Antec P120 Crystal Case Review: O11 Dynamic Lookalike
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Date: 2020-05-06
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Comments and reviews: 10
Kronguard
From my personal perspective - i had budget for both, this one and lian li, i chose antec over the other simply because of size. My all time favorite case used to be q300l, but the major downside was that it was mATX case with plastic side panel, and the magnetic dust covers really, really chocked the airflow (1x 240mm AIO 2x 140+3x 120+ 1x 80mm fans) and when you got around building a proper system it would get really cramped, while these two don't suffer from same issue, lian li for my personal preference is too bloated. Yes, the seperate PSU hub is a nice feature but it adds essentially an extra one third of the case's size on the account of ''what if i needed another PSU or some such'' and honestly, who these days runs double power supplies. So p120 is a perfect match for me and what i need, while it's larger than q300l, it also opens an option for full sized atx build, the top mounted cover for PSU can be gotten rid off, the bottom is off the ground at a level good enough where 3x fans actually can work really, really well. And unless you are a moronic idiot who ''side'' mounted his/her GPU, it really does help the GPU temps by a huge margin to a point where you can actually set your GPU fan curve to a point where they can actually idle, reducing the noise levels as well, because any dual/triple fan GPU will manage to produce more noise even at low rpm than your whole system provided you don't have bottom shelf case coolers. My only real problem at this point is the fact the case has top pannel covered
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From my personal perspective - i had budget for both, this one and lian li, i chose antec over the other simply because of size. My all time favorite case used to be q300l, but the major downside was that it was mATX case with plastic side panel, and the magnetic dust covers really, really chocked the airflow (1x 240mm AIO 2x 140+3x 120+ 1x 80mm fans) and when you got around building a proper system it would get really cramped, while these two don't suffer from same issue, lian li for my personal preference is too bloated. Yes, the seperate PSU hub is a nice feature but it adds essentially an extra one third of the case's size on the account of ''what if i needed another PSU or some such'' and honestly, who these days runs double power supplies. So p120 is a perfect match for me and what i need, while it's larger than q300l, it also opens an option for full sized atx build, the top mounted cover for PSU can be gotten rid off, the bottom is off the ground at a level good enough where 3x fans actually can work really, really well. And unless you are a moronic idiot who ''side'' mounted his/her GPU, it really does help the GPU temps by a huge margin to a point where you can actually set your GPU fan curve to a point where they can actually idle, reducing the noise levels as well, because any dual/triple fan GPU will manage to produce more noise even at low rpm than your whole system provided you don't have bottom shelf case coolers. My only real problem at this point is the fact the case has top pannel covered
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Artcore103
My first PC case in like 2001 was an Antec, it was literally one of the most popular cases for like 5 years at the time. My 2nd PC case was literally a 100% knockoff clone of that same Antec case by a different brand, difference being it had an acrylic side window, was silver instead of old-school computer beige, and was MUCH lighter due to the thinner steel. It was also cheaper. Wish I could find a picture, but the front has a door on the top half that covers 4 5. 25 bays and a spot for a floppy drive, and the bottom of the front has louvers/slits for airflow with space for 2 80mm fans on the inside front of the case. There are 2 removable 3. 5 cages that each hold 3 or 4 hard drives. it's got 2x 80mm exhaust in the rear, and of course a top mounted PSU space. I added an 80mm side intake blowing on the GPU area. My 2nd PSU, which I'm STILL using to this day, is a 550w Antec. I'm also still using that case TODAY with my 2500k, basic asus p67 mobo, original hyper 212, gtx970, 16gb ddr3 1600, 2tb hdd + 512gb 860 evo sata ssd [i think that's what it is] system, until my new stuff shows up monday. (p400a, 3800x, noctua u12s chromax, 5700xt, asus tuf x570 wifi, patriot viper 16gb ddr4000 b-die, silicon power 1tb nvme ssd the phison e12 or p12 TLC with 3400 read 3000 write speeds, and the crazy deal on amazon for the Apevia 800w 80+ gold certified psu for 65 bucks - non modular, and I'm getting a g604 to use for gaming only instead of my g602 for everything else.
