Introduction

Like all other pieces of equipment that go into a personal home-built machine (and many other goods for that matter), there is a great deal of price points from which one must choose. Should a user splurge and go all out or does it make more sense to simply match one’s needs to a specific model which appears to have the most desirable features for a more reasonable cost?

Given this particular consideration in the decision to buy a new computer case, we decided to match up three rather new mid-tower models from three different price brackets in a close examination to determine just how much bang for the buck that a consumer can get from a chassis.

With Antec’s long history of quality hardware, it’s no wonder that the P150 is an excellent case, but Raidmax is no slouch in this arena either, and their attractive X1 is available for less than half the price of the Antec case. Finally, the Dynamax E68, the last case that we’ll review, is even less yet, but perhaps it will still perform just as well as the other ones.

To get things started, we’ll look at the newest small tower from Antec, the P150.



Antec P150

Right away, the P150 struck us as an excellent product. Taking perhaps a little inspiration from earlier Apple computers and mixing in a little of Antec’s own style, the P150 ends up looking very classy.

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The sides and top are steel and are finished in a very glossy white, which while certainly unique doesn’t at all seem out of place. The drive bays are plastic, yet still a glossy white, but the rest of the front panel is brushed aluminum.

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With only three 5¼” drive bays, the P150 certainly won’t be the first choice for many enthusiasts, but enough users will still be plenty satisfied with this configuration, and will even appreciate the overall smaller size. In a similar fashion, the case only sports a single 3½” bay.

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The top two drive bay covers are already configured to stealthily conceal the actual optical drives, so finding a drive with the right bezel won’t be an issue with this case. On the left side is the HDD activity LED, and on the right are the power and reset buttons, power LED, and USB/audio/FireWire port cluster.

The intake air for the P150 comes entirely through the three vents – one on either side of the case, and one on the bottom.

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Looking at the bottom, we found not only the third vent, but also the fact that the P150 uses very soft silicone feet. Everything about the P150 has been designed with a lack of noise being one of the top priorities, and it's nice to see this kind of attention to detail even in the case's feet.



Antec P150 (cont'd)

Before popping off the side of the new Antec case, we took a look at the rear and were pleased to see a large 120mm fan, especially given the case's dimensions. As always, larger fans generally are preferred, since they can move more air while making less noise. There's also venting near the expansion slots for additional passive cooling.

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To get an unobstructed view of the interior of the P150, we took out the included power supply. What we were left with was simple, but not bad by any means. Overall, the P150 feels very solid. We're sure that it would be able to protect expensive components for a long time, but one would have to be mindful of the nice paint job.

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Not including the external 3½" drive bay, the P150 has enough space for four hard drives, which is certainly plenty for most users. In this view, one can see how incoming air is directed over the hard drives, and if one wanted additional cooling, two extra 92mm fans could be installed.

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Also note the rubber bands stretched across the sides of this cavity. These can be used for suspending the hard drives to effectively isolate all vibrations entirely from the chassis. Keep in mind that this is only a solution for users who don't transport the case though - when in transit the sleds must be used as shown here. The manual even makes mention of this.

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To get at the drives in the P150, we have to open the entire front bezel. Three tabs hold it in place on the left side, then it hinges like a door for a while before being able to be lifted completely off the hinge. In another effort to truly separate this case from cheaper models, the entire area where intake air can be channeled through is covered by a double-height removable filter.

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Once the front door has been lifted away, two thumbscrews are loosened and another door swings open to the left. In this shot, we've also already removed the air filter.

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Antec P150 (cont’d)

This door conceals the front-loading hard drive bays, which are individually removable. Each bay houses a sled that incorporates rails for extremely easy hard drive installation. Four silicone grommets are employed to further diminish hard drive vibrations from adding to the system’s noise, and once the hard drive has been mounted to the sled, it simply slides and locks into place from the front.

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Not only do the hard drives load this way, but the included 5¼” to 3½” bay adapter has already been fitted with rails so that it, too, can be locked into place without screws. If one chose to, however, they could simply do away with the adapter altogether and have four 5¼” bays available.

For the other 5¼” drives, the user simply has to attach two included rails to either side of the drive and it will slide and lock into place from the front. One other handy feature is that six rails can be stored in holders in the bottom of the case.

The only active piece of cooling hardware present in the P150 is one of Antec’s tri-speed 120mm fans. In a case of this size, even a single 120mm will be able to move a lot of air through the enclosure and, combined with a decent power supply, it should be more than adequate for cooling moderate to high-end rigs.

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Notice also the black areas on the top and side plates; these are pieces of plastic that have been affixed to the metal to help dampen vibrations in the case, and we can attest that the plates really are quieter when struck. Whether or not this really improves noise levels is probably a much deeper topic than this article can provide, but rest assured that it certainly can’t hurt, considering that plastic truly is a better sound insulator than steel.

