CONCLUSION

   With the Performance Line Antec has won the hearts of many enthusiasts, gamers and even office users all around the world so when they told us to expect the new P380 we were hoping for something unique. The P380 is unique in its own way bit unfortunately it’s far from perfect. For once we did like the design of the fascia (quite a bit actually) but we still can’t figure out why they skipped on internal 5.25” drive bays. As a matter of fact since the tower has two we think it would be easier and preferable had Antec used a door fascia which could be virtually identical to this one but yet allow access to the 5.25” bays. A smaller issue is with the removable drive cages since in order to do so you need to remove several screws including the ones holding the fascia (and that will take time). The front air-filter is a great addition to the tower but unless you place it on your desk or someplace high you will not be able to remove it (well you will but again it will take time to do so). On the other hand the P380 looks great, is of high build quality, offers a very spacious interior, comes with 3 pre-installed fans (and room for 3 more), has room for up to two 240/360mm radiators, can accommodate up to ten 3.5/2.5” drives (with the ones you can place in the two 5.25” bays by using adapters), has a swappable side I/O, left & right power and reset switches and features 9 PCI expansion slots.

   As a type these lines Antec asks USD160.49 inside the USA (Amazon.com) and 164.12Euros inside the EU (Amazon.de) for the Performance One P380 Full Tower a price which is actually a lot lower than what it was even a few months back. This price cut regardless of the reason is enough for us to “overlook” some issues with the P380 but certainly not enough for us to ignore all of them. In the end the P380 is a balanced enough offering by Antec to get our Golden Award.

PROS

- Build Quality
- Design
- Spacious Interior (180mm Tall CPU Coolers / 465mm Long Graphics Cards)
- Room For Up To Ten 2.5/3.5” Drives (With The Two 5.25” Drive Bays)
- Slim ODB
- Space For Up To 7 Fans And/or Two 240/360mm Radiators
- 3 Pre-Installed Fans
- Air-Filters
- Noise-Dampening Panel Coating
- Price (For Some)

CONS

- No Front 5.25" Drive Bays
- Hard To Remove Drive Cages
- Hard To Remove Front Air-Filter (If The Tower Is On The Floor)