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My first PC case in like 2001 was an Antec, it was literally one of the most popular cases for like 5 years at the time. My 2nd PC case was literally a 100% knockoff clone of that same Antec case by a different brand, difference being it had an acrylic side window, was silver instead of old-school computer beige, and was MUCH lighter due to the thinner steel. It was also cheaper. Wish I could find a picture, but the front has a door on the top half that covers 4 5. 25 bays and a spot for a floppy drive, and the bottom of the front has louvers/slits for airflow with space for 2 80mm fans on the inside front of the case. There are 2 removable 3. 5 cages that each hold 3 or 4 hard drives. it's got 2x 80mm exhaust in the rear, and of course a top mounted PSU space. I added an 80mm side intake blowing on the GPU area. My 2nd PSU, which I'm STILL using to this day, is a 550w Antec. I'm also still using that case TODAY with my 2500k, basic asus p67 mobo, original hyper 212, gtx970, 16gb ddr3 1600, 2tb hdd + 512gb 860 evo sata ssd [i think that's what it is] system, until my new stuff shows up monday. (p400a, 3800x, noctua u12s chromax, 5700xt, asus tuf x570 wifi, patriot viper 16gb ddr4000 b-die, silicon power 1tb nvme ssd the phison e12 or p12 TLC with 3400 read 3000 write speeds, and the crazy deal on amazon for the Apevia 800w 80+ gold certified psu for 65 bucks - non modular, and I'm getting a g604 to use for gaming only instead of my g602 for everything else.
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Artcore103
I prefer the Antec over the Lian Li, mainly because I prefer top USB vs front USB, and I don't need the extra width or space, and I like the door better. As I'm only interested in air cooling I also prefer the fact that it doesn't have top ventilation, for noise/dust reasons and the fact that I will be setting things on top of the case like a DAC/AMP. I would like to see a noise and thermals test with 3 120mm intake and 1 exhaust fan (+PSU exhaust. First of all, personally I like the idea of having 120mm all around, with the size matching. I'm also curious which is better. 3 120s or 2 140s. the 3 120s could blow more air around the top of the case which could be helpful. They're also cheaper, as newegg has the awesome 4x corsair silent 120mm fans for under 20 bucks. I ended up purchasing a P400A for a couple reasons even though I wanted to get a cooler master NR600 as I preferred the looks. We'll see how the P400A goes, it was only 70 bucks so I could always replace it at some point to get something that looks higher quality. I like solid front panels so the side intake seems like a potentially genius way of getting around that problem. The front glass is frickin sweet.
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I prefer the Antec over the Lian Li, mainly because I prefer top USB vs front USB, and I don't need the extra width or space, and I like the door better. As I'm only interested in air cooling I also prefer the fact that it doesn't have top ventilation, for noise/dust reasons and the fact that I will be setting things on top of the case like a DAC/AMP. I would like to see a noise and thermals test with 3 120mm intake and 1 exhaust fan (+PSU exhaust. First of all, personally I like the idea of having 120mm all around, with the size matching. I'm also curious which is better. 3 120s or 2 140s. the 3 120s could blow more air around the top of the case which could be helpful. They're also cheaper, as newegg has the awesome 4x corsair silent 120mm fans for under 20 bucks. I ended up purchasing a P400A for a couple reasons even though I wanted to get a cooler master NR600 as I preferred the looks. We'll see how the P400A goes, it was only 70 bucks so I could always replace it at some point to get something that looks higher quality. I like solid front panels so the side intake seems like a potentially genius way of getting around that problem. The front glass is frickin sweet.
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Brian
Dual chamber cases are the future. You can't improve a design by removing a chamber. It seriously befuddles me why there are so few dual chamber designs on the market. The best cases I've ever worked with have been dual chamber. My favourite was the Fractal Node 804. The possibilities for water cooling were fantastic. I could stick a dual pump top and second reservoir to directly feed and bleed it in the second chamber, however it lacked high airflow. The PC-011 was a good design but would benefit greatly from a larger second chamber. I had to stick my EK Revo dual pump in the main chamber. With thick radiators & the growing number of RGB controllers and monitoring hardware etc we need somewhere to stash them. Heat management is so much easier instead of having all the hot hardware in a single chamber. The ideal case would be a cube. A cube without glass covering every surface. Think PC-011 with equal sized chambers. I've been waiting for a good dual chamber cube case since 2016. How much longer do I have to wait!
