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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Skydmark - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Dustin your reviews are spot on and very detailed. Keep up the good work.Where's the P280 Mini? This would be money in the bank.
I have an Antec Sonata II and Sonata III and love them both, because they are so quiet and elegant looking.
But there are a few things wrong with these cases. The cable routing is non-existent. The motherboard tray doesn't have a CPU cut out for mounting after market coolers. The back panel isn't removable. And changing out hardware is a royal pain in the behind.
Fractal Design turned my head today, because I discovered they make cases that incorporate all this functionality and look elegant at the same time. The ARC Define MID Tower, Define R3 and Define Mini are everything I’m looking for. The drive sleds look like they were taken right out of my Sonatas and painted white. I can’t believe it! This is where Antec should have taken their Sonata line up in the last few years. What happened Antec?
The P280 is a step in the right direction for Antec and the design incorporates changes that people want to see nowadays, but the case is way too big for my taste. Shrink it into a P280 Mini and it might just win me over.
War - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
My first build was with an Antec case. After that I tried a couple other brands but my favorite by far was Antec. This new case looks like it holds to excellent engineering that they started with and does it one better.StepanPepan - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I have no idea, why did they put only two in the top? Why not three? There is enough place for them and having ability to place 360 rad there would be very nice!I have a question for reviewer: what is the gap between side of the HDD cage and left door? I placed pump there in R3 and the gap is large enough to conveniently pass the tubes there. I am wondering if this could be done in this case too?
lithium451 - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Considering the two year wait since P183 I'd say somewhere between a single or double.- I'd love to see 140mm capabilities for the fans
- Can't see from the pictures, but I'm guessing the power and reset button on the top may be too easy to get pressed by accident.
- Where their main competitor provides covering for unused fan openings, it seems like a pretty big oversight for Antec not too.
- Not exactly sold on the pointy corners at the top of the front door. Would at least like to see darker color door option to de-accentuate.
The big selling point for me is the 170mm cooler clearance (I think Define R3 is published as 165mm).
The pricing I've seen online ($120-125) does seem a medium premium for a medium increase in quality over the R3. Not sure which way I'll go, but the good news is the R3 price online does seem to have just dropped back to $99 (from $109).
Gabby-Dave - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
I have owned a couple of P180's, which I liked. Except for the dual chamber - a real pain.Although it's a bit heavy, if it helps keep it quiet then that's OK. I especially like the connectors placed at the top front of the case for convienience. And the interior is a rock-solid layout too.
DrForBin - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Antec installed a vent for the PSU. With a filtre no less! Good on them.infoilrator - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Changes (updates) were needed and it looks like all "issues" have been more than addressed. I like it.Design and Egineering were looking ahead, and succeeded.
Workable, buildable, quality, longevity.
ouch8s - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
now that I've moved all my HDs out of my main workstation and put in an SSD, i'm ready for a new case that will help reduce the noise even more. looking forward to playing with this one.tmheroes - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
22.3 lbs. seems rather light.hawktrio - Wednesday, November 16, 2011 - link
Back in the late 90's I owned a computer shop and the best decision we ever made was to use Antec cases and power supplies in all of our system builds for customers. After mucking about with cheap PSUs in enclosures (very common in those days) that used to tear your hands apart worse than your neighbours cat, I hardly remember an Antec PSU coming back for warranty! Years later my shop is long gone but I am forever keeping tabs on Antec and still own a number of their fine cases... something like the P180 series and now this new P280 will only continue to pique my interest... thanks Anandtech and Antec... I love you both!