Antec P101 Silent

[Darksaber]

The Antec P101 Silent turns back the wheel of time a little bit by offering an old-school interior layout coupled with a modern feature set and compatibility. You will get loads of storage space, can install up to an E-ATX board with large GPUs, and liquid or air cooling, all while keeping things quiet overall because of the front door, sound dampening, and built-in fan controller.

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[Wavetrex]

Good home server case !

In a world where every manufacturer is dumping the 3.5" slots in favor of a gazillion radiators for watercooling (which 99% of the computers probably don't use) and just 2-3 vertical HDD holding points MAX, good to see some cases that don't take the space of a refrigerator and can hold 8 drives !

Dear case manufacturers, some of us still need drive bays ! Don't forget us !
Thanks Antec !

(That's a FD case in the pic, I'm just trying to prove a point)

 

[TheLostSwede]

Did you forget to peel the plastic of the chipset heatsink?

 

[Rivage]

Good home server case !

In a world where every manufacturer is dumping the 3.5" slots in favor of a gazillion radiators for watercooling (which 99% of the computers probably don't use) and just 2-3 vertical HDD holding points MAX, good to see some cases that don't take the space of a refrigerator and can hold 8 drives !

Dear case manufacturers, some of us still need drive bays ! Don't forget us !
Thanks Antec !

View attachment 125311

(That's a FD case in the pic, I'm just trying to prove a point)

Cool Prolimatech cooler out there!

 

[GlacierNine]

The vast majority will love the chassis, and for the sub-US$100 price tag, it offers everything it promises: a silent operation, performance, and value.

HOLD UP NOW THERE FOR A SECOND DARKSABER


Where the heck did you test the performance of this case in this review? Where did you measure the noise levels in order to be able to state that "silent operation" was actually achieved rather than you just regurgitating a manufacturer claim?

Did I miss those pages in this review?

 

[The Von Matrices]

I think that any case being sold in 2019 should get a reduction in score for not having a USB-C port. Many new mid range and high end motherboards now have USB-C headers but these cases give us no way to use them. Also, while it isn't a deal breaker today, I expect to use a case for 5-10 years, by which point not having a front USB-C port will be a major inconvenience.

 

[Wavetrex]

Did you forget to peel the plastic of the chipset heatsink?

Of course not, lol. It's just very shiny by itself.

Cool Prolimatech cooler out there!

Indeed, very cool cooler to this day!

I think that any case being sold in 2019 should get a reduction in score for not having a USB-C port.

That's a bummer yes, but don't blame them... Type-C is still not very common in desktop cases... heck, many motherboards STILL don't have the Type-C front-panel connector !
Perhaps the new gen of mobos with X570 and whatever's coming from Intel next will change the perspective, and that will become standard.

On the other hand, this case has all the markings of one for secondary computer/fileserver/encoding/rendering machine etc. NOT a workstation case.
Which means you won't be touching much or at all, so USB-C front would basically be used once in a blue moon... I think the omission is acceptable given the target audience of the product.

 

[thebluebumblebee]

I have a soft spot for Antec cases. Maybe it's because theirs were the first cases that I used that weren't a cut risk. Early Antec cases were also over built so there were no concerns about bending a panel, or misalignments or having problems with assembly or disassembly. I own both the P280 and the P100, which are obviously in the ancestry of this case.

In recent years, Antec's designs have had good ideas along with things that make you scratch your head. This case has 3 intake fans. That fixes the issue with both the P280 and P100 which only allowed 2 x 120 mm and 2 x 140 mm fans respectively in the front. But where is the air supposed to go? Take a look at the back panel of the P100: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/antec-p100/3.html Notice the ventilated area below the 120 mm fan in the back as well as the vents behind the motherboard. (why are there grommets for external water cooling???) Those, IMHO, are so important to keep a system cool.

The P280 had dense foam for sound deadening, but the P100 cheapened out with a much lower density foam. @Darksaber , what is the foam density of this case? (I suspect that it's dense, because the P101 outweighs the P280)

And I'm absolutely disappointed that the front I/O panel now faces up, a la Fractal Design, in the dirt/dust catching position.

There's no mention of it's size, of how big it actually is, that at 527 x 232 x 506 mm, it's closer to the size of the P280 at 526 x 231 x 562 mm than the P100 at 484 x 220 x 523 mm. For reference, the Define R6 is 543 x 233 x 465 mm.

 

[qu4k3r]

Good home server case !

