Is this case any good?

[DEATH eVADER]

Right, over the next few months, I'll be upgrading my PC with new parts, such as new PSU, Ram and eventually a G80 or R600 chipset card.

The first thing on my list is a Case, where I can overclock without worrying about consequences. Plus at the moment the case I have now is noisiest thing ever. When I'm in the kitchen downstairs, I can hear a high amount of buzzing and vibration. I was looking at possible cases, and this one was one of the better choices (from afar)

http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?QuickLinx=3SPV

And these are the rewards

http://www.antec.com/awards/info_awards_PerformancePlus.html

And the main site

http://www.antec.com/us/support_productInfo_details.php?ProdID=09180



What do you think, will it fulfil what I need it for?

I forgot what the form factor is, ATX is the biggest, right?

 

[Qonfused]

Solid case. Probably one of the most sold of Antec's.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Really? I never knew that.

Beyond that I'm getting a 620W corsair modular cable PSU next month that will fit snuggily in the case. Then I'll be able to get rid of my old hardware and give it to my sister, which is solid, consideing she'll be getting a OEM XP, AMD 64 3000+, 6600GT OC, 1.5Gb of Ram. There just wasn't a case for it since I'm cannibalizing the one I have now to house the hardware on my sig

Then she could play The Sims 2

 

[The Brick]

May I recommend the Antec Nine Hundred. I'd be jealous.

Btw I think the sonata 2 is the most sold antec one.

 

[Qonfused]

I plan to buy the Nine Hundred soon.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

Question. The middle HDD Cage can slide open, but is their a a cross beam preventing the installation of a long vid card?

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I just got the case and I'm regretting ever getting it. ITS BIG!

 

[3ssence]

That's no bad thing when you have a decent rig to keep cool, which you appear to do so.

 

[function9]

If you eventually plan on getting one of the latest video cards, you'll like the extra room. And just a suggestion, use the lower HDD bay.

 

[DEATH eVADER]

I noticed if I can't fit the 8800, I can simply slide the central HDD bay away to make room. Antec really thought of everything, except for PSU cable length

Getting a 650W PSU anyway so it shouldn't be a biggy

 

[CptStern]

it's a nice case however I'd wait for the revision: antec p190

http://www.xyzcomputing.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=0&limit=1&limitstart=1



although this case looks interesting:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...task=view&id=39&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=2

 

[function9]

I know there's been a few people that have ordered a p180B from newegg and have received a p182. If you're good with a dremel though, you can make a couple cuts that will make running the PSU cable easy. There are also extension cables you can buy if your cable happens to be too short.

I don't understand the idea behind the p190 though. It's a p180 that is a little bigger and more fans. Which makes no sense because the p180 was designed with silent/quiet computing as the main priority. And for running a dual socket setup, there are cases that offer much more room and are more versatile than the p190.

I get my computers as quiet as possible and I've never heard a fan smaller than 92mm that didn't bother me. There are too many good cases out now that accept 92mm or 120mm (or even larger) fans. In my opinion theres no reason to go with a new case that uses 80mm fans, unless it's for a cheap home server or something that will be tucked away in a closet or basement.

 

[CptStern]

As far as cooling is concerned, the p190 adds a 200mm Tri-Cool fan on the side and a 120mm fan to the top. This means that right in the motherboard area there will be three 120mm fans and that huge 200mm which has affectionately been labeled the "Big Boy". Small changed include the move from foam to a plexiglass on the inside to dampen sound, a more conventional venting system on the top, cable management behind the motherboard and a slight change to the exterior panels.


The real surpise of the P190 is the use of included dual power supplies! The PSU area was completely revamped and it slated to include dual power supplies, one for the video card and one for the motherboard and other components. Antec reps made it very clear that these are not redundant power supplies, just a way to split the load between two units rather than using one very expensive power supply. The total wattage is rumored to be about 1200W between the two "Neo-Link" units.

there are no 80mm fans in the case

 

[function9]

In the p190 no, but that Lian Li you linked to has at least 1.

 

[CptStern]

ya but it's the cpu fan

http://www.largeimagehost.com/HL/UFstcr/PC-20A-022-1.jpg

and the reviewer says it's quiet

 

[function9]

True, but it all depends on what the reviewer thinks is quiet. From my experience an 80mm fan that looks to be hardmounted on an aluminum case is not quiet. He's also running a GTS card with the stock hsf and he said was running the 120mm cpu fan at 100%. In that situation, yes an 80mm fan might not have that much of an impact on noise. I also didn't notice any mention of ambient noise levels or figures for the noise levels of the fans.

On the other hand, I have a Zalman vf700 on my 6800gt and have the fan set to the lowest voltage (5v). It's by far the loudest fan in my case (p180) and to me it's not silent at all. While for other people it's quite good. Meaning it's all relative to your priority, environment and other components. That is why I didn't say all 80mm are noisy and are garbage. Instead I noted my experience.

Check out http://www.silentpcreview.com
That's the level of quiet/silent computing I go for. I use the biggest and the least amount of fans as possible to adequately cool the system.

While fan and other component noise might not bother some, I know from SPCR's forums there are others like me that are concerned with noise. I'm not trying to debate or ridicule you based on what you suggested, because Lian Li does make good cases it depends on what you're looking for though, just offering another perspective.

 

[Barney Fife]

I plan to buy the Nine Hundred soon.

I wouldn't go for Antec 900 if you plan to dual card, secondly, the 8800GTX would not fit the case unless you remove the internal 120mm case fan bay.
SLI is absolutely no no in this case when used the 8800GTX. I bought it twice, happy with it the first time and not so happy with it second time.

Good Luck.

it's a nice case however I'd wait for the revision: antec p190

http://www.xyzcomputing.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=812&Itemid=0&limit=1&limitstart=1



although this case looks interesting:

http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.p...task=view&id=39&Itemid=1&limit=1&limitstart=2

how is the PSU going to breathe in the p180? Just wondering. But the second case freaking awesome.

 

[TCfromBN]

Get an Antec 900, I have one and it's one heck of a case. SLI with the GTX might be tight though...

 

[function9]

how is the PSU going to breathe in the p180? Just wondering. But the second case freaking awesome.

Breathe? What would the placement do with how it operates?

 

[Barney Fife]

Breathe? What would the placement do with how it operates?

What do ya mean??????

 

[DEATH eVADER]

how is the PSU going to breathe in the p180? Just wondering. But the second case freaking awesome.

The fan is at the bottom back of the case, the 120mm fan is bottom center and HDD cage is at bottom front. Behind the double hinge door at front is a removeable air filter. The air gets sucked in through the filter, and this air is sent to the back of the case where the PSU resides.

I'm having thoughts, should I set the fan speed to low, or would that suffocate my 650W PSU

 

[function9]

The PSU needs no other cooling than what it's own fan provides. Especially when it doesn't have to suck the hot air from the cpu like in a normal case.