I understand that a 10.5" card like a 5870 won't fit with the drive cage in place. What I guess this means is that the card hits the drive cage. But even if a shorter card doesn't hit the drive cage, won't a drive in the drive cage protrude meaning that you need an EVEN shorter card? What protrudes from the drive cage? Just the SATA cables or part of the drive too? I have a P160 so the drive cage in that case has the drives sticking out half an inch or so, but it may be different in the P183.
How does a 5850 fit? I know it's 1" shorter, but will it allow drives to go into the upper drive cage?
Pictures would be great... maybe with a ruler in place too. I'm wondering if I should bite on the P183 for $109 and 10% BCB on Newegg.
Antec P183 Video Card clearance?
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
From memory, part of the drives, along with SATA cables, will protrude from the middle drive cage in the P18x series cases.
The upper HDD cage is removable though, so unless you have more than 4 HDDs in your system, you should be able to put all your hard drives in the lower HDD cage in a P183 and remove the upper drive cage so longer cards can fit.
FWIW, I have a 8800GTX in my gaming PC in a P182 (linked in my sig). From memory the 8800GTX is 10.5 inches long, so have a look at the pics of my system to get an idea of how much clearance there is. (I've removed the upper HDD cage although from memory it just fit with my 8800GTX installed).
The upper HDD cage is removable though, so unless you have more than 4 HDDs in your system, you should be able to put all your hard drives in the lower HDD cage in a P183 and remove the upper drive cage so longer cards can fit.
FWIW, I have a 8800GTX in my gaming PC in a P182 (linked in my sig). From memory the 8800GTX is 10.5 inches long, so have a look at the pics of my system to get an idea of how much clearance there is. (I've removed the upper HDD cage although from memory it just fit with my 8800GTX installed).
I see. Thank you. Hmmm. So a tight fit. I have a massive file dump, and I've been living with 4 HDs, swapping out the old 200gb drives for 1TB drives. If I get a new drive I could go up to 5-6 drives.
At the same time I'm on a 4850 now. But if the trend is that 10.5" cards become the standard (even the 5850 is now 9.5"), then I might have a problem in terms of future upgrades. I don't want a HD upgrade in the future to come into conflict with a graphics card upgrade...
At the same time I'm on a 4850 now. But if the trend is that 10.5" cards become the standard (even the 5850 is now 9.5"), then I might have a problem in terms of future upgrades. I don't want a HD upgrade in the future to come into conflict with a graphics card upgrade...
Not sure about p183, but for a p180 a 5870 card is long enough to hit the drive cage regardless of whether there are any drives in it or not.
I had to entirely remove the cage to squeeze the card in.
Prior to that I had an 8800gt, which was just shorter then the rear of the drives with the cage inplace, the power connector (rather fortunately) just fitted inbetween the two drives.
I had to entirely remove the cage to squeeze the card in.
Prior to that I had an 8800gt, which was just shorter then the rear of the drives with the cage inplace, the power connector (rather fortunately) just fitted inbetween the two drives.
the way to handle multiple hdds and a long video card in the p18x series is to get an upper bay converter.
i went with the lian le version on newegg, which came with a quiet fan, it allows for 3 drives to be mounted... it's a very well-engineered piece of kit, with rubber-mounted drive holders.
so you'll then have the ability to mount 7 drives and the long card... the card length cutoff is about 10.2", longer means that you'll have to remove the middle cage.
if you want more than 7 drives and the long video card, you can buy an adapter that allows for mounting an hdd around random areas like the screws on the motherboard card slots.
10% bcb is gone, but $110 for the p183 is a steal... also look at the discounts on the mini-p183.
i went with the lian le version on newegg, which came with a quiet fan, it allows for 3 drives to be mounted... it's a very well-engineered piece of kit, with rubber-mounted drive holders.
so you'll then have the ability to mount 7 drives and the long card... the card length cutoff is about 10.2", longer means that you'll have to remove the middle cage.
if you want more than 7 drives and the long video card, you can buy an adapter that allows for mounting an hdd around random areas like the screws on the motherboard card slots.
10% bcb is gone, but $110 for the p183 is a steal... also look at the discounts on the mini-p183.
Re: Antec P183 Video Card clearance?
im sorry to bring an old thread like this up again, but it didn't really feel necessary to create a new topic about video cards in the p183.
what i'd like to know is, what is the maximum height of a graphics card in a p183? i'm planning to either get a passive gt450 or a 5750. but i'm a bit afraid that they wont fit as they're pretty large passive cards.
also, from what i heard is that the 450 has a tdp that is 18? watts higher than the 5750, would that have a significant impact on my airflow-management? if not, ill just chose the 450 as that one is a bit more powerfull
the cards in question:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc ... id=3402#sp
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVID ... ifications
what i'd like to know is, what is the maximum height of a graphics card in a p183? i'm planning to either get a passive gt450 or a 5750. but i'm a bit afraid that they wont fit as they're pretty large passive cards.
also, from what i heard is that the 450 has a tdp that is 18? watts higher than the 5750, would that have a significant impact on my airflow-management? if not, ill just chose the 450 as that one is a bit more powerfull
the cards in question:
http://www.gigabyte.com/products/produc ... id=3402#sp
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/NVID ... ifications
Re: Antec P183 Video Card clearance?
There is, VERY approximately 2.5 inches from the top of the mounting bracket to hitting your side panel. I measured this with the case closed while standing in front leaning over with a flashlight and tape measure, so it gives you an idea but maybe someone (or if I think of it tomorrow) I can get a more exact measurement.