Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black)
Introducing the P182, the newest edition in Antec's continually improving Performance One design. More innovations have been built in, such as an external fan control for the top and rear fans, a special gunmetal black finish, cable organizers and even ports with rubber grommets for externally mounted liquid-cooling radiators. All of these improvements build upon the great features of the original P180: the triple layer side panels and door design, and the upper and lower chamber structure to isolate power supply heat from the rest of your components. The P182 truly is the new standard by which all other performance cases will be measured.
The Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case is the newest edition in Antec's continually improving Performance One design. This performance case boasts an external fan control for the top and rear fans, a special gun-metal black finish, cable organizers, and even rubber grommeted ports for externally mounted liquid cooling radiators. The P182 also features triple layer side panels, and an upper and lower chamber structure to isolate power supply heat from the rest of your components. All this and much more make the Antec P182 a superior case. The Antec P182 has 11 drive bays--four external 5.25-inch bays, one external 3.5-inch bay, and six internal 3.5-inch bays for HDD. This case also has seven expansion slots and a remarkable cooling system with one rear 120-millimeter TriCool fan (standard); one top 120-millimeter TriCool fan (standard); one lower chamber 120-millimeter TriCool fan (standard); one front 120-millimeter fan (optional); and one middle 120-millimeter fan (optional) to cool the VGA. In addition, there is an external fan control on the rear panel for the fans in the upper chamber. Constructed mostly of 0.8-millimeter cold rolled steel, the P182 is a robust case designed to fit standard ATX 12-by-9.6-inch motherboards. It measures 21.3 by 8.1 by 19.9 inches (HxWxD). Other features include: - Three-layer side panels and front door dampen system-generated noise
- Cable organizer to help minimize clutter
- Attractive gun-metal black finish
- Double hinge door designed to open up to 270 degrees
- Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections: two USB 2.0 ports, one IEEE 1394 (FireWire, i.Link) port, audio in/out port
Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black) Accessories
 Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Quad-Core Processor, 2.40 GHz, 8M L2 Cache, LGA 775
CORSAIR 1000w HX Series 12v ATX SLI Ready 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - CMPSU-1000HX
Lite-On SATA 20x Super All Write LightScribe Internal DVD/Dual Layer RW Drive (LH20A1L06)
Western Digital WD5000KSRTL Caviar 500 GB SATA Hard Drive
Zalman CNPS9700LED Ultra Quiet Cpu Cooler
Intel BX80570E8400 3.0 GHz 6M L2 Cache 1333MHz FSB LGA775 Core 2 Duo E8400 Dual-Core Processor
Antec TriCool 120mm DBB Case Fan with 3-Spd Switch 3/4-Pin & 3-Pin Monitor
Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 Dual-Core Processor, 2.66 GHZ, 4M L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB, LGA775
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 X 1GB) PC2-6400 800Mhz 240-pin CL4 DDR2 Dual Channel Destop Memory Kit - TWIN2X2048-6400C4
EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB DDR3 Superclocked Edition PCI-Express Graphics Card (512-P3-N802-AR)
Antec P182 Advanced Super Mid Tower ATX Case (Black) Reviews
Cable management features that allow you to run 90% of your cables behind the motherboard or under the main compartment. This is more an inconvenience than anything else. 4. I'm glad I did. Features:. Again, more of an inconvenience than a real issue.
3. Antec makes some of the best computer cases out there, and this one is no exception. Definitely subdued, but cool nonetheless. I have to use my pinkie to press it. If you want a solid case with a logical layout that will keep things nice and cool without a lot of glitz, this is your case. All the screws you could ever want for installing everything come with the case. I purchased this case on the recommendation of a friend.
The case is designed so that the power supply and lower two hard drive bays are isolated from the main section of the case, allowing you to keep the power supply cooler, as well as better manage SATA cables. Excellent, quiet fans on both front, back and top to keep things cool. They provide good insulation for the case and give it a solid, well built feel. To take out card #2, I have to also take out card #1, and my Auzentech Sound Card.
