Really? Sorry, didn't notice Nobody mentioned it here though. I've been checking SPCR for info about the P180 instead of Antec's site

I don't get it?

np.
yeah, i think i first read it at HardOCP.
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p ... tcount=157
but i distinctly remember explaining last Sunday to a salesperson of an online store (over the phone) how to get to it. he didn't see the P180 link in the site either, had to refresh the chache! so it's a few days at least.

more from HardOCP:
the black P180 is now listed on EndPCNoise's website.
http://www.endpcnoise.com/cgi-bin/e/p180.html
$170 damn expensive

The link to the image says "Pferformance". Just a useless comment from me...

Wierd. Its not linked anywhere on the website that I can see. That link is the only way in that I see.



Heh, I figured it was mispelled, but I just couldn't find it.

you got me curious so i checked...
you're right, it doesn't appear in Quiet Computer Cases, but click on All Quiet Products (7th link from the bottom on the list on the left), the topmost item listed is the P180

For a moment I was very happy to see that EndPCNoise ships to sweden.. until I noticed the shipping cost was as much as the case .. Wont the black case be sold anywhere in Europe?

the Sonata II is now officially on Antec's website.
http://www.antec.com/us/pro_en_lifeStyle.html
http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=15139

It's $280 with Acoustipak preinstalled...any idea how good a job they'll do?

Just a quick update re shipping dates. Frontierpc now estimates June 16 for the special edition, and June 10 for the regular silver version. Bastards! I ordered the black one because I didn't want to wait "quite some time" for the (cheaper) silver one! Ahh well, at least I'll get a sweet black case.

Bob, I spoke with FrontierPC about the new ETA for the silver case. The staff member seemed rather surprised, and that certainly bothers me.

I was also told that the price of the silver edition has not been locked down, so the difference in price between it and the SPCR version may not be as great as it initially appeared.

I'm slowly being pulled towards the SPCR version. If it only ends up being $10 bucks more, I could see going for it.

I suppose we'll know one way or another within the week.

Apparently, Techonweb.com got in 9 units. I had preordered and the guy says mine is shipping today! $107.88 + $13.65 shipping = $121.53!!! I'll let you know if I get screwed somehow but the guy I talked to on the phone seemed very aware of this case. Here's hoping!

I'm not only bragging - really letting you all know that apparently they are (somewhat) released.

Happy hunting!

Several stores seem to have this case in stock at the moment!!

And better yet: it's also appearing on some european pages (dutch pages specifically). And for less money than I was expecting. So far, my preferred store isn't showing it on it's webpage, but considering the prices of the other stores, my guess it will be €129 or €135 there (it's only a few miles from here, so I'll pick it up instead of having it shipped).
That's a really great price, considering what it costs in the States (don't forget that these prices include 19% sales tax)

Here’s something that has bothered me for at least a week. In the picture below, why can I see the steel drive bay covers to the left and right of each plastic 5.25” bay piece? They're so extremely visible and detracting from the front appearance. I can’t think of any other case that exhibits this… um… feature? So why does the P180?



Edit: I guess that the Sonata has the same problem, so maybe it's just an Antec thing. I still don't like it, though. I could remove them, of course, which should help with the appearance, but unwanted airflow might result unless the gaps are covered with something that would both blend in well and close whatever holes would be enlarged by removing the plates... and I'm just rambling now. It's certainly not something that can't be worked around, I just don't like being required to do so. You may disregard this.

But on a completely different note... how will a floppy look installed in that 3.5" bay? The shape is a bit unusual...

It's finally here, I have one in my hands now. Luckily I live in the California Bay Area, near Antec's HQ. I popped by a local retail store after work (www.centralcomputer.com) and they had several in stock. It's listed on their web site now. They must have just arrived.

Overall impressed so far, build quality looks excellent. I won't get started putting it together till this weekend, though, waiting on the rest of my system components to arrive.

-Art

Lucky man!!

I pre-ordered one from a Dutch store, I hope it arrives here too within the next few weeks.

I have one question though:
How are the side-panels removed? Do they need to slide all the way back, or just a few inches before you can take them off?

So how do the panels feel? sturdy? or cheap and flimsy?

No thanks to art4242 I dropped by Central Computers on the way in to work today and pick up one. I had a cursory look at it in the store. I didn't have time to open it up, but it looks sturdy. The front door seemed a little flimsy, I'm a little worried about rattling. It's held in place by a magnet at the top right corner. There is little clearance at the bottom, so the bottom front bezel intake is pretty much useless even on hard floors. On carpet it'll be completely blocked.

