Antec 900 or Antec p180

T

templarx7

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 10, 2007
Messages
71
Well i really like both cases and i cant decide which one to get.
Is the p180 mobo tray removable and easy to work with?
Is the 900 fairly loud?
Is the top pci slot in the 900 really not usable?

Any suggestions from you guys on which would be better?

I plan on 1 8800GTX for now.
 
-I have a p180b
-best friend has a 900
-both of us use our top PCI slot - not sure what thats all about
-they are both relatively quiet, although I think the p180 may be a bit quieter
NOTE: Remember that the sound level of your computer depends on whats INSIDE instead of whats covering its outside
-I personally like my p180b more.
-he likes his 900 more.

My point here is that its all opinion. Look at them both in a store, feel them - pick them up - check out how everything fits in - blah blah blah - then find the best price on the one you WANT not the one everyone tells you to get.



:)
 
My point here is that its all opinion. Look at them both in a store, feel them - pick them up - check out how everything fits in - blah blah blah - then find the best price on the one you WANT not the one everyone tells you to get.

no truer words have ever been spoken .
thats wicked advice .
great advice that everyone should use .
cheers .
 
Ok thanks guys.
I am torn between then becuase im not a huge fan of doors on the front but the 180 is just so good looking. But yeah, i read there was problem with the top slot on the 900, thats not true? And yeah noise isnt an issue to me, i could care less. I need some ambient noise to sleep anyway :p.

But either case would suit my needs for an 8800gtx?
 
I loved my P180


but when i switched to SFF computers the P180 didnt measure up




so i used it for my moms computer :D
 
I had the P180..... hated it.. aweful..... If quiet is your only criteria, this its a really good case. However, if your going to do anytype of overclocking at all, give it up. Airflow / cable management is a cast iron bitch, you loose the bottom 120mm fan (I placed in in the front, but my temps still rose up rather quickly, lost 120mhz of my overclock, and cant overclock my video cards anymore...

Yes, it looks nice, and newer version of the case don't suffer from the front door warping. It is quiet, and if your running stock, I would recommend it. If your going to overclock.. sigh... (unless water cooling)... it's not the way to go.

I am waiting the arrival of a modded G70 case from performance-pc...

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=20854


More room, have the option of upper and/or lower PSU, and it's Lain-Li.. (really regretted getting rid of my PC-7B (modded)) for the P180.
 
The p180 is what I would choose... but only because I HATE HATE HATE LED fans... and the 900 is filled with them.

And you can't just buy new antec fans, because I still have not found a place in town that sells regular antec tricool fans.

The p180 looks good, it looks professional, it is quiet, and it has very good airflow.
 
I'm not a huge fan of either case. I really dislike the Antec Nine-Hundred because it's butt ugly.
 
I may overclock the cpu a little but nothing drastic id say. You still dont recommend the 180?
 
templarx7 said:
I may overclock the cpu a little but nothing drastic id say. You still dont recommend the 180?
Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of the P180 only because of a couple of reasons. I don't like how cramped the interior is. I don't like power supplies mounted on the bottom of the case. I also hate the sloped vent that attached to the top of the case. I know you can remove it, but it looks ghetto as it leaves tracks and holes in the top of the case.

It's just personal preferences, but the case gets good marks in other areas. Other than the aforementioned slope, I like the looks of the case quite a bit. The fact that the door will lay on the side of the case is also nice. I like that the air vents in front are filtered, and I like the drive cages. The case is just about ultimate for silence, and it's made from high quality materials. Air flow seems to be reasonable, but as mentioned by someone else, it's not the best.

The 900 has it's good points also. Air flow and ventilation are top notch and the price is ok. In my opinion the good doesn't outweigh the bad though. I don't like the large fans because they are proprietary. I don't like the interior layout of the case, and the front of the damn thing is sloped. I just can't stand that style. Also the front bezel has the edges squared off and I just think it looks like ass. The power supply also mounts on the bottom of the case which I can't stand either.
 
Thanks dan!
I definetly prefer the 180 over the 900. Hmmm i have only ever built one other rig and that was 4 years ago so the inverted power supply surprised me. The case i previously worked with wasnt the best. Like i said noise is NOT a factor in the least. I kind of like ambient noise in my apartment. Any other cases you could suggest to me dan?
 
templarx7 said:
Thanks dan!
I definetly prefer the 180 over the 900. Hmmm i have only ever built one other rig and that was 4 years ago so the inverted power supply surprised me. The case i previously worked with wasnt the best. Like i said noise is NOT a factor in the least. I kind of like ambient noise in my apartment. Any other cases you could suggest to me dan?
Click to expand...

Personally, I am a HUGE fan of the Antec Solo. If I didn't need more room for my components, I'd probably go with that right now. Aside from that one, I've looked at several cases and aside from really expensive aluminium enclosures, and really large ones for the most part, I don't have too many recommendations.

