As most of you may know, I started Project 840 with the Antec P180 case in mind. Because of some delays, I purchased a P160 instead. Then, at the eleventh and a half hour, the P180 showed up. Little did I know what I was in for. From a post dated September 18th

"Getting the floppy mounted (and the DL DVD, drives when I get around to them) means taking off the front panel. It's the same on the P160 case, but, for some reason, the P160 is a lot easier to undo than the P180. Also, unlike the P160, all of the front panel wiring comes away with the P180's front panel. This is definitely not something you want to do once you have the computer "established." Antec should have designed disconnects. First honest flaw I've found with the case, but I can't rate it as being too severe. Most people tend to R&R internal drives, which have no affect on the front panel. The only thing that does, after the fact, is cleaning the foam filters that cover the front air intakes. Now, to be fair, you don't really need to remove the panel and move it away from the computer. It can sort of flop on one side, the side with the cable bundle, but that's a very sloppy approach to dealing with the problem --not to mention a bit hazardous if you don't pay attention."

Having the power supply at the bottom wasn't such a great idea for this particular installation either. Two burners, four hard drives, and a floppy drive (plus four fans) made for one helacious run of wires. You doubt me? Well, I just happen to have a picture here to backup my claim. Now do you believe me? On seeing this melange, Father dale felt compelled to note: "That's it! I'll have spaghetti for dinner!" 

I wrote: "I admit it, I've been spoiled by the simplicity of Antec's P160 case. I'm just installing the power supply in the P180 and, to get it in there, I have to remove both sides of the case and then remove a cage that goes around the power supply. From what I can tell, there's no real reason for that cage to be there. The power supply itself mounts to the back panel just as in every other mid- or full-size computer case I've owned.

On the plus side, three 120mm fans for general case cooling, one for drive bay cooling, plus an 80mm fan for card cooling is nothing to sneeze about.

On the subject of power supplies: The P180 seems almost custom made for Antec Phantom power supply. In a conventional mounting position, the PS' fan draws air from below and then pushes it out the back of the supply. The P180, however, has a bottom mounted fan. It's on a shelf, so there is room for a power supply's vent or fan to draw air in from the bottom, but the 120mm fan just forward of the power supply would seem to be available to cool a power supply as well as any drives mounted in the bottom bank of bays. The Phantom has no fan, it's wrapped in a heatsink, and that, as I said, would seem to make it ideal for this installation." 

I was kidding myself...