Antec Announces P50 Window Chassis

[btarunr]

Antec's P50 WINDOW is the perfect combination of compactness and optimal airflow due to its sophisticated two-compartment architecture. The cube-shaped case with its dimensions of 312(H) x 260(W) x 330(D) mm features a two-compartment design that separates the power supply unit, the optical drive and the hard drives from the other components. Accordingly, the included fans (2 x 120mm and 1 x 80mm) offer more efficient cooling than within ordinary enclosures due to the fact that they are focussed on parts that heat up during operation.

Numerous routing holes in the central dividing wall offer various possibilities for a clean cable layout, ensuring an ideal airflow through the cube-shaped enclosure of the P50 WINDOW. The dual-layer side panels made from Polycarbonate eliminate vibrations from within the chassis and render the Antec P50 WINDOW whisper-quiet - even with up to seven rotating fans. The cube-layout of the enclosure features mounts for four more fans (2 x 80mm at the back and 2 x 120mm at the top) in addition to three included cooling fans at the front.



Small cube with ample space
The cube-shaped chassis is compatible with Micro ATX and Mini ITX mainboards. Despite its compact dimensions, the P50 WINDOW offers space for cards up to lengths of 300mm in its four PCI-E slots. This makes Antec's enclosure a great choice for demanding gamers who can fit high-end graphics cards such as the ATI R9 290 and the Nvidia GTX 960 within the Quiet Computing chassis. The maximum support height for the CPU cooler is 130mm. The mount for the optical drive can be removed to allow the installation of a water-cooling system with two radiators up to 240mm.



Compact, convenient and functional
To offer generous hard-disk space, numerous mounts are available. Two 2.5" SSDs and three 3.5" HDDs can be installed in the Antec P50 WINDOW without using any tools. One of the two compartments can be fitted with an ATX power supply unit that is kept dust-free by an air filter at the back of the enclosure. Another filter prevents dust from getting in at the front. Both are washable and reliably keep the P50 WINDOW clean. All four walls of the chassis can be removed to grant quick access to all components, making maintenance quick and easy. The front panel features two USB 3.0 and two USB 2.0 ports as well as connections for speakers and microphones. Another highlight of the P50 WINDOW is the fan control at the front: With two switches, the fans inside the compact enclosure can be adjusted in steps.

Antec's cube-shaped Quiet Computing enclosure P50 WINDOW is available as of March, the recommended retail price is £59.99 including VAT. Top panels (meshs) are available as optional accessories in colours blue, green, red and white at £6.99 including VAT each.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Would be perfect for a media center PC. If i were to build one, this would be the case for it.

 

[Len Hockley]

I have just read that this case cannot accommodate wide gpu's in particular msi gtx 970 twin frozr 5. Can't see why this would be, length isn't a problem. Anyone know why this gpu would be a no go?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ante...atx-mitx-usb-30-dual-fan-controllers-atx-micrhttp://www.scan.co.uk/products/ante...atx-mitx-usb-30-dual-fan-controllers-atx-micr
Please note: This Case only supports Narrow Graphics Cards, such as those with reference coolers. Wide Graphics Cards (with non-reference designs) such as the MSI NVIDIA GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr 5 Graphics Card are incompatible with this computer case

 

[ensabrenoir]

.....the color seems like a tacky after thought.....case is fine without it.

 

[Tatty_Two]

I have just read that this case cannot accommodate wide gpu's in particular msi gtx 970 twin frozr 5. Can't see why this would be, length isn't a problem. Anyone know why this gpu would be a no go?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/ante...atx-mitx-usb-30-dual-fan-controllers-atx-micrhttp://www.scan.co.uk/products/ante...atx-mitx-usb-30-dual-fan-controllers-atx-micr
Please note: This Case only supports Narrow Graphics Cards, such as those with reference coolers. Wide Graphics Cards (with non-reference designs) such as the MSI NVIDIA GTX 970 GAMING Twin Frozr 5 Graphics Card are incompatible with this computer case

I would guess, because it has 4 PCI-E slots crammed into a MATX cube case, with the space restrictions associated with MATX/ITX Motherboards the rear slots in the case need to be narrow to accommodate them, some non reference coolers may prevent the card fitting the case slot and therefore maybe would not actually plug into the boards PCI-E slot if you get my meaning.