In our last internal shot seen here, we can appreciate the case's dimensions It's not exactly spacious inside, but it's not that cramped either. “Large enough” is the term that comes to mind, but just like many other cases, the side-mounted IDE ports on our DFI motherboard aren't extremely easy to work with in the P150, but they are at least manageable.

Last, but not least, we thought that we should include a shot of the glowing blue ring around the power switch, which indicates that the computer is on. It's certainly subtle, but still a nice accent on an already stylish case.



Raidmax X1

While we haven't looked at that many cases from Raidmax, the X1 was certainly more classy than some of the previous models we've seen from them. The X1 is available in both black (which is the version we received) and white.

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Perhaps somewhat similar to the Antec P180, the X1's front carries a very monolithic look to it, with brushed aluminum on the left half and black glossy plastic shaped for ventilation on the right. Only a single power button with a very simple design on it stands out from the rest of the front. Instead of a thin door, practically the entire front bezel of the X1 swings away to the right to open up.

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Once opened up, right away it's apparent that the X1 is capable of holding several more drives than the P150: five 5¼” and two 3½” to be exact. In this shot, we've already placed our combo optical drive just to give a better idea of how the system would look with a computer installed.

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In a more direct shot, the extremely glossy finish is even easier to see. This is definitely a surface that will have to be kept very clean to always look its best (and could scratch easily), but should look very nice as long as its given a little extra care. At the bottom of the front are intake vents and the port cluster. Raidmax has finally done something right where so many other cases fail; it simply spaces apart the USB ports a decent distance, so larger devices won't crowd each other.

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The side that is of most interest on the X1 is the left side - mostly a plastic window to see the innards of the computer. The window is set off by eight shiny light blue triangular pieces, into which the bolts are screwed to hold the window in place. Notice the fan designed to draw cool air in, and right at the CPU are the three side-loading hard drive bays.

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Raidmax X1 (cont’d)

Turning the case more, we can see the relationship of the three main elements of the active cooling in the X1: the rear 120mm, the side-mounted 80mm, and the potential power supply fan(s).

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Like the P150, the X1 too has additional passive vents near the expansion slots. It’s also easier to tell now that at least in terms of 3½” drive bays, the X1 and P150 also basically tied, as they can both house 1 external and 4 internal drives. The X1’s drive bays are all tool-less, and we’ll explain the usage of the black units visible in the previous two pictures shortly. Before opening up the case though, let’s turn the case around and have a look at the bottom as well.

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While certainly not as nicely-finished as the underside of the P150, the X1 still does have feet, but they’re not going to do anything for the absorption of vibrations. More intake ventilation can be found here under the front bezel, and there is a space for an additional 80mm to be mounted in order to actively bring in cool air right onto the hard drives visible here on the right side panel.

Taking off the left side and peering into the chassis reveals a spacious interior delightfully void of any additional crossbars that could make installation difficult. Granted, bars like this are actually preferred by people more concerned with case stability and longevity, but in testing and handling, we still didn't get the impression that the X1 felt wobbly or weak by any means. One very minor strike against the X1, though, is that it doesn't support quite as many form factors as the P150, as one can tell by looking at the available holes for motherboard stand-offs, but the standard ATX sizes won't be any problem.

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Notice again how every bay incorporates the usage of tool-less locks. While it might be pretty obvious from the picture, it is still worthy of mention that the locks are all the same and are also equally simple to use. They simply push in and slide to both lock and unlock. In the following close-up, the pin that actually holds the drive into place is pretty visible, and in testing, these did a good job of holding the drives very securely.

Looking at the internals from the other side, one can see that, unfortunately, both sides need to be opened up to completely install 5¼” drives. Thankfully, unlike all too many cases, the side panels of the X1 aren't too difficult to work with, and the hard drives have extra plastic rail pieces, so only one side needs to be clipped for a snug fit. Notice also that if one wanted an even tighter fastening, normal bolts can still be used to augment the tool-less clips for all the forward-facing drives.

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Raidmax X1 (cont’d)

For the first of our pictures of a system getting installed into the X1, we thought that we'd show how the X1 also suffers from the same problem as the P150 in terms of making it a little hard to get side-mounted IDE cables into the motherboard. Thankfully, the access from the other side of the case makes it a little easier than in the P150, however; and nowadays, SATA drives are becoming more and more popular as users everywhere share the frustrations with thick IDE cables.

Getting the power supply seated and fastened into place was a breeze. There's a decent amount of steel still helping to support the unit, even without the explicit inclusion of a crossbar. This is one area where a simple screwdriver is still a necessity, unless of course one simply uses thumbscrews instead of standard case screws to secure the power supply.

