By Jason Maxfield
Manufacturer: Antec, Inc.
Product Name: P380
Model Number: P380
UPC: 0761345838009
Price As Tested: $160 (Amazon | B&H | NewEgg)
Full Disclosure: The product sample used in this article has been provided by Antec.
I have the privilege of reviewing the Antec P380, part of their Performance One Series of computer cases. The Antec P380 is able to accommodate large SSI CEB and E-ATX motherboards, which makes the Antec P380 ideal for those looking to build a workstation PC, or a power-house SLI / Crossfire gaming rig.
In this article for Benchmark Reviews, I’ll be testing the Antec P380 full-tower ‘Performance’ computer case. The aesthetics of Antec’s P380 are a bit different than other cases, utilizing aluminum plates on the front and top of the chassis to give the P380 a very stylish look. The Antec P380 features a versatile front USB hub that can be mounted to face either the right or left side of the chassis, allowing users the freedom to place the P380 however they want. The power and reset buttons of the Antec P380 have thoughtfully been set to both sides of the chassis recessed behind the front aluminum plate, making it easy to turn on your computer from either side of the case.
For those not familiar with Antec, they have been in business since 1986, and make a variety of computer components and accessories for the gaming, PC upgrade and DIY markets. I have personally owned the Sonata and 900 Gaming series cases, and have been happy with the quality and longevity of their products. My 900 series case is still in use on a secondary computer.
| Model | P380 |
| UPC | 0-761345-83800-9 |
| Case Type: | Full-Tower |
| 8 Drive bays: | 1 x Slim optical drive bay 8 x 3.5”/2.5” tool-less HDD bays |
| Motherboards: | SSI CEB, E-ATX, ATX, Micro ATX, Mini-ITX |
| Expansion Slots: | 9 x Expansion Slots |
| Maximum graphics card size: | 465mm |
| Maximum CPU cooler height: | 180mm |
| Cooling System: | 3 x 120mm/2 x 140mm top exhaust fan mount(2 x 140mm FDB fan pre-installed) 3 x 120mm/2 x 140mm front intake fan mount 1 x 120 mm rear exhaust fan mount(1 x 120mm FDB fan pre-installed) |
| Liquid Cooling Solution: | 1 x 360mm radiator / 1 x 240mm radiator at front 1 x 360mm radiator /1 x 240mm radiator on the top |
| Front I/O Ports: | 2 x USB3.0; 2 x USB2.0; Audio In/Out |
| Unit Dimensions: | 555mm(H) x 223.6mm(W) x 557mm(D) 21.85”(H) x 8.80”(W) x 21.92”(D) |
Product specifications taken from Antec’s website.
Next up, we have the overview of the Antec P380.
At the time of testing the Antec P380 is priced online for $160 (Amazon | B&H | NewEgg), which puts the P380 in a bit of a higher end budget of cases out there on the market today.
The Antec P380 comes in a glossy box with tons of photos and information about the case that lays waiting inside for me to un-box. I can say that I have always loved Antec product boxes. They always look nice and provide good protection for the product inside.
Upon opening the box I’m greeted with a nice soft foam inlay covering the front of the case. The case itself is wrapped in a giant plastic bag, and on the bottom end of the box, the back of the case is sitting on another soft foam inlay. This keeps the case effectively floating in the middle. Which is a good thing since the FedEx guys seem to have punched a hole in the bottom of the box. Thankfully whatever punched that finger-sized hole into the box didn’t go in far enough to damage anything on the back of the P380.
I guess I’ll start off the overview with an image of the user guide, hardware, and Slim case CD enclosure.
Not much to see here, Antec was kind of skimpy on the extras. You get all the hardware for attaching extra fans, hard drives, PSU, and the Slim case CD drive, if so desired. You also get a few cable ties for cable management.
It’s kind of disappointing that Antec didn’t at least separate all the hardware into separate marked baggies. There is quite a few different screws in that bag to sort through when you want to build your case efficiently, and digging through a bag for the right screw to finish the job isn’t going to make that happen.
Also, the guide is practically useless. It’s printed so small since they tried to fit 6 languages on the 2 page guide. I can’t read it without getting a magnifying glass out. Although, I do have problems with small print these days, some may be able to read it just fine.
