If you’ve been hunting for a computer case, you probably know that there are a lot of computer enclosures on the market. Though it’s very easy to find a simple, budget case with a common interior design, even a flashy exterior, some people have specific needs like extra cooling, low noise levels, or expansion for the future. Now, the hunt for a case is even more daunting than the system installation itself.
Antec is an icon in the computer industry. They’ve impressed countless numbers of consumers and professionals with their innovative enclosure designs and power supply technology. You can find something Antec in almost any enthusiast’s home, office, and at literally every major LAN party. Perhaps the Antec P183 Enclosure and CP-850 Power Supply will fit the bill. It’s even better when Puget Systems puts their spin on it.
Features and Specifications – Antec P183 and CP-850 PSU Combo
Shown here with Puget System’s own little tweaks, the Antec P183 enclosure takes legendary P180 series to the next level. It continues to offer the split level design to help manage air flow and patented removable hard drive bays designed for limiting drive noise while triple layer housing assists with an exceptional “Quiet Computing” experience. Controllable Tri-Cool 120mm fans are included at the upper back and top of the P183 and moves up to 70 CFM at the highest setting. Each drive bay now has the option for a 120mm fan in the front to improve air flow.
Back from the P180 days are the excellent 5.25” drive glides which make removing and managing ROM drives easy. Some zip ties and other small items are included to help control and organize wiring. Also in the box are special screws to help combat drive vibrations when mounted in the removable drive bays.
One new feature to the P183 is that the chassis now supports both standard ATX and Antec’s new larger power supply format which the CP-850 Power Supply is a part of.
This latest performance level power supply in Antec’s line up offers a few new features and improvements over previous designs. First, and probably most important, is the dual PCB design with an upper and lower board that makes up the heart of the PSU. Rather than pack all the circuits on to one thick PCB, engineers found it easier and more efficient to separate the power hungry circuits. The end result is an 80 Plus Certified Power Supply.
An external 120mm PWM cooling fan keeps the internal circuits cool and offers up four 12V Rails. Rails 12V1/2 provides a healthy 22 Amps, while rails 12V3/4 offer 25 Amps. This means the bulk of the Amperage is going to your computer’s most sensitive circuits rather than wasting it on the 3.3V and 5V Rails. The CP-850 also offers modular cable connectivity, with the bulk of the peripherals powered by clearly color coded modular cabling while the main 24-pin and 12V Auxiliary remain hard wired for optimal power transfer.
Life Before the Puget Systems Treatment
The P183 is as close to gun metal black as you can get. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come in any other color like the fancy Special Edition Chrome with a windowed side panel that Puget Systems offers up to its customers. However, you might be able to wrangle one of those panels away from them if you come up with the right amount of coin. Nonetheless, the P183 is super sharp and almost appears black depending on the angle of the lighting.
Inside the Antec P183
Since liquid cooling is simpler to work with than ever, the P183 continues to offer two grommet holes so you can customize to your heart’s content. They are located in the most optimal location so that the hoses don’t block your swank water block viewing.
After removing the case paneling, you can really see how the P183 divides the heat. The lower bay has the PSU to help pull cooler air in and expel it out the back. In the case of the CP-850 PSU, it has an externally mounted 120mm fan that does a really good job. However, I recommend you install a front lower 120mm fan like we did so that air moves just a little more efficiently. Just slide out the bottom hard drive bay, mount the fan, run your wire, and slide the drive back. The upper chamber is designed to do just the same.
While the back and top 120mm fans are more than capable of drawing in a great deal of cooler air, it has to pass through the top removable hard drive bay. Acting on the same initiative, I added another front 120mm cooling fan because the case can support it.
The back of the motherboard tray (left side) offers extra space for packing and running wires such as those from the power supply. It helps tidy up your system helping the case really keep your components as cool as possible by not restricting air flow. And if nothing else, we really love a sharp looking, cable managed system.
While the motherboard tray doesn’t offer a CPU cut out for making CPU cooler installations easy ala Cooler Master HAF932, it isn’t the end of the world. Gamer cases with side windows tend to go through more modifications and upgrades and cases in Antec’s line up like the Nine Hundred Two do come with this special cut out. Think of the P183 as a “permanent residence” of sorts for your system.
We do have it on good authority though that the engineers at Antec have heard your comments and considering making that feature an Antec standard. All we can say is, the larger the opening, the better.
Test System Setup
Here is the break down of the test system used to test and measure the CP-850’s performance:
- Intel Core i7 870 “Lynnfield” LGA1156 Processor
- GIGABYTE GA-P55-UD6 and P55A-UD6
- Kingston 2x2GB HyperX 2133MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
- Kingston SSDNow Plus 64GB Solid State Drive
- Western Digital 2TB Caviar Black SATAII
- Dual Zotac Geforce GTX295 SLI (Oh yeah!)
