Sophisticated and cutting-edge, the P280 emphasizes the ease of use, quiet technology and unparalleled performance
$ 87.37
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Antec P280 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
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3 thoughts on “Antec P280 Black ATX Mid Tower Computer Case”
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Solid value in a full-featured mid-size computer case.,
Antec has definitely provided a firm foundation for people who like to “build big” with the P280. It offers a deceptively roomy chassis with space for up to 11 drives (six of them on hot-swap trays), three built-in fans (with space for four more), and enough space for an XL-ATX motherboard with four video cards. The space on the right side of the case, under the motherboard and to the right of the drive cage, is relatively deep and easily accessible, leaving plenty of room to route cables out of sight. About the only complaint you might be able to lodge about the orgainzation of the case is that the space at the top where the two exhaust fans are is not quite deep enough to easily install some of the water cooling systems on the market (measure the size of your radiator before you buy if this applies to you.)
The construction of the case itself is solid; several touches such as double-walled construction, low-noise fans and silicone mounting grommets on the drive trays grant help keep noise down to minimum, and very little inside or outside the case looks or feels cheap. I’m using the case as a combination workstation/media server with a CoolerMaster SilentPro 600W power supply and a Zalman CPU fan and it rarely gets above whisper quiet.
That having been said, what would I change on this case?
First, the leads from the front panel to the motherboard should be at least a few inches longer; when I routed them around the right side and out the grommets, they barely reached the connectors on my Asus Sabertooth X58.
Second, the “easy connectors” for the 5.25″ drives at the top of the case work great with standard drives, but drives with non-standard mounting holes can be tricky. (There are a couple of screw holes behind the easy mounts that you can use to mount a drive, with corresponding quick-mount tabs that hold the drive in place, if the easy mounts don’t work.) The old snap-in sliders that I’ve seen on other Antec cases would have been more effective, and I would have happily paid $10 more on this case to have them.
Third, the one-size fits all 2.5″ drive mounts were not the right size for my Samsung 830 solid state drive, causing me to have to use a 5.25″ adapter, resulting in… the learning exercise described in the prior paragraph. I got it to work, but let’s just say it was the only part of my build that involved swearing. (I need to note here that six removable drive trays were tied up by a RAID array, otherwise one of them could have taken the 2.5″ drive.)
Finally, the USB 3.0 connectors on the front of the case are nice, but unless you are using one of the latest motherboards that has USB 3.0 headers, you’re going to want to contact Antec tech support for a converter kit that allows you to use the ports with the USB 2.0 headers on your motherboard. (It’s free for the asking.)
Even with the above cited problems, this is a great value in a mid-tower case and I’d readily buy it again. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to build a high-end gaming machine, a workstation or a home server.
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|Excellent build, plenty expansion, and a pleasure to work with,
Disclaimer: I normally only work with high-end workstations, so I have rather high expectations.
If you want a subtle-looking case that prioritizes build quality, ease of install, silence, and expandability, then the P280 is a solid thumbs up. I have an Intel Core i7-2600k + ASUS P8Z68-V Pro/Gen3 with 2 SSD’s and 4 spinning disks, a Blu-Ray burner, fan control module, and a card reader, and everything fits just fine with 2 more drive sleds to spare.
I’d like to share some subtle things that may not be immediately evident from just reading the specs.
Likes:
1) Thumbscrews for the panel and the 9 PCI expansion slots
Thumbscrews for the side panel and PCI expansion slots are nice and convenient. Speaking of PCI expansion slots, the 9 expansion slots were nice, because I was able to throw in a USB2.0 and IEEE1394 rear slot adapter in the bottom two slots without sacrificing any slots on the motherboard.
2) 6 Drive sleds that support 3.5″ *and* 2.5″ drives
Most drive sleds only support 3.5″ drives, but the P280 comes with 6 sleds that support both. While this may seem excessive today, in a few more years, when you find yourself buying more 2.5″ SSD’s, you’ll look like a genius. Hey, those $5-$10 SSD adapters add up…
3a) Tons of space on the backside of the motherboard for cable management
Unlike other cases that claim backside cable management but only provide 1/2″ of clearance, the P280 has a full inch of clearance in the back. When I was done routing all my cables, I said to myself, “There’s no way the case will…” and voila, it closed *easily*. I was impressed.
3b) 1/2″ groove on the bottom is usable for cable management
With most other cases, the 1/2″ groove along the bottom is unusable for cable management due to the case panel needing to slide into it, so then you find yourself having to zip-tie things all over. Not so with the P280, as the side panel only hooks into the front and screws into the back. This was a pleasant surprise.
