I have had it with my P180

[Hephaistion]

At first I was convinced this case, the Antec P180 was the shizzel, however as I started adding drives and other goodies I noticed that whoever designed this case probably designed it without much thought for the gamer. The overall compartment design for the Mobo and drives is silly cramped, and therefore airflow is abysmal. My CPU temp jumped by 10 degrees F and my GPU's are running 20 degrees hotter, after adding one extra drive. The power cables run from the bottom up and press against the GPU's and press too tight against the lower PCI cards. My advice is to steer clear of this wildly attractive case and choose a more open case, like a Thermaltake Armor or Coolermaster. Antec blew it in my opinion, my search continues.

[Sir. MatDef]

Re: I have had it with my P180

Okay, how about a Thermaltake Tsunami?

[imported_Jazza]

Re: I have had it with my P180

Heh yeah, I dont know why everyone loves the P180.

[Blak_Phoenix]

Re: I have had it with my P180

I was just looking at getting that case.. thx alot.. the other case i wanted to get was the Thermaltake Tsunami.. looks good also.. not as good, but still..

and can someone please bump my thread? http://www.totalbf2.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61769

[Hephaistion]

Re: I have had it with my P180

Here is what I decided to get.

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/armor/va8000bws.asp

Monarch Computers has them for like $135 and there is a $25 rebate so $110 plus S/H, not to bad, I just need a wide open, heavy breathing case, I am selling my P180 to a buddy for $60.00

[megawhompertoo]

Re: I have had it with my P180

At first I was convinced this case, the Antec P180 was the shizzel, however as I started adding drives and other goodies I noticed that whoever designed this case probably designed it without much thought for the gamer. The overall compartment design for the Mobo and drives is silly cramped, and therefore airflow is abysmal. My CPU temp jumped by 10 degrees F and my GPU's are running 20 degrees hotter, after adding one extra drive. The power cables run from the bottom up and press against the GPU's and press too tight against the lower PCI cards. My advice is to steer clear of this wildly attractive case and choose a more open case, like a Thermaltake Armor or Coolermaster. Antec blew it in my opinion, my search continues.

You're paying for "quiet" cooling with the P180. It was co-developed with one of the main editors of a silent pc reviews website:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page6.html

That's not to say that it isn't a good or bad case, depending on your usage, needs, and components, BUT the goal is quiet cooling and not having the computer beside you alternate (sound wise) between an f3 tornado and a jet engine at FMP getting ready to be shot off the end of the carrier. There are many fans and fan slots, and they are designed to give a directional, targeted airflow, not simply "open" airflow.

It SHOULD be giving you better cooling than you're experiencing. These are silly questions if you've been building comps for a long time, but I thought I'd throw them out there in case this is your first or first few builds:

1) are your intake/output fans "pointed" in the right direction?

2) is the case ventilated ok? (edit: does it have a cool air source, or could it being blowing hot air out and recycling it back into the case, as in a desk cabinet without an opening in the back? your case specifically draws in cool air from the front AND ONLY THE FRONT, and directs it across the components.)

3) are you using skinny (round eide or sata cables, depending), or are you using old wide ribbon cables?

4) are you using a fan controller? are you running the latest BIOS revision? maybe your mfg has released an updated BIOS that manages heat better...

Best of luck. The link to the article is an in-depth, in and out review of the case; it may help. Grain of salt, factor though, as the editor/reviewer was a collaborator on the case design.

[Hephaistion]

Re: I have had it with my P180

You're paying for "quiet" cooling with the P180. It was co-developed with one of the main editors of a silent pc reviews website:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article249-page6.html

That's not to say that it isn't a good or bad case, depending on your usage, needs, and components, BUT the goal is quiet cooling and not having the computer beside you alternate (sound wise) between an f3 tornado and a jet engine at FMP getting ready to be shot off the end of the carrier. There are many fans and fan slots, and they are designed to give a directional, targeted airflow, not simply "open" airflow.

It SHOULD be giving you better cooling than you're experiencing. These are silly questions if you've been building comps for a long time, but I thought I'd throw them out there in case this is your first or first few builds:

1) are your intake/output fans "pointed" in the right direction?

2) is the case ventilated ok? (edit: does it have a cool air source, or could it being blowing hot air out and recycling it back into the case, as in a desk cabinet without an opening in the back? your case specifically draws in cool air from the front AND ONLY THE FRONT, and directs it across the components.)

3) are you using skinny (round eide or sata cables, depending), or are you using old wide ribbon cables?

4) are you using a fan controller? are you running the latest BIOS revision? maybe your mfg has released an updated BIOS that manages heat better...

Best of luck. The link to the article is an in-depth, in and out review of the case; it may help. Grain of salt, factor though, as the editor/reviewer was a collaborator on the case design.

I am a pretty experienced PC builder, I have 4 120mm Fans Pulling thru the front, and pushing thru the back and top, I have a high-speed 80mm fan pulling through the side vent. I have my cables managed as cleanly as the case will allow. The problem is that the layout of the case jams too much stuff together. Not everyone has the same success with every case. I know the history of the case, that was part of my decision to buy it, 3 months later I am dissatisfied with it. The case has soo many cool features, granted, but this case also makes poor use of available airflow avenues. It has ample stock cooling fans and ventilation, the designers probably didn't have SLI configurations in mind.

[megawhompertoo]

Re: I have had it with my P180

the designers probably didn't have SLI configurations in mind.

I see. I bet Antec assumed that by the time you spen $200 on their case, plus $100 on a good psu, then you wouldn't have enough left over to buy 2x$500.00 sli graphics cards. :)

I've got the antec sonata I that I'm thrilled with. It isn't as quiet as it ought to be, then again it's sitting inside a desk with only front and back ventilation. It's having to push the 2x120mm fans fairly hard across the hard drives and into the guts of the case to keep my P4 3.0 "the space heater" prescott chip and x800xt AIW card cool. Have you had any experience with the sonata II? Expect it would be about the same as the p180?