The power re-set button on the front of the case is rather small. While it doesn't have 120mm fans like some Coolmaster cases, I've never had heat issues, and I overclock my processor, and run a crossfire configuration with two ATI 3870s (soon to be 4870s). Because of my particular motherboard and the way I ran 6-pin power cables up to feed my graphics cards, there is very little space between the bottom of graphics card #2 and the partition to the lower power supply/lower hard drive bays area of the case.
I love how thick the removable panels on each side are. A few dislikes:. Awesome looking case.
I have the silver "gunmetal" case, and it is really cool looking. 1. Logical layout with many, many drive bays, including 4x hard drive and 3x 5.25" bays.
2. Rather understated without a bunch of gimicky LEDs flashing everywhere.
It is a pretty quiet case, with the option of adjusting the fans up if occasion demands. And if it was a couple inches longer it would help with big video cards. Overall not a bad case to work with except for the weak and brittle plastic hinge that broke off, which really sucks. I had to pull that cage to fit mine. In my opinion they should assemble it with the fan there in the first place and forget the lower chamber fan.
That's one of the main reasons I got it and it's proven to be a nice part of the design. Make the case slightly longer and one could fit the massive 3D card AND have the drive cage in use. The front door panel just smooths out the look and impedes airflow a little anyway. Be careful not to knock into that door or it will break off. It was kind of a pain to remove the fan from there, but it makes accessing the drives easier and the fan is very handy for the other slot.
CPU idles at about 20 (Vista drops it to 2ghz). Not a big deal. Besides, it's nice to get that extra airflow right onto the big 3D card. There's a mount point there with a filtered inlet so it works out well. Otherwise, a nice looking, quiet and cool case. I like this case, it has a nice feel, except the front door hinge is flimsy plastic and broke off.
Still a nice touch. Incidentally, I found the stock Intel cooler to be quieter than the Zalman 9700 I have mounted. The adjustable fans are a nice touch, although a knob setup for fine tuning would be preferable to the fixed three-speed switches. I pulled the lower chamber fan and placed it in front of the 8800GTX. Now my main two-drive array sits in the bottom cage and seems to stay cool enough with the airflow from the PSU and it's all good, and the 8800GTX is happy with the extra airflow.
With three 120mm fans going at low speed it's very low key. The side panels are pretty swanky too, with their aircraft-grade padded look. I keep mine on low and have good flow. Also, it would be nicer if the rear panel screws were held in place when loosened. If the design was a little more optimized it would be a 5STAR product, but it feels a little overpriced as it is. Now the case has lost it's cool look, although it's still just as functional. I think that's a better setup than having the fan in the lower chamber, since that cramps the cabling a bit and it seems like overkill for ventilation since the PSU draws through the lower chamber anyway. As others have noted, the removable top HDD cage gets in the way of larger 3D cards like 8800GTX.
PS: Once advantage to this case versus the 900 is the air inlets have easily removable, cleanable filters. As it is they are completely removable, and lose-able. It's notable that the case is quiet enough that I can hear the difference between the Zalman and the stock cooler. Even so, with the Zalman on the E6850, two SATA drives, the 8800GTX (at stock 50% rpm) and three 120mm fans on low powered by an Enermax Infiniti 720W PSU it is all pretty quiet and idles very cool in an average room (70 degrees). Kind of a drag since I'd have liked to mount some drives there and the removable cage is nifty, but one can always get some adapters and put a raid array in the 5" bays below the DVD.
The understated exterior gives the case a very "classy" appearance, a quality present in many of the higher-end Antec chassis. This case is a fine example of why Antec firmly holds their good reputation. The interior design is spacious and carefully organized, leaving room for even the largest ATX motherboards, and the longest video cards. 270-degree front-panel door. My favorite aspect of the design used in this chassis is the manner in which the motherboard tray is arranged. I currently work in an IT Field for the US Government. Even a novice case-modder could find a manner in which to add an additional fan here, however. Background on the Reviewer: I am an IT Professional.
