Well im selling my switch as the watercooling rig i had has been stripped down and sold, and now i was a quiet/silent smallish rig just for gaming and general use. Ive got a pretty bog standard rig going in it that will be plenty for gaming (i5 2500k/GTX 580) and i want a case thats not gonna take up the massive space and one thats going to be quiet. Selling the switch isnt as easy as i thought it would be but anyways the fractal r3 is cheap! but the antec is newer and possibly better ? Ideas please , oh the corsair 550D was also an option but they seem to be making us wait forever for it.
The 280 is said to be a bit better for hotter hardware, but it'll mostly come down to looks. I'd recommend the P280, but that's just because I love the Performance Series, mostly.
from Bit-techs Antec 280 review, "The Fractal Design Define R3 offers more refined looks and superior cooling, if not as many out and out features, and at only £73 is decidedly more wallet friendly too. " i'm not sure what Antec were smoking but that case is not worth £109.
I was looking for a similar quiet understated case and it seems like in America people have been finally getting their 550Ds delivered. Shouldn't be too long for a review which might be worth waiting for?
The fractal runs cooler with bit-techs equipment in. Also gets my vote, awesome case! http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2012/02/16/antec-p280-review/3
The new Corsair 550D may also interest you - pretty much Antec build quality and Fractal Design features all put into one case. EDIT: Some good pictures of the 550D in action here.
Well ill be honest, ive ended up with the p280 for various reasons mostly due to my local store having it and me having a credit account with them ! The 550D is still not out which disapointed me because corsairs customer support is the best ive ever experienced.
The P280 is a crappy case that Antec is trying to sell at a high price because they think that when people see the name P280 they'll think "Hmm, wasn't the P180 series great? This is 100 more! It must be amazing!!". If you want quality from Antec you should look at the Solo II or the NSK series. TL;DR get the R3
Wow lots of hate here for the P280 - I've heard tons of good things for it. Anyways OP, congrats on your new case. Pics of the machine in its new home! Also tell us what you think of the 280, now that you have one.
Have the P280 and a Fractal case, one cost nearly £50 more, so it should be "nice" at that price... dunx P.S. P280 can manage four dual slot GPU's, whereas I think the R3 might not (?)
