| Antec P183 Mid-Tower Computer Case |
| Reviews - Featured Reviews: Cases | ||||||||||||||
| Written by Mathew Williams | ||||||||||||||
| Wednesday, 08 April 2009 | ||||||||||||||
Antec P183 Computer CaseLaunched in 2005, the original Antec P180 case was immediately welcomed into the industry as one of the best cases of the year. A few years and a few revisions later, we find ourselves in the presence of its latest successor: the Antec Performance One P183 mid-tower case. While the basic design remains the same, Antec took their end-user feedback to heart and implemented several highly requested changes. Today at Benchmark Reviews, we look at those changes and find out how the Antec P183 stacks up against another recently launched enthusiast case: the CM Storm. Antec has been building high-end cases for quite some time and it shows, particularly in their attention to detail and user feedback. The first and most obvious change to the P183 is to the exterior styling. The gun-metal color is unchanged from the previous model, however, Antec pulled the front panel vent design from the Antec Mini P180 and tweaked it a bit to accomodate the taller frame. They also got rid of the detachable top fan cover, replacing it with a more integrated approach. 
The interior of the Antec P183 has received some much needed attention as well. The fan mount that once divided the lower chamber has been moved to the front of the case, providing much more room to work and route cables--a welcome change for those of us with larger power supplies. Equally important, the air intake filters of the P183 have been revised to let more air into the case. Instead of the two small filters hidden behind stifling plastic doors, the entire front panel is now composed of open mesh filters. This open design proved effective in Antec's gaming cases and should help out here as well. Of course, we'll test this claim with some hard numbers in the benchmark section. About the company: Antec
Antec, Inc. is the global leader in high-performance computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and Do-It-Yourself markets. Founded in 1986, Antec is recognized as a pioneer in the industry and has maintained its position as a worldwide market leader and international provider of quiet, efficient and innovative products. Antec has also achieved great success in the distribution channel, meeting the demands of quality-conscious system builders, VARs and integrators. Antec's offering of enclosures includes a wide range of cases, such as its advanced Performance One Series, economical New Solution Series and VERIS family of media components designed for the home theater PC market. Antec's products also include front line power supplies, such as its premium Signature Series, powerful TruePower Quattro Series and EarthWatts, one of the most environmentally friendly power supplies available. PC gamers are an increasingly significant consumer of performance components, and many Antec products are designed for the gaming demographic, like the premier gamer enclosure: the Nine Hundred. Antec also offers a line of computer accessories comprising many original products, including its patented LED fans and notebook cooling solutions. Antec is headquartered in Fremont, California, with additional offices in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, as well as in the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, China and Taiwan. The company's products are sold in more than 40 countries throughout the world. Please visit www.antec.com for more information. Performance One FeaturesPerformance reaches new heights with the P183, the next enclosure from Antec's high-end Performance One series. With the latest Quiet ComputingTM technologies, the P183 delivers first-class performance at its quietest, coolest and most stylish.
What's new in the P183:
Antec P183 (0761345-81830-8) Specification
Closer Look: ExteriorIn recent years, more and more hardware manufacturers have discovered the importance of not only making the product look visually appealing, but also the box it comes in. Antec knows this and the Performance One P183 is no exception. It arrived safely encased in an attractive, well-designed box with plenty of graphics and shelf appeal. 
Out of the box, the exterior styling changes I mentioned in the introduction are immediately obvious. The new vents add a certain aesthetic appeal to the Antec P183, and also allow air to move through the front of the case more freely. 
The hinge design of Antec P183 front door has also been redesigned to improve airflow. The small slats that once occupied that space have been replaced by much larger openings. My initial thought was that this might reduce the structural integrity of the hinge (making it flimsy), but so far it hasn't been an issue.
The right side of the door gets the same treatment. In the above photo, we can also see the front I/O panel. The usual USB and audio ports are present and accounted for, but with the Antec P183, we also get an eSATA port. This replaces the FireWire of the previous models and should be a welcome addition for most users.
The back side of the Antec P183 provides a few clues as to its inner structure. The bottom mounted power supply and full ATX accommodations are visible, as is the rear 120mm fan and water-cooling pass-throughs. These were carried over from previous models. One interesting change that stands out, however, is the addition of a larger power supply mounting plate, which I'll discuss further in the next section. Detailed Exterior FeaturesThe cosmetic changes made to the Antec P183's exterior are likely to be a hit or miss depending on personal preference, but a few functional changes, along with some old favorites, make this a worthwhile upgrade. With the front door open, we can finally get a good look at these new changes in action.