There is also this classic case that's a good standbuy and very versitile:

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=61050

The whole series is actually really good quality and I've enjoyed working with them anytime I've built systems for other people in them. Years ago I used older versions of most of these cases for my own machines, and I always liked them.

http://www.antec.com/us/pro_en_perfTX.html

Other cases I like:

Lian-Li PC A10/A10B
Lian Li V1000B Plus
Lian Li V1200B Plus II

Most of the Lian-Li line is really good, but there are a few I don't like. You may browse through them here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ory=7&CMP=KNC-GoogleAdwords&ATT=ComputerCases
 
Hmm ill look into the solo in a bit here when i get a break from work again. I am trying to keep the case within about 150$ since the overall rig im spending about 2100$.
 
HyperTension said:
I had the P180..... hated it.. aweful..... If quiet is your only criteria, this its a really good case. However, if your going to do anytype of overclocking at all, give it up. Airflow / cable management is a cast iron bitch, you loose the bottom 120mm fan (I placed in in the front, but my temps still rose up rather quickly, lost 120mhz of my overclock, and cant overclock my video cards anymore...

Yes, it looks nice, and newer version of the case don't suffer from the front door warping. It is quiet, and if your running stock, I would recommend it. If your going to overclock.. sigh... (unless water cooling)... it's not the way to go.

I am waiting the arrival of a modded G70 case from performance-pc...

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=20854


More room, have the option of upper and/or lower PSU, and it's Lain-Li.. (really regretted getting rid of my PC-7B (modded)) for the P180.
Click to expand...

your ssytem was messed. My airflow is noice. hot air hits the thermalright Ultra 120, blows right out the top vent. Air is pushed off the 680i NB HS/F and right onto my voltage regulators.

Good stuff. Temps dropped a fair cunk over open air.
 
I went with the 900 for a couple of reasons:

--USB/Power/Audio ports on the top of the case. My cases live on the floor, and that made connecting USB components and headphones a pain. Having them on the top of the case is quite a bit better for me.

--No front door. My first enthusiest case had a door on the front, which I thought was neat. I found, however, that it became the most annoying thing, computer wise, I've ever had to deal with. I'll never buy another case that has a door on the front.

--Good cooling solution. I don't mind a noisy computer, so I like this case because of it's many 120mm fans and it's big 200 fan. Each fan has a switch for you to select how fast you want to run it, so you could turn the fans down for a quieter solution, however I've just left mine on high. I will say that with all 5 fans on high I would say the case is pretty loud. Additionally, I like that it has a mesh front with no dust filters.

--PSU mounted on the bottom. Personal prefference, but it suits me.

One thing I didn't expect from the case, and one that I would consider to be a negative, is how small it is. I thought it was bigger than it actually is, based on the pictures I'd seen. It is still just fine for me, as I don't plan to start water cooling, but for anyone who does want to water cool they may find themselves working in a very cramped environment.
 
HyperTension said:
I had the P180..... hated it.. aweful..... If quiet is your only criteria, this its a really good case. However, if your going to do anytype of overclocking at all, give it up. Airflow / cable management is a cast iron bitch, you loose the bottom 120mm fan (I placed in in the front, but my temps still rose up rather quickly, lost 120mhz of my overclock, and cant overclock my video cards anymore...

Yes, it looks nice, and newer version of the case don't suffer from the front door warping. It is quiet, and if your running stock, I would recommend it. If your going to overclock.. sigh... (unless water cooling)... it's not the way to go.

I am waiting the arrival of a modded G70 case from performance-pc...

http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=20854


More room, have the option of upper and/or lower PSU, and it's Lain-Li.. (really regretted getting rid of my PC-7B (modded)) for the P180.
Click to expand...
What speed were your case fans running at and how was your wiring?
 
P180 is a beast, very heavy. Very customizeable - they're cheap @ Best Buy ($80). Very quiet.


900 is a airflow monster. Effectively awesome airflow = very low temperatures. However, cable hiding is near impossible and some don't like how it looks.
 
JaYp146 said:
P180 is a beast, very heavy. Very customizeable - they're cheap @ Best Buy ($80). Very quiet.


900 is a airflow monster. Effectively awesome airflow = very low temperatures. However, cable hiding is near impossible and some don't like how it looks.
Click to expand...

i am not right sure on the cable hiding part .
a bit of imagination , and time is all it takes .
cheers .

Picture036.jpg



Picture033.jpg
 
Personally I think the 900 looks alot better than the P180, but I ordered the P180 just recently from newegg just because it separates the heat and keeps the sound at a minimum.

I'd go with the P180 if your looking for a quiet, HEAVY case.
 
Littejohn's the exception, really. I haven't seen anybody else's 900 cabling job come close to that ;) .
 
lol, well out of the 2 id go p180, but like i said ill research the others a little bit.
 
with 4 HD's, 2x 7800GT for SLI, X-fi-plat, and the finale stick in the back was my +4 power line was too short (initially) to run under the motherboard, so I had to ghetto it over the top..(sad, sad, sad).

For me, I had to spend waaay too much time trying to get my cables orgainized given the limited ammount of space, and that, pluse the amount of heat generated by my 2 video cards and my 2 raptors in raid 0,... that all compounded my issues.

