Antec P101 Silent – A Closer Look
The P101 is about as large as a mid-tower chassis can be. Although, the case is not as heavy as I expected it to be, despite its size. The black matte finish is superb and the white parts contrast nicely. There are no windows or tempered glass side panels in the P101 since this chassis’ main selling point is quiet operation. The design does look modern and is only marked by the small Antec logo at the bottom of the front panel. The matte finish looks great and is fingerprint resistant to boot.
On the rear of the chassis, we find a removable plate, which is designed to make installing the power supply a bit easier. The black and white alternating expansion slot covers look nice as well and add to the overall theme that Antec is aiming for with this chassis.
The front I/O panel is located at the top and front of the chassis. Antec generously gives us four USB ports, two of which are USB 3.0. What is interesting about these ports is that they are LED-lit which make finding the port in a dimly lit scenario much easier! There is also a fan controller switch as well, giving us the ability to control the fans for hi-speed, low-speed or off operation. You also get the standard 3.5mm headphone and microphone jacks as well.
In addition, the front panel is a hinged door that when opened exposes the front cooling intake complete with a filter as well as three 120mm Antec fans. The front door is also lined with sound dampening material. If you are wondering about the front door impeding the airflow in this configuration, let not your heart be troubled! Antec has put forth the effort to make sure that the door is proper;y ventilated to ensure optimum airflow. I will add that the filter is easily removed for cleaning as well.
Similarly, we find another filter installed on the bottom of the chassis that is easy to remove as well.
The interior of the P101 is equally beautiful, featuring the same black and white perfectly contrasted color scheme. Additionally, the interior is spacious and right away the amount of storage for drives catches our attention. Many current cases only support a few drives, so it is nice to see this setup for a change.
Both side panels have the same noise dampening material as was installed on the front panel door. In our sample, some of the adhesive used seemed lacking as a corner or two was already beginning to peel back from the panel. The rear cooling system consists of a single 140mm Antec fan. Some may be surprised to see that Antec has thoughtfully included support for a single optical drive, which is still important for some users, including me!
I have always liked the Antec storage cage and bracket systems, which are typically sturdy as well as aesthetically pleasing to the eye. The P101 also has a power supply chamber that is pretty common in chassis these days. This design allows for the hiding of those pesky-but-necessary power cables and the like. The result is a clean-looking build, something that I think we can all appreciate. The top of the chassis is also lined with the same noise dampening material as the rest of the P101.
The backside of the motherboard tray is host to an SSD mounting bracket as well as several cable routing options. What I like here is that Antec did not try to over complicate the situation as some other cases have failed to do so. Sometimes simple is the better choice!
Now let us move on to the installation portion of this review!
