Antec P183 Black Aluminum / Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Quality construction and design. Door has a magnet at the bottom to keep it closed, the front air intakes have screens to keep dust down abit. The removeable 3.5 drive bays are easy to get in and out without tools. The sides are cushioned with foam and/or plastic that keeps the sound and vibrations down. It's also very easy to route (power) cables to the back of the motherboard when you remove that side of the case.

Cons: It's a bit heavy, and the rubber feet on the bottom grip the surface its on very well, which makes it good at staying put, but hard to slide into a desk like I had to. I also think they should of include a few more screws for mounting additional 120mm fans; they only give you enough for one. I guess they figure you'll get screws with the additional fans, but mine did not.

Overall Review: I love it, it's a quality computer case that is easy to work with and look good. It's not cheap but you get what you pay for.

Pros: Read my other review by a like title. Good case overall with minor exceptions listed below. Added Sythe Gentle Typhoon fan in the lower front bay (PSU compartment), Scythe S-Flex 1200 rpm to the upper bay. Very quiet. Noctua 92 mm CPU cooler keeps my Q9650 at 26c idle, outstanding! MB temp 36c idle. May replace the Antec top & back fans, even set at low they are noticable. To another poster; the "rubber feet" are silicon to absorb vibration, and yeah, they don't slide worth a hoot. You have to lift the case when moving it, no small chore since it is pretty hefty. Cable management is great, but be careful what power supply you get, my Cooler Master RS-700 modular was just barely long enough (50cm) to reach the 24 pin power slot; had to flip it fan down (not optimal) just to reach. No prob on the other connections. Good buy by the way, cheaper than alot of 650-w PSUs. Overkill non-the-less; I don't do SLI/crossfire. But I was after QUIET. Now for the cracked eggs...

Cons: Door magnet came out of its seat third time I used it; held in place with doublesided scotchtape. Cleaned it off with denatured alcohol (slot too) and reset it with hot glue; problem fixed. Top lid is stuck to case with more double-sided tape. There are three posts that fit through the top of the case with small screws in them but nothing to mechanicaly hold the top lid to the case, duh. Top lid was loose, here's my fix: took off the screw and plastic shim sleave, put on a washer from a #10 roofing screw (metal washer w/ rubber washer under) put the little screw back in (it just barely fit but didn't pull through the washer). Again; DUH! If you are using a high-end vid card forget about using the center drive bay (they pretty much tell you that in the manual). The slide-in drive guides will stick out the back of the cage too far. Didn't need it, so no worries. I think this is a design oversight; when you fold the door back 180 degrees, there is nothing to hold it to the side.

Overall Review: Antec P183 case Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 Cooler Master RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W modular PSU EVGA GTX 275 video card WD 300 GB VelociRaptor WD 500 GB Caviar Black (backup drive) Plextor 20X DVD Super Multi optical drive PX-806SA Noctua NH-U9B 92mm CPU cooler ATF XM-28U 28-in-1 card reader (whats a floppy for if you are using Vista?) Other stuff mentioned above. Used my own Corsair 4x1gb XMS memory. Under $1,600 from New Egg; botique shops charge nearly double that. Thanks New Egg!

Pros: Quiet.. some reviews in silentpcreview forums knocked the noise level of the top 120 mm tricool fan, so replaced it with Noctua NF-S12 set on medium using in line resistor. Tried both fans before installing the noctua iand it s quiter. Assembly of system went easily. Cable routing was fairly easy with some trial and error, I did end up using standard cable ties instead of the supplied re-usable ones from antec (though they are probably fine.) Nice noise dampening features from 3-play case-walls to vibration reduction for the hard drives. System runs cool enough, CPU temp hasn't passed 35 C. Antec cp-850 runs quietly, psu fan is mounted mid case so turbulance from the fan is dampened. Everything fits nicely. My system runs well, can barely hear when it is on.