After getting the power supply in place, we proceeded to install our 6600 GT, which was also easy, thanks to the tool-less expansion card holders.

While still not quite as good as the DynaPower F3323s, which we looked at in our last mid-tower roundup, the X1's clips work well enough. The only complaint about them is that they can be a bit tricky to slide back into the unlocked position after a card has already been installed.

Sliding the hard drive into place and locking it with the single locking clip was simple and effective, and after connecting together the components, our build was complete. This picture doesn’t really do any justice, but the X1 overall just has a very nice feel to it and was a pleasure to work in. We didn't find sharp edges in the chassis anywhere.

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After putting the side panel back on and firing up the system, we were greeted with the X1's fanciest treat, which is a simple LCD on the front to display power, fan, and hard drive status as well as report a single temperature. Our efforts to do this unit justice were met with utter defeat, so we've borrowed this image from the RaidMax site to give you a better idea of what it really looks like. Just remember though that this picture comes from the white version of the case – on our case, the section to the right of the display is black.

Dynapower E68

In our last roundup, Dynapower surprised us with a very sturdy case designed for more ”industrial” use (namely a server configuration), which offered many great tool-less features and was simply built like a tank. At roughly the same time, the company released a more typically configured tower, the E68. In this first picture of the tower, take note of the gold-colored 120mm fan grill – it's the only active cooling component included in the case.

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Normally, we're not fans of taking any pictures of the packing job of any hardware; we expect the packaging to do a good enough job of protecting the vital components and don't feel that readers care to see the packaging unless something is horridly wrong. Upon the opening of the E68 though, we discovered something that we've never exactly seen before, and felt we should share what we saw. The tower of the case was 90% there, but the front bezel itself was packaged separately.

We found it particularly interesting because the front bezel of the E68 is only plastic. However, that really doesn't change the fact that it's a thoughtfully designed unit, which is both highly functional and styled in a particularly unique manner.

Connecting the front bezel to the rest of the case simply consists of guiding the cabling through the circular opening and pushing until the clips snap in place. The bottom portion slides to the left to reveal the port cluster on the E68, which only includes two audio jacks and two USB ports, and unfortunately, the USB ports are pretty tightly placed.

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This portion of the bezel is also where the power and HDD activity LEDs are found. Moving upwards, we find the large power button and much smaller, recessed reset button. The silver space to the right of the buttons is not another space for an external 3½” bay, but there is still a dedicated bay centered above.

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Dynapower E68 (cont’d)

The bezel doesn't just have the ability to slide at the bottom either; in addition to hinging to reveal the drive bays, the main portion (the top door) also slides along a couple of slits so that after opening, it can be further moved out of the way. While some people might consider such a dynamic front gaudy, it's still undeniable that it's a very nice front panel, especially given this unit's cost.

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With all the attention that the front of this case has received, it's a good thing that the rest of the case is almost entirely devoid of anything that needs a lengthy explanation! This last picture of purely the exterior of the chassis really doesn't differ much from the other two cases that we've looked at all. Again, the side-mounted 120mm fan shows up, but besides that, there are no other elements of cooling to investigate here.

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With that investigation over, let's dive into this value-oriented case. First off, as is probably to be expected, there are no tool-less elements in the E68. Also, we should mention that we actually routed the cables from the front through a different opening to help our cable management.

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Even so, the actual expandability of the Dynapower case is just as good as the other two cases. Four hard drives, one external 3½“, and four external 5¼” drives can all be accommodated in the E68.

Support for different motherboard types is even more limited in this case, but again, the standard ATX types shouldn't be much of a problem, if at all.

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Standard knock-out expansion card covers are the name of the game here, but unlike other incarnations, these won't sever an appendage when attempting to remove them. And considering the lack of tool-less options here, it's tough to beat the tried-and-true method of using a single screw to hold each add-in card in place.

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Really, that's about all there is to the inside of the E68. With a steel construction, the case feels just as sturdy as the X1, and if one wants, they can add another 120mm fan in the back and 80mm in the front. Installing our test bed was entirely void of surprises. The side-mounted IDE cable was neither easier nor harder than in the previous mid-towers.

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Benchmark Comparisons

To get as meaningful a comparison as possible between the different cases, we installed the same set of hardware into each one; our new standard ATX test bed. While our X1 and P150 did both include power supplies, we still wanted to test just the case to eliminate any other variables.

ATX Test Bed
DFI LanParty UT 915P-T12 Pentium 4 530 Prescott 3.0ghz OCZ 512MB DDR2 x 2 Thermaltake Golden Orb II Maxtor 80gb IDE Hard Drive Chaintech GeForce 6600GT MSI DVD-CD/R/RW Combo drive MadDog MD-600SCPS PSU

Continuing with the new ATX test bed we used for the HTPC comparison, we now have many points of measurement in the computer and can get a really good idea of how well the cases are performing in the temperature arena.

