Antec P280 Black Super Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Large - fits just about any component available
Quiet - quiet fans and lots of them - rubber isolated drive mounts - sound insulation
Great cable management
Understated beauty - very sleek, not gaudy

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I'be been building computers for 28 years, and this is by far my favorite. Spacious, easy to build with, sturdy, no rough edges, lots of small thoughtfulness, for example, screws for plug-in cards are thumbscrews, drive mounts slide out sideways so removing them doesn't interfere with the MB and cabling, easy to remove dust filters, sound insulation, unique power block for case fans for assemblies where MB has insufficient fan headers. Fan speed controls mounted so they are accessible from outside the case. Just a great case, lots of thought put in for builders.

Pros: 1. Very easy to build in, not quite a full tower case but not
as small as a mid sized tower.
2. Decent airflow for a "quiet" case
3. Cable management made easy with all of the well
placed cutouts and rubber grommets to cover the holes
4. Large size helps support any type of computer
configuration you could think of.
5. Easy to install all hardware, nothing feels flimsy..

Cons: 1. Not "quiet" in any sense of the form. Using
Noiseblocker BlackSilentPro fans, which are very quiet
just hear the sound of air moving, all my fans give out a
high pitched whining sound that is unbearable. This
issue is not present on my old/current case the Antec
902v3 which is quieter and cooling is better.
2. This leads me to the conclusion that the way the case is
designed that too much airflow will cause the case to
emit a humming/whining noise. I will try and figure out
how or what fan speed causes this not to be an issue,
however I should not have to reduce my fan speed on
an already silent fan because the case causes a
whining noise.

Other Thoughts: If your are looking for a quiet case, please look else where unless you plan on keeping stock 3 fan cooling. I do not believe users will have this issue with lower RPM fans, but be warned of using higher RPM fans in this case that cause more airflow.noise than desired.

Manufacturer Response:

Hi BigD,

That is an odd problem, our P280 is designed for quiet computing. Please call (800) 222-6832 and our customer support team will be able to help you out in sorting this out.

Thank you,

Antec Support Team

Pros: The P280 is the most spacious and feature-packed case I've ever had. My favorite feature has to be the cable management ports, which allow you to essentially route your cables through the back, then pop them back out at just the right spot. This keeps air flowing smoothly and keeps things tidy as well. The harddrive bays consist of slide-in/out trays, which makes adding/removing/re-arranging harddrives a no-brainer. The PSU sits on the bottom of this case, and is complete with a removable filter. I also dig the power buttons and USB/audio ports on top, since my PC sits on the floor under the desk.

Cons: With all thought that's gone into this case, I can't help but wonder why they overlooked the optical drive bays. Instead of being pre-punched, you'll have to work the steel panel back and forth until it snaps off to get your optical drives through; this just seems circa 1990s and also leaves your knuckles open to getting cut by the steel. Lastly, a bit of a nit-pick, but the silicone/rubber covers over the cable management port holes comes off too easily. They should've used some sort of glue to keep it in place.

Other Thoughts: Highly recommend this case.

Pros: Looks nice and professional, no lights, windows etc... to make the case look like its a tricked out sports car. Plenty of space for large GPUs in crossfire and any CPU heat-sink/water cooler. Nicely placed rubber grommets for cable management. All my cables are nicely hidden with no crowding. Added two 120mm fans in the front and is still quiet.

Cons: The only issue I had is the location of the case fan power feed - the back of the case has a molex connector that feeds up to 4 case fans. Since I have a CPU water cooler (Corsair H60), the radiator is attached to the rear case fan. The problem I had is that it interfered with that molex plug.had to get creative with an extention plug to overcome the tight fit.

Not enough to deduct eggs since most people probably won't use a water cooler with this case.