As MikeC had pointed out, rapping on the panels produced a dull thud. It doesn't sound as dull as steel side panels that had polymeric mastic (a heavy adhesive rubber sheet from McMaster-Carr) applied to it - I did that with two of my other Antec cases. Can't comment on other dampening material - no experience.

They have a couple of boxes left when I was there (Newark, CA) but they also have some unopened brown Antec cartons and I don't know what's inside those.

Here's hoping that it's $140 and tax well spent.

Will post more opinions when I get a chance to open up the box later tonight.

art4242 : Welcome to SPCR Forums!

The side panels are removed by unscrewing the rear thumbscrews, then sliding back about 1/2 an inch to unhook them, they don't pivot out. The hooks/contact surfaces are all plastic, so there is no metal to metal contact. I am somewhat worried about eventually breaking one of the plastic hooks,

To me the panels seem pretty sturdy, from the outside they are smooth and look well finished, on the inside are recessed bend over tabs which affix the metal sandwich together.

Last night I was able to get my motherboard installed (Asus A8N-SLI Dlx), and the system booted without any drives. Here's what I had in it:

Athlon 64 3500+ Venice core
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe (with new replacement quieter chipset fan)
Gigabyte Geforce 6600GT (passive cooled heatsink)
Thermaltake XP-90 with Panaflo 80mm fan
Seasonic S12-500 (new ball bearing version)

I had all three Tri-Cool fans on at the slowest setting.

By far the loudest thing in the system is the motherboard chipset fan. Even with that the system is barely audible under my desk, I am very much impressed.

-Art

From the pics, I can't imagine that to be a problem: there appears to be an intake around the entire front bezel.

art4242: thanks for the clarification!

art4242,
If it isn't too much trouble would you mind measuring the front lower drive bay and the 3.5" bay just above it (for height and width)? I'm trying to figure out if my water cooling radiator (6.5"x5.5") will fit in one of those spots.

Thanks,
Ted

The 3.5" bay measures 5.125" high if you remove the plastic rail guides, and 6.5" long. It's a little more than 6.5" long, after giving some space for the front panel connector wires to run along the back.

The bottom cavity is smaller. The rail guides are metal. The bottom rail guide looks like it is removable if you drill out the rivets from the bottom of the case. That'll give you 5.5" height. It's 7.5" long, but the 2" closer to the midcase fan is narrower (look at the photo). The opening is also only about 4.5" high, due to the lip at the bottom of the case. I'd say it'll take some creative twisting to get the radiator in there.

lenny,
Thanks for the info. I guess I'll keep hunting for a better case to do water cooling in. My Nexus-4090 PSU w/ it's slow 120mm bottom mounted fan probably wasn't the best for the P180 anyway...

Where? I want one yesterday, but I cant find a european retailer!

Getting all 4 hooks to line up properly and go in has been time consuming, over half an hour to open and close both panels twice. It would have been worth it if not for what happened on the second removal.

Am I the first? The other side panels bottom hooks were also extraordinarily stuck to the case. The amount of force needed to remove the panel seemed incredible. The top hooks would slide out but the bottom ones wouldn't budge. Eventually it gave away, at the cost of the bottom front hook.

I followed the manuals method the entire time (grip the top and bottom and slide) and read all 6 pages of it prior to setting up the case. This is the first case I've damaged out of 20+ and my 5th Antec owned. Pretty disappointing!

Everything else about the case has been great though, the Seasonic S12 is barely getting warm and is exausting less heat than before. The RAID 0 74GB Raptors aren't causing the case to vibrate like in my Sonata, the seeks and churning when in use even seems dampened. Case and CPU temps are lower than the Sonata. The panels, top, and door don't feel cheap, their material feels more like an advanced composite. An optical drive ejecting gently opens the front door instead of getting stuck in previous cases.

But the doors attach by 4 pieces of plastic scarecly larger than jumpers!

So far, I've only seen them available for pre-order at Dutch stores. They also have prices that are consistant with each other. So I think that the Dutch importer already has information on pricing and perhaps a deleivery schedule. Most of the info I've seen so far indicates availability in the second half of June.
Let's hope that that's correct

I already have ordered one, and the store has assured me that my case is with their first shipment

URLs to the sites you mentioned were kind of what I wanted. Like I said, I can't find them.

Sorry

Dutch pricewatch, more sites will turn up here when they have the case online too:

http://www.tweakers.net/pricewatch/119123

Thanks