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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Rob3 - Tuesday, December 6, 2011 - link
I sort of like it. Looks like a nice box. Built a few. This box looks like a nice one.Jerryph40 - Friday, January 6, 2012 - link
My first build was in a P180. As a novice I found that it was an excellent first choice, but strictly by accident. It forced me to learn things that I wouldn't have learned otherwise. It turned out to be an excellent case that went through many modifications and upgrades. I am glad to see Antec finally upping their game for the next generation. Am building a gaming rig now in a Cooler Master case because it met my needs and I really wanted the industrial look for this build. I am currently, though, gathering parts for a folding@home computer and only have the case and mobo left to complete. I really like the sleek lines of this case and if it is only half as quiet as my old P180, well the decision is easy. Just need to get my hands on one... Thanks Antec. And thanks Anandtech for the review.peter29 - Wednesday, February 8, 2012 - link
Would you recommend this case for installation of one lowend card (display) and 2xgtx580? Iam building PC for CAD/GPU rendering. My concern is balance between noise and thermals. Iam looking for case which keeps system very quiet while iam modeling/drawing. But it must hold temperatures below 85C when rendering (2x gtx580 under full load - yes i know it wont be quiet when rendering). Motherboard will be Asus Maximus IV P67 + i5 2500k slightly OCed. Thank you for help.HyperDuckling - Thursday, May 30, 2013 - link
which one should i pick: Bitfenix ghost, Antec P280 or Fractal Design Define R4? i'm looking for a silent case which still has a pretty good airflow (at least has to be better than CM Elite 430!)