Sake, how's the zalman nb cooler? Is it cool enough, and could I have dual SLI in the future (w/ 2 Artic Coolers)?

DG, the sidepanel hole isn't very big; the screws are on the corners of a 7.5 cm square. Which i guessing would roughly translate into a 80mm fan.

It's a bit better now with DVD player and DVD/RW in.
Still the annoying low deep hum (like the ritme of someone breathing). It's not from the sidepannels or frontpanel. Had them off and it's still there. Will investigate later.
The hum makes it 4 to 5 times as loud!!

The NB gets pretty hot. Almost as hot as burning your fingers when you touch it for over 5 seconds. Therefore I have the 120mm Silent Nexus cooler as frontfan. Overall the system is rather cool. NVMonitor gives now after 15min UT2004@1280 and a couple of minutes idle CPU31 Mobo 36 and GPU 43. There's no sensor at the NB.

I also played with sidepanels off (of course)= little airflow and still no sign of instability whatsoever.

Please, can anyone answer me?

The diameter of the grill is 80mm.

Thx!
Too bad it's 80mm. I was hopeing to be 92mm...

The hum/drum is less when I swap the IBM40GB IC35L040AVVA07-0 for a Maxtor80GB PATA Maxtor 6Y080L0, but still too much. Working with the case sure makes the case feel less sturdy as my "old" Antec 660AMG. Less sturdy bound to give vibrations

I'm even thinking to go back to the 660AMG.
Then I need to mod the case to fit at least a 120mm frontfan, like the Nexus Silent 120mm I use now. Mmmmmm

I don't know how the 3000b compares to the BQE, but if it's comparable, I don't think your problem is the lack of sturdiness. Granted older ANTEC cases are like tanks, but at least with the BQE many on the forum (including myself) have made very quiet systems with these cases. Have you tried suspending your HDD?

Hello. Could you tell me what is thisfor? (the metal things on each side)

You can screw those metal things in unused drivebays between other drives. They prevent EMI from leaving the case.

Hum, thanks!

I'm still waiting for my 3000B and Nexus 4090 to ship. In the meantime, I'm wondering whether there would be any benefits to ducting the PSU. I plan to have a 120mm exhaust and the same for intake over the HDDs. Would ducting the PSU prevent its ramping up? If so, what would one use to go about such a thing?

Thanks
Cams

I received my 3000B about a week ago. So far I have not put a system in it yet, as I'm still waiting on some components, but I did notice a few things about the case that are worth mentioning.

On my system, the front case fan holes are drilled for a standard fan mount. The plastic fan holder can be removed and a standard fan mounted.



I'm not sure whether this only applies to systems in Australia or just a later revision than reviewed. I was pleasantly surprised.

As for the potential for noise escaping from the CAG/TAC grills, it is certainly possible to remove the plastic duct and swap the left and right side panels. The left panel is solid and is pressed to accomodate the large fan grill. Overall that gives you to flexibility to trade noise for air. Pretty happy so far.

Mod my Plus660AMG with 92mm fan(still to be replaced by a Nexus 92mm silent fan) in the back and Nexus 80mm silent fan in front.
I've cut out the "fangrills" completely and only replaced the back one with a separate grill. And yeah replaced the leds with blue ones. Complies nicely with the Antec Aria sitten in the "desk" next to me.

With the rest being all the same hardware except casefans there's only a very little hum.

With the 3000B being empty it's now better to be examinded.
So far:
Looking at details the 3000B is somewhat higher then an 660AMG. Could be more prone to vibration. What I liked was that the case has further lots of the positive construction of the 660AMG. Like the crossbar, curved frontplating. No reason to not be sturdy.
What I noticed is that my 3000B does not have the metal clips like my 660AMG has. The inserts are there. Wonder why Antec just did not put them there despite the cuts to place the clips are allready there
Mmmm, will have to find some of those.

My front panel is actually making a humming sound. I took it off and it was gone. Something must have been making it vibrate, maybe the HDD ?

Man, that would be great. I just got mine through today and it certainly does NOT fit my Nexus 120mm. I don't understand why anyone would put a space for a 120mm and not give you mounting holes for standard fans.

Grrr...

I moved my system from my BQE to the new B case this weekend. I had pretty much destroyed the BQE in my attempts at silencing (my first attempt). So far the only 'problem' I have found is that the hard drives make more noise in the B case than in the BQE. I don't have them suspended, just installed on the rubber grommets that came in the cage. I will have to work more on this later.

As far as components fitting in to the case, I had no problems installing the PSU, DVD, or CDRW. The Floppy was a bit tight at the bezel, but it went in with some gentle persuasion. One nice thing is that the BQE and the B use the same drive rails so all I had to do was slip the CDRW/DVD out of the other case and right in to the new one.

The CPU and video card vents are making a big difference in cooling.
My system used to idle (CPU) arounf 33 deg C, with the case around 29-30 deg C. Now the CPU idles around 26 deg C with the case temps very close.
I also don't hear any noise coming from the CPU or video card intakes.

I used to have a 120mm intake fan in the front, but now I don't need it so there's one less noise source in the system.

All in all I really like this case. I just have to work on isolating the drives and this will be a very quiet system.

