Cases say an awful lot about you as a computer user. Those out there with the clear sides and all that electric blue lighting seem to send out that “I know what I’m doing when I work on my computer, now leave me alone because I’m busy researching worm holes and quantum physics”. Others who posess a newer, colored case leave people thinking that they are concerned about what’s under the hood, two gigs of RAM, a screaming fast graphics card and a hot anime babe as the screen saver. And still there’s the people who still own a plain jane beige tower, quietly hopping online and remaining all aloof about that burgeoning mastercard bill from HAWT/WHET.com.
But now for all the different cases out there our friends at Antec have released what I am describing as a really cool case. Featuring three built in fans, a locking front door and all sorts of other goodies (that I’ll describe later), the P180B has now replaced my beige case and hopefully will help me get a hold on my burgeoning mastercard bill.
Upon arrival, the P180B came in a large box with more then adequate styrofoam protection, the smooth laquer-esque finish has plastic sheets stuck on it in order to prevent any unnecessary scratching. All of the screws and accesories are found in a box that was packed in the case itself as well as the nifty fan screen that would later be placed on the top rear of the case, giving it a sleek aerodynamic look to it.
The first thing that I wondered about was… where the hell was the power supply. As this is my first case review I discovered that many of the newer cases do not come with a power supply, much like my beloved/reveiled beige case. Why? Well geez, I don’t know, probably because putting a power supply that this case will require, would push the price of it up over $200. So, since I already knew I was going to transfer my existing computer into it, off to the local computer store I went. 45 minutes later I had my new power supply and into the case did it go.
As I pulled undid the hand screws that hold the side panel on, I noticed how tight everything seemed to line up. The cool black exterior emitted strength, it’s stainless steel screws spun effortlessly out of their holes. Instantly I felt my sexiness increase as my wife had now positioned herself on the couch to watch me.
“Wow.” She said. “You are looking pretty hot today Mike, did you get a haircut?”
I replied “No” as my forearms flexed while transferring the side panel from the case to the wall where it leaned.
“Well you must have done something today, the kids are at my mother’s (wink).”
“You don’t have to tell me twice honey, Alan can wait for his damn review.” I then stood up and walked towards her but could instantly see the heat in her eyes evaporate.
“I don’t know, all of a sudden, you seemed kinda dopey, I don’t know, maybe I’ll go cook dinner.”
Surprised at her comments, I walked back over to the case and began working again when my wife tackled me from behind as I picked up the case side.
“Ooooohhhhh stud, take me, take me now!” She yelled.
“Alright!” As I dropped the case panel.
“Nope, not in the mood now.” As she climbed off of my back.
“What the hell woman!”
“It’s the case Mike, it gets me hot.”
*Censored*
(14 minutes later)
“That was phenomenal!” My wife said as she pulled her bra off of the ceiling fan.
“I don’t know honey, holding that case side there while getting busy started making me chaff.”
“Chaff schmaff, you’re bringing that computer to the room tonite.”
So with that I decided that there had better be something to this case other than it’s instant sex appeal. Fortunately there was, the case itself is quite durable (as I have proved time and time again) with it’s solid steel frame and protective face plate.
With the case open, the first thing I noticed was the seperation panels that run throughout the case itself. On the bottom, there is a plate that seperates the bottom fourth of the case from the upper 3/4’s. It is here that you install your power supply and it’s here that you will notice a fan placed directly in the middle of the bottom portion of the case, facing directly towards your newly installed power supply, pushing the heat generated from your power supply right out the arse (more arse) of your machine.
On top of the divider is a sliding panel that can be adjusted for various cord girth and count (again with the girth). The other two fans are of similar cooler air pushing power and are located on the rear of the case adjacent/above the card inputs and on the top of the case facing directly down onto the motherboard and processor.
Each fan is a 120mm Tricool fan with a three speed switch that allows you to choose between quiet, standard or maximum cooling power.
