Which one? Antec900 or AntecP180?

[MikeyD360]

Hey guys,

as title states, I'm looking at new cases and so far the ones that most capture my attention are the 2 antecs, the 900 and the P180.

Both are in a great pricerange, but have different features that I want.. so my question is from people who own or have experienced either.. what would you recommend?

On one hand, i like the seperate compartments of the BTX-ish P180 and the quiet operation and many setup options.

On the other, I like the styling, the windowed sides, and the aggressive cooling of the 900...

its too hard to choose.. HELP!!!!

[burebista]

It's just a matter of taste. I choosed P182 and I'm happy with it.

[Xione]

both are nice cases it seems, I have the 900 myself, nice cooling and spacious, but the led's are bright. Just choose wichever looks better to you.

[Morvak]

I owned both. I own the P180b now.

Both are cool and quiet with all fans set to low. They are pretty much a coin toss.

Antec 900 pros:- 4 fans (2 intake fans)
- optional side panel fan
- optional hdd cage fan
- Power/Reset/USB/Firewire/Audio ports on top of case

Antec 900 cons:- no front fan filters = dust magnet if you're room isn't spotless
- ok cable management - however there are tie downs and you can tuck some extra cable underneath lower chamber hdd cage
- case fans have internal switches so if you plan to reswitch fan settings a lot will need to open case every time

Antec P180b pros:- PSU in lower chamber
- better cable management with ability to route cables behind mobo panel
- filters on front passive vents
- top and rear fan speeds have their switches externally in the rear
- front door with perforated sides to keep majority of dust out of case while still allowing air to be passively drawn in
- optional intake fan behind top HDD cage (like Antec 900)

Antec P180b cons:- 3 fans (1 exhaust, 1 top, 1 lower chamber between PSU and HDD cage)
- front door (keep opening and closing to access DVD/CD)
- Audio/USB ports front right side close to bottom of case. If you have your case on the right side, like I do, and have headphones/cables coming from these ports to the left, can get in the way of closing the door (of course you can simply move case to the left of you, i am just lazy and used to case on the right).
- no front intake fans
- better cable management, but lower chamber PSU and HDD cables can become cumbersome with lower chamber fan that sits between PSU and HDD cage
- installation of 5.25 drives not as nice & easy as Antec 900 (have to mount drive rails to device, this is not needed for Antec 900)
- Antec P180b screws did not secure Corsair 520HX to back of case, screws keep spinning - on my Antec 900 case screws held PSU secure to back of case - however, P180B has PSU cage so rear screws aren't really needed anyway

The P180B is a little more quiet, especially since it has thick panels and thick front door. Front door is a pain though always opening and closing when accessing DVD burner. But it has its benefits as far as keeping dust build up to a minimum. And it has filters.

I prefer the Antec P180B because it's sleek, no neon lights and while it has no intake fans it has front air filters and a door as i'm a little OCD about dust.

It's early and I'm still waking up i hope this helps.

[MikeyD360]

hmm... looking at the P180 SE... mirror finish.. mmmmmm... BUT FINGERPRINTS>> FAAAARK!

thanks for the tips there... its such a tough choice..

are there any cases that would have the build quality of the P180, with the design of the 900? I want a case with seperate chambers for PSU and HDD rack, but I want windowed and BIG FANS!, cos i'm kind of a big fan myself.. haww haww.

[Oc1Kenube]

if you need lots of space go with the p180 if not and still want a gr8 case get the 900

[Wolverine690]

I've built 2 systems with the P180 series cases & I like them for the most part.

As someone else mentioned the space in the PSU compartment leaves little room for you to have cables there with the fan there which IMO you want there. Also there is a place to put a face at the front of the case in the lower chamber but no way of getting one in there without some creative & PITA modding. There are 2 places for front intake fans but then you are loosing the space for more HD's. You can place one at the front of the case & then the other on the back of the HD rack.

But other then that this is a very good case...also you'll want to make sure your PSU cables are long enough. Most newer PSU's have longer cables so hopefully that won't be an issue.