Other Thoughts: My other build I used a Corsair Obsidian 500D case which cost $80 more. This case is similar in quality but less in price. I will purchase Antec again over Corsair...

i7-3770k
ASUS Z77 Sabertooth
Corsair H60
Corsair 8Gb 1866
Seasonic X-850
ASUS HD7970
Samsung 830 SSD 240Gb x 2
WD 1.5 Tb Black

Pros: Plenty of space to install components
Nice cut outs with rubber liners for routing cables outside of the main air flow.
Includes plenty of screws and it also includes a few zip ties to keep the install nice.
The case is very quiet, I have a hard time telling when the machine is running.
Tons of space for drives, internal and external.
Filter on the front intake and on the PSU intake.

Cons: For a mid tower case it's on the large side. I have the three stock 120mm fans, a 120mm CPU cooler and an Nvidia GTX 650Ti w/ two fans. Everything running is very quiet.

Other Thoughts: It's been a number of years since I've purchased a new machine so I wanted a nice case with USB 3.0 and plenty of space. This case has both.

Pros: Both sides of case come off for eeasy access.
Cut out under CPU, to make it easy to change heatsinks. On my previous case this involved removing the MOBO.
Lots of room.
Quiet

Cons: None, it's great.

Pros: Quiet
Excellent for cable management

Cons: Received with a dent on the top left side

Other Thoughts: The package was somewhat battered when I received it, but I still find it hard to believe that the dent occurred during shipping. The case is packaged in a high quality foam, and there was no dent in the package, only the case. I think it's more likely that the case was dented at the factory.

Other than the dent, this is a great case

Pros: super quiet, easy to set up, lots of a fans but whisper quiet. plenty of hard drive bays and space.

Cons: bigger than i thought but not truly a con.

Pros: A nice upgrade from my worn out Thermaltake Tsunami Dream case that has been through three builds.

Obviously this is a very heavy and well constructed steel case with lots of space inside. Definitely bigger than most mid-tower cases. Check the measurements and make sure it fits where you want to put it.
Good cable management
Three very quiet fans
Nice understated appearance.

Cons: Nothing major, but a few minor observations to share.

Big and heavy, but those are also Pros!

The hard drive mounts use odd screws which go through large silicone cushions and are designed so that you can't tighten them down all the way. This reduces transmission of vibrations to your case, but it means the drives are not held in a rigid position. You have to take off both side covers so that you can hold one end of the drive while you attach power and data cables to the other end.

Your power supply may need an extension cable to reach the 8 pin motherboard connector near the CPU. I picked one up with the case just to be sure and I'm glad I did.

My old 18-24 inch SATA cables are way too long now and those darn daisy-chain SATA power cables are just as much of a pain as they were with my old case. Not Antec's fault of course!

The two bays for SSDs are nice, but the little SSDs get lost in there and you have to pull them out to attach the cables, then slide them back in. Fortunately the SSDs are held very nicely by friction so they are easy to slide in and out.

Don't drop one of the side panels on your foot. Wear safety shoes while working with these heavy objects.

Antec did a great job of avoiding sharp edges, except when you break out the sheet metal pieces to open up each 5.25 inch bay. Be careful there.

Other Thoughts: I got a good deal on this case, but I'll probably spend another 50% of that on new power and data cables to clean up the cable management situation. Any time you have six HDDs, two SSDs and three 5.25 inch drive bays you are going to have a lot of cables!

Pros: Went from an Antec 900 to the P280 with my latest build.

-Tons of room
-Looks clean
-Seems to be very easy to clean due to lack of grates and the built in filters.
-Cable management is more than adequate depending on your PSU cables.
-Very sturdy. Even the front door is very durable feeling and closes and opens cleanly.
-Very quiet.

Cons: -Not the best of ventilation unless you utilize the extra fan slots in the front of the case. About a 3 degrees temp increase with this case, but it makes up for it with how stylish and roomy it is.

Other Thoughts: My latest build was:
- Antec P280
- EVGA superNOVA 750b PSU
- i7 3770k
- Corsair H60
- Gigabyte GTX670 Windforce Ed.
- OCZ Vertex 3
- Asus P8Z77 Motherboard
- 16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengeance RAM

The Antec P280 provide plenty of room for a Push/Pull configuration with the Corsair H60. Cable routing was a breeze. Plenty of room to work inside of the case without having to buy a full size tower.