Noob's gotta learn somehow

Here’s my 180P build. My goal was to keep it cable-clean, ambient cool, and watered down.

Also I’ll mention this build is a number of firsts for me:
1. First intel build.
2. First time modding a case (or anything for that matter).
3. First time watercooling.
4. First time OC’ing.

Everything in the past 10 years for me has been straight retail/amd/noobcake/air-ville.

Couple of references / inspirations / unadulterated rip-offs:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39094

First off, SNQ’s build. Some very nice cable access cuts. Getting from the lower rear chamber to the forward main chamber wasn’t something I look forward to. SNQ saw the empty space and violated it perfectly, and I hope my imitation is seen as flattery rather than a complete failure of originality and inginuity. Alright fine, I’ll admit it. I’m a lazy fuck.


http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1177124

Secondly, AndyM’s orgy of 120Bips. A lot of people complain that this case is hard to work with WC’ing, Andy’s build convinced me that if you can shove three 120 bips internally into it and make it look THIS clean, then this case is more than up to the task. And actually, at the beginning of my concerted research, Andy had only posted his original thread, and his ‘puter was running two bips. As long as there are spots to mount 120mm fans, this man apparently does not rest.


http://sarversystems.com/index.php?option=com_expose&Itemid=31 then click: misc. projects/antec p180
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=936507 mod thread

SarverSystems’ 120mod in the lower front bay. Although I’m resolving myself to keep the drive bay there and installing an 80x80x15mm fan instead, I probably wouldn’t have even bothered with this had I not seen it done already. This is a very handy mod to do for those of us without the foresight to not purchase an extended psu, yet still would like to get some additional air circulation.

Lastly, anyone else who’s posted pics or had build threads of your 180. Chances are I’ve seen or read it. Sincerely, thanks for taking the time to post. Hopefully, mine will give some help to a future p180/2’er… (maybe like a “what NOT to do” ) heh


ALRIGHTY. Here comes the pics.

Here’s the trusty build station with the components I had at the time the pic was taken. Missing is the Raptor, video card, cooling, and processor. \




Lil closer now..



After taking ev-er-y-thing off or out of the case, I proceeded to tape up the top panel so that I wouldn’t scratch it up while I was hacking away at the case. Couldn’t get the top off as it was stuck with adhesive and I’m guessing it would bow or break. (later I’ll find out preparation doesn’t always overcome ignorance)




Done.



First hack job was to drill out the rivets supporting the front bracket in the lower chamber. Easy as pie.



Then, I measured and drew out the positions of fan, sata/1394, and power connections that I would cut cable access for later. Helps make the cutting more efficient when I’m not having to look at the mobo or pics for positions.

OH! Look what Santa, errr I mean Fed Ex brought me. More daddy toys.



Started popping out the 5.25” metal bay placeholders when I realized that it might be useful for a lil somethin’ somethin’.



A couple quick cuts of the tabs, some grinding, and a few drill holes later:



Voila! One open air vent sealed. I still don’t know what I’m gonna do with the ones around the power supply.



Moving on to the fans, I cut out the rear 120 exhaust. I noted that in SNQ’s build he had cut too close to the side panel edge, and after installing his trim, had issues with closing the panel. Wanted to give myself enough room considering I don’t have the trim/gasket purchased yet. So that ment cutting at the narrowest/uniformed part and not taking it to the very edge. I might retrim this up later.



I wanted to make sure I kept enough of the grill to support the filters and case fans. I used masking tape to cover the portions I didn’t want cut, and then I didn’t have to worry about getting zealous with the dremel.



Having the majority of power and the hard drive sata cables coming from the lower bay to the upper bay, making a fat cut out of the side near the 3.5” bay was necessary. As well, scoring and trimming off the black plastic lower mount of the mid drive bay to accommodate the new length. ….did that make sense?



Made some room for the power cables to get from the lower-rear psu bay to lower-front hard drive bay without going through the fan/support brace. (MS word is telling me that’s a horrible sentence. Whatever.)



Next up is some hot motherboard tray action. Ohhhh yeah..you like that? Here’s another pic of my dremel being naughty again. Gonna fill this up with some USB/1394/Sysfan lovin’. The horizontal bar cut is access for the 8-pin power cable, rear and top 120mm fan power, and finally the front audio cable run (which is gonna be a tight fit with stock length..I might have to extend it).



Just another angle for reference. I’ll be covering all of the metal cut edges with some form of tape/protection, etc. Haven’t really found a good solution. I like what SNQ did, however that crap is impossible for me to find here.



Here’s the 8pin power cut. I haven’t learned how to put connectors on wires. Yet. So I’m making a time concession with myself. And just cutting holes to fit the connectors. Next time however….




