Original post:
"well...its that time again, I'm trying to put all my new stuff into a case. I've done research on both the Antec p160 and the p180. I really like both cases, I've seen the P160 in person as well.
Let me progress by stating what I like in cases: quietness, cooling/air flow, front usb & audio ports, easy to work with/sliding mobo tray/tooless. I guess I could also add a sleek look too...but anyways, both these antec cases sport such features(not all)....however the P180 is said to be a pain to work on, plus there are only a few psu's out there that will have a cord long enough to reach the mobo from its location and encasement(so its been said, please share if you know any good psu's that do support/work well with this case though). As for the P160, it doesn't look as sleek IMO, nor is it as quiet, but I think I could possibly deal with it.
Finally, any other similar boards with such features that I should consider or that you would recommend? "
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UPDATE(with a review and some findings)
I ended up keeping my cheap case that I bought on a weekend sale off of NEWEGG. An Aspire X-dreamer II, a real piece of crap, haha. I mean it does look cool, but I'm not into the lights(i sleep in the same room with the box, so the lights annoy me). A few things that I do not like about this case is the fact that the build quality just isn't there(what can you expect), everything is rather flimsy and creaks, the metal flexes and dimples like a soda can, and the clear plastic already has hairline cracks.
On top of all of this, its just soooo cramped in there with my PSU(enermax whisper II 535watt SLI, I love it!), wires are cluttered and I have to route quite a few power connectors to my DFI lanparty nf4, as well as 4 fans I put in there(more on this later...), plus my video card requires a pci-e connector as well, so yeah, very cluttered, I'm worried about the air flow and wires sitting too close to heatsinks.
The install was alrite, but I do have a grudge against the fact that you have to remove the front and both sides of the case just to put in optical 5.25'' drives!!! Oh yeah, also the drives won't fit back all the way because they decided to place an 80mm fan in the top center that completely blocks the path of the drive, so I had to completely remove the fan all together. Rather annoying. On top of that, putting additional hard drives is annoying to, the compartment to hold the drives is just poorly designed, I won't even begin, again, just annoying, a pain, the only easy thing was the motherboard because the tray is removeable(but I didn't even take advantage of it)
Now, for the fans again... It was designed to have 2 80mm fans in the front, but with the help of sawzall and a drill I was able to mount a 120mm fan in the front with an airfilter(yay, I can filter dust while leaving the computer on at the same time!), so that's that. I also placed a 120mm fan in the back as well to have passive airflow front going to the back. On top of this, the case includes a side panel 80mm fan, and a top mounted 80mm fan, but I had to remove the top mount and place it outside of the case because the darn thing was in the way of the optical drives....again a poor design.
HAVING SAID ALL THIS, I want to buy an Antec P180!!! No more cheaping out this time, I got to take a first hand look at the case the other day, and I was able to do an actual side by side comparison between the P180 and the P160, both are great cases, but as far as build quality goes, the P180 takes the gold from me. The body and structure feels very rigid and sturdy to say the least. I also like the professional looks of it, and I certainly won't have to worry about my power cables reaching up there because the Enermax whisper II has some really long cables.
BUT, for those who have P180's, do any of you overclock?! I'm curious to know how "good" this airflow is, I just got my opteron 146 with a thermalright XP-90, I plan to overclock the heck out of this thing, from 2.0gHz to around 2.8gHz(give or take .1ghz) , what do you guys think, will it work, will it be sufficient enough, or will I have to mod this beauty??
*note: it's 4:00a.m. eastern time and I have to go to work tmrw morning, and I admit, I didn't bother to reread/proofread through, so excuse me for any errors, haha... too tired to care, and it's been like that lately...ugh, the holidays...take care everyone
"well...its that time again, I'm trying to put all my new stuff into a case. I've done research on both the Antec p160 and the p180. I really like both cases, I've seen the P160 in person as well.
Let me progress by stating what I like in cases: quietness, cooling/air flow, front usb & audio ports, easy to work with/sliding mobo tray/tooless. I guess I could also add a sleek look too...but anyways, both these antec cases sport such features(not all)....however the P180 is said to be a pain to work on, plus there are only a few psu's out there that will have a cord long enough to reach the mobo from its location and encasement(so its been said, please share if you know any good psu's that do support/work well with this case though). As for the P160, it doesn't look as sleek IMO, nor is it as quiet, but I think I could possibly deal with it.
Finally, any other similar boards with such features that I should consider or that you would recommend? "
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UPDATE(with a review and some findings)
I ended up keeping my cheap case that I bought on a weekend sale off of NEWEGG. An Aspire X-dreamer II, a real piece of crap, haha. I mean it does look cool, but I'm not into the lights(i sleep in the same room with the box, so the lights annoy me). A few things that I do not like about this case is the fact that the build quality just isn't there(what can you expect), everything is rather flimsy and creaks, the metal flexes and dimples like a soda can, and the clear plastic already has hairline cracks.
On top of all of this, its just soooo cramped in there with my PSU(enermax whisper II 535watt SLI, I love it!), wires are cluttered and I have to route quite a few power connectors to my DFI lanparty nf4, as well as 4 fans I put in there(more on this later...), plus my video card requires a pci-e connector as well, so yeah, very cluttered, I'm worried about the air flow and wires sitting too close to heatsinks.
The install was alrite, but I do have a grudge against the fact that you have to remove the front and both sides of the case just to put in optical 5.25'' drives!!! Oh yeah, also the drives won't fit back all the way because they decided to place an 80mm fan in the top center that completely blocks the path of the drive, so I had to completely remove the fan all together. Rather annoying. On top of that, putting additional hard drives is annoying to, the compartment to hold the drives is just poorly designed, I won't even begin, again, just annoying, a pain, the only easy thing was the motherboard because the tray is removeable(but I didn't even take advantage of it)
Now, for the fans again... It was designed to have 2 80mm fans in the front, but with the help of sawzall and a drill I was able to mount a 120mm fan in the front with an airfilter(yay, I can filter dust while leaving the computer on at the same time!), so that's that. I also placed a 120mm fan in the back as well to have passive airflow front going to the back. On top of this, the case includes a side panel 80mm fan, and a top mounted 80mm fan, but I had to remove the top mount and place it outside of the case because the darn thing was in the way of the optical drives....again a poor design.
HAVING SAID ALL THIS, I want to buy an Antec P180!!! No more cheaping out this time, I got to take a first hand look at the case the other day, and I was able to do an actual side by side comparison between the P180 and the P160, both are great cases, but as far as build quality goes, the P180 takes the gold from me. The body and structure feels very rigid and sturdy to say the least. I also like the professional looks of it, and I certainly won't have to worry about my power cables reaching up there because the Enermax whisper II has some really long cables.
BUT, for those who have P180's, do any of you overclock?! I'm curious to know how "good" this airflow is, I just got my opteron 146 with a thermalright XP-90, I plan to overclock the heck out of this thing, from 2.0gHz to around 2.8gHz(give or take .1ghz) , what do you guys think, will it work, will it be sufficient enough, or will I have to mod this beauty??
*note: it's 4:00a.m. eastern time and I have to go to work tmrw morning, and I admit, I didn't bother to reread/proofread through, so excuse me for any errors, haha... too tired to care, and it's been like that lately...ugh, the holidays...take care everyone