Antec P183 Case Review

Posted by: David Mitchelson (Mishima) on: 04/24/2009 10:10 AM [ Print | 0 comment(s) ]

Installation

When it came to installing all the components inside the Antec P183 the whole process was a comfortable task. I began by installing the PSU first so that I could plan where all the cabling would go before any of the devices sat in the case. This generally reduces struggling and allows you to organise cable management with plenty of space and time.

As mentioned previous, hard disk drives are mounted by removing the cage from the case and then removing a tray from the cage and screwing the hard disk to the tray. Care must be taken not to tighten the screws too hard as this can crush the silicone and reduce the effectiveness of the anti-vibration technique. One thing to note is that on the front edge of the cage is a small compartment to store anything you might want - for example grip ties.

5.25" and 3.5” devices are very easy to install, attach the required bracket to either side of the device - in this case I installed a DVD/RW along with a USB Card Reader. Remove the cover on the drive bay and simply slide the device into the slot and it will then nicely clip in and secure itself.

After this I installed the motherboard, I had no problems at all. The only slight niggle that I had was the power/reset switch header sockets were very close to the shutter that separates the lower chamber from the top chamber. I had to make a slight adjustment to the shutter so that it didn't interfere with this section on the motherboard. One thing that I did find in my favour was that the rear eSATA ports on my Asus P6T Deluxe are easily accessed when inside the P18. With previous cases I have found this panel difficult to access.

So, overall a comfortable install and because of the carefully designed gullies and holes, cables can be hidden very neatly. The Antec P183 allows you to brush up on your cable management and this can only contribute to better airflow, this is something we are going to consider in the next section as we analyse the cooling performance of the Antec P183.