Antec P280 Performance One Case Review

The P280 supports boards up to the XL-ATX form factor thanks to the large size and 9 expansion slots.  For this installation we used the ASUS Maximus IV Extreme motherboard.  This P67 motherboard had no trouble fitting into the case with room to spare (and the color scheme looks pretty good in there too)!

For cooling we used the Thermaltake FrioOCK heatsink.  This heatsink is rather large measuring in at 5.1' x 5.1" x 1" (130 mm x 130 mm x 25 mm) and featuring two 130 mm fans.  The P280 handles heatsinks up to 6.7" (170mm) with room to spare.

Also notable is 13" (330mm) distance between the back of the case and the drive cage. This space should amply support today's larger video cards and offer the option of running multi card SLI or Crossfire

My first impression of the P280 was it is bigger than it looks.  Bridging the gap between mid-tower and full tower designs provides more additional room in the P280 than I would have guessed.  The result is a nice full featured case that supports larger XL-ATX builds and multiple video card installations with room to spare.  Airflow is pretty solid out of the box but adding the two front intake fans is recommended for any high-end build.

Looks can be very subjective in a case but I find the entire Performance One line attractive in a no nonsense way.  The addition of the noise deadening surfaces provides a nice addition with a minimal weight tradeoff.  I am not a fan of doors but the double hinged design overcomes the negative but moving out of the way when needed.  Overall the feature set provides a great value for the price point.

XL-ATX support
9 expansion slots
Noise dampening surfaces
Lots of internal space
Double hinged door

Left hinged door
Heavy for its class