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Dual chamber cases are the future. You can't improve a design by removing a chamber. It seriously befuddles me why there are so few dual chamber designs on the market. The best cases I've ever worked with have been dual chamber. My favourite was the Fractal Node 804. The possibilities for water cooling were fantastic. I could stick a dual pump top and second reservoir to directly feed and bleed it in the second chamber, however it lacked high airflow. The PC-011 was a good design but would benefit greatly from a larger second chamber. I had to stick my EK Revo dual pump in the main chamber. With thick radiators & the growing number of RGB controllers and monitoring hardware etc we need somewhere to stash them. Heat management is so much easier instead of having all the hot hardware in a single chamber. The ideal case would be a cube. A cube without glass covering every surface. Think PC-011 with equal sized chambers. I've been waiting for a good dual chamber cube case since 2016. How much longer do I have to wait!
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SirMeowric
I bought 3 Antec cases over the last year (2 torques and 1 striker. Those are great cases. Judging the company based on the competitiveness of their low-cost cases isn't really fair when their higher end stuff is top tier. The P120 appears to undercut the 011 in both quality and cost. Antec can't go head-to-head in pricing against a case that has much higher sales volume, and considering how much of the total cost of a case is shipping, saving 30 on build quality means it can't match on every feature. They probably intended the window latch as a boutique feature, but instead it's a plastic part that could break. If they'd implemented one or two features better for the same price, then the P120 would shine as an alternative to the 011, even if some of the water cooling features aren't there. It looks like someone at Antec thought we can do the 011 but better, then after design had the budget slashed.
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I bought 3 Antec cases over the last year (2 torques and 1 striker. Those are great cases. Judging the company based on the competitiveness of their low-cost cases isn't really fair when their higher end stuff is top tier. The P120 appears to undercut the 011 in both quality and cost. Antec can't go head-to-head in pricing against a case that has much higher sales volume, and considering how much of the total cost of a case is shipping, saving 30 on build quality means it can't match on every feature. They probably intended the window latch as a boutique feature, but instead it's a plastic part that could break. If they'd implemented one or two features better for the same price, then the P120 would shine as an alternative to the 011, even if some of the water cooling features aren't there. It looks like someone at Antec thought we can do the 011 but better, then after design had the budget slashed.
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Brian
GN needs to standardize it's tests by filling all the fan slots available with standard fans. The sort of fans that 90% of GN viewers have a dozen of, or so, laying around. I mean, what sort of seasoned PC builder doesn't have a big box of fans. GN doesn't really target noobs. It's average viewers are enthusiasts. The policy to only test with the fans provided or 'only' 3 Noctuas is a big disservice to the typical GN viewer. The existing policy favours manufacturers who provide cheap landfill fodder fans over manufacturers mindful enough to provide several fan slots. We purchase cases in the full knowledge of how many fan slots they have and are almost always more than willing to purchase decent fans with which to fill them out to their potential. A potential we would very much like to see included in your reviews.
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GN needs to standardize it's tests by filling all the fan slots available with standard fans. The sort of fans that 90% of GN viewers have a dozen of, or so, laying around. I mean, what sort of seasoned PC builder doesn't have a big box of fans. GN doesn't really target noobs. It's average viewers are enthusiasts. The policy to only test with the fans provided or 'only' 3 Noctuas is a big disservice to the typical GN viewer. The existing policy favours manufacturers who provide cheap landfill fodder fans over manufacturers mindful enough to provide several fan slots. We purchase cases in the full knowledge of how many fan slots they have and are almost always more than willing to purchase decent fans with which to fill them out to their potential. A potential we would very much like to see included in your reviews.
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Omit
I actually just bought this case January 13th. I really wanted the O11 dynamic but I'm a college student so saving that 30 bucks was kinda nice. I really didn't have a whole lot of problems with it. I really wish they would have at least gave you rubber grommets to fill the holes at the bottom of the case because the wires to the ssds are kinda noticeable. I also agree with the last fan at the bottom being hard to access, I didn't have a screwdriver long enough so I had to just put two fans at the bottom. I was stuck between this case and the lancool 2 but after thinking about it more I went with this and it's a good look alike case for 100 bucks. Also one thing that might be worth mentioning for me at least I couldn't fit all 3 fans at the side of the case without removing one of the hard drive cages.
