 drives in the bottom chamber and am using the fan just fine.

it comes with 3 adjustable 120mm fans... these are easy to buy at the store... but the case comes with this side vent thing you have to find a special thin-profile 80mm fan for... (zalman makes one) and these are harder to find in the store... I wish they would have included this fan!
Click to expand...

Including a fan would've been nice, but it doesn't have to be low profile, fyi. I stuck a regular 80mm fan in it and it would've fit ok if I were using one card instead two. They had a good idea on this one, they just didn't execute it properly, imho.

Also... There is a stupid fan grille thing you need to snap to the top of the case... it looks ugly and it is pointless for it to be that way. There are perforations in the case to mount this thing... so it is even worse when it is off... but it looks like it will be easy to mod a normal flat type grille on there.
Click to expand...

a. you don't need the 'spoiler', b. the perfs are black on black, almost unnoticeable, especially if the case is sitting on your desk.

the front door does not close all the way... this is more bad design because it seems every single person has this problem.
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Yeah, the sandwhich panels don't deal well at all with thermal contraction/expansion, and the front door is the worst. They should've tacked a bit of steel on the inside just to stiffen the door.
 
AznAnarchy99 said:
tip, have the top pulling air in. It helps, no matter what (maybe if you have a fan intake in the front, but i dont.)
Click to expand...

Hope you like having lots of dust in your case
 
I had a P180 for a couple months. I sold it because it was too plastic and cheap and it never came close to cooling like my LianLi does. I'm buying another LianLi.
 
I have 4 drives in the bottom chamber and am using the fan just fine.
Click to expand...

Are they SATA or PATA?

I have two PATA drives and I use the rounded cables... since they don't fold, the loop between the drives sticks out far enough to hit the blades of that fan.
 
I think the general flaw in VGA is cooling is as follows; most stock VGA heatsinks take air in from the back of the case and blow it to the front, opposite of the case airflow. With air being blown in from the front would seem to create a chamber of hot air around the video card as it is being pushed in two directions at once.

The best solution would be using a VGA cooler that expells hot air from the case, hence why Arctic Cooling solutions work so well despite not seeming to be much more of a heatsink than stock. Similarly Thermalright's design works because it moves the heat to the back of the card where it gets nicely sucked up in the standard cooling path [front intake -> CPU -> exaust]
 
Yashu said:
Are they SATA or PATA?

I have two PATA drives and I use the rounded cables... since they don't fold, the loop between the drives sticks out far enough to hit the blades of that fan.
Click to expand...


SATA, but that just says you've got a cable issue. :)

If there were no cables anywhere that would work, then I'd blame the case design.
 
but you just said you had SATA, so of course you are not going to have the same problem.

I put a grille on the fan and am using it now though.
 
Yashu said:
but you just said you had SATA, so of course you are not going to have the same problem.

I put a grille on the fan and am using it now though.
Click to expand...

I've got velcro ties on the sata data and power cables specifically to keep them out of that fan. The grille was definitely the way to go and antec should've grilled both sides of the fan from the get go, imho.
 
Arkangyl said:
I think the general flaw in VGA is cooling is as follows; most stock VGA heatsinks take air in from the back of the case and blow it to the front, opposite of the case airflow. With air being blown in from the front would seem to create a chamber of hot air around the video card as it is being pushed in two directions at once.

The best solution would be using a VGA cooler that expells hot air from the case, hence why Arctic Cooling solutions work so well despite not seeming to be much more of a heatsink than stock. Similarly Thermalright's design works because it moves the heat to the back of the card where it gets nicely sucked up in the standard cooling path [front intake -> CPU -> exaust]
Click to expand...

Sounds to me like putting a fan as exhaust in the VGA duct wouldn't be all that bad to try out then. I'd hate to just throw the duct away since it's always good to take full advantage of what you can.

By the way, not that anybody's actually talking about my original argument but I did decide to go ahead and stick with the P180 (figured it was too much trouble to return or sell it, and now that it's here I can see it's not that bad). Maybe the plastic clips on the side have to be handled gently and the door doesn't shut all the way, but hey, every other P180'er has the same problems. It's got a few problems but overall I think it'll do a pretty good job keeping things cool. I'm looking forward to doing some testing with the VGA duct to see if I can't get it to work well.
 
I did notice that the thread had drifted on you; thanks for sticking with it and keeping us updated. I just got my P180 and read everyone's comments with interest; I'll look forward to hearing your experience with the duct.
 
xdkimx said:
yeah its true that the vga duct is no good and just restricts air flow, thats y i made my own air vent with some flashcards, duct tape and a 80mm fan, dropped my gfx cards temp about 6c idling at 40c :)
Click to expand...
Cool - any chance you can post a couple of pictures of that?
 
I've built a couple machines in the Antec P180. The interior quality of the unit is second to none as usual for Antec. The exterior quality actually varies quite a bit from case to case. On top of that, the door feels cheap and flimsy, and doesn't always close all the way or lay back against the side of the case right.

Interior wise I have some issues with the case as well. The main thing is that black fan holder thing with the rails on it, is about the most useless and in the way pile of junk around. The case is way to hard to work in and fan placement near the PSU bay seems pretty retarded to me unless you have a passively cooled PSU.

Finally, the vent shroud on the back of the P180 has to go. The Antec P160 was ugly, but I think it was a better overall case than the P180.
 
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