I do recommend downloading the manual in PDF form at Antecs website. The manual gives much more detailed information on how to remove the front and top panels, and installing the Slim drive CD, and much more.
At the front of the Antec P380 we have a plate of aluminum painted black, with a nice raised ‘Antec’ logo placed near the bottom of the case. You’ll notice the lack of any external 5.25″ drive bays. There isn’t any included. However, there is an option for a Slim drive CD, and I will get into more detail about that further in the article.
At the back of the Antec P380 you have a pre-installed 120mm exhaust fan, 9 expansion slots, and grommets for routing water tubing, and bottom mount PSU slot, which is capable of being installed with the PSU fan facing up, or facing down. There is also a couple of thumb screws at the top of the case to pull the aluminum plate off to access the top fans and USB hub.
The windowed side of the Antec P380 has protective film inside and out to protect the plexi glass from damage. You’ll also notice the PSU fan filter on the bottom. It comes out from the side instead of the rear giving easier access to the filter when it’s time to clean it.
At the top of the P380 you can see the USB hub, which faces the side instead of the front of the case. The hub consists of two USB 3.0, two USB 2.0, and headphone and mic jacks.
Along the top middle to the back of the case you can see venting slots that allow the hot air to escape the case from the two pre-installed 140mm fans.
At the cable management side of the case you do not have much happening here. The side panel doors are hinge-type, so they swing out and pull away easily. The panel on this side without the plexi glass weighs a lot more than the other one. These are some very sturdy panels on the Antec P380.
The top of the Antec P380 continues the flow of the black aluminum plate all the way to the back of the case. This plate comes off easily by removing the two thumb screws at the back of the case and gently pulling the plate toward the rear of the case and lifting. But you must be careful of the USB hub, as it is attached to the aluminum top plate.
Once removed, you have access to the top fans and the USB hub, which can be flipped to face the other side. This is useful depending on if you set your case to the right or left side of your desk, so the ports can always be accessible.
The bottom of the Antec P380 has venting for the bottom mount PSU and access to the front fan filter. The feet are nice tactile rubber and give a nice sturdy stance and grip for the P380.
Next, we’ll have a closer look at the inside of the Antec P380.
We’ll dive inside the Antec P380 and I’ll explain some of the inner workings and details of the case.
The Antec P380 also has room for 8 HDD/SDD drives, 9 expansion slots, and plenty of cooling options. Fan options for the Antec P380 include 2 140mm or 3 120mm fan mount locations on the front, and 2 140mm or 3 120mm on the top of the chassis. With some of the HDD drive cages removed, the Antec P380 can house radiators up to 360mm in the front, and 360mm at the top of the case. Antec has included 2 140mm TwoCool series fans with 2-speed selector switch, mounted in the top of the chassis, and a 120mm TwoCool exhaust fan featuring the same 2-speed selector switch. Also included is a fan controller hub, allowing up to 6 3-pin fans to be connected, allowing for even more flexibility in fan options.
The Antec P380 lacks any 5.25″ bay options, but does include an optional Slim drive mount for an optical drive, which mounts on the front of the chassis, between the aluminum plate and plastic housing. There is also a lack of any power or HDD indicator LED’s on the P380. Although, this could be a plus for some.
We’ll start with a shot of the cable management and drive bays. As you can see in the above image there is plenty of cable pass-through slots and tie down points on the chassis. The drive bay area can accommodate eight 3.5″ or 2.5″ HDD/SSD drives.
Near the CPU cutout you’ll notice a six port fan hub. This fan hub has six 3 pin fan headers, and is powered by a 4 pin molex power cable.
I took a measurement of the clearance you’ll have to work with in the Antec P380. You get about 7/8th of an inch of space. Not as much as some other cases on the market, but should be adequate for most setups.
Once the front aluminum plate is removed from the Antec P380, you gain access to the front fan mounts. You can install two 140mm fans, or three 120mm fans. You’ll also notice two rectangular holes on either side of the chassis. These are used for the Slim drive CD option, to allow the power and SATA cable to connect on the front of the case. I’ll explain that in a bit more detail later in the article.
