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The Interior

The side panel that gives you direct access to the interior of the case is held by two thumbscrews and the other panel is held together by regular screws. Once you removed the two thumbscrews and you remove the side panel, you immediately notice the weird structure of the side panel. It feels hollow and flimsy. The outer part is made from brushed aluminum, it has a plastic frame around it and the inside has plastic and aluminum layers for dampening system noise and making the Mini P180, like the rest of the Performance One series, one of the quietest cases available.

The Mini P180 has the same dual chamber design as the rest of the Performance One series (except for the P160W) and it helps keep the heat from the system stay away from the power supply. This way the power supply doesn’t have to acquire the heat from the system and let the fan spin harder to keep things cooler. The use of these two compartments also helps keeping a cleaner system with cable management and maintains a better airflow. The upper portion of the case is reserved for the motherboard and the two hard drive cages.

Included with the Mini P180 are two fans, one 200mm fan Tricool fan at the top and one 120mm Tricool fan at the back. Both pushing air out of the case. There are also two optional mounting spots for two 12mm fans that go behind the two filters at the front. This way you can cool your hard drives and have the air go through the case, and pushed out by the fan on the top or at the back.

You may also notice the divider between the upper part and the lower part. This sliding plate is held down with a thumbscrews and it lets you move it horizontally to accommodate all the wires going from the one halve to the other halve and keeping the two compartments as much closed as possible. This is done to optimize the internal airflow and keep noise to a minimum.