Right away, the E68 really shines as a cooling champion. The large 120mm fan that is focused on forcing the coolest air right onto the hottest components of the computer is definitely a good design choice - that is, of course, assuming that one's setup would permit good airflow to the side of the case.

As always, however, temperatures alone don't tell the whole story. Since Antec makes it very clear that the P150 is all about silence, we tested the case with the tri-speed fan set to the lowest level. The noise levels from each case are summarized in the following table:

Don't let the marketing fool you - the Antec P150, while certainly about as silent as cases can possibly get, was for all practical purposes tied by the much less expensive X1. The performance of the Raidmax case in this regard really came at a surprise to us, considering the fact that the X1 was the only case that had more than one fan, but both included fans in the X1 were silent. Technically speaking, the P150 really did tie the X1, but to our ears, we still actually noticed the fan on the P150 every-so-slightly more than the fans on the X1. This is largely due to a phenomenon that we've noticed over time here in testing. Humans can perceive the sound of the actual moving air whereas the dBa reader doesn't seem to register any actual additional noise unless it's in the path of the moving air itself. Noises that have a real pitch to them are far more annoying, and tend to be much more noticeable to both humans and testing equipment alike. In that sense, the P150 is really just as quiet, as its fan wasn't making any annoying pitched sounds what-so-ever.

The E68's cooling performance is still amazing, but now, the reasons are slightly more obvious - the 120mm fan included with the case makes significantly more noise than the other two cases' solutions. That having been said, the E68 still was definitely within tolerable limits for us, and would certainly suit the majority of users fine, especially if they are used to keeping their computers under their desk and don't mind the aforementioned sound of simply "moving air".

Even focusing too much on the obvious winners from each category really isn't the right thing to do here either though; it's once when you take both charts into consideration that the P150 starts to finally strut its stuff. Compared directly to the just-as-quiet X1, the P150 keeps critical components - especially the GPU and chipset - slightly cooler. With only a single fan against the X1's two, this can only be explained by sheer good case design and a very efficient fan. However, hard drive temperatures aren't the best on the P150, so it'd be wisest to pair it with hard drives that are either known for running cool or for being able to withstand heat without any issues.

Finally, a couple of words about the included power supplies on the X1 and P150: our Antec test unit must have been defective, as it was causing boot problems in not only our test bed, but in another computer as well. When it was running, it was virtually silent - even quieter than our MadDog unit.

Update: It sounds like there IS a real issue going on with the Neo HE power supply included with the P150.. the silent PC forums make mention of it but the easiest place to see that there must be problems with it is in the newegg user reviews for the case.

The Raidmax power supply was also practically silent, and worked fine in the test bed under heavy loads for several hours, and in another gaming computer for a couple of weeks without any problems.



Final Words

This was a bit of a deviance from our normal article structure here at AnandTech, but we really do feel that it illustrates things in the case realm in a rather enlightening way. Typically, the P150 is available right around the $150 price point, with sales bringing it down to $115. With this premium comes an incredibly stylish, quiet, excellent-performing, easy to use, sturdy, and above all a practical product, including even one of Antec's nicest power supplies. The P150 is a delight to work in, and the rail system makes everything snug and simple.

However, available for as little as $50, or $70 with a 450 watt power supply, one can receive a case which, in our opinion, is so close in performance to the P150 that the choice for anyone who likes the styling of both units is simply a no-brainer. The X1 does have a bit more of a "gamer's" look to it, but at least it's not nearly as distasteful as so many gaming themed units.

Finally, at the lowest price point, the E68 actually fared quite well compared to these competing products. For a mere $30, one can have a solidly performing, simple-enough, and still rather tasteful case that, at least from the front, looks like it's worth a lot more than what you're really paying for it, in our opinion.

While the P150's look will definitely grab some people's attention enough to warrant them getting that case, we really find the price a little steep, considering the lack of a door, screen, window, or anything else that would truly add that much to the cost of the product. If a user really cares about simple, elegant aesthetics, then perhaps they'll feel otherwise though. And, with the additional goodies of the X1 - namely the window and sharp LCD display on the front - available for only $20 more than the E68, the X1 gets our nod as the recommended case in this little roundup, and in fact, delivers so much bang for the buck in our opinion that it is deserving of our silver editor's choice award. Simply put, it's been a long time since we've seen such a nice case available for so little dough. Congratulations deserve to be sent out to all three manufacturers, though, for all of these units are above-average performers and come highly recommended from AnandTech.

Raidmax X1

UPDATE: The problem not previously mentioned of not being able to access the X1's ports after the door was closed is severe enough to degrade our judgement of the X1 from Gold to Silver.