Antec P380 – Hardware Review
The P380 is a new case by Antec which fits into their Performance line. It’s the successor to the P280 and the big brother of the P100 (read about that case here). Antec says they took all the feedback they’ve received on the 280 and then put that into this new case. Let’s take a look at these improvements and see if this case is worth it. (SPOILER: it looks gorgeous!)
Specs
- Colour: black
- Dimensions: 555 mm (H) x 223.6 mm (W) x 557 mm (D)
- Case Type: Full-Tower
- Front Ports: USB3.0 x 2, USB2.0 x 2, Audio I/O
- Drive Bays: 8 x 3.5” trays (also compatible with 2.5”, tool-less), 1 x Slim optical drive bay
- Motherboard Support: SSI CEB, E-ATX, ATX, Micro ATX, Mini-ITX
- PSU Support: standard ATX
- Expansion Slots: 9
Exterior
The most obvious way in which the P380 impresses is by the way it looks. It just quite simply looks great. Both the top and front of the case are covered by aluminum bezels which results in a very modern look overall. All other ports and buttons are tucked away nicely so that they aren’t visible but are still accessible. Behind the front bezel is room to allow for airflow when installing front fans and there’s also access to an optional slim optical drive. Power and reset buttons are also hidden behind the front bezel, there are in fact two buttons of each spread on either side of the case. A windowed side panel also comes standard with the P380. The bottom of the case is home to the four sturdy rubber feet and a removable dust filter for a power supply. The back of the case is quite standard: cut-out for the I/O shield of your motherboard, room for a 120mm fan, cut-out for a CPU and a pass-through for a possible out-of-case water-cooling loop. As stated earlier, the top of the case is also covered by an aluminum bezel with under it a grill to allow for airflow and also additional I/O ports are to be found there. The cool thing here is that the two USB3.0, USB2.0 and audio I/O ports can be turned around so that they are accessible no matter how you position your case.
Interior
Interior-wise, the P380 doesn’t impress quite as much as it does with its exterior. Luckily though, Antec listened to the feedback of the community and implemented some changes over their previous design. To the front of the case, there are drive cages that are now removable. Divided into three sections, you can now choose to remove one or more sections when you don’t need them to allow for better airflow and remove all of them to install a radiator. While the cages are removable, you’ll have to remove way too many screws making the experience quite tedious. The drive trays themselves look cool and can be removed from the case without the use of tools. However hard drives and solid-state drives still require tools to be properly secured to the tray so stating the installation of drives to be tool-less doesn’t feel quite right. Also curious is how the upper section of the drive cages allow for the installation of 5.25” components while there’s no way to actually access or view those from the front due to the solid aluminum front bezel. Also, no additional mounting positions were put in so you are required to keep at least one of the drive cages installed even when only using a single SSD. Taking a look at possible fan configurations, there are a lot of possibilities here. In the front and top of the case, there are mounting positions for two 140mm fans or three 120mm fans. The back of the case has room for a single 120mm fan. A shame there isn’t more room in the top of the case though, as you won’t be able to install fans in a push-pull configuration when installing a radiator up there.
Features
A cool little feature, which is hidden behind the motherboard tray, is a fan-hub that takes in a Molex power cable and offers power to up to six fans. While that way you won’t be able to control those fans through software, it will keep your case clean of cable mess. Other features primarily just step forward from previous cases in their Performance line-up.
Own Opinion
I would very happily set the P380 besides my desk, it just looks amazing. It would quite easily store all the components I’m using right now. Some parts of the installation process I did find quite tedious. While the side panels and top panel can be removed without the use of tools, the front of the case does require some more effort. And the way the fans are set up in the factory, you are required to access that front bit of the case as there are no fans there by default. And while the drive trays look cool, I would’ve preferred a completely tool-less solution.
Conclusion
The Antec P380 is a very good-looking case that will look quite in place serving as an office computer but also as a premium gaming enclosure. The possibilities of what you can put inside of the case are now a lot bigger thanks to removable drive cages making it a good choice for people interested in a custom water-loop. With the P380 you are however paying for those good looks.
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