Antec P183 vs Antec 900

L

Ladic

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Mar 30, 2006
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I have a antec 900, but I am tired of the poor cable managrement, its kind of a pain every time I try to change a part, and it doesn't help that its a dust magnet.

I don't overclock.

I was thinking of changing to the Antec P183, I like the model, it has cable management and dust filters.

Would it be a wise decision to swap?
 
Ladic said:
I have a antec 900, but I am tired of the poor cable managrement, its kind of a pain every time I try to change a part, and it doesn't help that its a dust magnet.

I don't overclock.

I was thinking of changing to the Antec P183, I like the model, it has cable management and dust filters.

Would it be a wise decision to swap?
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I have the P182 which is very similar. CM is pretty good, and I really like the separate chambers. Dust is not a very big problem at all.
 
Check out the Antec 902. It fixes the biggest issues of the 900, cable management and filters on the fans. Basically, they took the 1200 and turned it into a mid-tower.
 
I was looking at the Antec900 two, but the cable management doesn't look as good as the P183, and removing a HD in the Atntec900 is also a b!tch
 
I spent a while trying to decide, and today I picked up the P183. Haven't installed anything yet as tomorrow I'll be cutting out the stamped fan grills with my Dremel first but damn, it's a nice case! A decent upgrade from my old Sonata II, and I'm hoping for good things.

The other thing I'm thinking of doing, since the case is stripped bare and I'll have the Dremel out anyway, is to make a cutout in the mobo tray for easier heatsink installation. That's the only thing IMHO that is lacking in this case. I'll let you know how I get on!
 
Bit disappointed actually. Took the case apart and cut out the two stamped fan grills at the front, and the one at the rear. I also took out all the blanking plates. After doing the install, and running the machine at idle, my temps are precisely the same as they were in my old Sonata II. It is quieter, and the extra space is a huge plus, but it doesn't sem to be any cooler. I'll play around with fan placement, but with 2 x 120mm Yate Loons (@ 7v) at the front and the same fan at the rear (the same set up as in my old Sonata), I'm surpised that there has not been even a 1C drop in GPU, CPU or MB temps.....shame, as it's not exactly a cheap case!
 
I've built two systems using the older version of that case the P180. Neither system ran very cool mainly because of the thick side panels and lack of ventilation there. Try cutting a hole in the side panel for a 120mm fan and maybe another one up top too. It is a great looking case though and very easy to work with.
 
well considering the 900 has better airflow than the p183 im surprised ur temps didnt creep up a bit. that being said you didnt post your temps from the 900 vs the p183. depending on your system and ambient temp it may not matter what case u put it in.
 
Rogue71 said:
well considering the 900 has better airflow than the p183 im surprised ur temps didnt creep up a bit. that being said you didnt post your temps from the 900 vs the p183. depending on your system and ambient temp it may not matter what case u put it in.
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Sorry, should have maybe started a new thread, I think you are confusing me with the OP. He was asking between the 900 and P183, I was mentioning how my new P183 compares with my old Antec Sonata II....my temps aren't particularly high (idle GPU 48C, idle CPU 26C, MB was at 39C, there is now an Antec Spotcool on it so it's 26C), I was just surprised at there being no difference at all even though the case is much better ventilated than the Sonata II.
 
Camberwell said:
Sorry, should have maybe started a new thread, I think you are confusing me with the OP. He was asking between the 900 and P183, I was mentioning how my new P183 compares with my old Antec Sonata II....my temps aren't particularly high (idle GPU 48C, idle CPU 26C, MB was at 39C, there is now an Antec Spotcool on it so it's 26C), I was just surprised at there being no difference at all even though the case is much better ventilated than the Sonata II.
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oops guess i wasnt paying attention sorry. well i did 1 build with a sonata3. ill never use it again. silent my ass. to me its an overrated POS. the p183 seems to be well done and i would take that over any sonata case anyday.same comment goes though, your temps are pretty normal, so depending on your ambient you probly wont get much better. your mobo temp seems a bit high at 39c though. ive never seena mobo temp higher than a cpu temp (you sure thats not your chipset?) what are you using to monitor your temps? post your system specs and ambient temp, fan settings etc...
 
Rogue71 said:
oops guess i wasnt paying attention sorry. well i did 1 build with a sonata3. ill never use it again. silent my ass. to me its an overrated POS. the p183 seems to be well done and i would take that over any sonata case anyday.same comment goes though, your temps are pretty normal, so depending on your ambient you probly wont get much better. your mobo temp seems a bit high at 39c though. ive never seena mobo temp higher than a cpu temp (you sure thats not your chipset?) what are you using to monitor your temps? post your system specs and ambient temp, fan settings etc...
Click to expand...

No sweat. Specs are in sig (including fan settings), using Speedfan 4.39, ambient prob around 22C. The temp sensor for my mobo is next to the vrm module, which is a bit of a dead spot in the case. It's also getting a lot of hot air from my GTX 260 as the end of the card sits directly under the sensor, so I'm not too surprised to be honest...
 
I have a modified p180 which I essentially matched with the P183 except with the holes on the front panel which I cant do myself. I think it would look too ghetto if I did it. I even did the bottom chamber mod for the fan to allow a full size PSU.

Clearly when comparing this case to the 900/902, you need to consider that the 900/902 doesn't have a restrictive front panel enclosure. Therefore with the p180/182/183 you need to open the front panel when stressing the system to let it breath. Those ported holes for the p183 are great for doing light activity, even more so than the totally closed p180/182 which tends to get hot even while doing light activity, however when you stress, you need to have it fully open.

This is my case....
http://good-times.webshots.com/album/569810263ZkDmXg

The key factor of this case over the 900/902 is that it has better sound dampening side panels and the ability to open/close the front panel for better breathing performance when open and silence while closed. You also can add a third front intake to the case and still retain a 5.25" bay for a full size DVD and a 3.5" external bay for a fan controller like me. Unlike those that mod the 900/902 with 3 120mm intakes, you either have to eliminate the 5.25" dvd drive and use an external drive or mod the case to fit a slim DVD which is half the performance of a standard Dvd burner these days.

Also with three 120mm intakes on the 900/902, you no longer have the means to use a fan controller conveniently at the front meaning you have to use a PCI fan controller with 2 or 3 knobs on the bracket at the rear. I personally like the convenience of just reaching over and turning the knobs to adjust the speeds whenever I like. With Pci fan brackets, you have to get behind the case anytime you wish to adjust the speeds.

The things I can say the 902 has over the P183 is that it has a hole at the side for an extra 120mm fan. I don't see this as that much of a disadvantage for me simply because I much prefer the sound dampening side panels instead. Besides, my case cooling is still as good. The 902 has the 200mm fan at the top which is decent. Not many 200mm fans to choose from out in the market and I would rather emphasize on positive pressure instead. The 902 has more bays for HDD's. This is good for those that use their main system as a server. I personally use just 3 HDD's in my main system and run a NAS which has all my HDD's in it.

I have an oced q9550 at 3.8 with 3 HDD's and a TRUE 120. Total of 6 120mm fans minus the PSU 120mm.

At 80F ambient doing Prime95 I reach 60-62c for my hottest core. GTX260 reaches 78-82c. On linpack I reach 75c
 
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