Antec p180 PSU selection - owner feedback required.

[Squeakygoose]

I'm about to put together a new PC and have my mind set on using an Antec p180. I would like to put a Hiper HPU-4K580 in it but have heard that the modular avionic plugs make the PSU too long for the Power Supply compartment. So I'd like to get some feedback from real live p180 owners on their PSU configurations and experiences. (Pic's would be great, especially if you've got the Hiper in there!).

I'm looking for a 500w-600w psu for under $120. Low noise is of great importance to me (that is low noise when not under load, I don't mind it firing up while I'm gaming...). Also I'd like to keep the p180's Lower PSU/HDD fan in place if possible as I plan on utilizing that area for my HDD's and want to keep them cool. Cable length isn't really an isse as I'm fine with using extenders if need be. It's more important that the PSU be quiet and stable.

I don't want to be rude but please limit feedback to actual experience with the p180.

Thanks for your Help!

 

[mekender]

well i just ordered both the p180 and the hiper 580, so ill know in about 2 days if this is true or not... i imagine that it wont be a problem as the fan in the lower section of the case is movable, and since they no longer use the "thick" fan down there, you can easily move it up to the upper drive bay. frankly a 2 fan power supply should move plenty of air through the lower chamber

 

[Squeakygoose]

Cool! I'm really interested to see how it works out for you. Please let me know how you do.

Also, how many hard drives do you plan on using and will you utilize the upper or lower bays for them?

 

[mekender]

inital build will have one sata raptor, one sata 3.0 and one ide HDD, i was gonna really wait until i saw the case to decide where to put em, what i did find out is that the p180 needss a 4-pin cable that is at least 18 inches long to reach the upper corner of your board... anything shorter will mean the line is covering your pci slots and under tension... the hiper has a 24 inche cable, so that should make things a little easier... ill let ya know... hell if UPS ships everything today, i might be able to let you know tomorrow

 

[JLHedges]

I've got the P180 with an Antec NeoHE 550. It seems to work alright, except that the 4-pin connector is stretched pretty tight to reach the upper corner of my Gigabyte DS3 mobo. There's not too much noise from the PS, the fans in the case are louder (I probably can turn all of them down to low rather than a mix of all 3 levels), so I can't really tell.

 

[Lionhardt]

Yeah, I ordered the P180 for 80 bucks off Frys, and I got the Antec Truepower Trio 650 watt 52A off Fry's for 60 bucks.
They will fit together fine, get them.
p180 owns the antec 900 btw.

 

[Squeakygoose]

Yea, I know the Antec's will fit but it appears that their quality is slipping, judging by the reviews on newegg anyways.

Anyone have experience with a Seasonic S12-500 (or M12) in this case?

 

[Tolcheen]

You can always pull out the fan bracket at the bottom to give the power supply more depth space.

I run a Neo HE550 and depending on how new it is, the p4 power connector is a tight fit. I just got a new RMA that had a seperate 4 pin and 8 pin connectors and it was much longer. Also Antec True Power Trios fit just fine.

 

[GXPTG]

I've got a P180 case (love it) and I'm runnign a thermaltake Toughpower 700W PSU. There are a couple things that I think might be worry of mention though. First, be careful how you route the cabling. I had a Coolmax modular unti that I ordered from Newegg, but it was DOA (24-pin cable loose). Nice unit, but I didn't have time to wait for a replacement unit, hence the Thermaltake. Anyway, there is a PSU case fan between the PSU and the lower drive cage. Because there is no wire grill over the fan, my cables had STOPPED the fan. I'm using the mid drive cage now, but I do plan on running a RAID configuration and use the lower cage for this, so I'm going to get a front and rear fan grill for the PSU fan.

Secondly, because of the wire guide door on the top portion of the PSU area (bottom of the mobo) you pretty much can't use the bottom PCI slot because of the PSU cabling and case cabling. Maybe it can be done with longer cables or losing the cable cover all together, but with the Thermaltake I have, it's just very cluttered.

Minor gripes though. This really is a great case. No quality complaints from me, but this is the first Antec I've bought. Very quiet. I picked up an additional 120mm fan for the mid drive cage and everything's running cool and quiet regardless of CPU load. Zalman 9500 cooler helps a lot too.

 

[Squeakygoose]

Are the drive cages on the p180 interchangeable? i.e. can I have 4 drives in the upper unit and 2 in the bottom?

 

[CrystalShip]

I have the case and am running a corsair psu, asus crosshair mobo and 4 hdd. I like it but it was tough to get all the wiring through the "trap doors" to all four hdd's and everywhere else. All probably my fault but I have enjoyed the experience in the end, even though it felt like I would never get all four hdd's hooked up.

Modular is the only way to go with the case.

