Alternative to Antec P182?

Cyane said:
So for my #2 question, you can totally remove the fan frame and the fan behind the PSU easily and without damaging the case in any way?

Also for the CPU Cooler, is that one of those ultra massive heatsinks? I would prefer a smaller sized heatsink with 120mm fan.
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-Yep, it designed that way and the section wall has holes for 120mm fans pre-drilled if you want to mount the fan directly with screws. same thing with top chamber front fan.

-If you want lowest noise than big heatsinks are the way to go.
 
I got a chance to open up the P182 and look for myself and I have an issue:

-The fan behind frame the PSU doesn't seem to be removeable without permanently damaging the case. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but it requires drilling to remove the rivets holding the frame in place. This would be a problem for longer PSUs and even regular PSUs trying to fit all the cables through the hole would it not?

I think this is the only thing stopping me from buying the case, other than the fact that the PSU cage/holder is so close to the ceiling, it looks like it would block the top fan from pushing any air through.
 
Cyane said:
I got a chance to open up the P182 and look for myself and I have an issue:

-The fan behind frame the PSU doesn't seem to be removeable without permanently damaging the case. Please, correct me if I'm wrong, but it requires drilling to remove the rivets holding the frame in place. This would be a problem for longer PSUs and even regular PSUs trying to fit all the cables through the hole would it not?

I think this is the only thing stopping me from buying the case, other than the fact that the PSU cage/holder is so close to the ceiling, it looks like it would block the top fan from pushing any air through.
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That's very wrong - that fan is held in place with a couple of plastic tabs. Just slide the entire fan tray and it unlocks it and the whole assembly comes out.
 
Just to add on the psu fan space "issue". It may look small but that is in fact plenty. You can also mount the PSU to have the fan face down. That what I did with HX1000's and my own CM RS-850
 
yenniedn said:
That's very wrong - that fan is held in place with a couple of plastic tabs. Just slide the entire fan tray and it unlocks it and the whole assembly comes out.
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Sorry I think you misunderstood, I was referring to the metal frame holding the fan in place, not the fan itself. The metal frame for the fan is attached to the case with rivets on the top side and the bottom of the case that apparently need to be drilled out to remove the metal piece.
 
Cyane said:
Sorry I think you misunderstood, I was referring to the metal frame holding the fan in place, not the fan itself. The metal frame for the fan is attached to the case with rivets on the top side and the bottom of the case that apparently need to be drilled out to remove the metal piece.
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Yes. Who cares? Just about any PSU on the market will fit behind it without issue.
 
The p180 will fit a full sized ATX PSU but this will require you take out the fan at the center. To cure this just take out the center metal piece and reroute the fan to go infront of the HDD cage as it should have been done from the factory in the first place. They are doing this on the P183. You can do the mod yourself or if you want to spend money which I dont like to then buy the Yate Loon as the guy recommended in this thread or a simular 120mm with the same debth and just put that in the front of the cage. I personaly would rather do the mod to fit any deep sized 120mm fan and not have to worry about specific sized fans. I've also seen a mod where a guy drilled the fan on the other side of the center piece away from the PSU which in the same pic he was using a HX1000 Corsair. To me this is still a tight fit and I would still rather do the mod.

Here is a pic of how mine came out...
http://image72.webshots.com/172/6/8/2/2366608020044675130zAlMLD_fs.jpg

http://image72.webshots.com/172/5/56/38/2602556380044675130gdrhGw_fs.jpg

The P183 is nothing more than taking a P182 and drilling out the rivets of the center piece at the bottom which houses that fan. They moved the HDD cage to the left a bit and molded the HDD case screw thing to the side of the cage to retain how it is held into place. It really isnt that crucial unless you litteraly jolt the case alot. Other than that they changed the front door and top vent of the rear fan to match the Mini P180.

For the record... the P180 can be one of the best cooling solutions for air out there. I moded mine by drilling out the honeycomb infront of all the fans for better airflow. If I need to have the air rush in then I open the front door. If I dont need the air and want it silent (by means of my fan controler) then I close the door. It's almost like a Blower on a car.

I like this case much better than the Antec 900 just for the fact that I can match its cooling efficientcy and beat it on quietness when I want to be quiet. Antec 900 is open at the front and doesnt have the sound proof door panels which will let residual noise from whatever devices that make noise to be more amplified than having that noise dampened from the natural way the P180 does.

Here is my temps for the P180...
I run a Q9550 at 4.0ghz 100% stable with a pic on that site I linked of my case if anyone wants proof. I run a Gtx260 and have 2xHDD 640gb AAKS WD's.

With ambient temp of 7Ff at load running Prime95 Small FFT's I am at 54C for the hottest core. On Linpack it was 65C. Case never went higher than 38C during these tests.

I also added a Karma Bay adaptor for a 120mm fan at the front top to add a third intake. So keep that in mind.
 
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