At the top of the case on either side you can see the power and reset switches. These switches are on both sides, since you can set this case up to sit on the right or left side of a desk.
Also, you see what appears to be two 5.25″ bays, but they can not be used since the front panel doesn’t have any ports cut out. Although, this could make for an interesting mod of the case if one was to cut-out some of that aluminum to make room for a 5.25″ bay for a DVD drive or even a temp monitor, etc.
Here is the front fan filter, which is removable from the bottom of the front panel. It slidesdes in place and locks with a bit of a click so you know it’s secured in place. The filter is also washable. So cleaning it should be a breeze.
Here is the front panel removed. The panel is a bit of a pain to remove, as you must remove 6 screws that help keep the panel in place. After removing the screws you still have to pop the plastic panel off, which is also attached to the aluminum front plate.
You can also see the plastic tabs on the top of the case for power and reset buttons on either side of the panel. Near the bottom you can see rectangular plastic caps. These can be removed to allow the installation of the Slim drive CD cables to pass through the panel into the case.
The inside of the Antec P380 is spacious. The P380 supports SSI CEB, E-ATX, ATX, Micro ATX, and Mini-ITX motherboards, and can support 4 GPU’s in SLI or Crossfire configurations.
With a full size E-ATX motherboard installed, it looks like you will lose partial or complete use of the cable management on the top two grommets. I did not have an E-ATX motherboard on hand to test this, but the mounting locations for those boards suggest that those areas could be obstructed. Seeing how this is a full-tower case, and Antec appears to be marketing this as a quiet work station or enthusiast gamer platform, I would think they might of made the case at least another inch long to prevent this possible scenario from happening.
You also have 8 drive bays that can accommodate 3.5″ and 2.5″ HDD or SSD drives. The drive cages can also be removed to allow room for water cooling rads up to 360mm or have more room for long GPU’s which can be as long as 465mm, which is just over 18 inches in length. That is plenty of space to fit any current GPU and then some.
In that bundle of wiring you have two USB 3.0 front headers(with attached USB 2.0 converter), two USB 2.0 headers, and front audio connectors. The power and reset cables are attached to the front of the chassis and routed through the 5.25″ bay area.
The power and reset buttons are recessed on either side of the case between the plastic and the aluminum panel on the front of the case. This arrangement let’s you have the freedom to set your PC to either side of your desk and not have to worry about having access to your power buttons.
Also, just to be thorough, there isn’t any HDD or power LED lights on this case. I think for most users this won’t be a problem. I myself do not really have an issue with it. It keeps the clean look of the chassis without any annoying LEDs messing it up.
Here’s a look at the side mounted PSU filter. It slides out with a bit of downward pressure to unlatch it then pull directly out. The mesh is fine, and should keep big particles from entering your PSU. The filter is also washable.
Here is a closer look at the PSU mounting tray. Antec doesn’t provide any measurements for how long of a PSU you can install into the P380. It does look like you can fit a fairly long PSU inside the chassis since there isn’t any other obstructions on the bottom of the case.
Here is that odd little Slim drive CD tray that I kept promising I would tell you about. So this little bugger installs between the plastic and aluminum panels with 4 screws. The back end allows the cables to be fed through the plastic front panel into the case where you can route the cables to your SATA port and power cables.
The guide that comes with the Antec P380 is very basic and only points out a few spots of the case and does not explain how to install the Slim drive CD. But you can download the P380 manual from Antec’s site that explains how to install it, and has some pictures to follow along with the instructions.
At the top of the Antec P380 with the aluminum panel removed you have access to the two pre-installed 140mm fans. These fans are referred to as the TwoCool fan series, and they use a 2-speed fan switch for a high and low setting. The high setting will give you 1200 RPM +/- 10%, with a decibel level of 27.8. At the low setting you get 800 RPM +/- 10%, with a decibel level of 19.
