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
Testing Methodology
For testing ATX cases, we use the following standardized testbed in stock and overclocked configurations to get a feel for how well the case handles heat and noise.
| Full ATX Test Configuration | |
| CPU |
Intel Core i7-875K (95W TDP, tested at stock speed and overclocked to 3.8GHz @ 1.38V) |
| Motherboard | ASUS P7P55D-E Pro |
| Graphics Card | Zotac NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (244W TDP) |
| Memory | 2x2GB Crucial Ballistix Smart Tracer DDR3-1600 |
| Drives |
Kingston SSDNow V+ 100 64GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gbps Samsung 5.25" BD-ROM/DVDRW Drive |
| CPU Cooler | Zalman CNPS9900 MAX with Cooler Master ThermalFusion 400 |
| Power Supply | SilverStone Strider Gold 750W 80 Plus Gold |
A refresher on how we test:
Acoustic testing is standardized on a foot from the front of the case, using the Extech SL10 with an ambient noise floor of ~32dB. For reference, that's what my silent apartment measures with nothing running, testing acoustics in the dead of night (usually between 1am and 3am). A lot of us sit about a foot away from our computers, so this should be a fairly accurate representation of the kind of noise the case generates, and it's close enough to get noise levels that should register above ambient.
Thermal testing is run with the computer having idled at the desktop for fifteen minutes, and again with the computer running both Furmark (where applicable) and Prime95 (less one thread when a GPU is being used) for fifteen minutes. I've found that leaving one thread open in Prime95 allows the processor to heat up enough while making sure Furmark isn't CPU-limited. We're using the thermal diodes included with the hardware to keep everything standardized, and ambient testing temperature is always between 71F and 74F. Processor temperatures reported are the average of the CPU cores.
For more details on how we arrived at this testbed, you can check out our introductory passage in the review for the IN-WIN BUC.
Last but not least, we'd also like to thank the vendors who made our testbed possible:
Thank You!
We have some thanks in order before we press on:
- Thank you to Crucial for providing us with the Ballistix Smart Tracer memory we used to add memory thermals to our testing.
- Thank you to Zalman for providing us with the CNPS9900 MAX heatsink and fan unit we used.
- Thank you to Kingston for providing us with the SSDNow V+ 100 SSD.
- Thank you to CyberPower for providing us with the Western Digital Caviar Black hard drive, Intel Core i7-875K processor, ASUS P7P55D-E Pro motherboard, and Samsung BD-ROM/DVD+/-RW drive.
- And thank you to SilverStone for providing us with the power supply and SATA power cable.
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PCHPlayer - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Not sure if it's worth upgrading from the P180. Perhaps in the next system build. The isolated PS chamber was interesting in the P180, but it did make the power cable routing a bit tricky.dacrazydude - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
The P series were never really big enough to require dual chambers imo.hescominsoon - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Definitely an improvement from the mediocre cases I have seen from Antec Lately.Rakanishu - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I'm using the P180 now and I dread having to install or un-install a piece of hardware from it. HDs especially, the new outward facing design is 100 times better imo.AntiNova - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I won't deny that this is a nice looking case. I was just hoping that it would be more "adaptable" features... it just seems like a polished up redesign of previous casesrrohbeck - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
now that the new version is available. It seems that most of the wishes/concerns that the other posters have are answered by the Define XL. I love it (except that the finished system is back breakingly heavy.)Yes it looks like Fractal Design has shamelessly stolen ideas from Antec and others but that's a good thing IMHO.
stretchmonkey - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Comment!camerone222 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Beautiful case. I hope I win, good luck to everyone.n3com3300 - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Finally, an Antec chassis that can accommodate the H100 water cooler.tryb - Thursday, November 17, 2011 - link
Antec has always been my choice for cases and this is a step in the right direction. Losing the dual chamber is a plus in my opinion. After switching from the P180 case back to my aluminum P160 Antec case, the following features are just two reasons to make me finally upgrade my case."The enclosure is bigger and easier to work in, and has more room for expanding the system inside. There's plenty of space for mounting a good, thick 240mm radiator at the top, cable routing is slightly better, and the two internal fan mounts invite experimentation."
"Toolless locking mechanisms for the 5.25" drive bays are in place, as well as six drive trays that can support both 3.5" and 2.5" drives, with silicone grommets for the 3.5" drives to minimize vibration."
"There's now a massive cutout in the tray to maximize compatibility with aftermarket cooling, and rubber-lined holes surround the tray for routing cables to the back."