Here’s the full shot of the tray side of the case. For the most part, finished, sans covering all the cut metal edges. You can see the access I did in the upper right hand corner for the two fan connections (neither will be connected to the mobo, rather a 3.5” fan controller). As well as the small hole for the front panel sound (far right, 1/4th the way up.



Here come’s my first (and guarenteed not to be the only) mistake. I got the dremel a bit too close to the case edge. Mind you, it was still dressed with butcher paper and masking tape at the time I was cutting. Regardless, a 10,000 rpm ANYTHING > Paper…which btw is > rock. You can see the scuff where my dremel made sexytime to my case.

I’m keeping a bit of a lip where the old fan grill was, in case I want to experiment with temps and do a real nice seal job for that fan hole.

sorry bout that.

looks good... you workspace is nice and clean

I cannot believe you are doing almost exactly I am about doing, and it makes me feeling I am watching rehearser for my upcoming show...
Agree with Adidas4275, your workplace is so nicely organized...
I'll keep looking after this log~

Nice mods so far. I look forward to seeing what you do with this

I did some similar hacking on my P180 so that I could run power cabling without having it look like I vomited it all over inside the case.
(see: http://images.pyrospheric.net/v/myc...rades_part4/DSC06537.JPG.html?g2_enterAlbum=0)

it looks like you know what you are doing ... but just super-double-triple check that your wiring will fit.

I ended up with a few cables that were mere mm short of where they needed to go ... and I'm in the process of creating a whole customized cable set (sata, usb, 1394, IDE, power) for my case now.

good luck with the mods, and I look forward to seeing the final product!

So I contacted Antec and they’re sending me out another top panel free of charge. Nice of them eh? So that will be a nice safety net in case something else “goes wrong” when I install the MCR 220.

I got my processor in (e6420 L649G592) but I was late ordering my loop kit from Petra’s. It’s shipped, but I won’t see it till Tuesday at the earliest I imagine. So, I’m just gonna test bench all my pieces and wait on the loop to get here.

Cleaned off the stock paste and reapplied Ceramique. Slapped the stock fan on, one stick the memory, video card, one drive, plugged in the 24,8, and for shits n grins the 4 pin as well. Connected the power supply to the outlet, LED’s up and shiny. Flip the switch…..aaaaaaand not a damn thing.

Was kinda fearful of that, and I was hoping to dodge the bullet. Apparently these striders are having a bit of an issue with this motherboard. There’s more than a handful of comments of people’s complications. Some have overcome them, others have not. I did my due diligence and obliterated my cmos in DFI standard format. And over the next three or four hours dinked and dunked my way no farther. Without another compatible PSU nearby, I couldn’t really troubleshoot as effectively as I wanted to. I popped the Silverstone on my old AMD rig that my son uses and it fired up no problem. Since it was getting late I figured I’d go the the nearest comp store the next day and get something that I knew would give me a good indicator if indeed my fears laid correct.

So I grabbed a new PSU, brought it home, swapped out the Strider…and well you can see what my status is as I’m writing this:

43% formatting on the raptor.

Anyone want a 750w PS? Hehe

as I mentioned early, I feel alike me making my rig from your post because similar components you are using..
Good thing to know ahead strider is no-no..., and so what you got as replacement? I am looking forward corsair 620w...

PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750 (you can see the box being used as sata drive storage heh)

I was going to go with the corsair as well, but there weren't any local within a 15 min drive. didn't have a lot of time to run around and go shopping.

I spent more than I wanted to, but at least I'm not worrying about my PS for a long while.

Spent tonight installing drivers. Tomorrow's an off-day for me. Hopefully some prep work in the back yard for the kids' new playset.

very nice. u dont look noobie at all

Huzzah! So the rest of my parts came today. All the watercooling materials, along with some black sata cables, a 80x80x15mm fan for the lower chamber, and some c-strip molding for the case.

It didn’t take but a minute to realize I was gonna have to rig up a way to install that 80mm fan and keep the stock filter in place and able to be installed and removed with bothering the fan.

I tell yah, think twice before you start tossing those 5.25 bay punch-outs away. Here I size one up both front and back for the job.

Back


Front


I drilled holes for mounting the fan to the bracket, then mounting it to the case (using the predrilled 120mm lower holes). Not seen in this shot, I lopped off the tabs on the top. Traced the inner shape of the fan and cut that out obviously.


Here’s the finished product. Turned out ok I think.


More.


I should probably concentrate more on sealing around the fan…we’ll see if I get to it. Having the rest of my parts including all the watercooling stuff on my workbench ready and waiting to go is getting me anxious.

Some pre-dinner activity on my part and I’m finished with the c-strip and grommet stuff with exception to the 8pin power connection. These turned out frankly better than I thought. I purchased some glue with the consideration that the molding wouldn’t stay tight after handling / manipulating it. Wasn’t the case.



