The Antec Mini P180

Externals

At first sightings the Mini P180 looks remarkably similar to the other cases in Antec’s performance series e.g. the P190. The enclosure is styled in a unique colour which cannot be described as simply black; it’s more of a ‘gun metal’ finish and looks very appealing.  A large 200mm fan is located at the top of the case; many of the newer Antec cases also feature this. Just like other cases in the ‘P-series’, there is a front door hiding the drive bays which can be rotated 270 degrees.

The front door of the case is a 3-panel construction: aluminium, plastic and then aluminium again. This gives a quality feel towards the case, but also helps in dampening system noise. Located at the top-right corner is the Antec logo, this appears to be pressed into the aluminium giving it a nice sleek finish. For aesthetic and cooling purposes, some vents are located at the right-side of the front panel. These don’t appear on the P190 series of cases and is included to increase airflow in the case – although they do look somewhat impressive. Even with the front panel door closed, the front panel ports can still be accessed. The available ports on the front panel are as follows:

• eSATA
• 2x USB 2.0
• Microphone Jack
• Headphone Jack

It’s great to see that Antec are replacing the firewire ports on their cases with eSATA. Who uses Firewire anyway? eSATA is definitely the way to go after the impressive results we encountered when using it with the Vizo Luxon we reviewed.

Behind the front door of the case there are three 5,25” bays (one at the top, two at the bottom), two large vents which are not removable and the much needed power and reset switches. When the vents are pressed inwards, a door on them swings open revealing a dust filter. These dust filters can easily be removed for cleaning.

The top of the case is somewhat unique to all other Antec cases. A unique vent design is on show which fits in with a similar style to the vents on the front panel. Behind the vents are perforated aluminium which stops wondering objects from entering the case and getting wound up in the massive 200mm top fan.

From the rear of the case we can see that the Mini P180 can house a MATX motherboard and a full size power supply (which can be mounted at the bottom of the chassis for better cooling). This is ideal for any gamer or overclocker who wants a much smaller gaming rig. The rear also features a 120mm Tri-Cool fan. These are much preferably to the whiney 80mm fans older cases use to use. Above the fan is a small fan controller unit which controls the speed of the top and rear fan. The unit has three speed settings: low, medium, high. Securing the side panels in place is two thumbscrews for the left (main) panel, and two standard case screws for the right panel.

The bottom of the case has four – very soft – silicone case feet. These help to considerably reduce vibrations from the case and of this quality, normally have to be purchased. There is also a large vent in the centre with a dust filter – which can be removed from inside the case. This is a bit of an odd arrangement as not much airflow normally covers the area beneath enclosures.

From the side panel we can get an idea on the size of the Mini P180. Sizing it up with an Antec Twelve Hundred, the Mini P180 is 12cm smaller in height and 8cm shorter in depth. This is quite a considerable amount but as the Mini uses a MATX board, it’s a perfectly adequate size – a little bigger than a Midi case.

The actual side panels themselves are fairly similar to the front panel in the way that they use the 3-layer construction: aluminium, plastic, aluminium. This gives them more of a robust feel and helps to dampen noise. I like this idea a lot. The brushed aluminium gun metal colouring is continued on the side panels.