There is also room for a 360mm rad, that can installed. However, I have noticed the spacing above the motherboard tray would probably only allow 1 set of fans, in either a push or a pull configuration. You would have to take careful measurements if you really wanted to do a push/pull configuration in this case. The measurements I took were only about 2.5″ of space from the top of the motherboard tray to the top of the case. Granted this isn’t the actual working space you will have, but that depends largely on the configuration of your motherboard and if VRM heatsinks will be in the way or not when installing water cooling in this case.
Here is a look at the top plate removed on the P380. You can see the USB cables sprawling out of the USB hub. These cables go down into the case where the 5.25″ bays are. The cables are long enough to reach across the entire cases length.
Next page we’ll look at some detailed features of the Antec P380.
I will go over some of the remaining details of the Antec P380.
Here’s a close up of the 9 expansion slots. This should give plenty of expansion space for anyone setting up a quad SLI or Crossfire system.
Here is a close-up shot of the 6 fan controller hub. As you can see you only have the option of using 3 pin fans to connect to this hub. It’s use may be limited, and the inclusion of 4 pin headers would of been better for compatibilities sake. The hub is powered by a molex power cable.
Here’s a look at the Antec P380 drive bays with the drive cages taken out. The middle cage can be removed by taking off 4 screws on the front panel, which requires the front panel to be removed. There is also 2 screws on the inside of the case that also need to be removed. The middle cage is not really a cage, but rails that attach to the bottom and top cages. Once the screws are removed you can then SLIde the rails and pull them out.
You can remove the bottom cage by undoing all the screws. 4 attached on the front, 2 more on the inside of the case, and an additional 4 screws on the bottom of the case.
The top cage is a bit more tricky to remove. The two 3.5″ bays are attached to the 5.25″ bay area, as one whole unit. This requires 12 screws to be removed from the front of the chassis. 2 more screws on each side, and finally 3 more screws on the inside of the chassis… whew, I’m tired just even thinking of removing that many screws!
I’m kinda scratching my head at this last cage here. With the 5.25″ bays rendered useless, I’m not even sure why this area exists in the case.
We have a closer look at the backside of the HDD/SSD drive bay area. The plastic drive sleds are thin and light and have plenty of spacing between drives. The drive cages also have generous cut-outs for airflow to help keep your drives running nice and cool.
I took an older HDD of mine that was laying around to show the nice mounting system. While it’s not completely tool-less, it has an isolated mounting system. The drives are isolated on the rubber washers. This should keep vibration down to a minimum.
Here is a shot of the HDD mounting from the top angle. The shot really doesn’t show it, but the HDD doesn’t touch any of the plastic of the drive mount.
At the front of the Antec P380 I wanted to show a close up shot of the power and reset switches, as well as the 5.25″ bay area.
This area is kind of confusing given that you have a solid piece of aluminum attached to your plastic front panel. It appears if you were to knock out those metal pieces you could install a 5.25″ drive or two. With the aluminum plate in the way, this makes it impossible.
Although, some more adventurous types might see an opportunity to mod this section of the case, cutting that aluminum plate would be a serious pain without some really good tools and know-how. The aluminum plate is at least 1/8 of an inch thick.
Here’s a close up of the pre-installed TwoCool 120mm fan. This fan also has the 2 speed selector switch. The 120mm TwoCool is rated at 1200 RPM +/- 10% on high speed, with a decibel level of 23.65. On low speed it is rated at 600 RPM +/- 10% with a decibel level of 17.
Normally, I would expect optional mounting holes for a 140mm on a case of this caliber. Although, I do not think this is a serious fault, it would of just added more without adding any real cost to the design of the P380.
The guys at Antec were kind enough to include a USB 2.0 adapter on-board the USB 3.0 cable. The only problem I have with this is that it is an eye-sore. I can already see people chopping this ungainly appendage off straight away.
I think at the price point of this case, including some sort of separate adapter would be in order here. Although, maybe I’m just a bit picky about things like this. It may not bother some as much. And if you do happen to have an older board that doesn’t have USB 3.0, you won’t have to worry about losing 2 functional USB ports.
Lastly, we have a close up of the USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports, and the headphone and mic hub. I really like this hub. Being able to position it sideways is nice. Keeps the wires from danging off the front of the case, like so many other cases out there.
