There's a ton of related threads about the P182 and PSU cable lengths, but I think mine's a bit unique. I hope Mike Chin reads this thread since he has some pull with Antec.
I bought an Antec P182 case and have an Antec NeoHE 550 PSU. I'll bold this because it's important: Antec makes both of these products which means they should be compatible/tested with one another, and Antec also recommends the NeoHE as a PSU that 'works great' with the P182. Right.
Motherboard is an Asus P5N-E SLI.
The NeoHE 550's 24-pin ATX connector reaches the motherboard connector without any problem (both from the inside of the case and when routed through the back).
The problem is with the 4-pin 12V connector. It simply will not reach when routed through the back, and is SUPER tight (stressing the motherboard connector) when routed inside of the case. It doesn't matter if I have the PSU upside down or rightside up (thus moving the power cables to the left or right side, respectively). So, as things stand right now, I have a P182 that's cracked open and a PSU sitting on its side, outside of the case, with spidered cables going inside. Oh yeah, it looks great, and I bet it'll work great after I trip over it a few times...
There isn't anything worse than upgrading something in your PC, getting 50% through and realising you can't finish the job because some jackass decided to save US$0.00001 by making cables 6" shorter.
I called Antec support about this, because I was (am) seriously pissed off. After giving them the details, to which the rep. gave some decent "have you tried..." recommendations (yes, tried them all, sorry dude), he said (after looking at a picture of the P5N-E SLI) and I quote:
"It looks to me like Asus has their 12V power connector in a non-standard place. Our P182 case complies with the industry standard. You need to contact Asus and ask them to give you a 12V extension cable."
Safe to say this guy has no idea what the ATX standard encompasses. Yes, that's nice, your case fits ATX motherboards. There is nothing within the ATX specification that says power connectors have to be placed within X,Y region on the motherboard -- just like there's nothing in the specification that says the PSU has to be mounted "above" the motherboard.
I really hate it when people try to justify engineering oversights by firing off the "standard" buzzword. Just stop it, it won't work with me. I spend way too much time looking at specification rev PDFs as is.
So, my whole rant here leads me to the following question:
Just who is responsible for this disgusting mishap? Is this really Asus's fault? I don't think so. I think it's more or less Antec's own fault, and thus, they should be providing customers extension cables either a) with the P182, or b) with the NeoHE PSUs.
This whole thing has really put me off on PC hardware in general. It's too bad too, because quite honestly the P182 case is *the best* case I've used in my entire life. Well worth the money, and there's no way I'm getting rid of it. But Antec should be ashamed for not taking responsibility for their case design and PSU cable lengths.
Having to go buy extension cables to make Antec's own products work with one another is retarded.
Antec P182, NeoHE, and P5N-E SLI
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
Based on other forum threads and overall advice, I went ahead and bought a Corsair CMPSU-520HX PSU. Upon arrival, I didn't even have to plug it in to determine the length of the 4-pin 12V power cable was too short -- measurements matched that of the NeoHE 550!
I then did some more research on these forums, and found pictures of peoples' P180 or P182 cases. In every photo I saw with someone using the aforementioned PSUs, the 4-pin ATX was stretched tightly along the front side of the case (over the PCI slots and over the video card). What's wrong with you people? *sigh*
I therefore returned the PSU and bought some extension cables instead: a 24-pin ATX extension (12") and a 4-pin 12V power extension (also 12"). I didn't need the 24-pin extension at all, but I bought it as a precaution in case I ever get another motherboard. I bought both cables from PCH Cables.
The 4-pin extension was a bit too long (6" would've been better), but it worked out alright.
My case is now assembled, with about 80% of the cables being routed through the back. Sadly I couldn't make things as clean as others here could, due to the black "cable ties" intended for use on the back of the case continually breaking (the small little tabs that hold the cable in place kept breaking off! I went through two...).
In general, the case is *fantastic*. It's literally the best case I've ever owned, and cools incredibly well. Highly recommended purchase, but buyers should be aware that they'll probably need to buy extension cables.
I then did some more research on these forums, and found pictures of peoples' P180 or P182 cases. In every photo I saw with someone using the aforementioned PSUs, the 4-pin ATX was stretched tightly along the front side of the case (over the PCI slots and over the video card). What's wrong with you people? *sigh*
I therefore returned the PSU and bought some extension cables instead: a 24-pin ATX extension (12") and a 4-pin 12V power extension (also 12"). I didn't need the 24-pin extension at all, but I bought it as a precaution in case I ever get another motherboard. I bought both cables from PCH Cables.
The 4-pin extension was a bit too long (6" would've been better), but it worked out alright.
My case is now assembled, with about 80% of the cables being routed through the back. Sadly I couldn't make things as clean as others here could, due to the black "cable ties" intended for use on the back of the case continually breaking (the small little tabs that hold the cable in place kept breaking off! I went through two...).
In general, the case is *fantastic*. It's literally the best case I've ever owned, and cools incredibly well. Highly recommended purchase, but buyers should be aware that they'll probably need to buy extension cables.