Here’s an angle of the molding over the cut to made for the power supply cables.



Covering up the cut after taking out the rear grill.



Worked in a couple grommets for the 2 fan connections on the upper right and the front panel audio underneath.



One new hole and a grommet to boot for the side panel of the 3.5”bay. I’m putting my fan controller here for now and I don’t want the cables coming out of the bay.



More later as I progress. Thanks for watching.

very nice

That thing is starting to look really good, much better than the chainsaw cuts on mine . Keep 'em coming!

Thanks guys!

I'm >this< close to pulling off the grommets and cstrip to paint the frame and interior...but that's gonna add more build time.

I think my wife's sick of me using the dining room table for an interim test bench.

very clean, i like it a lot! goob job so far sport!

Very nice job dude!

That really inspired me to get a Antec case as well and do a little modding (Still thinking of whether to opt for the P180 or the P182).

Only one question though: Why did you go for a 80mm fan for the front? I'm just asking because a slow 120mm fan would probably push more air while being much quieter.

Regards, Flo

I tried to mount a 120x25mm fan straight to the front panel. Not only did I have clearance issues with the drive bay behind it, but the stock filter wouldn't lay flush. You'll find most people who opt for a 120mm fan at that location pretty much lose the drive bay to accomodate it.

I thought I had a lead on some 120x14mm's...but they aren't manufactured anymore.

The other choice was a 140x20, but other user's experience and reviews weren't good.

So, wanting to keep the drive bay and stock filters plus fresh air moving past the drives (aka having my cake and eat it too) ment downsizing to an 80mm. It may not be a lot, but anything's better than nothing.

I need to get a damn jigsaw. Yeah, I could use the dremel, but what man doesn't love an excuse to get a new tool?

Anyone have any input on em? looks like high end is about 150 (I'll be damned if I'm spending that much) to 35ish..

I could probably justify 60 on one if the quality actually validates the price over low-end. I have to put up the kids' backyard playset in the next couple weeks and I'm sure I'll get plenty of use from it.

I worked some more on the case this evening. Initially, I was just going to use my dremel to cut the top layer of plastic and let the jigsaw finish off the steel top panel. But after letting my dremel essentially get me to the redzone for the entire drive, I figured he deseved the scoring opportunity, and I let him bring it on home. Sure, I probably could have done it quicker with the jigsaw, but I was in no rush to get back inside the house. I could hear my children sceaming in there.

Printed off a pattern and made sure it was centered and squared. Re-taped up the top cover and went to work.



Here are the cut-outs.



Here’s the width of the plastic cover you’ll have to cut if you ever mod this case. Believe me, there’s pa-lenty of plastic to clean up afterwards.



Here is another view of the width of the cut. I filed down the edges to clean off any metal or plastic shavings and burrs.



Tomorrow I’ll start cleaning out the waterloop pieces and prepping them for install. I just ordered a radgrill. Should have that by Wednesday. This project should be finished by the end of the weekend hopefully.

very very nice!

Nice work so far! Definitely looking forward to seeing the end results

Well here's some hard truth about building a WC comp from scratch for the first time:

Unless you really have a firm understanding of what you need, prepare to add a week and multiple shipping charges to your build time.

I only say that because I've made about 3 orders that could have been condensed into 1. Guess I'll just chalk it up to a learning curve.

Anywho, the radgrill came today. I made my radiator cut too far in. I didn't take into account that silly top fan vent that protrudes out, and how it slides towards the front of the case to "lock" itself. So it's front edge and the end edge of the grill overlap. I'll probably have to cut and shave the fan cover to accomodate the grill. Seems to be easiest thing to do, and most inconspicuous.

As well, because I cut my radiator hole prior to actually having the radgrill, I left myself some room to fudge. Now that the grill is in from of me, I'll need to re-tape and mark to trim up the edges so that they're at least uniform to the inside edge of the grill. I don't want any case overhang underneath.

Pics later.

pics!!!!!!

looks good so far

Teknokid said:

pics!!!!!!

Click to expand...

Here&#8217;s the results from last night&#8217;s work: I added access for the gts 8800&#8217;s power, and added a bit more space in one of the holes near the 5.25 bays for sata data and power. Did a bit of temporary cable management to get a feel for how things were coming around. Made some of that permanent.





Here&#8217;s how the front&#8217;s shaping up. I still haven&#8217;t decided where to place the pump. If it&#8217;s on the right side of the case I have super easy power access. If it&#8217;s on the left, I can securely mount it to the case, which I would prefer, however power would be a pita.

A bonus to the power supply change (going from modular to standard) is that I now have room between the PSU and hard drive chamber to mount a 120mm fan. That was a nice surprise.

nice, keep thhe pics comin

Subscribed!