 

[Len Hockley]

You may be right, but I already have one these cards in a Cooler-Master-Elite-130-Mini-ITX which is a tiny mITX case with no probs at all. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DJ6A88G/?tag=tec053-21

 

[Tatty_Two]

You may be right, but I already have one these cards in a Cooler-Master-Elite-130-Mini-ITX which is a tiny mITX case with no probs at all. http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DJ6A88G/?tag=tec053-21

But does that case have 4 narrow PCI-E slots to the rear?

 

[flyingsquirrel]

Hello all,

EDIT: THE GRAPHICS CARD DOES NOT FIT! It's slightly too tall for the case and you can't put the side of the case back on. The heatpipes protude by about 5mm. Sorry for the misinformation.

I have this case. Just for you guys, I measured the PCI slots and each slot has a 12.2 mm wide gap for I/O ports and the metal bit between the gaps is 8.07 mm.

Furthermore, I took my graphics card out of my other machine (it's an MSI GTX 960, the 4Gb version with metal PCB backplate) and test-fitted it to this case - it appears to fit but there is not enough height clearance to close the case. All other MSI "TWIN FROZR V" cards will probably have the same problem.

Here's a set of blurry (sorry) camera pics for completeness:

 

[flyingsquirrel]

I made a post about this case over at the hexus forum but here's an (updated) mini review:

Good Points:
- Decent build quality, painted inside and out.
- No sharp edges inside.
- dust filters on the front intake and the PSU intake.
- Compact dimensions, one of the few mATX cases which are less than 350mm long.
- Full sized optical disc drive slot! Really hard to find a small case which has not abandoned optical media. What sort of a HTPC can't play blu-rays?!

Bad Points:
- Can't fit certain graphics cards! For reference, the msi gtx 960 is about 5mm too tall
- Does not have rubber grommets for cable management. Some photos of the P50 show it without grommets, other photos (including the picture on the box itself) show it with grommets. However, this shouldn't be a major issue since there are no sharp edges in the cut-outs.
- Rubbish manual. The instructions are the usual antec garbage and don't really add much. The case comes with some rubber stickers and it's not obvious where to use them (turns out they are for the PSU mount, and probably for the 3.5" HDD mounts too).
- Front panel removal design is daft, you literally yank it off the front like some sort of vandal. I'd prefer some kind of latch or something.
- Intakes for front fans are unnecessarily restrictive. They should have made it a massive opening (like the top fan mounts) but instead its just a series of drilled holes. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to add too much noise to the front fans.
- Supplied 120mm fans belong in the bin. They make an annoying ticking sound, at low RPM the ticking sound is louder than the fan itself. Tried powering the fans with the motherboard header and it still made a ticking sound.

Other notes:
- CPU backplate cutout is a nice addition but once you fit a PSU, the entire hole is covered. The HDD rack covers the top half of the cutout and I don't think there's any way to remove it!
- Included 2 x 120 mm fans are the 3-pin type, so you could power & control them from your motherboard if you wish. The included 80 mm fan has no speed control option and takes power from a 4 pin molex.
- fan controller takes power from a 4 pin molex and has four connectors for 3-pin fans. Due to the 'socket' design of the fan controller, it is not possible to fit 4-pin fans to the controller.
- Switches on the fan controller are 3-position (low/OFF/high) and easy to operate.
- Power and reset buttons on the top are functional but feel a bit cheap and unsatisfying to press. It's like those cars with fancy red "ENGINE START" buttons which looks like it should have a nice mechanical operation, but instead they only depress by 1mm and feel cheap and tacky.
- Four PCI slot backplates.
- Blue power LED on the left, red HDD LED on the right (at the top part by the USB ports).

