Antec SLK3000B: Minimalist Midtower for Quiet PC

zardoz · Post by **zardoz** » Tue Feb 08, 2005 9:38 am

hi,

im thinking of transfering from the bqe to the 3000b and i have a few questions that i hope someone can answer?

has anyone tried fitting the bqe side doors onto the 3000b model, if so do they fit (might be a bit stupid that one?)

does anyone know if you can fit a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Multi Fan Controller and still shut the door with accousti pack applied either on the bqe or the 3000b?

does anyone have any tips of getting acousti pack out of a case (a soloution of some kind for cleaning the gum of the case and a recomended glue for reapplying?)

cpklas · Post by **cpklas** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:02 am

zardoz wrote:does anyone know if you can fit a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Multi Fan Controller and still shut the door with accousti pack applied either on the bqe or the 3000b?

Hi! Need to know the same.
Best regards

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 3:32 am

Well, since the front door is curved, it depends on how close to the edges the knobs are, as well as how much they stick out.
You've got a bit more than 1cm clearance in the centre, a bit less than 1cm towards the edges. Of course, the foam's a little squishy, and the door doesn't spring open easily, so you've got some leeway.

Zardoz - what is the point of switching from the BQE to the 3000B? If you're keeping the same doors and PSU, all you gain is the different drive bay arrangement. IMHO, that's not worth the expense and hassle, but each to their own, of course.

cpklas · Post by **cpklas** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 6:51 am

Spod wrote:Well, since the front door is curved, it depends on how close to the edges the knobs are, as well as how much they stick out.
You've got a bit more than 1cm clearance in the centre, a bit less than 1cm towards the edges. Of course, the foam's a little squishy, and the door doesn't spring open easily, so you've got some leeway.

i have read that the left knob is 17mm from the edge and that each knob sticks out around 12-13mm. (thats what i have read, cant confirm)

faro · Post by **faro** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 7:07 am

Anyone have any luck removing the door without breaking it? (PSU duct)

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:24 am

Can you put it inside one of the external drive bays? There is a simple circuit somewhere on the site with a potentiometer that could be installed into the front door or one of the drive bays. Maybe there's another controller similar to the fanmate - I haven't seen one but there could be. - FG

Fan Control circuit

Another fan control

$9.00

link to door removal discussion
http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewto ... 3000b+door

Alternatively you can carve out a little of the foam so you would have a place to put the controller.

Please learn to use the search function.

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 3:27 am

cpklas wrote:i have read that the left knob is 17mm from the edge and that each knob sticks out around 12-13mm. (thats what i have read, cant confirm)

I think you'll be okay. The foam is very soft, and easily compresses down to about 1 mm, so if it does touch the knobs at all, it will yield easily.

faro · Post by **faro** » Sat Feb 19, 2005 6:20 am

Thanks frank.

Ridgerunner · Post by **Ridgerunner** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:02 pm

I was looking for a quiter fan than the Antec Tri-Cool, but that moved more air than the Nexus or Yates Loon look alike. Max of 60 CFM. Based on manufacture specs of 55 cfm at 26 dBh, the Papst 4412FGL looked like the best bet. I was disappointed; have others had a similar experience or found a quiter replacement in this range?

Subjectively, the blade turbulence noise is about the same between the two at similar flow; however, the Papst (Made in Hungary version) made more noise from the hub than the Tri-Cool. This was true even at lower rpms.

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:05 am

A globe from coolcases.com would be a good choice. The yate loon D12SM-12 from tekgems (the clear one) puts out more air than the orange one. - FG

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 6:24 am

Is this the Globe you are speaking of?

http://coolcases.com/cart/e120_4.html

--Lee

frankgehry · Post by **frankgehry** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:37 am

ilh,

things are changing. Globes apparently are unavailable for some reason. Search the forum for Tek-Chain. It's supposed to be a good fan according to Bill Owen who is at mnpctech, a friend of spcr. Coolcases.com is switching to them as well, but the globes were $8 and the tek-chain is closer to $15. The evercool at $5 might be ok but its not really a quiet fan. I would email coolcases and see if they have any globes left and buy as many as you can. I bought 6 several weeks ago. - FG

zenith · Post by **zenith** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:00 pm

zardoz wrote:does anyone know if you can fit a Zalman ZM-MFC1 Multi Fan Controller and still shut the door with accousti pack applied either on the bqe or the 3000b?

I have the Zalman ZM-MFC1 in an Antec 3000B case, mounted in the lowest bay from top. Well, you can just barely shut the door and I have no accousti pack mounted. It bulges a little out ( say 2 - 3 mm ).

as530 · Post by **as530** » Mon Feb 28, 2005 4:52 pm

zenith - but, can you push the fan controller backwards or is it maximally backwards already?

PPGMD · Post by **PPGMD** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 2:12 pm

Anyone else noticing cheap packaging with the SLK3000B's?

Everyone that I have purchased the Styrofoam comes apart as I pull the case out, as someone who likes to save packaging and put the computer back in the box to deliver to a customer it's rather annoying to me.

JimK · Post by **JimK** » Tue Mar 01, 2005 5:47 pm

Yup, my Styrofoam broke as I tipped the case out of the carton

AntecRep · Post by **AntecRep** » Wed Mar 02, 2005 7:55 am

I'll let the right people know what's going on.

I'll point out that our packaging is NOT designed to handle a full system and it's something we never recommend system builders to ship a full system in just our box.

