Widescreen Gaming Forum

IMHO these new parts that run hotter need more space and bigger fans, esp with all that filtration slowing down the airflow a bit. I've been looking at the Antec P182, but I'm a bit worried about the space inside. I'm looking to wait for the die shrinkage in current Nvidia/Intel GPUs and CPUs though, which should keep the heat down some. I want a fairly quiet case with well made easy to service filters.

I bought a power socket with a built-in wattage meter. The power supply cord on my current setup is a Y shaped cord, which is connected to both the LCD and the case. I'm getting roughly 200W on this cord while playing HD movies. This is why this system runs so cool, the 450W PSU still has much redundancy in it.

ANTEC P182 looks neat, I like the modular arrangement of HDD bays, etc. The filters in my case are not really easy to maintain. I have to unscrew eight tapping screws to take off the filter on each side. Even this is the easiest part. The top filter requires absence of both PSU and DVR, and I have to reach inside the case to take off two screws to disassemble the front panel. The front fan gets really dirty even with the filter which is hard to clean.

However, since this case is going nowhere but staying, I may try fitting everything in it and see how they glow. If it doesn't work out, I'll get one from ANTEC or Tt.

I'm getting roughly 200W on this cord while playing HD movies. This is why this system runs so cool, the 450W PSU still has much redundancy in it.

The filters in my case are not really easy to maintain. I have to unscrew eight tapping screws to take off the filter on each side. Even this is the easiest part. The top filter requires absence of both PSU and DVR, and I have to reach inside the case to take off two screws to disassemble the front panel. The front fan gets really dirty even with the filter which is hard to clean.

Yes but movie playing, even HD movies, is nothing for a modern rig. I was referring to using it for gaming, if you plan to.

Wow, that sounds as high maintenance as Silverstone's new filtered unibody cases. In fact the front filter on yours is even harder to maintain than theirs. However their top filter is screwed in and would be near impossible to remove with an aftermarket CPU cooler in place. They also have a bottom filter under the PSU, which of course requires removing the PSU to clean.

I spoke to them on the phone about the possibility of them making an economy model with steel vs alu and riveted construction vs unibody using more easily removable filters. They said they'd ask the engineers. I don't think anyone is beating Antec for quality and features in the price range they charge though.

Yes but movie playing, even HD movies, is nothing for a modern rig. I was referring to using it for gaming, if you plan to.

Well my point was I wasted some money on a 450W PSU for my old rig. Back then, playing HD movies wasn't such an easy task for computers like mine. I tried playing Eagle Eye at HD res, my CPU occupation hit 100% and the audio desynchronized with video. Noticeable lags appeared just about when anything was done, unless the movie was paused. So that pretty much yielded the same result as gameplay. Anyway it's the old rig.

If I'm to test new rigs, I'd better take my meter socket along when I go to the market. So that will have a better understanding of parameters under various operating conditions. I'll consider an ANTEC 850W PSU.

I still haven't found a proper substitute for my current case should it not work out. Tt Armor (VA8000SWA) looks fine for me. I'll go check it out in the store, and see if it's easy to clean the filters.