Hello again I'm Rodney Reynolds and welcome to another video review. Today I'm looking at the Antec P-183 Case and CP-850 850 watt power supply.
The Antec P-183 case comes in a gray and black theme. The gray inserts on the side panels and the front are actually aluminum, but the body is steel and the remainder is plastic. At the front is the power LED, external serial ATA port, two USB 2 ports, a microphone and headphone jack.
This case has a lockable double hinge door, which is held in place with magnets and springs all the way open up to 270 degrees. There are four 5 and a quarter inch external drive bays and one 3 and a half inch external drive bay.
Here’s the power button, reset button, and the hard drive activity LED. There are two swing open compartments which have dust filters. And both of this can be removed and washed. Also all of the drive bay covers including the 3 and a half inch drive bay cover can be easily removed and they also have dust filters. Also note that there’s ventilation around the front bezel on the left side, right side, the front and also at the bottom. At the top there’s lots of ventilation and it included 120 millimeter exhaust fan.
The side panels and the front door have a little bit of three layer design which has excellent deafening properties so it’s a perfect case for a near silent built. At the back of the case, at the very top, is an external fan controller for the top and rear fan. Also both the top and rear fans can be set to a low, medium, or high speed. They include an I/O shoe plate and a 120 millimeter exhaust fan.
Here are the 7 expansion slots and there are two rubber grounded holes for an external wire cooling system tubes to pass through. At the bottom is where a standard ATX power supply or Antecs new CP series CPX power supply can be installed. They also include two thumb screws on the left side panel. The one is here and one at the top, but they do not include any thumb screws on the right side panel.
In order to install the Antec CP series power supply, first remove the ATX template. Then just slide the power supply in place and secure it with screws included with the power supply. This case is compatible with mini ITX, micro ATX, and standard ATX or in fact the motherboards. And it has a compartmentalize design. This design ensures excellent air circulation because heat from one chamber is not radiated into the other.
Up to 6 hard drives can be installed. Four vertically in the bottom hard drive cage and two horizontally in the top hard drive cage. Both of these hard drive cages can be removed by taking out a single thumb screw on each and pulling on this ring. Both of these hard drive cages have silicon gammons which reduce vibrations cause by the hard drives. The top hard drive cage has a small compartment for storing things like screws or cable ties.
Notice how there are padding along these edges, it’s the same on the other side of the case. This is to reduce vibrations cause by the side panels. Additionally the power supply rest on a silicon footing. This case doesn’t have any sharp edges, so you won’t cut yourself or the cables.
There are a couple of holes at the top lower chamber to allow data and power cables to pass through. It can be customize though for your particular set up. Two optional 120 millimeter fans can be installed at the front of the case for additional cooling and it’s recommended. Another optional 120 millimeter fan can be installed on the upper hard drive case to cool the video card or video cards. Note though that in order to install a 120 millimeter fan, both hard drive trays need to be removed. And wire brackets, which they include, use to secure the fan. The hard drive cage acts as a dock so the 120 millimeter fan can intake cool air from outside the case. Please note though that a 120 millimeter fan can’t be mounted if hard drives are installed in the upper hard drive cage.
On the right side of the case, behind the motherboard tray is a cable management system. Cable ties are used so the cables can be neatly and securely attached. They included a couple of cable ties here on the back, but they also include more cable ties with the case. So if you want to attach more cables here, you can. Also note that there’s other places here to attach cable ties and then cables to. Organizing cables behind the motherboard tray means that the inside of the case is free of cables which results in better air circulation inside the case and it looks very neat and tidy. There are also holes on the motherboard tray so the cables can be cut through. Note though that they didn’t include an access hole on the motherboard tray for the cooler retention plate.
This case also fits full length video cards and full length power supplies. At the bottom of the case are four soft silicon feet which have anti vibration properties and won’t scratch the surface. Now have a listen to the stock cooling at the low speed, medium speed, and the high speed.
What’s included with the Antec’s CP-850 power supply is the product overview, modular leaves, four black screws for mounting the power supply in the case, and the power cord. This 850 watt power supply has enough power even for high end computer systems. Now how is this wattage determined? Well, to understand that, you need to know what rails are.
Rails are basically well regulated transformers, which converts domestic current into the voltages that your computer system can use. And there are essentially two different rails, The 3.3/5 volt rail and the 12 volt rail. In this particular case, the approximate maximum peak output of the 3.3/5 volt rail is 160 watts and the 12 volt is 768 watts, which is essentially how the wattage of this power supply is determined. The 3.3/5 volt rail is responsible for the motherboard, memory, PCI card and so on. While the 12 bolt rail is responsible for the hard drives, optical drives, fans, CPU video cards, et cetera. Also some might be interested to know the peak amps on each rail. Well the plus 3.3 volt is 24 amps and the plus 5 volt is 30 amps. There are four plus 12 volt rails, 12 volt 1 and 12 volt 2 are both 22 amps each and the 12 volt 3 and the 12 volt 4 are 25 amps each.
Since this power supply is 850 watts, it’s more than adequate to power a high end gaming computer system with a multiple video card set up. It’s about 80 percent efficient at all loads. Meets all the current standards. It has active power factor correction. Is 80 plus certified and uses Japanese capacitors.
Let’s have a closer look at this power supply. It has a met black paint finish and the housing is steel. And since this is CPX power supply, it’s larger than standard ATX power supplies. This allows more space inside the power supply for larger and higher quality components. For example, this power supply has two printed circuit boards inside unlike most other power supplies that only have one. Also note that the fan is on the outside of the power supply unlike other ATX power supplies where the fan or fans are inside the power supply taking up valuable space. The fan that they include is a 120 millimeter polls with modulation fan. And the hotter the inside of the power supply gets the faster the fan spins. This fan and the lots of honeycomb ventilation ensure maximum cooling. So the inside of the power supply should remain cool in almost any environment. Here’s the power switch and the power cable connection.
This power supply has lots of leads, the main ones are hard wired into the power supply and can’t be removed, but there are also modular leads. Modular leads are fantastic coz you only need to use the ones required for your particular set up which reduces the cable mess inside the case and it looks great but also increases air flow. Finally, have a listen to the 120 millimeter fan.
Like the Antec P-180 case, the new P-183 case is exceptional over all, although I would like to see a black interior and a removable motherboard tray. The Antec CP-850 watt power supply is also exceptional and performs really, really well. Overall, both of these products are kickass. Until next time, take care.
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