Considering that there are three fans, I was quite impressed with how smooth and silent everything sounded the case is sound sealed with it’s triple thick paneling (aluminum/plastic/aluminum). You should note that while the case is several inches taller then your average mid size tower it still fit nicely under my standard size desk. And considering it’s more then adequate cooling and sound dampening the size is forgiveable if you are in the market for a case such as this. With all this additional fan air blowing everywhere it also did a good job of keeping me cool while doing all the damn work trying to keep my wife satisfied.
The mounting screws (more mounting) for your motherboard are raised, machined mounts that feature mounting positions (more positions) for several different styled motherboards. With seven removable ports on the back end (more back end) I found there to plenty of room for all the various input devices and cards that were attached to my motherboard. Please note that the case does feature input ports on the front as well.
By now I’ve managed to turn my love of writing reviews into low grade erotica, but again, I must tell you how much more confidance I have since introducing the P180B into my life. I walk around with clearly more jock in my walk and a certain cockiness that those around me can see. I’m too young for viagra but more then one of my friends has asked me if I’ve started taking enzyte (www.enzyte.com) to which I merely laugh and say…
“No, I’m just enjoying an active (if not strange) sex life with my wife and our new computer case.”
Some of my co-workers have also noticed my new found self assurance and they ask as well and I tell them the same thing. Which causes a bit of a stir since I work at a monastary.
Regardless of all of the sexual harrasment classes I have been ordered to take, the P180B still has some other things I need to talk about, namely the other device installations.
There is room for only one 3.5″ floppy drive bay, not that you need more then one, but hey be happy they provided the one, the floppy is all but dead.
Additionally there is room for four 5.25 drive bays, placing my DVD drive and re-writer into the case was as easy as any case which means, pretty darn easy. For you drive bay virgins out there, take it easy, make sure you refer to the power supply installation section and then line up the power cables to the drives. Don’t go to quickly or you may mess up, just be sure you keep a steady hand and place the drive in gently but firmly. Make sure not to get sweat all over or you’ll end up pissin off the ol girl. Before you know it your drive is in and you are well on your way to loading on all sorts of games and programs.
Lastly the case has two hard drive cages that can be removed by unscrewing a set of hand screws and and then using the finger ring (more fingers?) pull the cages from their mounting (mounting, not again, I’m too tired) for access. Each cage has room for three hard drives which means this case can hold up to six total hard drives, which is exactly four more then I have. The manual recommends that you use the lower drive cage to take full advantage of it’s cooling and noise dampening properties.
I must say that all in all the installation process from begining to end was fairly easy and the manual that comes with the case is easy enough to use, not that I needed to all that much.
It’s been almost two weeks now with the Antec case, my body has scarred and calloused in all the right places and my night life has never been as satisfying or as much of a workout in all of my 32 years. I couldn’t be happier with how the case works or how it gets my wife a’ workin, and quite frankly I could care less, I’m living my porn star dreams.
Cooling System
- Unique upper and lower chamber structure
- Innovative three-layer side panels and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) dampen system noise, making this one of the quietest cases available
- 1 rear (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan with 3-speed switch control
- 1 top (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan
- 1 lower chamber (standard) 120mm TriCool™ Fan
- 1 front (optional) 120mm fan
- 1 middle (optional) 120mm fan to cool graphics cards
- Upper drive cage can be used as a duct to provide fresh air to graphics cards
Configuration
- Maximum expandability with 11 Drive Bays
- External 4 x 5.25″; 1 x 3.5″
- Internal 6 x 3.5″ for HDD
- Fits micro and standard ATX
- Double hinge front door designed to open up to 270º
- 7 Expansion Slots
- 2 x USB 2.0
- 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire®, i.Link®)
- Audio In and Out
- Built in washable air-filter
- Dimensions: 54cm (H) x 20.5cm (W) x 50.7cm (D)
- 21.3″(H) x 8.1″(W) x 19.9″(D)
Material: 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis, 1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4x HDD area To optimize performance of your P180 the choice of your power supply is crucial. Antec strongly recommends choosing from our Phantom, NeoHE or TruePower series Silicone grommets in the hard drive cages absorb vibrations and reduce noise
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