Antec P182 Review (Page 3 of 4)

Page 3 - Physical Look - Inside

Opening the left side panel reveals the component accessible side of the Antec P182. As you can see from our photo above, Antec's P182 dual chamber design designates the PSU and a removable hard drive cage capable of containing up to four hard drives in the lower chamber, while the rest of the components are stored at the larger top section.

A 120mm Antec TriCool fan with 3-speed setting is located in the middle of the bottom chamber as well. Users with larger PSUs may find the middle fan interfering with cables, but standard sized PSUs would fit alongside with the fan without any problems.

From the inside, we can see the dual 120mm exhaust fans. The fans feature a passthrough on each, therefore it is possible to use a single Molex connector for both fans combined. The cables are pre-tied, but when loosened up they are actually very long.

The internal case connectors. This includes the standard chassis control and LED pins, as well as a Firewire, USB, and audio internal connectors for the front panel ports.

The two white cable guides have a self adhesive base designed for you to guide the plethora of wires to your preference; but are also removable if not desired to be used at all.

The two openings at the bottom can be adjusted in size; in which the opening on the left allows power supply cables to directly reach into the upper chamber while the opening on the right allows cables to run through to the hard drive section of the lower chamber. Typically they don't really need to be used as most cables can be run behind the motherboard if it has adequate length.

A closer look at the power supply section itself. The frame is to be removed during power supply installation -- and once the power supply is inside the case, the frame wraps around the power supply to minimize vibrations. Rubber strips are placed at the bottom of the power supply location for this purpose as well.

As we can see in our photo above, there is a large opening at the bottom and a gap between the case. This allows power supplies with bottom intake 120mm fans to properly draw air in, as well as a convenient location for hiding extra cables for non-modular power supplies.

The top hard drive cage permits installation room for two hard drives. A the back of this hard drive cage is a small toolbox for storing screws and other small accessories. What convenience!


Page Index
1. Introduction, Packaging
2. Physical Look - Outside
3. Physical Look - Inside
4. Installation and Conclusion