Antec P180b ATX Case

Internals

The inside of this case is where Antec have really done some work. The “upside down” internals of the case make it look a little different inside from a lot of mainstream cases. This is a trend that we are seeing more and more with manufacturers such as Lian Li and Silverstone putting the PSU at the bottom of the case.

antec p180b
Starting from bottom left:

Bottom left: Power supply enclosure.
Bottom right: Large additional Hard drive bays
Right middle: Hard Drive bay with fan holder
Right middle top: Single 5 1/2″ bay
Right top: 3 x 5 1/2″ Bays
Top left: 120mm top exhaust fan
Upper left: 120mm exhaust fan
Middle left: Plastic plate to manage cables coming through.

Some close-ups of the drive bays:

antec p180b
You can see way Antec have chosen to lay out their case bays. It keeps everything separate. I think Antec have really gone for the ‘modular cooling’ solution by separating each part of the case into a cooling zone to maximise cooling.

We see the place where Antec have chosen to put the PSU:

antec p180b
You can also spy the tri-cool fan. This is a high output fan to draw a lot of air through the font HDD bays. I was a little confused as to why this was included by Antec as unless you have the full complement of 4 HDD’s in that bay you aren’t exactly cooling much else than the PSU. With PSU’s nowadays being more and more efficient and cooled very well this seems a little pointless.

One of the features I really like on this case is the top HDD enclosure. With room for two HDD’s (enough for all but the most space-hungry of us) this is an excellent modular design with the HDD being screwed onto a ‘cage’ like device. This can be easily and quickly swapped out.

Here we see the ring that allows you to pull out the HDD enclosure, after removing a thumbscrew.

antec p180b
Just screw this on and put into the enclosure…
antec p180b

antec p180b

There’s even a small cubby-hole for your bits and pieces:
antec p180b

antec p180b

I put a fan on it to show how this gets attached if you so choose to attach one.

The insides are well designed if a little strange in places. Certainly well laid out though.

It is worth mentioning that the fans in the case each have their own fan controller in the form of a rather nifty little plastic switch. This goes on three speeds: High, Medium and Low. The highest setting is a little loud considering the quite of this case but the medium is a great balance between quiet and power. Another nice touch.

asntec p180b
Continue for external appearance