Cons: Getting the routing right took a little trial and error. It's best to run the main modo cable up the center of the case rather than along the side panel. Be careful not to cross cables in your layout and tie everything down carefully.

Overall Review: My first build, read up on the Eggxspert forums and posted system. Got very good constructive feedback from the forum participants. Also read reviews on silentpcreviews and tom's hardware for further advice. Plus there are several excellent videon on Youtube that were very helpful. System, Intel Core i7 720, Noctua NH-U12p cpu heatsink, EVGA X58 3x SLI mobo, 6gb OCZ XMP ready DDR3 ram, 3x WD caviar black hard drives in raid 5, Antec cp-850 psu, antec p183 case. Not overclocking but I may tinker with that later.

Pros: • Excellent cable management. Cables can be routed behind the motherboard to reach almost any location inside the case. Also, this drastically cuts down on cable cluttering inside the motherboard compartment. • Design lets you place the power supply at the bottom, but without having to flip the power supply upside down. This is really the ideal way to install a PSU in a computer case. Everything just fits and plays together a lot better this way. • Divider between PSU and motherboard section keeps the motherboard compartment cooler and PSU cables in place. • Extremely quiet case, with temperatures remaining low (MB 34 degC, CPU 40 degC). Excellent choice for building an HTPC. • Great exterior design with attractive gunmetal finish, no gaudy lights, and front door to cover any flashing lights from disk drives/hard drive access. Again, this is the perfect choice for building an HTPC.

Cons: • Front USB and eSATA connectors could have a more polished look, to coordinate better with the rest of the case. • The compartment behind the motherboard is a bit narrow for running multiple cable bundles. Careful planning and placement of cables/connectors is a must to be able to successfully lock the exterior panel into place after routing all the cables.

Overall Review: More Pros: • Cages for hard drives are very easy to use. The cages can be removed very quickly and easily, instead of having to remove multiple thumbscrews (as with Antec 900). • Lots of room to fit multiple hard drives and large graphics cards. After building several computers with Antec 900 cases, this is a welcome change. Simply a superior design all the way around.

Pros: This case makes cable routing so much easier than in other cases I have owned. I noticed a solid 15C drop in temp since I put my hardware in this case. Even though this case is cooler and has some of the same fans from my original case it is much more quiet. very sturdy, heavy. The HDD mounting bays are great as well. If you want more airflow in the top of the case there's more than enough optical drive bays to put a couple of fans in. Also the fans and empty drive bays on the front have screens the pop open allowing for quick cleaning of dust build up. I have yet to see any cat hair in this case... which is a shock since there's 5 cats here. overall a great case

Cons: I can only think of a few. 1. if you want to use a full length GPU, your going to have to mount all the HDD's in the bottom mounting area since the GPU goes nose to nose with the HDD mounted in the middle(theres space for 5 there I believe so not such a big deal) 2. Motherboard space seems a little tight for a case this size though I suppose that may have something to do with the cooling advantages I saw 3. It is heavy and it says so on the specs, just imagine adding 10 pounds or so to the spec numbers. Keep that in mind if you don't want to carry a heavy case around to competitions and LAN parties. Though the front does lock....

Overall Review: I often read about people buying this case and then being upset at its size. The dimensions are clearly written on Antec's site and here on Newegg. I went from a large case to this and its bigger, but thermally more efficient and easier on my ears when the fans kick in. This is a great case if you are building something specific, its quiet so is great for studio(audio) work or video work (both I do). The case is sturdy enough to travel if you can carry it, the HDD's are somewhat shock mounted so there's another plus. All in all just read the specs, if they look good to your project, then you will most likely be pleased when you build in this case. My setup - EVGA nForce 780i Triple SLI ready board, Intel q9550 oc'ed to 3.4ghz @ 40C (idle), 8GB Corsair dominator ddr2 1066mhz memory with fan, Nvidia GTX280 OC, Thermaltake Black Widow 850Watt psu, Seagate TB drive, WD 500GB drive, WD320GB drive

Pros: It's heavy - This is not a negative, this case is made right with sturdy materials. This is much more customizable than my Alienware case by far, and is very easy to wire manage. I love it!

