A Closer Look - Inside

Both side panels may be removed by taking off the thumb screws that hold them in place and come lined with sound dampening material on the inside. Antec has chosen to paint the motherboard tray of the P101 Silent white to continue the dual-tone design from the exterior.


Looking at the back of the motherboard tray, you will find some pretty good pre-routed cabling along with unique bumps to secure any additional leads. While this is pretty nifty, make sure your zip ties are slim enough to fit. There is also a tray for two 2.5" drives underneath the large opening for the motherboard CPU area.


Underneath the shroud, you will find a PSU bay with foam lining as an anti-vibration measure. Above that are the aforementioned eight expansion slots with thumb screws to hold each cover in place. The 140 mm fan in the very top is set to push hot air out the back of the chassis. Thanks to the elongated mounting holes, you can adjust the height at which the fan is placed to align it as best as possible with your motherboard.


The metal shroud across the PSU area looks and feels sturdy and has a little company logo on its side. It does not extend to the front of the case as the P101 instead focuses on providing the maximum amount of storage out of the box. The eight 2.5"/3.5" mounting possibilities are spread out across four cages you may remove individually for maximum GPU and storage compatibility, for example. There is also a bit of room between the cages and the front of the chassis, which should allow you to install a thin radiator without sacrificing any of the trays in the process. In the very top is a 5.25" drive bay.

This whole drive setup actually makes the Antec P101 Silent pretty unique by modern standards. While this was pretty common a few years ago, manufactures have chosen to reduce the overall storage capabilities of their offerings, leaving those who want to put in a large number of drives with a limited number of quality options.


Taking a quick look at the ceiling, you will find another sound dampening mat installed here, which means all solid panels and the front door come equipped with it to maximize low noise operations.


All the cables within the P101 Silent are of the default variety, and Antec utilizes two Molex connectors: one for the LEDs surrounding the USB ports and another to power the fan controller.