Antec P280 Review: When Enthusiasts Are Engineers
by Dustin Sklavos on November 15, 2011 10:20 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
- Antec
- P280
Noise and Thermal Testing, Stock
Despite being very enthusiastic about the design of the Antec P280, I had real concerns about performance in practice. I'm just not a fan of negative pressure designs; historically I've seen positive pressure cases produce better thermal results. Antec's reps even asked me about my experiences there, but thankfully the P280 can be configured that way and then some. I also don't like the two exhaust fans in the top; I've never liked top exhaust fans in cases, as it's always seemed like a great way for noise to leak out. So suffice to say, I entered the actual testing of the P280 with some trepidation.
Performance for the P280 is for the most part middle-of-the-road. I think its biggest competitor is probably the up and coming Fractal Design Define R3. What's worth noting is the very minimal impact running the fans at low speeds seems to have had on the enclosure's performance.
Turning down those fans results in one of the quietest cases we've tested under load, though the results are within the margin of error compared to Fractal Design's Define R3. When we let them ramp up, though, no amount of sound dampening can really save the P280. Thankfully running them at low barely affects thermals, and as a result we get decent performance from a quiet case. So far Antec is on the right track.
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IceDread - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
With that ugly front it's a no no.tarv - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Me want ones!LeeF - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
... now if only you guys would actually compare it to them. :)I'm still rockin' the P180 I bought in 2005. It is a PITA to swap out hardware, but I've never minded because of the looks and the quiet. I actually prefer its looks to the P280, but I think I'd still happily switch to the P280 for the ease of upgrading and the drive rails that accommodate 2.5" drives. I just installed an SSD in mine, and I had to use a horrible kludge of adapters to mount it in a 5.25" drive bay because I couldn't find any 3.5" adapters that would line up with the screw holes in the P180s HDD rails or lower drive cage.
The noise and cooling performance will be the crux of the decision for me, though. I have a Zalman CNPS 10k Quiet cooler which fires toward the back of the case, so the top fan positions are entirely superfluous (and possibly detrimental) in my case.
ZappedC64 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Decent case.TGMGroup - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I remember when Antec was the best of the best, before companies such as SilverStone and Fractal Design came out. It's nice that they're doing their best to get better.NoWayMan - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Would like to build a new system in this case - a lot easier than the P180 I have.cstuss - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
It's been a real struggle to find a decent case with top port access that was quiet and not covered in 'cool' led lights. This case looks like a winner to me. I'd love to build a system in this bad boy.Upinsmokes - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
another nice case from antec. great review too.racerx_is_alive - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I like to install those USB card readers in my computers, and they usually fit in the 3.5" bay- but this case doesn't have one of those. Do they have a faceplate to adapt one of the 5.25" forward facing slots to handle a 3.5" drive like the card reader?MKBL - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Is PSU to be mounted downward? I have Antec HCG-620, which is sitting upward at the bottom of Three Hundred. and by the look of its branding, I thought it was naturally built to be mounted upward. Can it be reversed, upside down?