Antec p-180 Maximization...

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Cantroy

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Well, if that is how you spell it... I just got my X-mas cash, and I have an Antec Truepower 2.0 Power Supply that needs a home inside of a case. Past Antec cases have been good to me, so after looking a bit, I found this slightly unusual nice looking case, and realized it would still be missing something...

Fans and such. While I am not a modder, I DO want to make sure I get the right equipment fan-wise to get good airflow <I plan on AMD x2 CPU or Opteron, so planning ahead for cooling seems wise> So, after all this presentation information, is there anyone who has a P-180 or is familiar with quiet decent fans and can make a recommendation on which to get and how many? I AM trying for being as quiet as possible, as I have a jet engine in my daughter's PC now, and I KNOW I can improve on that...

p.s. Looks like solid sides, too... could I add a window "easily", or is it worth it at all?

Cantroy, embarking on a new system build <YAY!>
 
your gonna need an additional 120mm and an 80mm.

the other 120s come with a built in 3 selection speed control... (lo-med-hi).

if i had the cash, id get some nicer 120's (5 total) and a fan bus.

also, get an x2, not the opteron.
 
also, i think putting a window in a p180 would defeat its purpose. which is to dampen noise.
 
there are only 4 120 mounts in the p180, unless you drill out the bottom cage, which would be pointless. the 120x38 is plenty to cool your hard drives.

The included tricools are pretty quiet, even at medium. Alternatively, the yate-loons at jab-tech are 6 bucks each, and are supposedly the same/slightly louder volume while pushing much more air.

Biggest thing is get a 120mm heatsink and a vga silencer/similar quiet card cooling solution.

ew, don't add a window. first of all, i think you'd probably have a hard time getting through the material, second, as stated, would defeat the purpose. very slick, sexy case, don't ruin it.
 
Fans: If you want "as quiet as possible", the stock Antec fans will be too loud at anything but the lowest setting. At the lowest setting they are really poor performers. I use Nexus fans in mine, which are the quieter cousin (lower cfm/noise) of the Yate/Loon fans for intake, and Coolermaster LED quiet fans for exhaust.

Heatsink: That case is really well designed to support a Scythe Ninja heatsink. I run mine passively on a 3500+. You can also attach a low noise 120mm fan to it to help push air thru the fins.
 
mickey987 said:
I think he meant dual core opteron...
Click to expand...

ah.. my bad. with all the hype about the single core opterons... i guess i assumed. :)
 
OK, NO windows, got it. I'll look at the fans listed and post a reply on which seem to be what I want... I was thinking dual core opteron if possible, but an X2 is also on the list. I know the Opterons are tested more, and I have a friend who works at AMD who is in design and he would rather have the opteron... OK, afk a bit, back to family time, and I'll order the case tomorrow, and hopefully the fans..

Cantroy

Also, on the plus side <editted to add this> no windows means no lights, or such, so a savings there /grin
 
Hi:
This is how I'm planning to do it.
Antec P180
My setup for air-flow/cooling/heat dissipation.
Lower Chamber:
Antec TriCool 120x38mm intake fan set to LOW and draws air IN through lower
front filter, over/around 2x500GB Seagate 7200.9 SATA2.5 HDDs; then pushes
air over/around Enermax Liberty modular 620W PSU and OUT of the case.
PSU has a quiet and smart (speed controlled by need) 120mm fan that exhausts
air OUT of the case.

Upper Chamber:
Extra TriCool 120x25mm intake fan set to MEDIUM draws air IN through upper
front filter, through upper driverless HDD cage and into case interior.
Antec VGA duct removed and holed opening duct taped over to prevent dust from entering and hot air from the rear area of case being recycled back in.
My motherboard has no chipset fan (heatpipe) so no turbulence from that.
My ATI X1800XT’s fan will exhaust its air/heat OUT of the case. (Intake yes but turbulence no).
Zalman CNPS9500 HS’s 92mm fan draws air in from the case’s upper interior area
(especially from the RAM sticks), though its own heatpipe, onto the Asus mainboard's heatpipe fins and into the upper rear Antec TriCool 120x25mm fan set to LOW and venting OUT of the case.
The top Antec TriCool 120x25mm blowhole fan is set to LOW and vents air OUT of
the case.

Relevant but not specifically mentioned above:
Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Toledo
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Corsair XMS-3500LL PRO 2GB kit

The one fan set to MEDIUM may turn out to be too loud but it is located where
it is easily replaced.
I’ll set it that way to avoid too much of a negative pressure state inside the
case which can cause unfiltered air leaking in.

My air setup is based on the gear that is going into it. YMMV.