In a world where every manufacturer is dumping the 3.5" slots in favor of a gazillion radiators for watercooling (which 99% of the computers probably don't use) and just 2-3 vertical HDD holding points MAX, good to see some cases that don't take the space of a refrigerator and can hold 8 drives !

Dear case manufacturers, some of us still need drive bays ! Don't forget us !
Thanks Antec !

View attachment 125311

(That's a FD case in the pic, I'm just trying to prove a point)

Totally agree!

 

[curiosity]

Thanks for the review. Nice work!

It would be nice to measure the temperatures of the tested cases though. If you don't want to use a reference system and environment, you could, say, just give us an idea of how it goes with stock fans vs stock fans with open case and maybe the same with all or at least one or two more fans, which could be some cheapos (like some Arctic F12), just to see the benefit of that small investment.

 

[GlacierNine]

Thanks for the review. Nice work!

It would be nice to measure the temperatures of the tested cases though. If you don't want to use a reference system and environment, you could, say, just give us an idea of how it goes with stock fans vs stock fans with open case and maybe the same with all or at least one or two more fans, which could be some cheapos (like some Arctic F12), just to see the benefit of that small investment.

It's really not rocket surgery. Darksaber uses the same hardware in all of these test builds and photos.

It literally takes the following:

1 - Buy an accurate thermometer and measure the room ambient
2- Once you've built the test system (Which you do anyway to get the photographs), turn the damn thing on and leave it for 10 minutes on the desktop with HWMonitor open.
3 - Record your idle Delta Temp.
4 - Run a torture test on both CPU and GPU (Furmark and Prime95 will be perfectly fine)
5 - After 20 minutes report the peak delta and the new room ambient.

Congratulations. 1 hour of "work", most of which you can spend your time making a coffee, and you now have thermal data.

Acoustics are slightly more of a pain to test but certainly not DIFFICULT, and can be measured simultaneously - you just need a quiet room and a decibel meter - and don't make your coffee in the same room as your testing.

 

[NRANM]

Congratulations. 1 hour of "work", most of which you can spend your time making a coffee, and you now have thermal data.

Yeah, but since payment has already been received for the adver... I mean review, why bother with doing extra work needlessly.

 

[Joss]

But where is the air supposed to go?

Not only that; the front is highly restricted, with only 3 rectangles of tiny openings. And those rectangles are partly enclosed by the body of the case.
There are reviews showing acceptable temps: I find it very, very hard to believe.

 

[Kaleid]

I'm still on a modified p180 case because I can use 2 harddrives in Scythe quiet drives which is impossible to use in this new case. Sadly this means no USB3 connectors on the front..

 

[Bill_Bright]

Just started researching quiet cases for a client again and came across this review. So apologies for coming in late. I too have a soft spot for Antec cases. My first build was with an Antec as have many of my builds since. I have always been impressed with their build quality and "internal" design.

For awhile there, I grew disappointed with their "exterior" designs. Functionally, they were great, but in terms of aesthetics, I felt they where getting too flashy. Flashy designs, IMO, tend to be like fads and quickly get old and fall out of "fashion" and style. So I am glad to see this case has a much more conservative and "classic" design - a concept that never goes out of style.

I do have one bone to pick with the case and the reviewer's comment about it.

The door swings open to the right, which is important as most people will place their chassis to the right of their monitor.

I wonder who says most people put their cases to the right of their monitors? I don't. There are 5 PCs in this house and 4 have the cases on the left. In fact, my desk was specifically designed with a space in the desk, near the floor and on the left for the tower, just like this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one (do I need to go on?).

So true (if true) 50.01% of people might be considered "most people", the fact the door on this case swings open to the right, and cannot be reversed is an inconvenience for 49.99% of potential buyers out there. And frankly, for me it is a show stopper and a specific reason I always look for cases that have reversible front doors (or no front doors). Good examples include the Fractal Design Define R5 or the R6.

I must quickly add kudos for the review's author, however, as the conclusion page clearly gives a thumbs down for the "Asymmetrical door that can only be swung open in one direction". But as I said, it is a show stopper for me personally, and for my client too who also will put the tower to his left.

 

[Rivage]

Indeed, very cool cooler to this day!

Also their thermal compounds are really good. Not expensive but near to the top quality.

 

[metalslaw]

@Darksaber

Can you guys at techpowerup, please include a high TB drive in your analysis of computer cases.

This case (from what I can see in the pictures), and the majority of cases, do not have the bolt holes for the new 3 inch spacing used on the bottom of 6TB+ hard drives.

I've recently run into this problem on my current case, and am currently still looking for a cheap case, with lots of HDD bays, and with this new spacing.

Thanks,
Ian