I have same case but my **** is too messy

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/624/img1206rg7.jpg

I will redo my water cooling with 7/16 and also will do a wire management this summer, it is interesting how you cut up the case, I'm going to do the same

o, and btw, rotary tool rules!

Is that a 120x3 rad on your roof?

No, its a 120x2 rad. I have 2 rads... here is my loop:
D5>Black Ice GT Stealth 240>TDX>MAZE4 (chipset)>Black Ice GT Stealth 120>MAZE4 (GPU)>DD Single 5 1/4" Bay Res.> and back to D5)

This loop + 1/2" tubing + P180 = my messy PC

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9359/img1194lc1.jpg
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/8558/img1195lw5.jpg

btw, on your place i would cut it all the way to fit the 120x3 rad, but the only rad that will fit in is the Stealth GT. They are very thin/slim.

Edit: hehehh you had to cut trough 5mm of plastic and .5mm of metal too huh? I broke 3 blades on my top cut... the stone ones... damn things would just get stuck and pop/shatter all over... good thing i had safety glasses. Those reinforced blades do the job better tho (the bigger ones), And using a jigsaw... don't bother, rotary toll is more fun

I thought about trying to shoe horn that stealth 360 in..

Couldn't sell myself on it. I don't really need that much cooling. one gts card and an OC'd conroe atm. If I decide to do a 360 it will be after I've jumped up to a quad core processor, and even then I'll probably look at a completely different case.


lol that sir is an orgy of tubes.

awwc said:

I thought about trying to shoe horn that stealth 360 in..Couldn't sell myself on it. I don't really need that much cooling.

Click to expand...

It would look better tho... 3 fans, one big rad, just imagine the top, or roof, how it would look

awwc said:

lol that sir is an orgy of tubes.

Click to expand...

I know, will redo em this summer. Will clean the blocks, put new Tygon 7/16" and will cut up the case for better management

lol, cable managements a realpain and you can never seem to hide them

Also where did you get those rubber black thingys you have in your cut holes for wires, and what are those?

rubber grommets. you can get em at any hardware store. got mine at home depot.

awwc said:

Here’s the results from last night’s work: I added access for the gts 8800’s power, and added a bit more space in one of the holes near the 5.25 bays for sata data and power. Did a bit of temporary cable management to get a feel for how things were coming around. Made some of that permanent.





Here’s how the front’s shaping up. I still haven’t decided where to place the pump. If it’s on the right side of the case I have super easy power access. If it’s on the left, I can securely mount it to the case, which I would prefer, however power would be a pita.

A bonus to the power supply change (going from modular to standard) is that I now have room between the PSU and hard drive chamber to mount a 120mm fan. That was a nice surprise.

Click to expand...

are you going to be using the top 2 3.5" drive bays? I removed the entire mounting assembly and cage there, and I placed my pump right there, with some silicon grommets under it (the ones that come with the case for your hard drives ... and I couldn't hear it ... and had no vibration!)

Here's a pic of my WC setup when I had my dual athlon MP's:


Also, if you do something like this and stick more than 2 drives down in that bottom cage, you'll definitely want that 120mm fan there, to keep them cool.

Yep. Those bays will be populated sooner than later. I wanted to test drive the new perpendicular seagates first. If they perform well I'll buy another two or three.

<editing this post because I'm a noob>.

Well, this 8-pin power adapter on the right hand side, combined with my lack of foresight to not take anything into consideration when I cut my rad placement (other than me wanting it to be squarely in the middle) leads to a major issue with fitting the radiator how I was anticipating.

So this was my best alternative at the moment:



I don’t know if I’m going to stick with it or not. Truth be told, if I can’t have it completely internal, then half-in/half-out isn’t much of a resolution for me. I’d rather fab a housing of some type and get the radiator out of the case and flush to the top panel. Regardless, I spent almost 2 hours driving around looking for 6/32 x 1 ¾” machine screws to accommodate this.

Either way, this things gonna get done and soon. I hate that my fittings are towards the front. But I don’t have much recourse at the moment.

So there you see the block on with rad and fans in. The usb, firewire, front panel audio, and both power leads are connected and happy. I checked the length on the 6pin pci-e power and it’s perfect, just waiting for me to plug the card in.

I didn’t get barely any time to work on it this weekend. I think that compounded my frustration with the new development. I do admit though, provided that the temps will be ok, it's not bad per se. I mean, I've got the fans on a bed of fan gaskets and there's fan grills on the top. It doesn't look horrible by any means. I think it's just the pain of me envisioning it a certain way and then not having it come to fruition.

Oh well...lesson learned. Like the title says...noob's gotta learn somehow.

More later..