Not sure how much this helps, if you have any other questions I would be up to at least trying to answer.

Good Luck.

 

[sillywabbit]

I've got the Seasonic M-12 500W psu inside my p180b. No problems. Actually the problem was on the other side of the bottom fan. Pick up some angled SATA's cables so that the cable will not pertrude into the fan.

 

[GXPTG]

Are the drive cages on the p180 interchangeable? i.e. can I have 4 drives in the upper unit and 2 in the bottom?

You know? I never thought of that. I want to say no they aren't interchangeable, but I will take a look this evening and let you know unless someone else responds before that.

As for the modular vs. traditional PSU, I didn't really have a problem either way. Long cables are the way to go though, that's for sure. I think I have about an inch or two of slack in my 24-pin cable. All other cable lengths are fine though.

One word of caution though too now that I think about it, the P180 is HEAVY. Very sturdy and solidly built, but if you plan on doing LAN parties or just transporting it around, this is NOT the case for you.

 

[GXPTG]

Okay. As promised, I checked the drive cages. They are NOT interchangeable. Not without some modification anyway, but Antec did not design they to be swapped around. The mounting points are different as are the plastic rails to secure the cage. I'm not saying it can't be done, but some technical skills would be needed to make the modifications.

My assumption for this configuration is because of the optional mid mounted 120mm fan. With only having up to two 3.5 inch drives in that location, it allows for good airflow into the chassis. I highly recommend putting a fan in that location too. I have 2 Maxtor 320GB drives in the mid cage, and when I put a fan in front of them, the drive temperatures dropped about 6 ot 7 degrees F and the internal temperature of teh case dropped 1 to 2 degrees F. Cheap insurance, and it still runs very quiet.

 

[Lumberboy]

I own a P180B and have used two power supplies in my case with no problems. My first supply was an Antec True Power 2.0 (500w), and my current supply is the Corsair HX 620. The Corsair is slightly smaller than the Antec supply. In my experience space is not a problem, it just takes a little planning before you slide the power supply into place.

 

[mekender]

ok got it installed and up and running... the case is a beauty, and it runs really really cool... the powersupply fits, but just barely... the +12v 4 pin connector is a little taught and it was worrisome to connect it, i had to pull the motherboard out and install it, though i suppose that it would have been a lot easier to do if i had been using the stock cpu cooler instead of the monster that is the zalman 9700

 

[Squeakygoose]

the powersupply fits, but just barely...

So it fits with the fan in the standard position below?

 

[mekender]

well the PS fits, but the modular cables would stick into the fan if i had left it there, not really a big deal as i used th top drive cage for my SATA drives so putting the fan up there made more sense... the PS has a big fan on it, it will draw plenty of air through the bottom chamber...

 

[cognoscenti]

I use this case and getting my PSU in there was tricky and VERY hard to access the back of it where the cables go into the PSU because of the fan.

If you removed the fan from this chamber then it is ok.

Here is the back of the mighty zalman PSU with removable cables so you never have what you dont need in your case.

Im actually now running 6 sata drives in this case...

2 x Raptors in the top in Raid 0
4 x 500Gb Samsungs in the other tray.

None of these get very warm in here.

I want to put another 8800GTS in here but there is not room unless the case is modified.

 

[stefx]

The Seasonic Energy+ S12 650W in my P180B is whisper quiet and the air coming out is very cool too. I wish it was modular though.
If I had to do it again, I'd probably go with the modular M12 700W.

 

[Lionhardt]

antec truepower trio.

 

[fishboi]

Depending on what you need - I have the NeoHe 550. Works great.

 

[tehrobzorz]

smart power is also good. no problems with wiring whatsoever.
all antec psus should fit in the case, mine is 500w.

my best advice is to remove the bottom fan before putting any psu in. i learned the hard way ><
also,you may want to move the lower fan to the upper hdd cage. wat ive found out is that the upper hdd cage acts as a very "Cool" windtunell. also, if your gonna have a hdd at the bottom without a fan, it gets very very hot 8O my seagate is at 50c constantly.

the p180 is an excellent case, although i would love antec to design a slightly bigger one, on a new design also. i feel that if you have the case filled with cards/hdds/opticals, it can be very hard to make things neat/cool.

its also a frekin dust magnet. ( thank god for those front filters. )



hope it helped

 

[ibticktock]

I have an OCZ GameStream 700 in my case. Its cables are quite stiff and it is time consuming to thread each one through the little hole into the upper chamber. With a Gigabyte DS3 all the wires reached although the 4 pin that goes to the top left was really ugly crossing the mother board. I bought an entension and ran it along the edge. Take your time with this case and plan your wiring out in detail. There is an excellent description for setting up this case that inlcudes pictures on this site in this same section of the forum. Check it out.

 

[cognoscenti]