Just as Antec described, the drive bay covers and fan covers of the P183 are now completely constructed out of mesh (and some plastic reinforcing). The bay covers can be removed by simply pushing the two side tabs inwards while the fan covers are hinged and open with a quick push. Overall, it's a very attractive design and should improve airflow considerably.
The top exhaust fan cover of the Antec P183 has also been redesigned. This was one of the biggest criticisms of the previous models and I'm glad to see a more solid design. The older design had too much flex and often slid off. The new design, however, is integrated directly into the top panel and has so far been trouble-free.
The last new feature of the P183 visible from the exterior of the case is the enlarged power supply mount. In the above photo, the smaller ATX bracket is in place, but this can be removed to accommodate Antec's new CP series of power supplies. These larger power supplies use Antec's "CPX" form factor, which Antec claims allows them to offer high quality power supplies at a lower cost than the traditional ATX form factor. Only time will tell if the CPX form factor will take off, but rest assured, the Antec P183 can support it. Closer Look: InteriorTurning our attention to the interior of the Antec P183, we again see the influences of the previous models and user feedback. For the most part it is unchanged, which is a testament to the thoughtfulness of the original design. However, there are a few things worth pointing out.
Following in the footsteps of its predecessors, the Antec P183 is a dual chamber design. The lower chamber houses the power supply and can accommodate up to four 3.5" hard-drives, all mounted on noise isolating rubber bushings. The upper chamber contains the bulk of the hardware (motherboard, cpu, expansion cards) and has room for an additional 2 hard drives, 4 5.25" drives, and 1 external 3.5" drive. For ease of installation, the lower and upper hard drive bays can be removed. The upper drive bay can also be permanently removed to make room for larger video cards.
On the other side of the P183, not much has changed. The cutouts and tie downs for cable management are still present and much appreciated, as is the spare parts box (not that I have ever used it). The only thing missing in comparison to other enthusiast cases is a cutout for the heatsink mounting plate used by aftermarket CPU coolers.
One thing that did make it into the list of interior revisions was the lower chamber fan mount. In contrast to previous models, the lower fan of the Antec P183 has been moved from the middle of the chamber to the front of the case. Those who have worked with the older models will no doubt share my enthusiasm for this change. The lower chamber was notoriously hard to work with, particularly when it involved non-modular, high watt power supplies and the bounty of cable that come with them. With the fan moved to the front of the case, installation of my Corsair 850W unit was painless and straightforward.
Another interesting change regarding fans is Antec's decision to drop down to only two stock fans, from the three that came with of previous models. The top and rear fans are still there, but the other two fan mounts are empty. Of course, you're free to install your own fans using the included brackets, or bolt them directly to the case. Detailed Interior FeaturesWith the P183's revised lower chamber, installation went very smoothly. Having experience helps, but the design of the case makes things easy, even for new system builders.
I usually begin installation by prepping the case. With the P183, there's not much to do. The motherboard mounts were already installed and the front I/O cables were nicely bundled. One thing that did stand out to me though was the cable passthrough for the lower chamber (above). Cables can either be routed along the backside of the motherboard tray, or directly through the specially designed plastic plate. In my case, I ran most of the cables along the back.
Next up, I tackled the fans. The exhaust fans of the P183 are prewired to the switch, so I simply ran the power cables down the back side of the case to the power supply. If you'll be moving the case often, I recommend adding using a zip tie here to prevent the fan controller wires from shifting and jamming the fans.
With the case prepped, installation was fairly routine. Everything fit well and felt very secure. The P183 is not a tool-free case by any means, but I actually don't mind spending an extra few minutes with the screwdriver to know everything is securely fastened.
