Antec’s Performance One series cases have been a staple in the computer case industry for quite a while. I know quite a few people that have had their Antec P180 and P182 cases for years now. Antec has once improved their current Performance One cases with the new P183. It features new front door vents, air filters on the entire front of the case and more room for longer power supplies. Besides all of these new improvements you get Antec’s superior quality and sleek style. So let’s take a look at the P183 Advanced Mid Tower.
Special thanks to Antec for providing us with the P183 Advanced Mid Tower Case to review.
Features & Specifications
- Dual chamber design isolates heat and noise: the power supply resides in a separate chamber to isolate heat and reduce system noise
- No power supply included
- Power supply option: comes with a power supply mounting adapter to mount either a standard size power supply or Antec’s exclusive CP Series power supply
- Innovative three-layer, sound-deadening side panels and front door (aluminum, plastic, aluminum) dampen noise and ensure Quiet Computing™
- 11 drive bays
– External 4 x 5.25″; 1 x 3.5″
– Internal 6 x 3.5″ for HDD - Cooling system:
– 1 rear (standard) 120mm x 25mm TriCool™ fan
– 1 top (standard) 120mm x 25mm TriCool™ fan
– 1 lower front chamber – 120mm fan (optional)
– 1 upper front chamber – 120mm fan (optional)
– 1 middle chamber – 120mm fan (optional) - Cable organizers behind motherboard tray minimize cable clutter
- Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections:
– 2 x USB 2.0
– 1 x eSATA
– Audio In and Out (HDA and AC’97 compatible) - Double hinged door opens up to 270º
- 7 expansion slots
- 0.8mm cold rolled steel chassis for durability
- Maximum video card size: 15.5″/394mm (Note: some video cards may require removal of the adjacent hard drive cage)
- Compatible Motherboards: Mini-ITX, microATX, Standard ATX
- Case dimensions:
– 20.25″(H) x 8.1″(W) x 19.9″(D)
– 514 mm (H) x 205 mm (W) x 507 mm (D) - Net weight: 30.9 lbs / 14 kg
- What’s new in the P183:
-Front door vents, as well as wider vents along the door frame, improve airflow into the chassis.
-Filters and filter doors are integrated as one unit. The doors themselves have been modified to provide greater airflow, resulting in cooler system temperatures.
-Drive bay covers are vented and include air filters to provide better airflow.
-Lower chamber fan is now located in front of the hard drive cage, allowing for installation of longer PSUs as well as easier cable routing between the lower HD cage and the power supply.
Packaging
The P183 comes in Antec’s always interesting retail packaging. The front of the box has a picture of the P183 and the back has a list of specifications that we have listed above.
Opening up the box the case is nicely protected by 2 large pieces of Styrofoam and cardboard. When you get the case out the front and both sides have plastic on them to protect from scratches.
Do the TriCool connect to the ASUS Board? I am looking at the ASUS P6X58D Premium. How noisy are they? Thanks
Do you have a better MidTower that is quiet, cool? I was looking at a very similar system as you reviewed. Along with a Sapphire 5850.
Each of the tricool fans have 4 pin molex connectors so you would have to get a 3pin adapter for you to connect them directly into your motherboard
I've had this case for about half a year now, and I'm pretty pleased with it.
The provided fans are not the most quiet around, but do pretty well on the slowest setting. It's also a good idea to test different fan configurations to find out what suits you best.
For me I left the rear fan in place, at low speed, moved the top fan to the front intake while connecting it to a separate fan controller and covering the top hole with a piece of clear acrylic.
To improve the dust filtering I added pollen filters squeezed in between the standard filters and the metal mesh behind them.
Thanks for this post!
hello. which antec range of case are better at blocking noise, the sonata or performance? and which mid tower would you recommend? also are there any non-antec that are better?
Of the Antec cases I think Sonata is slightly better at absorbing HDD vibrations, whereas Performa is the very best at dampening noise in general.
The key to quiet computing is to generate as little noise as possible in the first place though, so that dampening becomes pretty much a non issue.
If quiet computing is your interest, then I suggest you to visit
http://www.silentpcreview.com
There you can find lots of info and recommendations about it.
Of the Antec cases I think Sonata is slightly better at absorbing HDD vibrations, whereas Performa is the very best at dampening noise in general.
The key to quiet computing is to generate as little noise as possible in the first place though, so that dampening becomes pretty much a non issue.
If quiet computing is your interest, then I suggest you to visit
http://www.silentpcreview.com
There you can find lots of info and recommendations about it.
I can't see from the illustrations.
Are the Power & Reset buttons actually behind the door?
Do you have to open the door to operate them?
Where I have mine set, it would be difficult to have
to open the door just to power on/off or reset.
The Power and Reset buttons are behind the door. The door has to be open to operate them. The door can be locked to protect them. For me, opening the door was also a problem. Since I couldn't remove the door, the fix was to open the door 270 degrees, all the way around, so that it is flat against the left side of the case, and leave it there. It is now totally out of the way.