- Koolance Exos 2.5 Liquid Cooling System
- CPU Cooling: Koolance CPU-350AT CPU Block
- Customized Antec P183 Enclosure (By Puget Systems)
As you can see in my system specs, my particular build is not the customary system usually found inside a P183 enclosure. This system is a frame rate eating, game destroyer designed to chew up every video game and spit it out! It’s also a very, very power hungry system that will push the CP-850 to its maximum load.
Installation Notes and Comments
Thanks to my friends at Puget Systems, they showed us just how neatly a fully configured system can look when packed in both stock and modified Antec P183 Enclosures. While the stock P183 doesn’t offer a window, Puget Systems utilizes the latest “water jet” machining to cut through the side panel. The end result is a very popular enclosure choice for their systems.
Naturally, the CP-850 Power Supply fits nicely in the bottom section. The screw holes were perfect which is always appreciated. Despite its large and extended size, it just about seals off the lower section creating a great wind tunnel of sorts. You’ll be happy to know that all of the cabling is plenty long and worked perfectly for routing through the P183.
Hard drive mounting is a synch and really does cut down on vibrations created by some of my aging 500GB back-up drives. The drive cages contain rubber grommets that help remove the bulk of any vibrations. My main 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black SATAII Hard Drive really further complimented the system since it’s a very, very quiet hard drive compared to others on the market. SSDs may give you a little more headache if they don’t come with retail mounting adapters like the Kingston SSD that we used.
High Performance vs. Silent Running
One thing to keep in mind with the P183 is that some of the largest video cards available like the GTX295 or HD 5800/5900 series video cards are super long. Considering video card sizes when designing a case doesn’t always go as planned especially if the video card creators are more ‘tight lipped’ than usual. Hey, we’re not pointing fingers. We’re just saying.
On the same note, the Performance Series including the P183 are specifically designed for those who don’t want to hear their computer any more than needed. That’s why Puget Systems offers the system fully decked out for silent running as well and it works.
Chassis Cooling Performance
The best way to measure a computer enclosure’s cooling capacity is to either install a system as we have done, or use a heat gun which represents a worst case scenario. (The heat gun is my own special patented testing technique.) This time around, we’re going with the system test.
We took readings with and without the front optional fans. Without the two front optional 120mm fans, the P183 still moves a decent amount of air through the system. Depending on whether or not you’re doing some extreme overclocking or using a hot video card like the GTX295, you’ll need to use the fastest fan speed. This kept my GTX295 better cooled which doesn’t do well when it approaches 70C.
The optional fans I chose to use were the Antec Tri-Cool Blue LED 120mm Fans and with them, the performance definitely improved. The PAX GIGABYTE P55 and P55A-UD6 demo system worked perfectly even on the lowest fan speed settings even with dual GTX295 cards.
Power Supply Performance
Using my trusty meter to physically measure rails, the CP-850 held its voltages quite nicely and well within specifications required by the system. The 12V rails were amply fed by the internal capacitors at all times. This always removes any doubt as to the longevity or lifespan of your precious computer system. Also worth noting is that the 3.3V, 5V, or 12V rails experienced very minor .03 voltage fluctuations during testing. This is a good thing. Major voltage fluctuations over .09 can cause reboots, blue screens, and component failure. It can also drastically affect any of your overclocking progress.
The power efficiency observed here was actually about 84% in its best form. This places it at the top of the Bronze Certification class and made me feel a lot better about running such power hungry graphics card.
Final Thoughts
What we have here is one of the most popular enclosure designs to date. It’s such a great case, that vendors like Puget Systems saw fit to make this their enclosure of choice. That’s simply because the P183 offers tried and true features that set it apart from most any other enclosure available further continuing its iconic legacy. If that doesn’t convince you, you should really take the opportunity to check one out in person to see what all the fuss is about. Did I mention that with the right mix of components, it can be nearly dead silent?
Since power is ever so important in today’s Quad Core processors and power hungry motherboards, you should consider giving your system the best possible chance of life long success. Power it with the very quiet Antec CP-850 Power Supply so you too can experience the benefits of an 80-Plus efficiency and SLI performance. In fact, many stores like NCIX have been selling this as a combo for as little as $199 on special. Otherwise, you can snag the case for around $129.99 and the PSU for $124.99 respectively at places like NewEgg. If you must have it, you can order up Puget System’s custom combo version for about $150 extra.
With an extremely competitive price tag, silent performance and great build possibilities, I have to award this combo an Editors’ Choice Award.
Pros:
- One of the cleanest case designs on the planet
- Wire management that works
- Great quality construction
- Case fan controls
- Accommodates regular ATX and Antec form factor Power Supplies
- CP-850 is a strong 80-Plus Efficient performer
- The perfect duo for the perfect silent PC build
Cons:
- CP-850 currently only fits in an Antec built chassis
Overall Rating: 9.0/10.0
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Antec P183 Enclosure and Antec CP-850 Power Supply Duo Photo Gallery
