Antec P190 Black Mid Tower Case Review

Introduction

In my first do-it-yourself (DIY) build back in 2001 I used an Antec SX635 mid tower. Just by looking at it on the self at the local PC shop I felt that it would survive the hauls to and from local LANs. As the years went on and my family grew, PC hardware and my desk space shrunk; so did the need for a large case. Now that case is still being used to this day and its sporting the battle scars from being hauled for years, it has been inherited by a family member and showing no signs of falling apart.

I told you that you tell you this; here we sit 6 years later and hardware is growing, not only in size but in power requirements. Now, I would have thought that the days of video cards as long as your arm were long gone, but with the new cards like the NVIDIA GForce 8800 Ultra that are as long a small child’s arm, can draw as much as 250 watts, and can heat a small room, you really do need a big case with loads of power and great cooling.

Antec has given us the P190 to fill this requirement. Its big, sleek, powerful, and built well enough to be around for years. Lets look at the specs and features of the new P190.

• Dual chambers structure. The power supplies reside in a separate chamber to isolate heat from the system and lower system noise
• Dual-layer sound-deadening panels for Quiet Computing
• Flexible snake light (installed), lights your way while working inside the case
• Cable organizer behind motherboard tray minimizes cable clutter
• Fits up to ExtendedATX (12″ x 13″) motherboards to fit your dual processor board, or any other board you could possibly have
• Rubber grommeted ports on the rear for liquid-cooling tubes allow you to easily mount external liquid-cooling hardware
• Neo-Link 1200 Watt dual power supply system:

• One 650 Watt Neo Power is responsible for powering the motherboard and add-in cards, while another 550 Watt, handles your drives and other peripherals

Advanced cooling system – Even larger fans than previous designs, move more air and turn slower for even quieter operation

• 2 top 140mm TriCool fan (standard)
• 1 rear 120mm TriCool Fan (standard)
• 1 lower chamber 120mm TriCool Fan (standard)
• 1 side 200mm Big Boy fan with air filter (standard)

External fan control on the rear panel (for the 2 top fans and 1 rear fan in the upper chamber)

Front-mounted ports provide convenient connections

• 2 x USB 2.0
• 1 x IEEE 1394 (FireWire, i.Link)
• Audio In/Out (AC97 & HDA)

Dimensions: (H x D x W)

• 20.28 x 23.35x 8.07 (in)
• 51.5 x 59.3 x 20.5 (cm)

Net weight: 43.2lbs / 19.6kg

Gross weight: 51.1lbs / 23.2kg