Happy trailz,
 
Hey, Flea, thanks for the detail... And a scythe eh? I'll have to look into that during my lunch break tomorow at work <Got into a "religious" discussion with a friend tonight, and it took hours... I love X-mas> I don't mind replacing the stock fans, although I fully intend to look for a MB or a raid card that supports raid 5 sata if possible, as I do plan on 4 250 gig drives or better, knowing that they cost around 100 nowadays. (Future plans include just 1 video card, 7800 series (May SLI later,maybe in 2007?), a good MB Abit or DFI in sight at the moment. Not Asus, but that is another story, 2-4 gig ram, preferably 4, maybe a sound card <Creative for gaming>, and a DVD burner for fun, all being finished by EOM Feb or so, and I want to take the time to do it right) In any case, they may well be some heat to remove, so fans that push are preferred. I'll look at the Yate/Loons/Coolermaster. Oh, CPU yeah, I am comparing Zalman coolers with Thermaltake at the moment.

In short, lots of ideas, and I want to be careful, and yes, quiet. I had read the tri-cools were still a bit noisy, so I'm keeping my ears open...
 
Jason711 said:
ah.. my bad. with all the hype about the single core opterons... i guess i assumed. :)
Click to expand...

There's a lotta hype going on about the dual-core Opterons too, and I must say, it's not entirely unfounded ;)

To the OP:

Here's my fan setup for my P180:

Rear fan: Exhaust, low speed
Top fan: Intake, low speed
Front fan: Intake, medium speed
Bottom fan: Hard drives to PSU, low speed

All of them are the stock Antec fans. I bought another Tri-cool for the front, and they all work great. I also have a Ninja with a Panaflo mounted, so it pushes air through the Ninja's fins, and right out the back. B-E-A-youtifull :D
 
Just so ya know, thank you all for the feedback, It is greatly appreciated. I plan on ordering the case tomorrow with the fans... This will start me off on the right track =)

Dual Core Opteron preferred, and I understand now that a DFI MB is also preferred for this. Onward and Upward!

Cantroy
 
OK, more updates.. My father ended up at Fry's tonight due to his ASUS MB dying on him, as a lot of the rest of that series does <If I told you the model and mentioned CPU Failure, you'd find pages of complaints on google>, and he decided to look at cases too. In short, they have a p-180 on display and I can go look at before I order to know what I'd be getting... His description was "plasticky" which makes me wonder if what I was reading and what they have on display are the same, as Newegg lists them as having steel inside, not plastic...

ALso saw this ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, gah!!! I can see I'll be hitting the research a bit more before I spend this cash /sigh
 
just use the 3 fans it comes with and set them to low...

and get a slim 80mm fan for the side exhaust... you will want a slim one you will see.


man I love this case... very quiet and cools well... I don't know why people try to fill it with more fans then it needs though...
 
I'm currently going back and reading previous posts about the 180, and while some people DID say things about the plastic on it, such as the door not shutting right in some cases, I haven't read about anyone being especially unhappy with this case. To the last poster, I wanted to be quieter than the stock fans on high, and with the load I want to put in the case, 3 on low may not do it, especially if I DO get the scythe ninja cpu cooler and try to run it passive. SO, I'm still thinking about using 4, possibly adding one in front of the drives at the bottom, as I DO plan on using raid 5 with either the Asus a8n-premium or DFI lanparty-dr I am looking at. The ASUS is slightly cheaper at the egg, and both are good boards... I'm still thinking opteron, and I may hit my friend up to see if he knows where I get one at a discount or such... I dunno if AMD has employee discounts, but it never hurts to ask.

For those that have the ninja cooler, you still would get that instead of a zalman 7700, Thermalright p-90, or such?? They mention pairing it with a 120 fan, and yet, I see the case would have 2 fans there already. With the ASUS premium, which already has a heat sink by the back fan, could this be an issue there? I like the idea of removing a fan off the MB and using a heatsink there which is one thing the ASUS has over the DFI afaik.
 
Cantroy said:
For those that have the ninja cooler, you still would get that instead of a zalman 7700, Thermalright p-90, or such?? They mention pairing it with a 120 fan, and yet, I see the case would have 2 fans there already. With the ASUS premium, which already has a heat sink by the back fan, could this be an issue there? I like the idea of removing a fan off the MB and using a heatsink there which is one thing the ASUS has over the DFI afaik.
Click to expand...

The Ninja is better designed for the P180. It is the one that the folks at SPCR used when developing that case. Both the Zalman and the Thermalright work the same way: air blows down on the heatsink, not across it like the Ninja. There shouldn't be an issue with an A8N-SLI Premium in that case.