[MikeyD360]

Its a brand new PSU, so shouldnt have a problem.. in the case I have now, it goes from the top, across, down past the CPU cooler, underneath and then back again to the ATX connector, lol.. but then the power cables for the drives are almost as long as my arm, lmao.. a real pain to try and conceal... who knows what coolermaster were thinking.
I saw a pic in another thread of someone that has done an install into a 900 and it looks very cramped.. if I wanted that I may as well keep the case I have already... I think I'll get the P180!!

Thanks for all the help guys!

[ancalime]

hmm... looking at the P180 SE... mirror finish.. mmmmmm... BUT FINGERPRINTS>> FAAAARK!

thanks for the tips there... its such a tough choice..

are there any cases that would have the build quality of the P180, with the design of the 900? I want a case with seperate chambers for PSU and HDD rack, but I want windowed and BIG FANS!, cos i'm kind of a big fan myself.. haww haww.
Performance-pcs has a windowed version of the P180. Though I think it ruins the kitchen appliance kind of look to the P180.

The SIlverstone TJ07 also has the same kind of internal design as the P180 except the TJ07 is more spacious, more fun, and is way more sexy...imo of course. The cooling system installed in the TJ07 is heftier than that of the P180 as well and you can easily water cool it if you ever decide to go that route.

[MikeyD360]

Ive also heard the Silverstone is a lot more pricier than the Antec, but I haven't actually checked the prices myself.. I only know the P180 is AUD$199. and the P180SE AUD$275

[aja]

I bought the P180B and now I wish I had taken the 900

[dealmaster]

Also there is a place to put a face at the front of the case in the lower chamber but no way of getting one in there without some creative & PITA modding.

I was able to fit a 120x120x20mm fan that fit perfectly in there. Held to the front of the case with a little sticky tack and I saw a 4-5C drop in hard drive temps. Very easy mod, all I had to do was bend the metal brackets toward the back of the case a bit to slide the fan in. I had to push fairly hard, but it's in there now.

This is the fan I bought:
http://www.jab-tech.com/YATE-LOON-120x120x20mm-Case-Fan-D12SL-12C-Low-Speed-pr-3825.html

To contribute: I have the P180 and am extremely glad I bought it. Excellent case, but make sure your PSU has long cables to reach the long distance it has to. I'm going to buy some extenders to help my wire management since I'm a nazi about it though!

[ancalime]

Ive also heard the Silverstone is a lot more pricier than the Antec, but I haven't actually checked the prices myself.. I only know the P180 is AUD$199. and the P180SE AUD$275

Yea the MSRP is almost double that of the P180 but I think it is worth it if you have the money.

[oakstave]

The 900 isn't a full sized case, but's not exactly a mid tower either. I found there's a bit more working room in it than most.

It's positively the coolest case I've ever used. Really excellent ventilation.

An external sata port would have been nice.

If you like collecting dust, you'll LOVE the 900. ;)

Personally, I think the 180 is aesthetically more pleasing to the eye. The 900 is kind of a no-nonsense, I want to oc the heck out of it and not worry about temps kind of case.

You have to adjust the fans manually with little switches on the 900. But with everything on low, it's actually pretty quiet. On high... not so much.

[MikeyD360]

My PC at the moment is very loud.. its a pretty flimsy steel frame, with no padding.. fans directly attached to the case with no insulation, 4x 80mm Zalman fans, the GPU fan, intel Core2 stock HSF... not to mention the DVD drives and HDD drives are pretty loud with no padding...
and with no filters, the tops of all my cards are grey with dust already, so maybe the 900 would be a cool choice.. I just cant decide if i want to be a boy gamer or a man gamer.. lol.

[MikeyD360]

Okay. i decided to be a boy gamer. I got the antec 900.
Also picked up a couple of extra antec tri-cool 120mm blue LED fans to go in it.

its such an awesome case.

With all the tri cools set to low you can barely hear that the PC is on and the idle temps now sit around 32C (throttled to 1200MHz) and the load temps at 48C (2000MHz). which is a little lower than my old case which had the 4 80mm zalmans and sounded like a plane taking off.

I dont really feel the need to turn the fans up for lower temps, as these are fine and the noise wouldnt be worth the hassle, but with 5x120mm and 1x200mm fans on high, i would imagine that it would be pretty loud.

Also the blue glow coming from the case is awesome, and its my first case with a window, so its quite exciting.