Cons: Doesn't come with a windowed side panel, I had to spend $70 for a custom one. Doesn't come with a black interior. Should have had a 140mm fan on top. These are both small gripes though, for an otherwise great case.

Overall Review: YOU DO NOT NEED AN ATX EXTENSION CABLE IF YOU'RE USING CORSAIR PSU's. I bought one just in case and didn't need it.

Pros: It's big, looks really nice, and isn't gaudy or ugly. If you want a case with a window and pretty lights, keep looking. It's quiet: sound deadening panels help keep the sound level down. The case isn't built particularly for overclocking, but if you're so inclined you can add more fans to the mounting brackets in front. The cable management behind the motherboard is really useful and keeps the case clear. Front door isn't flimsy. Silicon standoffs help reduce vibration to hard drives, thereby reducing sound further. Power supply is housed in a separate lower chamber, which gives your CPU more clearance. Silicon padding reduces PSU vibration as well. Multiple hard drive mounting locations (main chamber and lower chamber). Easy access to the front panel with hand screws. Two 120mm fans have fan speed control (low, med, high).

Cons: The default hard drive mount in the middle of the case sits right in front of the PCI-e 2.0 16x slot on my motherboard (and probably all ATX motherboards). I had to remove the mounting brackets for the hard drives and put them in the lower chamber with the PSU in order to give the video card (XFX Radeon 4870) good clearance. For $135, that's kind of disappointing. If you have security concerns, you should know that when closed the front panel door leaves the power and reset buttons reachable. The lock should disable said buttons, or cover them up. This is really minor problem (non-existent for me), but considering the price of the case, a little disappointing. Last thing: I got a non-modular PSU and couldn't hide all the cables behind the motherboard. The cable management system is fantastic, but I was forced to keep some cables in the lower chamber. A little more clearance with the cable management system would have been nice.

Overall Review: If you're looking to build a quiet computer, this is a great case to go with. All of the problems are really minor and easily dealt with. The case has a few minor issues, but the drive mount clearance problem with the video card is the biggest problem. It really is a great case, and I hate to give it 4/5, but for the price, I think it should be perfect (or closer to perfect).

Pros: I have owned the P182 and I thought it was a good one... but this is even better! -More fan slots -Front SATA port -No slot for fan in lower chamber between HDD and PSU (very good thing) -Slightly more bada__ looking -Easily removable drive bay face plates -Door opens to 270 Degrees and actually holds there Good things that are still the same: -All inside edges are beveled so they don't cut you or cables -Fans included have speed adjustment access on the outside rear of the case -Front panel ports and leds have long leads to reach mobo -Quiet as all get out -Comes with lock and key

Cons: -Though the cable for the front panel ports and LEDs are long they are installed in such a place that they cant got behind the Mobo tray (This happens because the cables stop the right side panel from being able to slide back on if they got behind the mobo tray) -Only two fans are included, I personally would recommend purchasing two other fans (Antec Tri Cools fit perfectly, are quiet and have speed adjustment like the ones included. Keep in mind that the speed adjustment for these will be internal though.) -The P182 Case had two air intakes on the front of the case and has two click in click out door that covered dust filters that could come out and be cleaned by hand in the sink. This case has sort of the same thing only the dust filters themselves and the click in click out doors have been combined in to one. This is a con because to clean the small doors/dust filters you must remove the doors themselves which feels like it might break the snaps holding them in place. see belo

Overall Review: Final Con: -Large GPU owners beware. I have the 4870X2 made by Sapphire and it just barely fits in the case with the top HDD tray in place. Any GPUs bigger than this one will have to have the top HDD tray removed so it can fit (to me this isn't too big of a deal and I was expecting it since I have one of the largest GPUs on the market.) Other thoughts: I love this case. It's quiet, sleek, cool (temperature wise), upgradable and easy to use.