Looks like a good case to work with.
I'm considering changing to it from my Sonata.

But i need your help with some questions.

1. The intakes on the side door. What distances are they from, let's say, the lower rear corner? I'd like to measure how they would end up to my mobo.
2. Would the Acoustipack for the BQE fit? Or should i get the generic one?

That's it for now, thanks

The BQE AcoustiPack does indeed fit - I fitted it yesterday into my 3000B. Simply cut out holes for the side intakes with a craft knife, and don't, whatever you do, take measurements to do the cutting and then cut the wrong side of the foam. A silly mistake, but an easy one.

Has anyone else with this case had trouble fitting the optical drives? I'm having a terrible time and have been at it for some two hours now. I read the earlier post about 'round silvery thing' going at the back but I'm none the wiser.

So, the flat side of the drive rails goes against the drive and the round silver bits (the flexible bits) stick out the front of the case. meaning the pointed ends are inside, pointing towards the back of the case? I cannot force a drive into position that way at all - it's a really tight squeeze, too tight to be forced with any hope of coming back out again.

Okay, so it's my first build but I've never had this trouble fitting drives before! I can't believe how hard it is. Might my case be faulty?

Any help will be gratefully received.

Yeah, I was pleasantly surprised too No need to drill any holes in my SLK3000B. This is the EU version though. I have no idea what the difference might be. So far the case looks really great and sturdy and well designed. It was quite cheap here in Norway. Like you I have yet to test it live though, waiting for some components to arrive.

Yes, the pointed ends go inside. On my drive I had to attach the rails as low as possible to get it in. I noticed that the rails were a little rough/sharp on the sides so I had to use some force to get my DVD-RW inside. Btw. you have removed the front while trying to mount the drive? Tried with another pair of rails?

Cams,

I think you are on the right track now. I had a lot of trouble with this too, but just to review the flat side of the sliders go against the drive and I found that they had to be screwed onto the lowest position on the drive. You have to insert the drive from the front and sometimes the sliders seem to get stuck on the guides or tabs inside the 3000b, but try to align everything square to the 3000b and push (should slide) in slowly. It really should slide in easily but it could get hung up on a wire or something. If it gets hung up, the sliders have probably run into the tabs or supports inside the 3000b and you need to back out some and push in at a slightly different angle. Try to take a look and see whats keeping it from sliding in. You shouldn't have to push that hard. Just keep sliding, backing out if you need too, and the spring loaded round things will click and lock into position. Then connect the ribbon cable and power. Also if you are mounting something else under your drive you might get some interference, but its best to just stop and try to see what's in the way, rather than pushing to hard. This has been my experience and the case after all is inexpensive and not as precise as one would hope. Post again if you're still having problems. - FG

I would be careful about pushing too hard. Its really a matter of finesse and the next time you have to install the drive it will be easy. I just took a look at my case and you can see one of the sliders as you intstall the drive. If something gets hung, try to see what the problem is before pushing too hard. Back it out, move it around a little, and push from a slighly different angle. Be patient if possible and it will slide in without a lot of force.

I just built a system with this case and there is a noticeable difference in temperature when the front face is removed. Clearly, the vents in the bottom do not allow in enough air. With teh front face removed, the air coming out of the PSU feels cooler and the video card was 5 degrees Celsius cooler (Gigabyte 6800 fanless).

Hi,

Can someone post some pics of the optical drives nearly installed as i cant figure out how to secure any of the drives .

thanks, mark............

Pitch,

I can't post any pictures, but if you look at the 3000b test here
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article210-page2.html
you can see what the case should look like before you slide the drive in, the mounting rails screw on so they are just about flush with the bottom of your drive - spring part is facing out away from drive and about 1/2" behind front plate of drive. If you're using the top opening like the picture shows the top of your drive will clear the top of the opening by about an 1/8". The rails will slide into the notches on the right and left.

These are the best I can come up with from my collection:



-and I'll just link this one so I don't violate the SPCR posting guidelines:

http://www.black-talon.org/pics/1/BQE_side_02_800.jpg

It's really no big deal to install them. You just screw the rails onto the drive with the chrome plated springy end at the front of the drive, adjusting the front-to-back location so that the drive face lines up with the case bezel when it's snapped into position.. The rails go on the lower set of holes as you can see by looking at the opening that they have to slide through.

Just wondering. Does the front fan make such a big differences in temp? and wich fan can fit the plastic socket in the case? Only Antec Ones?

I have a nexus 120 in there. - FG

I have a Panaflo 92mm in the front, and Antec Tricool 120 on the back. The front fan does not seem to make much difference in cpu or motherboard temps. It does for the hard drive, however. The max temp I have had on the HD without a front fan was 39 deg C.

With the Tricool on Low, the HD temp drops 3-5 deg C with the Panaflo at 5V (18CFM)

With the Tricool on Low, the HD temp drops 15-20 deg C with the Panaflo at 12V (43CFM) which drops it to basically room temp.

For what it is worth. I mounted the Panaflo by putting 7/16 x 3/16 inch rubber grommets in the grill holes closest to the 4 stamped front plastic fan mount holes.

thx for the info. I may wait to see a deal somewhere before buying a front fan then.