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I actually just bought this case January 13th. I really wanted the O11 dynamic but I'm a college student so saving that 30 bucks was kinda nice. I really didn't have a whole lot of problems with it. I really wish they would have at least gave you rubber grommets to fill the holes at the bottom of the case because the wires to the ssds are kinda noticeable. I also agree with the last fan at the bottom being hard to access, I didn't have a screwdriver long enough so I had to just put two fans at the bottom. I was stuck between this case and the lancool 2 but after thinking about it more I went with this and it's a good look alike case for 100 bucks. Also one thing that might be worth mentioning for me at least I couldn't fit all 3 fans at the side of the case without removing one of the hard drive cages.
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Rory
Antec did make good cases, didn't they used to do Alienware cases many years ago. I did builds in these and they were highly popular. Shame some of the go to companies are either rubbish of shocking expensive and don't have well thought out cases. I like a Corsair case, but why I won't buy it is due to the PSU location (front bottom. I want to use my AIO which is not small and I want a functional case, that cools and looks good, even plain. Surely someone can make a folded mesh chase with a tray inside. Then back brackets (washers) that fit the mesh so you can fix things anywhere? It's not even expensive. But then dust is a nightmare and you don't get positive pressure. you get air flow and regular cleans. Lol. Still that's not too bad.
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Antec did make good cases, didn't they used to do Alienware cases many years ago. I did builds in these and they were highly popular. Shame some of the go to companies are either rubbish of shocking expensive and don't have well thought out cases. I like a Corsair case, but why I won't buy it is due to the PSU location (front bottom. I want to use my AIO which is not small and I want a functional case, that cools and looks good, even plain. Surely someone can make a folded mesh chase with a tray inside. Then back brackets (washers) that fit the mesh so you can fix things anywhere? It's not even expensive. But then dust is a nightmare and you don't get positive pressure. you get air flow and regular cleans. Lol. Still that's not too bad.
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Paul
Antec 900, oh yeah Still works. How long until we get cases so wide and tall that they come with built in VESA brackets and we go back to stacking the display on top the of cases. again. Me, still wonders getting two cheap cases and joining them together with some dremel love and have something special but cheaper. Though same me also wants to assist warm the water for a tropical fish tank, alaso could not use it as tank reservoirs as no fish can make it thru the CPU block, not tested but common sense prevails and cooking a CPU with fish poop - is not upon my bucket list, or anybodies - though do not tell Linus as he loves a challenge. :)
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Antec 900, oh yeah Still works. How long until we get cases so wide and tall that they come with built in VESA brackets and we go back to stacking the display on top the of cases. again. Me, still wonders getting two cheap cases and joining them together with some dremel love and have something special but cheaper. Though same me also wants to assist warm the water for a tropical fish tank, alaso could not use it as tank reservoirs as no fish can make it thru the CPU block, not tested but common sense prevails and cooking a CPU with fish poop - is not upon my bucket list, or anybodies - though do not tell Linus as he loves a challenge. :)
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Joshua
Last genuinely good Antec box I used was the Three Hundred. From 2008. It has agreeable cosmetics with a subtle design, and competent airflow, especially for its era. But it's from 2008, and would not survive modern scrutiny. Stock fans are just two in the top and back for negative pressure, rendering the front filter pointless, cable management is utterly nonexistent, you can't mount a 240 rad, and making use of the nonremovable front mounted drive cage will quickly block your front intake fans. Oh, and no 2. 5 drive mounts. You have to use a 2. 5 to 3. 5 adapter.
reply
Last genuinely good Antec box I used was the Three Hundred. From 2008. It has agreeable cosmetics with a subtle design, and competent airflow, especially for its era. But it's from 2008, and would not survive modern scrutiny. Stock fans are just two in the top and back for negative pressure, rendering the front filter pointless, cable management is utterly nonexistent, you can't mount a 240 rad, and making use of the nonremovable front mounted drive cage will quickly block your front intake fans. Oh, and no 2. 5 drive mounts. You have to use a 2. 5 to 3. 5 adapter.
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