One thing to consider doing while assembling your system in this case: purchase some rubber or silicone rubber washers (3/16" or 4mm) to install around each of the fan-retaining screws (so you'll need 12 by default or 16 if you use the included optional mount). Front USB, Firewire (1394), and Audio jacks with Intel-Standard motherboard headers for each. Introduction: Antec is one of the finest manufacturers of computer chassis and power supplies. This chassis is designed for quiet computing.
Features: Steel, Aluminum, and Plastic construction. It includes silicone rubber bushings on the hard drive mounting apparatus, silicone rubber pads on the power supply mounts, and three-layer side-panel construction. I have been building computers since 1997. While this tray isn't removable, it does include loops for zip-tying cables along behind it, and gaps for those cables to return to the top-side of the motherboard. I highly recommend this case. A little bit of drilling and dremeling will allow a 6th 120mm fan to provide better intake to the lower bays. Why This Case Earns Top Marks: The design present in this product is fantastic.
3x 120mm fans, with mounts for up to 2 more (and room for 1 more mount to be added if you are into case-modding). Blue power and activity LEDs in a stealthy mount. It has a small space the size of a 120mm fan but not a pre-drilled mount.
7x 3.5" bays (one with an external face for drives with removable media). This allows one to have an extremely clean wiring job with positive airflow to encourage adequate cooling of the internal components. I am completely satisfied with my purchase (I ordered it here on Amazon).
Conclusion: I love this case. 4x 5.25 bays. Minimalist exterior, carefully organized interior.
Things that could make this case shine even brighter: the lower intake vent does not have a means for mounting a fan.
1) Your power supply will need a relatively long cable to get the power connector to the mother board, depending on where your MB's connector is located on the board. This is not a problem for the two upper fans as you can manually jump-start them with the switches on the back of the case. - High quality, quiet hard disk mounting system and removable mounting box. This creates substantially more noise. - Design allows routing of cables behind motherboard which also helps improve airflow. Overall, the Antec P182 is very well built, with the most thoughtful design I have ever seen in a PC case. My main purpose in purchasing this was to build a quiet, custom PC as most custom machines tend to be ridiculously loud.
These are the features I really like about the Antec P182:. - Great airflow for cooling that is also quiet. This case fits that bill quite nicely with the separate hard disk/power supply chamber and large, low RPM fans. - Separate chamber for power/hard disks.
This is the most thoughtfully designed case I have owned (my fourth). The lower chamber fan, however, only has a fan speed control inside the case so if it does not start consistently on the lowest setting, you may have to leave it on the medium setting. There are a couple of things to keep in mind with this case, however:. 2) The fans will not always turn on when you power on the PC if they are set to the lowest setting.
- Great construction quality with acoustic design principles built into the outer case materials.
I'm not sure how to get around the screw mounts issue. The mobo standoff screw mounts were very cheaply made, with soft metal. When I lightly tightened down the mobo mounting screws, two of them STRIPPED OUT so I had to find and use screws with a slightly larger dimension and even then they didn't tighten down properly. Generally, there's LOTS of room to work with. I'm using a Corsair 620W and it fits fine, as well as being a great PSU.
But, definitely toss the fans and replace them with higher-quality ones with mobo fan header connectors. I assume they used these to keep their price attractive and competitive. If you try to put in a larger, rectangular PSU it will NOT fit because the lower chamber fan placement would leave no room for the PSU cables. This is my second Antec case, my first one being a P180.
Overall, I'm just OK with the case, but there were two things that were really disappointing. However, be careful with the dimensions of the power supply unit that you select. I bought this because I had a good experience with my P180 and this one is almost identical in design. Secondly, the fans that came with it are complete junk. The fans had MOLEX connectors only (peripheral power connectors) and no mobo fan header connectors.
I'm not sure if they're replaceable with sturdier mounts or even pin lock mounts. There can be NO excuse for this type of defect.
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