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Having been around the block a few times, and having been burned a few times; I have my preferences in chassis'. I have purchased and used a ton of cases and always seem to go back to my Lian Li PC-70 series chassis. There has been little innovation in this sector and it seems like manufacturers are trying to woo us with fancy designs and forgetting about the simple features that we should have to begin with. There are cases out there that look like malformed bubbles, cases that look like transformers, cases with bubbled water, and my personal favorite the cases that look like "Hello Kitty" (sarcasm). It is refreshing when some case manufacturers get back to the basics and give us usable features and practical designs. Antec claims they can give me hope once again. Enter the Antec Performance Series P180B.
I have been able to get an idea of what is inside the box by looking at the box itself. There is no obnoxious design on the front exhibiting checkerboard graphics and nauseating color combinations. A simple two tone box with elegant design is housing the next victim. I was somewhat fooled by a design like this before though with the iStarUSA chassis.
I figured I would come into this review a little differently than I usually conduct case reviews. I am going to come in as an optimist. Instead of guilty until proven innocent, I am going to approach this as the innocent until proven guilty believer.
The highpoints of the chassis, according to Antec are that the chassis can house 11 drives. You have 4 5.25" bays up top, 1 exposed 3.5" bay, and an available 6 internal 3.5" bays for hard drives. The system uses drive rails for the 5.25" bays and a silent silicone grommet type hard drive installation system. Luckily, unlike the Nitro AX case (Read the review), the rails are easy to find. The system is cooled by 3 provided 120mm fans that are pre-installed.
 
The exterior of the chassis is very simple. As you make your way around the exterior you notice the 120mm fan on top, the 120mm in the back, the inverted motherboard getup', the light and effective front door, the front connections (2x USB 2.0, 1 Fire wire, Audio IN/OUT, and a Key Lock), and the sleek black finish. I was a little disappointed at first that the side panels and door feel like they are made of plastic but later realized that these are made of sound deadening material that REALLY works well. The side panels and front door are constructed in a 3 panel process which starts with 2 slabs of aluminum and plastic holding them together. The front panel is attached with a double hinge system that allows you to completely open the front door up to 270 degrees leaving you with an exposed front and a door you don't have to worry about punting across the room.
 
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