A 120mm mounted to the Ninja helps direct air from the front thru the fins. If I used one on the Ninja, I'd run it at a very low setting. The point is to push air thru the fins to the exhaust fan. However, you won't have to mount a fan to the Ninja in the P180. With the rear fan and the top fan set to exhaust, that should easily handle the heat from the CPU and chipset.
 
Ok, after looking at one on the shelf at Fry's, I admit to wishing the door was NOT so plasticky... On the other hand, it has the internal build I want with the power supply low, is quiet, and has good airflow... So, a p-180 it is. Also, upgrading the fans is indeed a good possibility depending on how I like the fans it comes with. I'll allow my ears to tell me. I also plan on adding a small 80mm for the card slots... 2 on top pushing air out around a scythe ninja <you all convinced me of that> and I'm still looking at the ASUS Premium as I am not really that fond of breakable parts on a MB. (fans DO stop spinning and cause issues) SO now I get to speak with my wallet, and once again, thank you all for your input here, I read every post, some 2-4 times... I will likely reread them again tomorrow as I order parts... ;)

Cantroy
 
Plasicky door? Hehe, you guys are going to kill me so don't read down unless you want your heart rent in two.











I removed the door from mine. Seriously, I have no door, just an all-black front. It helped a LOT with moving air over the front intake fans, and allows my green lights to shine through.

As much as I love this case, I am wishing I had gotten a LL V1000 or a SS TJ-06. I REALLY like the idea of the upside-down mounting method, but I've heard cable management in these cases can be even harder than the P-180's. *sigh* Oh well, anything is better than the cheap aluminum POS I was using before.
 
Hi, I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. If your going for a silent set up like you said you wanted, I would suggest covering the top blowhole, having one intake fan in the upper chamber, one rear output fan in the back of the case, and stick with only one fan in the lower HD chamber (the way it is set up when it gets to you). I moved the top blowhole fan that came with the case to the front of the base as an intake fan. I don't suggesting adding two more fans (another intake for the HD lower bay AND an upper bay top blowhole fan), as all this would do is increase the amount of noise generated. I believe the three fan set up will be more than sufficient (especially if you are ordering that scythe ninja).

I'm also going to advise against the 80mm fan (or at least check your temps before you add one). Also, same with the Scythe- make sure you need it by checking temps before you add one. You may not need it. I've read of many people getting really good temps with the heatsink alone.

Heh so I guess the one thing I'm trying to say is don't go fan crazy. Check your temps and add fans accordingly.

About the door, I don't think the door being plastic has any really has any bearing on the performance of the case. If you are concerned about the amount of air moving into the case, simply remove the two dust filters that come with the case. I'm really happy with my P180. Best of luck!
 
disc13 said:
Hi, I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here. If your going for a silent set up like you said you wanted, I would suggest covering the top blowhole,
Click to expand...

The blowhole tends to make a lot of noise, especially when the case is on the floor by your feet. I use Speedfan to turn down the fan speed to 65% and no longer hear any fan noise. Hot air still gets to go up.
 
Ok, 1 P-180, 3-Yate/Loon Fans, and 1 Scythe Ninja on the way... With an ASUS premium A8N sitting in my wishlist at newegg... I want to really research CPUs a bit more before I order that... I have a good foundation planned here, so I don't want to blow it on a lame CPU ;)

Cantroy

/edit/ps I did some thnking on the airflow, and I still want air to go out both top holes, so I may end up using one fan that comes with it on low there, and the other 3 will be the others... Should be lots of airflow over both the MB's and the CPU's heatsink that way, while still being relatively quiet.
 
Why on earth blocking the top hole? Just run the fan low enough that it ain´t audible but still allow air to get out that way.

Also I am a bit doubtful about that 80 mm side fan blowing on video cards. Dust one reason but also it disrupts the airflow on the default fans on the video cards unless you run passive. So I wonder how much good it does. Especially with the CPU air coming from the bottom the air might not be that cold either that gets back in...

Fans in themself do add some heat so remember that as well.

Also I think that unless you have 5 harddrives the PSU fan may very well do the trick in the bottom case. Now I have a 510 deluxe and am ordering a 510 ASL so I will still run with that 120 mm stock fan I guess. Everything that will prevent my PSU delta fans going max speed really.

I am definiatly going for a nice overclock and a little noise I can live with for sure. What is these jab tech fans? If I run them through fan controller will they push tons of air if I give them full juice? If I turn them down do they still have a good noise/cfm ratio? Worth it replacing the stock fans?

I am definiatly going to run at least one 120 mm on my scythe ninja is the yate/loon fans suggested on it? Running one on each side how much would it help CPU temps?

Now with one front intake and two exhausts I mey get negative pressure inside the case unless I go for a really powerful front intake I guess... Especially since I am going to use VGA silencers on my 7800 GT in SLI. But that seems to be the price to pay.
 
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