AntecRep

-Jh- · Post by **-Jh-** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:53 am

Hi everyone. I just ordered this case and im wondering does Zalman VF700-CU VGA cooler fit in the case? I hope it does cause the stock cooling on XFX GF6600GT is really... REALLY bad.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:58 am

Why would it not fit? Yes, the VF700 protrudes beyond the top of the video card, but there is ~2in between the top of the card and the side of the case.

I have a CNPS7000, VF700, and an SLK3000B to put together myself this weekend. Now I just have to figure out the best way to suspend two SP1614Cs.

--Lee

-Jh- · Post by **-Jh-** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 10:11 am

Ok I suppose it fits then

I myself am trying to build a quiet PC with adequate cooling.

SLK3000B
Nexus NX-4090
Athlon 64 3500+
Asus A8N-sli
2x512mb Kingston DDR400
XFX GF6600GT

Gigabyte Rocket Cooler Pro
Zalman VF700-Cu
Zalman ZM-NB47J

As a frontfan I chose Glacialtech Silent Blade 12cm. Many of you will probably say that I shouldnt have chosen the gigabyte cooler but from what I have read from the reviews its really quiet at low rpm and can achieve great cooling with high rpm's and still remain relatively silent.

Im a bit concerned if the passive heatsink cooling will be a good solution for the Nforce4 but from what I have heard it should work.

teknerd · Post by **teknerd** » Fri Mar 04, 2005 12:46 pm

man i love my 3000b, i just finished my rebuild, moving my system from my sonata to it. I also added on an alx800 thermalright heatsink w/ 92mm panaflo and my cpu load temps have dropped from 54 to 45

MassMan · Post by **MassMan** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 1:43 pm

How do you remove the bottom holder for the hd cage that seems to be bolted through the bottom of the case?

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 6:17 pm

Drill out the three rivets.

tabbal · Post by **tabbal** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:35 am

To the VENDOR Rep who pops in his head from time to time to defend ANTEC, I have a question:

DID you fix the FRONT FAN MOUNT for a fan to fit properly?

The holes do not align with a 120mm fan in the 3000.

rtsai · Post by **rtsai** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:42 am

tabbal wrote:To the VENDOR Rep who pops in his head from time to time to defend ANTEC, I have a question:

DID you fix the FRONT FAN MOUNT for a fan to fit properly?

The holes do not align with a 120mm fan in the 3000.

I just completely removed the bracket and mounted a fan with zipties and grommets.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:42 am

The front of my 3000B has three sets of holes in the steel. The middle set is perfect for a 120mm fan (I tried a D12SM-12). If I look at the photo in the review, it is missing the middle set my 3000B has.

It would seem that Antec has fixed this shortcoming. I bought mine about 3 weeks ago from ZipZoomFly.

tabbal · Post by **tabbal** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 3:18 pm

ilh wrote:The front of my 3000B has three sets of holes in the steel. The middle set is perfect for a 120mm fan (I tried a D12SM-12). If I look at the photo in the review, it is missing the middle set my 3000B has.

It would seem that Antec has fixed this shortcoming. I bought mine about 3 weeks ago from ZipZoomFly.

That is good news! So it is a perfect fit?
How is the noise of the case overall with the 2 fans running?
When you got yours from ZZFly : was it packaged properly in another box?

I appreciate your answer! Thanks!

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 5:23 pm

Yes, the middle set of holes is a perfect fit for a 120mm fan. I am currently running without the front fan and will add it if the SpinPoints need extra cooling.

I was wrong about ZZF. I bought it from NewEgg on 2/25. It came only in the brown box that is shown in the review. The styrofoam was partially broken, but the case was undamaged.

tabbal · Post by **tabbal** » Thu Mar 17, 2005 10:37 pm

Yes, the middle set of holes is a perfect fit for a 120mm fan. I am currently running without the front fan and will add it if the SpinPoints need extra cooling.

Thanks Lee!

You are running it on 1 fan now?
How is the temp? Noise level? if you don't mind... what do you have in the case? and how do you like it so far?
Is the side tunnel making it louder?
Was the plastic front bezel easy to remove?
I am thinking of gettting one soon.
Thanks again!

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Fri Mar 18, 2005 4:08 am

tabbal wrote:You are running it on 1 fan now?
How is the temp? Noise level? if you don't mind... what do you have in the case? and how do you like it so far?
Is the side tunnel making it louder?
Was the plastic front bezel easy to remove?

One case fan currently, the stock Tri-Cool on minimum speed. It's not a bad fan. It was hard-mounted, but I now have it on E-A-R fan mounts.

As to what's in the case, see my signature. The only thing missing is the NEC 3520A, which is generally idle.

Noise level is probably OK, but its current location is not terribly quiet so it is a little hard to tell.

I like the case. It seems well-constructed.

I have the CPU tunnel disconnected and likely will cover that hole. It doesn't line up nearly well with my DFI's CPU location, and it likely just provides air that is immediately sucked out the rear case fan as they are so close together.

I have the VGA vent open and likely will construct some kind of duct to direct air to the VF700 intake. The 6800 GT is the hottest thing in the case by far, much hotter than my Winchester 3500+. I'll probably mock up some cardboard ducts at first. I think having this consume cool air will help out the whole case.

It is easy to take off the front bezel once the left side is off.

Antec SLK3000B: Minimalist Midtower for Quiet PC

fan control

120 mm Tri-Cool replacement?

Globe

search for tek-chain

Photo of my SLK3000B with 120mm fan holes in front

Re: Photo of my SLK3000B with 120mm fan holes in front

Re: Photo of my SLK3000B with 120mm fan holes in front