Antec's P190 + 1200 marks the sixth chassis in their Performance One series, while also laying claim as the flagship model. Join HardwareLogic as we compare this newest edition to a classic lineup.
Thanks to the added length, the P190 + 1200 adds support for the Extended ATX form factor, and gives the ATX crowd plenty of elbow room to work with. That also means you can fit an elongated videocard (or two) into your setup without having to remove the middle drive cage. On the other side, Antec once again provides room for stealthy cable
routing, with plastic ties to keep cabling snug against the chassis.
We liked this feature on the P182, and our love affair hasn't subsided.
So what's the arrow pointing to? An internal snake light! Our eyes gleamed at the prospect of always having a bright light available for tinkering inside our case, but our gleam quickly turned into a glare upon learning it draws power from the motherboard or PSU - to power the light, you need to plug it into either a Molex connector or motherboard USB header (both cables are provided), which Antec instructs you to do while in standby mode. Call us crazy or just plain careful, but we're not going to be plugging and unplugging power sources with our PC still turned on, and we sure as (insert expletive here) aren't going to tinker inside our PC while in standby mode, and neither should you. Without a battery or other external power source, our once promising snake light is quickly rendered useless.
Standard for an ATX enclosure, seven PCI slots outfit the rear. You won't find a gimmicky plastic PCI retention clip in the Performance One series, and to our surprise, you also won't find any thumb screws. For a chassis that exhibits attention to detail and installation amenities in so many other areas, thumb screws would have made a natural, if not expected addition.
Removable drive cages is the name of the game, and Antec plays it well. Thumb screws hold the cages in place, and big metal rings makes pulling them out a simple affair. Four hard drives can fit in the bottom cage, and two more in the middle. All of them come accompanied with sound dampening rubber grommets. For optical drives, Antec utilzes plastic rails - screw them on and slide 'er in.
The dual-chamber system marks the Performance One's telltale trait, and we dig this newest implementation over the P182. Both openings are secured with thumb screws and can easily be removed. But we're still not keen on having a TriCool fan situated in the middle of the bottom chamber, where quarters tend to get tight very quickly. Instead, we recommend relocating the fan to the upper chamber behind the optional drive cage.
