Price-Point Comparing Three-Way Case Shootout
by Joshua Buss on January 13, 2006 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- Cases/Cooling/PSUs
Introduction
Like all other pieces of equipment that go into a personal home-built machine (and many other goods for that matter), there is a great deal of price points from which one must choose. Should a user splurge and go all out or does it make more sense to simply match one’s needs to a specific model which appears to have the most desirable features for a more reasonable cost?
Given this particular consideration in the decision to buy a new computer case, we decided to match up three rather new mid-tower models from three different price brackets in a close examination to determine just how much bang for the buck that a consumer can get from a chassis.
With Antec’s long history of quality hardware, it’s no wonder that the P150 is an excellent case, but Raidmax is no slouch in this arena either, and their attractive X1 is available for less than half the price of the Antec case. Finally, the Dynamax E68, the last case that we’ll review, is even less yet, but perhaps it will still perform just as well as the other ones.
To get things started, we’ll look at the newest small tower from Antec, the P150.
Like all other pieces of equipment that go into a personal home-built machine (and many other goods for that matter), there is a great deal of price points from which one must choose. Should a user splurge and go all out or does it make more sense to simply match one’s needs to a specific model which appears to have the most desirable features for a more reasonable cost?
Given this particular consideration in the decision to buy a new computer case, we decided to match up three rather new mid-tower models from three different price brackets in a close examination to determine just how much bang for the buck that a consumer can get from a chassis.
With Antec’s long history of quality hardware, it’s no wonder that the P150 is an excellent case, but Raidmax is no slouch in this arena either, and their attractive X1 is available for less than half the price of the Antec case. Finally, the Dynamax E68, the last case that we’ll review, is even less yet, but perhaps it will still perform just as well as the other ones.
To get things started, we’ll look at the newest small tower from Antec, the P150.
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Tamale - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
Thanks for the quick criticism guys. Article updated.Please continue to scrutinize :)
Viditor - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
Another comment for your conclusion (which is important for those of us that do video work)...the P150 is the only one of the 3 that has Firewire connector in front (as far as I can tell). If you could list the specs of each case at the head of that cases segment, that would also help (e.g. number of 3.5 slots, front firewire connector, etc...).Cheers!
ceefka - Saturday, January 14, 2006 - link
The P150 also features a cable organizer. If you take of the right panel, you'll see it at the right side of the internal 3,5" drive bays. This can make your cabling a lot tidier than the picture in the review shows.The FireWire connection is S400 on an Intel standard. Those who wish to connect AMD boards might want to call Antec for an adapter cable.
All'n'all I think the P150 looks like a fridge. I bought it though because it made the most sense for its price.
Tamale - Saturday, January 14, 2006 - link
I've heard the P180 referred to as a fridge much moreso than the P150.. hehebut yah, good catch on the cable organizer.
andrewln - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
i wonder if they suspended the hard drive or they used the brackets.... it makes a difference when the hard drive seeksyacoub - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
For that matter I wonder if they had the 3-speed 120mm fan it comes with on the lowest setting for the sound tests or still ramped up to max from the cooling tests.gman003 - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
Why only 3 cases in the roundup? Not much to compare to... :-(In any case, I would really love to see an Aspire case tested against these sometime. I've been building with them for a while now and IMO they look better and cool better than Antec or other so called "Gaming" cases.
Raidmax and Antec cases are nice, but Raidmax is too chinsy with their materials at times and Antec is sooooo overpriced sometimes that one really shouldn't even consider them anymore as their go to case because of so many other competing vendors out there with high quality cases at cheaper prices.
mindless1 - Friday, January 13, 2006 - link
True, Antec is often overpriced but (putting aside the possible issues with the power supply), it's expected that with the Antec one has a power supply they can use long-term. Raidmax power supplies I wouldn't even install in most systems. What would be most interesting is a P150 discounted due to no power supply until the issues with the present one are resolved.oofboi754 - Thursday, March 31, 2022 - link
This case isn't so bad. Put in some Noctua Fans in the front and back ant it keeps my 3060ti (EVGA XC) and 12700kf (NH-U12S) at a comfortable 40 Degrees Celcius when idling. The Noctua Fans combines with the quiet nature of this case keep my rig silent as possible. For it's age, the cable managment isn't bad, it just takes a bit of creative thinking. This case is great for a Sleeper PC like I made.