P180B rocks!

[addylo]

I just received my P180B and am thoroughly impressed with this case! I'll be doing the build this weekend but couldn't wait to pop this puppy open and see what the fuss was about. What a thing of beauty! And built like a tank.

The attention to detail is impressive. Not a single loose part to be found. Even the pull rings for the hard drive bay drawers are snapped in place by brackets. Overall a very impressive unit.

My only question so far is regarding the door. I thought I remembered reading it would swing 270 degrees? This one only goes 180. Not that it's a big deal to me at all... just curious.

Kudos to Antec for putting out such a quality product at an affordable price.

And no... I'm not affiliated with Antec in any way, just a happy customer.

 

[teatime0315]

I have the original P180 and I love the thing .
Regarding your door question... Yeah it can only go 180 . Not a big deal for me anyway.

 

[Navid]

You just have to lift the top edge of the frame a little bit to let the door open all the way to 270 degrees.

The case is good.
However, if you set it up with negative pressure, which is how it would be quieter, it has lots of holes that will pull dust in.
So, you either have to close all the holes yourself or set up a positive pressure case.

 

[Raider1284]

by positive and negative pressure do you mean having the fans in the back pulling air from the front of the case, as opposed to air in the front of the case pushing air to the back?

 

[cytoSiN]

Originally posted by: Navid
You just have to lift the top edge of the frame a little bit to let the door open all the way to 270 degrees.

The case is good.
However, if you set it up with negative pressure, which is how it would be quieter, it has lots of holes that will pull dust in.
So, you either have to close all the holes yourself or set up a positive pressure case.

I've got a P182, which is basically the same case...based on the stock case fan configuration, should we be sealing holes or flipping the fans? Thanks.

 

[Navid]

Positive pressure means that you have more intake fans than exhaust fans, or you have higher RPM on your intake fans than on your exhaust fans, or both.

Negative pressure means the other way around.





This is what I have done. By no means am I saying that this is what you have to do.

I have my hard drives in the lower chamber. I have the fan in the lower chamber in the middle and set to minimum RPM. This keeps the hard drives cool enough and since the fan is inside the case and not right in front, it is really quiet.

If you have one of those PSUs with a very low RPM 120mm fan, if the fan in the lower chamber is set to high PRM, the area behind the fan will have positive pressure. So, air will leave the openings around the PSU and everything will be fine.
But, I am a quiet PC freak! So, I have set the fan to very low RPM. The area behind the fan is not a positive pressure area! So, dust can be sucked in from all the openings around the PSU. That is why I have used Scotch tape and have blocked all those openings. The exhaust air from my PSU is not hot. So, I am not compromising the cooling of my PSU by doing that.



The exhaust fan at the back and at the top are both on minimum. I have no intake fan at the bottom of the upper chamber.
So, my upper chamber definitely has negative pressure.

There are lots of openings around the power switch. I have closed those using electrical tape.

All the brackets have openings in them. Closed all with Scotch tape.

Removed the rubber grommets from the holes for the water cooling radiator and closed them with Scotch tape.


Alternatively, you can install an intake fan at the bottom of the upper chamber and increase its RPM until you have positive pressure. I would not be happy with the noise.

If you have negative pressure without closing all the holes, you will need to clean the case more often. Then, there is not much point in the filter on the intake though since air will be coming in from every other hole with no filter on it.

Edit:
Changing the RPM of fans, or moving them will affect cooling as well.
Some swear by positive pressure for best cooling. Some swear by negative pressure.
You have to keep cooling in the equation when you make a comparison. You can always improve cooling by increasing noise. The challenge is to do it without increasing noise.

 

[cytoSiN]

Thanks for the detailed explanation.

Using my p182, I've done the following:

HDDs in bottom chamber. No fan down there, but I'd like to add one. HDD with OS idling at ~40C, storage HDD idling at ~30C.

Upper chamber has 120mm intake fan where upper HDD chamber used to be (I took it out to increase empty space in case and increase air flow. All of the cables are behind the mobo tray, so there is a LOT of empty space, which I like. The empty space allows the intake fan to basically blow right on the 8800GTS, but since it's not directly above or below the pcb, it's probably not helping the 8800GTS very much. Eventually I plan to invest in an HR-03, after I decide if I want to use the step-up program or not.