Cable management with the P183 was painless as well. This is nothing new to Antec cases though. Most of the cases they build have some sort of cable management process built into the design. In this case, I routed most of the cables along the back side of the motherboard. Clearance was a bit tight between the larger cables and the side panel, but everything closed up nicely and it was off to benchmarking. Testing & ResultsTesting MethodologyThe design goal of a case, other than looking good and protecting the equipment contained within, is to help bring cool air in and push hot air out. In testing the Antec P183, we'll look at how well it performs this heat exchange process in comparison to the recently launched Cooler Master CM Storm. To account for the variables experienced in everyday life, we've developed four test scenarios:
For the load tests, all four cores of the processor are maxed out using the Prime95's large FFT setting. Furmark is then started in stability mode to ramp up the load on the video card. In each test, the highest temperatures observed by SpeedFan and the ATI Catalyst Control Center in a one hour period are recorded. All enclosures are tested with the same hardware configuration, which is installed according to manufacturer specifications. Care is taken to ensure cable management and other installation considerations are as identical as possible between all test products. Test System
Benchmark Applications
Enclosure Test Products
ResultsWith air cooling, there is an inherent trade-off between cooling performance and noise. Some cases are designed to be quiet, others are designed for all out performance, but most fall somewhere in the middle. Both of the cases tested today offered variable fan speeds, which allow the end-user to find the compromise that best fits their needs. In the charts below, you'll find results for both low-speed and high-speed fan settings. Keep in mind that the cooling performance you experience will depend on your choice of fan speed, as well as the other cooling components in your system. With that in mind, let's look at our results.
The idle test serves as a baseline for all of the other tests. It offers the least heat output and the lowest temperatures you'd expect to see in a real word environment. Here we can see little variance in the temperatures. The high fan speed setting of the Antec P183 has a slight advantage over the others, but it was also the loudest. In any case, all of the temperatures are within a safe operating range and should not pose any problems.
At 100% system load, the last chart represents the highest temperatures you'd expect to see in a real world environment. Again, the numbers show the Antec P183 in the lead. I have to admit, I was a bit shocked by this. I had expected the larger 200mm fans used by the CM Storm to easily outpace the P183's 120mm fans. However, it looks like Antec's airflow improvements certainly paid off. Performance One Final ThoughtsAntec has been making cases for years, so it's no surprise that their latest product, the P183, excels in both aesthetics and function. The new revisions are definitely welcome. In fact, the additional airflow created by opening the up the front door and adding mesh to the bay covers allowed the P183 to best the recently launched CM Storm. The design changes of the P183 also add to the overall convenience of the case. The once troublesome lower chamber is now much easier to work with, thanks to the repositioning of the center fan. The top fan cover has also been removed and replaced with a solid integrated design. In my mind, the only thing Antec missed was a cutout in the motherboard tray for easy mounting of the CPU cooler. Overall, though, it's an excellent case and a welcome addition to the Performance One series.
Antec P183 Case ConclusionThe Antec P183 arrived in class and performed beyond my expectations. In addition to the excellent shelf appeal of the product packaging, Antec also maintains a high-quality website with plenty of photos and information. A few of the P183 links weren't working, but that is often the case with a recent product launch. Once outside the box, the updated exterior styling adds a nice touch on an old classic. Beyond aesthetics, the revisions also help out in the performance realm. Besides just looking good, the Antec P183 is also very well constructed. Everything fit snuggly and securely, free of any excess play or rattling. Thanks to the rolled steel edges, installation was pain free in the literal sense as well. With installation complete and the P183 on the benchmark table, it performed admirably. Naturally, for the best performance you'll have to crank the fans up to high, but even on the low setting the case will remain cool enough for all but the most demanding builds. Given the recent launch of the Antec P183, it's been a challenge to calculate a market price. MSRP however has been set at $179.99, and NewEgg is already offering the Antec P183 for the same price. At this level of pricing, the P183 definitely falls into the enthusiast segment. While it's not a particular value for the budget-conscious consumer, at this price, it's sure to please more demanding users. Pros:
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Comments
Though, P183 has one little thing which I don't like: magnet, which holds front door in closed state is on the bottom of the door. When I try to open the door, it slightly skewing. Why Antec engineers do not place this magnet on the middle of the door, where door handle is?
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If you can handle the weight and size and need many disk slots, the Antec P18x series is very quiet with convenient pull-out modules for disks that constantly remind me of the massive improvement over older designs. I use a fanless pwr supply.
The problem with the door magnets: there should be 2 magnets, middle and bottom of door. The original adhesive is not strong enough. If you can't find the middle magnet, it might have migrated elsewhere on the case. Superglue the magnets in and it works perfectly.
The 3 layer side panels can need 2 hands and an elbow to slide in, but the excellent sound deadening is worth it.
one would at least expect a Antec Case with an Antec power supply and not with a competitor
just look very carefully at the pictures.