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, Overclocked
Here's where we separate the men from the boys. Our overclocked test bed has proven to be very stressful on "less prepared" enclosures, and this is hopefully going to produce some more decisive results. So far, Antec's P280 has put in a strong performance, offering decent thermals with low acoustics, but it's still competing pretty squarely with Fractal Design's Define R3, an enclosure that costs between $30 and $40 less. The R3 lost a lot of steam in our overclocked testing, though. Can the P280 pick up the slack?
Unfortunately, while most of the other components are running pretty frosty, the P280 has a hard time dealing with the substantially increased thermal load of the overclocked i7-875K. What we can glean from the results is that it's able to mostly manage overall ambient temperature, and the GeForce GTX 580 runs nice and cool compared to some of the other cases, but the processor may just not be getting enough cool air running through it. The P280 supports 240mm radiators, and getting one in there may not be a bad idea.
Once again it's hard to justify running the fans at their high setting. At their low setting the P280 is nice and quiet at idle, though load performance is dicier. Once again the P280 is in the same general ballpark as Fractal Design's up and comer.
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worde - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
I had already decided on the Fractal Define XL when I saw this case and now I'm not sure anymore. I have some issues though. I was wondering if it's possible to remove the fans on the top and cover the inside of the top panel with noise insulation. Furthermore the insulation on the side panels looks so thin I'm not sure how effective it can be, is there room to add a thicker layer?Otherwise this one looks like a winner, spacious, low noise, subdued looks. I seriously can't decide between this and the XL.
TheStork - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Well, this is certainly going to give the Corsair 600T some competition. I bet that's why I see the 600T $120 USD AR at Newegg.NatoR812 - Friday, November 18, 2011 - link
Nice Case, great desing, black sharp.harun90 - Saturday, November 19, 2011 - link
Just another comment. Maybe I'll finally get lucky :)Teizo - Saturday, November 19, 2011 - link
I got the original P-180 when it first came out and I loved it. The chambered design was nice, but it did make assembly a bit tedious. This new spacious design is really nice.HeavyDuty - Saturday, November 19, 2011 - link
Looks pretty good, but perhaps a bit larger than what I'm looking for right now.Gerr - Sunday, November 20, 2011 - link
Debating between this P280 case, the R3, and the Thor V2 for a new case this Xmas to replace my Antec 900 that is too much of a dust magnet. Would love to see a comparison done between these 3...;)Mr-Happy - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Doesn't look like an evolution per se but is certainly a nice choice for multiple applications. Wouldn't mind stacking one of my servers in there and truly giving the airflow a test with it loaded up with 15K SAS drives.Curt4Computers - Monday, November 21, 2011 - link
Awesome. Looks like just what I need.faxbandit - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Sweet case!!