Although, I think this design would better benefit a case that actually has external 5.25″ drives. I would like to see this kind of design on other cases. It would keep the drive bays clear of wires. I happen to use my front USB ports all the time. It is just so much more convenient than having to get up and find an open back port to use.
Moving on to the last page, I give my final thoughts and conclusions to the Antec P380 review.
Antec overall has done a fine job with the P380 case. It has a very basic design, that is very sleek and attractive. Although, I do have a few quibbles about the existence of the 5.25″ bays that are useless, and some of the cages and the front panel is a bit tedious to remove, I still think the positives of the case outweigh these few negatives.
The case seems to be a hybrid design of workstation and gaming case. If the P380 was to be used as a workstation PC more than likely the drive cages would not need to be removed in favor of setting up RAID configurations. Although, another short coming of the P380 is not having the ability to hot-swap drives.
If a person decided to use it as a gaming PC, they might want to rip out those bottom two cages to make room for some water cooling and have the use of the two remaining HDD/SSD bays, but only have access to a Slim drive CD/DVD on the chassis. This is probably not a concern for many people. Most people I know use thumb drives to install operating systems, and every game that comes out for PC can be downloaded through steam or directly from vendors or publishers.
I would have to say performance of the Antec P380 is a mixed bag. Using it as a workstation PC you miss out on the ability to hot-swap drives. Although not every workstation PC requires this, it’s nice to have if you have a RAID array and a drive fails during some serious work. Getting a new drive in ASAP can be important for the array to rebuild as quickly as possible to keep from having potential data loss.
On the other hand as a gaming PC, about the only thing some might miss is having a full size 5.25″ external drive. If however, this isn’t a concern, the Antec P380 has a generous amount of space for water cooling and large GPU’s won’t be a problem in this case. With 9 expansion slots you have SLI and Crossfire configurations more than covered.
I’ve stated before, that I personally love simple understated designs. Antec has made a really gorgeous case. The aluminum doesn’t really serve any purpose other than to just look cool and sexy. The flat black finish on the front and top, and the shiny non-finished sides of the aluminum give nice contrast that is carried out with the rest of the screws that are not painted but look like polished metal.
The construction of the Antec P380 is superb. Nothing felt flimsy or out of place. Even with all the panels off the chassis was still rigid. Some cases are not so stable once the panels come off, but the Antec P380 is as solid of a case that I’ve come across recently.
The only thing I can even really gripe about is the HDD/SSD drive trays. They are plastic with rubber washers, and seem a bit flimsy until you attach an HDD to them. At that point, they feel much more sturdy and hardly worth a second thought.
The functionality of the Antec P380 is a bit mixed as well. This is a hard one that takes what the purpose of the case is being used for, workstation, or gaming, or a mix of both.
Functioning as a workstation, I think the only real gripe is not having any hot-swap bays. Functioning as a gaming pc, or as both workstation and gaming pc, missing out on the 5.25′ external drive bay is about the only thing missing.
If neither of those are a concern, then there isn’t much else I can gripe about. Except the annoying amount of screws you can potentially have to remove if you want to take out a lot of the drive bays to mount water cooling, or just want the extra bays out for better air flow and/or more GPU space.
The value of the Antec P380 is a tough call as well. Priced online for $160 (Amazon | B&H | NewEgg) at the time of this writing, there are other cases that offer just as much functionality, and more in some cases, as the Antec P380 at significantly lower prices. But what those cases do not have are these beautiful aluminum plates. I know that value can be a hard sell to some. As they really do not add any functionality at all, but for those that like this look, there is value in that as well.
I would recommend the Antec P380 to anyone looking for a roomy, solidly built, full-tower case. If you are able to live without 5.25″ bays, or are ok with using the optional Slim mount CD/DVD bay, and not having hot-swap drive bays, the Antec P380 might be just the case for you.
+ Roomy interior
+ Plenty of internal drive bays
+ Sleek looking case
+ Solidly built
+ Plenty of cooling options
+ 6-port fan hub
– No external 5.25″ bays
– No hot-swap drives
– Drive cage removal can be tedious
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Performance: 8.75
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Appearance: 9.50
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Construction: 9.75
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Functionality: 8.50
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Value: 7.50