Upper chamber also has U-120 Extreme mounted the tall way, with the fan mounted on the right (between the ram and the U-120), and it blows into the heatsink towards the back of the case.

Directly to the left of the CPU, I've got the standard 120mm exhaust running on medium. Directly above the U-120 I've got the standard 120mm exhaust running on medium.

I sealed the two water-cooling holes with quarters wrapped in electrical tape (perfect fit) that I then taped over for a nice seal.

Sealed the backets with double-sided foam tape (thicker seal than scotch tape, no worries about rips.

If anyone cares, I'll post pictures over the weekend.

There are other small holes, but I don't think I created a perfect negative pressure situation here, so it shouldn't matter. Either way, I plan to cover more holes as time goes on.

So, if anyone bothered to read all this, (1) what do you think, and (2) are my HDD temps too high at idle (high enough to warrant another casefan)? Thanks Navid and everyone else!

 

[Navid]

Just try and see what works best for you.

It is easy to see if you have negative pressure or positive.
Use a Kleenex and bring it close to the case, obviously not near a fan. If it is blown away, you have positive pressure.
If it gets stuck to the case, like this picture shows, you have negative pressure.
http://i259.photobucket.com/al...id200/P182NegPress.jpg

Edit:
There is no reason to close any openings if you have positive pressure.

 

[cytoSiN]

Based on that pic, looks like I've got negative pressure...which means I need to get sealing!

Thanks Navid you've been super helpful. :thumbsup:

 

[RallyMaster]

I don't like refrigerators.

 

[cytoSiN]

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
I don't like refrigerators.

huh?

 

[NoDamage]

The door does go 270 degrees. It requires a little bit of force, but the grill on the left side of the case is double hinged, so it will fold in when you rotate the door far enough, letting you swing the door an additional 90 degrees.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: cytoSiN

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
I don't like refrigerators.

huh?

P180 looks like a fridge. I like my P180 too, very quiet and handles heat very well.

 

[cytoSiN]

Originally posted by: potato28

Originally posted by: cytoSiN

Originally posted by: RallyMaster
I don't like refrigerators.

huh?

P180 looks like a fridge. I like my P180 too, very quiet and handles heat very well.

Ok...never seen a fridge like that...would be cool

 

[kknd1967]

I had a little bit problem with 5.25" drives.
I have installed everything except the drives. Then I found out there is no way to slide the 5.25" drive in. It is blocked by the stock HSF and ram. Did I miss something? maybe my Abit IP35 is too "wide" and therefore makes components too close to the 5.25" drive cage.

It would be horrible if every time I want to install/replace a 5.25" drive, I have to remove RAM, HSF

 

[cytoSiN]

Originally posted by: kknd1967
I had a little bit problem with 5.25" drives.
I have installed everything except the drives. Then I found out there is no way to slide the 5.25" drive in. It is blocked by the stock HSF and ram. Did I miss something? maybe my Abit IP35 is too "wide" and therefore makes components too close to the 5.25" drive cage.

It would be horrible if every time I want to install/replace a 5.25" drive, I have to remove RAM, HSF

The drives slide in from the front, so I'm not sure what kind of problem you're having. Run the cables up through the 5.25" bay and out the front, plug everything in, and the slide the drive in from the front using the provided rails until it clicks into place. Then tidy up the cables from the inside, and you should be good. Hope this helps.

 

[kknd1967]

ah, I try to slide in from inside. Too used to Dell's designs.
will go back and try again

Thanks for the info.

Originally posted by: cytoSiN

Originally posted by: kknd1967
I had a little bit problem with 5.25" drives.
I have installed everything except the drives. Then I found out there is no way to slide the 5.25" drive in. It is blocked by the stock HSF and ram. Did I miss something? maybe my Abit IP35 is too "wide" and therefore makes components too close to the 5.25" drive cage.

It would be horrible if every time I want to install/replace a 5.25" drive, I have to remove RAM, HSF

The drives slide in from the front, so I'm not sure what kind of problem you're having. Run the cables up through the 5.25" bay and out the front, plug everything in, and the slide the drive in from the front using the provided rails until it clicks into place. Then tidy up the cables from the inside, and you should be good. Hope this helps.