Neutral:
1) Tool-less, friction-based 2.5″ SSD slots
Conceptually, I think this is a great way to pop SSD’s into your system without using up tons of space for trays, sleds, and screw holes, and if your have a standard 9mm SSD, this works perfectly. If you have 7mm SSD’s, however, you’ll find that while it will stay in the slot, it’ll be at some strange angle, which looks a bit odd.
2) Tool-less, 5.25″ slots
As another reviewer mentioned, the tool-less 5.25″ slots work wonderfully for standard components like a DVD/Blu-Ray, but for things like 3.5″-to-5.25″ adapters and fan control modules that only have the front screw holes, it’s a bit tricky, and it would have been nice if I could easily remove the contraption and just use the screw holes.
3) Slightly short front panel cables and the 3 vertical cable management holes
YMMV, but for my setup, the 3 vertical cable management holes, while nice, weren’t in the ideal spot. Of the 3 vertical holes, the center one was immediately adjacent to the 8 SATA slots on the motherboard, as well as the GPU (2xPCI-E power). Combined with the fact that the front panel cables were a bit short and forced me to go through the center hole, I ended up with a boatload of cables going through that center hole. A larger center hole, 4 vertical holes, or longer front panel cables that could reach the bottom hole would have worked out better.
Dislikes:
1) Power/Reset switch up-top
This was (supposedly) in response to requests from customers that Antec make the power/reset buttons easily accessible instead of putting on the front panel where one would have to open the front panel to power on the device. Well, at least for me, I’m much happier having those buttons under the panel where they cannot accidentally be touched. YMMV.
2) No dedicated external 3.5″ slot
This is clearly stated in the specs, so it’s not a negative, but it almost looks like they could have squeezed an external 3.5″ slot, and I wish they would have, as I prefer to have a card reader on the front of the box without having to buy a 3.5″-to-5.25″ adapter and chewing up a 5.25″ slot.
3) Optional 120mm fan install methods
It appears to work fine, so I can’t complain too much, but I wasn’t a huge fan of how the 2x120mm fans in the front get installed. Instead of 4 screws per fan, the setup calls for 2 screws on opposing corners, and the other 2 slots are held in place by a slight protrusion on the case. Again, it works, but I would’ve preferred to use 4 screws. With the 2x120mm fans in the inside of the case, these simply snap in via clips. While this works for most 120mm fans, slightly thicker 120mm fans may not completely click in. It’s secure enough that it won’t fall out, but again, I would’ve preferred to use 4 screws instead.
In conclusion,…
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|Quality HUGE mid-tower,
Ok first off like I said in the title this is a HUGE mid-tower. It’s kind of pushing the boundaries of the mid size category. Of course all this room makes this case a dream to work with. Plenty of room for everything you could want to put inside this bad boy. I ended up getting a Tuniq 120 Extreme heatsink and there was plenty of space for this monster of a cooler. I was easily able to route all connections through the numerous cable routing holes and behind the motherboard tray. The back panel closed with no problem. The front panel leads are pretty short but I was still able to get them routed through the back and down to the motherboard pins on an Asus P8Z68-V-Pro/Gen3. If the front panel pins aren’t along the right edge of your board, which I have seen before, then you might have problems routing those cables through the back. Zotac GTX 580 Amp2 graphics card fit easily.
I didn’t like the intended negative pressure configuration of the fans and instead went with a positive pressure config putting two 120s in front and a single 120 in the back. I sealed up the top two 120mm vents with black sound dampening foam and this baby just whispers. Love how quiet this case is compared to my old Centurion5.
Like had been mentioned in another review the top two 2.5″ SSD drive mounts are very tight. I kind of forced a Crucial M4 into one of them and it fit, but it was a struggle to get in and out. I didn’t like how tight that was so since all the 3.5″ drive trays have mounts for 2.5″ drives I just opted to put it in on of those instead. Also as had been mentioned the 5.25″ mounting system works out well with optical drives but if you have a 5.25″ fan controller the latching system doesn’t work as it was intended. You need the length of a full optical drive to put pressure on the rear part of the latching system to make it so the front pins actually secure it in place. Otherwise they just kind of rest in the holes without any retention. I will probably just end up taping the retention mechanism in place for this fan controller. Would be nice if they gave you an option for screws on these, but it’s a small mark against an otherwise excellent case.
Finally I love how subtle this thing is(other than being HUGE). The power and hard drive activity LEDs are just bright enough. Not like some where they can light a darkened room. I don’t need my case looking like a set piece from Tron.
This is a great silent pc case and I am very happy with how it turned out.
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