If you’re at all familiar with Antec’s older P180, the P190 is a near identical twin. “Near” because the P180 only has one fan atop the case while the P190 has been blessed with two top-mounted 140mm fans –without the hood you’ll find (and quickly discard) with the P180.
And yes, there’s a 120mm fan in the rear panel…
…but the most outrageous fan of all is the 200mm “Big Boy” fan on the side panel. (In case you’re wondering, the fan is just a wee bit shy of 8 inches and the cutout and mount for it span 9 inches in total. All right? No more “Fanboy case” jokes!)
Why the elaborate mount? Simple…
Both that side-mounted fan and the two “measly” 120mm fan positions at the front of the case have filters. That’s not new for Antec, many of its cases do. The P180, and now the P190, have the easiest access to these washable filters so you can remove them without disassembling the entire case when they get dirty. (As they tend to do on a regular basis here in the Lab of Doom & Pepsi Cola.
And although you can’t tell it from the photo, the front panel is just a wee bit thicker than that of the P180. Someone at Antec apparently heard all the crying about warpage and ill-fitting front doors. (As with the P180, the front panel folds back, flush against the side.)
The bay arrangements for the 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch drives are right out of the P!80 casebook. This style of removable bay chambers is well done, even though routing cables to the bottom four can be a bit tricky. (By the way, that thing that looks like a flexible snake light hanging down from the top of the case is a flexible snake light.)
Speaking of tricky, here’s a shot of the nefarious dual power supplies. Technically, it’s termed the Neo-Link 1200 Watt dual power supply system. One 650 Watt Neo Power unit is responsible for powering the motherboard and add-in cards, while another 550 Watt box, handles your drives and other peripherals. For those of you who asked, although I haven’t filled the box with anything, there are two on/off switches. (And for all you overclockers and overclockerwannabees, note the two black grommets running through the back of the case so you can route a liquid cooling solution to an outside radiator.)
Power cables can also be routed along the right side of the case (as you look at it from the front) and tie-wraps are already in place. That’s a nice touch. In fact, the only gripe I have with Antec is that the motherboard tray isn’t removable. That was one of the best features about the P160 and I so hoped it would have carried through to the P190. Oh well… Life is bounded by disappointments and I still have my coal miner’s hat for when I dive into the cavern.
(By the way, if you want to see what my first try with Antec’s P180 case looked like, check this out. Keep in mind that it was my initial attempt at working on a case that had a totally alien design from the usual cases I had been using.
However, after I sat down and thought about the P180 for a few weeks, and thanks to a judicious use of tie-wraps, I managed to get things just a wee bit better —as you can see from the above. So I’m ready to take on the P190.)
More as I start to fill the case…