Given the next generation of video cards increased length.. I decided to go with a longer case, with better side cooling..

Granted, I'll admit that I'm jaded from my initial experience with my PC-65B with side fans. That modded case really set the bar for future cases.. I'm hoping that my next modded G70 will live up to it...

***Off topic rant.. sorry to the Op***

Again, if stock and silent is what you want, I say go with P180... Other than that.. ugh...
 
The hard drives are set separately from the mb/ vid card and have their own 120mm fan sucking hot air away from them...
 
I love my p180... I do. However, like I said... if the 900 did not have stupid LED fans by default it would be attractive.

I even considered a 900 the other day... but then I looked at the cost of 4 new 120mm fans on top of that and it turned me off.

Still... I am considering it.

The antec 900 with all the LED fans replaced with antec non-LED tri-cools, or zalman 120mm fans with the resistors, or even scythe 800rpm fans.
 
Do you have something against cutting the led wires? That's what I did and it wasn't all too much of a hassle.
 
Do you have something against cutting the led wires? That's what I did and it wasn't all too much of a hassle.
Click to expand...

Yes I want traditional black fans.
 
See i kind of like LED lights and side windows. But the 900 i just hate the shape of it. Also i couldnt find a case i really liked besides the 180 for about 150$
 
I like the shape and I even like the side window... but the LEDS must go.

Actually, I saw one setup at frys the other day, and it looked alot smaller then I imagined it. The case is considerably smaller then my p180. The giant top exhaust fan, though, is pretty nifty. It was spinning slow but was moving alot of air, and I can tell that fan would do a good job of exhausting hot air.

On antec's website they show that the fan is now being sold seperately too...

The 900 is probably one of the best cases out there if you plan to overclock with air cooling... Airflow is definately not a problem in the 900.

I also like how PSU length is not a problem like it is in the p180. If you are going to use one of the high wattage PSUs that are longer then the standard length, it may not fit right in the p180. I moved from a neopower 480 to a neo550 and even the small extra length meant I had to nix the larger bottom duct fan and replace it with a standard width one. Any longer and I would have to remove the fan there all together.
 
Like it has been mentioned before, it's all subjective. That said, here's my opinions.

Firstly, I own a black P180 SPCR, and love it. My friend uses a 900. Early summary, both cases have pros and cons, and are good cases, but not for everbody / every situation.

P180 pros:
Front door blocks noise, if you're a noise zealot like me.
Side panels are solid, neither windows nor fan vents; blocks noise better and provides better structural support
Bottom 120mm fan is really thick and super beefy. :) (that's a technical term.)
When the top vent comes off, the top of the case is completely flat, so I can put other stuff on it, like a scanner or printer.

P180 cons:
Due to the design on the bottom, it's not easy to put a long high-wattage PSU unless you take out that beefy 120mm fan. If you take it out though, then the 4 drives in the bottom cage rely only on the PSU fan for cooling.
On early P180 revisions, the front door was notorious for warping under weather temperature changes.
Top vent isn't sealable; if you don't have that shroud vent on top, or even if you do, sound leaks out the top; and depending on the case placement, it can vent fan noise directly to you.
Very clean, plain flat look. Some like it, but some want more flashier (useless) looking stuff, like the Nemesis case.
Oh, the bottom silicone feet are glued on by some weak ass adhesive. It's not bad, unless you take your case places or try to slide it on the ground; then prepare to lose the feet or re-super-glue them back on.

P900 pros:
Big fan on top. You can have bragging rights at lans for the biggest fan. Big fan provides extensive cooling, and lowest noise.
Window to show off all your flashy and expensive parts.
No bottom panel/bottom fan blocking long PSU's
Side fan to help ventilate cards, cpu
Front panel ports are on top; nice if you keep your tower on the ground.

P900 cons:
Drive cage is imho a pita to get in and out, compared to the P180's cages.
Top bezel isn't very flat, not as easy to stack stuff on top.
If I remember, panels aren't as sound insulated as a P180.

To summary, if you want to go by looks, then its your choice; the two cases are on opposite ends of the spectrum. One is clean and smooth, with a front door, while the other has no door, and tons of sharp looking angles. Like comparing a Delorean with a, hmm, Batmobile?

If you want to go by features, the P180 is the quiet man's case. The P900 is the enthusiast overclocker's case.

BTW, have you also considered the P182 and P190?
 
But yeah, i read there was problem with the top slot on the 900, thats not true?
Click to expand...
Had a quick scan through & I don't think anybody answered this one. The first revision of the case had a problem where the lip of the case metal protruded over the top slot, so you couldn't plug in big DVI plugs, however Antec have now fixed this issue.

This page has a good photo to show you what was wrong;

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=7507&page=2
 
I recently ran into this problem. I could not fit the DVI connector into the video card if it was in the first PCIe slot. I thought I was screwed but all I did was bend the metal a little and it fits perfectly now.

I think its a great case, the only issue I have with it is the amount of dust that collects on the front. Other than that it looks great and cools efficiently.
 
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