 

[Len Hockley]

Thanks for the info Squirrel most appreciated. I assumed the 970 twin frozr has the same dimensions as your card so I cant really see what the problem would be

 

[Kufnayr]

I made a post about this case over at the hexus forum but here's an (updated) mini review:

Good Points:
- Decent build quality, painted inside and out.
- No sharp edges inside.
- dust filters on the front intake and the PSU intake.
- Compact dimensions, one of the few mATX cases which are less than 350mm long.
- Full sized optical disc drive slot! Really hard to find a small case which has not abandoned optical media. What sort of a HTPC can't play blu-rays?!

Bad Points:
- Can't fit certain graphics cards! For reference, the msi gtx 960 is about 5mm too tall
- Does not have rubber grommets for cable management. Some photos of the P50 show it without grommets, other photos (including the picture on the box itself) show it with grommets. However, this shouldn't be a major issue since there are no sharp edges in the cut-outs.
- Rubbish manual. The instructions are the usual antec garbage and don't really add much. The case comes with some rubber stickers and it's not obvious where to use them (turns out they are for the PSU mount, and probably for the 3.5" HDD mounts too).
- Front panel removal design is daft, you literally yank it off the front like some sort of vandal. I'd prefer some kind of latch or something.
- Intakes for front fans are unnecessarily restrictive. They should have made it a massive opening (like the top fan mounts) but instead its just a series of drilled holes. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to add too much noise to the front fans.
- Supplied 120mm fans belong in the bin. They make an annoying ticking sound, at low RPM the ticking sound is louder than the fan itself. Tried powering the fans with the motherboard header and it still made a ticking sound.

Other notes:
- CPU backplate cutout is a nice addition but once you fit a PSU, the entire hole is covered. The HDD rack covers the top half of the cutout and I don't think there's any way to remove it!
- Included 2 x 120 mm fans are the 3-pin type, so you could power & control them from your motherboard if you wish. The included 80 mm fan has no speed control option and takes power from a 4 pin molex.
- fan controller takes power from a 4 pin molex and has four connectors for 3-pin fans. Due to the 'socket' design of the fan controller, it is not possible to fit 4-pin fans to the controller.
- Switches on the fan controller are 3-position (low/OFF/high) and easy to operate.
- Power and reset buttons on the top are functional but feel a bit cheap and unsatisfying to press. It's like those cars with fancy red "ENGINE START" buttons which looks like it should have a nice mechanical operation, but instead they only depress by 1mm and feel cheap and tacky.
- Four PCI slot backplates.
- Blue power LED on the left, red HDD LED on the right (at the top part by the USB ports).

^ I totally agree. A few more points to add (or subtract)..

THE BADS

( - ) A number of owners have had to actually cut the metal cage of the case to make room for GPUs, radiators etc.

( - ) I was unable to place a 240mm radiator in the TOP NOR FRONT positions, contradicting the biggest selling point of the case.. (lepa exllusion 240) Will be near impossible to find a 240mm top radiator that actually fits without pinching a tube/overbends.

( - ) Random Chassis 2 fan mounting makes it extremely hard to place a 3/4-pin fan onto mobo after gpu & cpu are installed.

(- ) extremely cheap fan outputs for the dual-front/dual-top fan controller. (both of mine broke [rendering 2 of the 4 are unusable.)

( - ) Horrible customer service/warranty. (After having to remind customer service that "1-year parts and labor warrantee" is labeled on the box, and an additional two months later, received a $.10 board with some wiring as a replacement. No directions on how to install (pretty sure the top is welded but i'll try raising the roof)

The Goods

(+) Pretty quiet case,overall.

(+) good airflow


(pic of cheap RMA package from ANTEC)