Antec 900 or P182?

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Blakestr

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 11, 2004
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I am having trouble deciding between the two cases. This is for a quadcore gaming rig with moderate video encoding. I plan to moderately overclock on air so cooling is a concern. I really like the sleek look of the P182 but I am not sure how it stacks up to the 900 in the cooling department, that 200mm fan looks like it does serious cooling at low volume. I am on a budget but the price difference between the two is minimal to my decision, I will cut cornors in other parts of the build. The 900 looks okay to me, nothing fancy and I will probably leave the LEDs unplugged. Basically I am looking to hear aboutyour experiences with both cases... I have read some newegg reviews but I am still unsure of what to get.
 
IMO the p182 looks alot cleaner and im sure that unless you are shoving way too much stuff in it in the first place, it will cool fine, although both are decent/great at cooling.
 
Personally I would take a Cooler Master CM690 before either of those... Or even an Antec 300. They are much easier to work in, they also cost less and still look good.
 
One looks "classier", more formal, something you can show to your gf's parents and not have them gawk at your hobby, and the other one is well,the "sup foo". The P182 also has more silencing options (preferred choice of silentpcre...), unless jet engines are your thing.
 
I love my p180 and fought with myself which one to get. I'm running a Q6600 at 3.6GHz idling in the low 40s, high 30s, so cooling is not an issue.
 
Neither...CM690. But if you insist on those 2 choices I would settle for the p182 beer holder and all its glory.
 
I have the P182 and you can make the wiring really neat with all the built in cable management. However it's a pain to move around since it weighs so much!
 
P182 = Cable Management but lacks what the 900 has for air cooling options
Antec 900 = Air Cooling but lacks what the P182 has for cable management option
CM 690 = Cable Management and Air Cooling = $60 @ Provantage.com
 
Weight will not a factor since I won't be moving it much, if at all. I am a little concerned about psu cable reaching I am getting a corsair 750. Hopefully that will have long enough wires. Any good fan recommendations or other accessories for the 182 I should think about?
 
Imho, I would go with the P182. I have a 900..it looks good, but other than that it's a hassel to me.
 
Blakestr said:
Weight will not a factor since I won't be moving it much, if at all. I am a little concerned about psu cable reaching I am getting a corsair 750. Hopefully that will have long enough wires. Any good fan recommendations or other accessories for the 182 I should think about?
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I'd get a 120mm fan for the front optional fan. The way it's default setup is 2 exhaust for the top half and 1 in the middle for pull. I have a OCZ 600W PSU and the cables reach perfectly to my motherboard. If the cables were any shorter they wouldn't fit but usually the more watts the PSU is the longer the cables are so I'll think you'll be fine.
 
I'd definitely go with the P182. The 900 may have slightly better cooling, but it'll sound like a wind tunnel at the same time. The P182 isolates noise pretty well, looks sweet, and is also pretty good in the cooling department. It's also a much better quality case.
 
I'll check the cooling section for specifics but can anyone recommend a good 120mm fan? This will be my first time buying an aftermarket fan as well as overclocking("(don't worry I will definately read up more on that as well...
 
I'd personally go with the Antec 300. It's simply a very attractive and clean case that has massive amounts of cooling potential. It has all the cooling benefits of the 900 but none of the ugliness. The P182 is a good choice if you're looking for silence but only if you're looking for silence.

What would I do? Antec 300 and pick up a quality Scythe 120mm fan (low RPM model) to make up for the cost difference. Rather silent, reserved and clean looks, and great cooling. The 200mm and 120mm Scythe will provide cooling likely better than the P182 while costing far less. The front mesh gives the exhaust fans plenty to draw from unlike the P182.
 
I like quiet cases. I've got a P180 and it's still the quietest full size out there I think. Particularly the silicon hard drive mounts help my Raptors shut up. I wanted a 900 for a long time- love all the big fans, but I think it would be a much louder case.

Also, I had to mod my P180 to get the cooling where I needed it to be. Removed the front fan grilles and filters dropped my temps by a HUGE amount.
 
Had the 900 as well, swapped for the P182 and would never go back.

I though the 900 "looked cool" too, but that factor wears off after about a month. Especially when you realize you bought a wind tunnel.

You do lose a little bit of cooling. You gain a whole lot of cable management options, and a very sturdy, quiet case.
 
one thing about the Antec 900 (and the CM 690 pitched earlier) is that they have full mesh front, and extra vents on the side. While these may or may not improve cooling (Many people feel they provide escape paths for planned airflow), they definitely let much more sound out. The p182 has triple layer panels, lots of vibration dampers, and other quiet features, and few extraneous holes for sound to escape. I just got a p182, and my cpu is at 39C with a ninja2.

Also with the p182, since the PSU and hard drives are in a separate airflow chamber, you can move the fan from the bottom chamber to the intake for the top chamber, and the PSU fan will draw in air through the front intake across the hard drive, keeping it cool. Now you don't need an additional, dedicated fan to cool your hard drive!. I have 3 case fans: front intake, rear exhaust, and top exhaust, all set on low. Everything runs nice and cool, and sounds nice and quiet.
 
Cooling in the P182 isn't bad, I personally have a modded P180B. I've closed the top exhaust with foam, I've also replaced both fans with low RPM Scythe units. I have a Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 for the CPU that I keep around 30%. For the bottom chamber I've removed the fan and sealed off the holes around the PSU. This causes the PSU fan to draw air from the intake up front so your hard drives are still cooled.

I'm serious about silence and the P182/P180B will give that to you. Intelligent use of the cases layout is much more important than pure fan speed. I've noticed better temperatures with 1 intake/1 exhaust compared to two exhaust for instance. Also a minor difference compared to sealed off bottom and fan removed vs unsealed and with fan.

That said depending on budget I'd still likely go with an Antec 300. For its price it is a very good case. I'd likely mod it a bit too but it's a great case to jump into modding with.
 
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