He asked "who uses floppy drives anyways?" That was the question I was answering.

only ATX mobos are supported right? any possibility they'll support E-ATX in the future?

i don't know if the hinges are plastic as well, but metal would be nice.
also, looks like the front panel locks, if so, having the part where it locks reinforced with metal (if not already) would be good.

Well either way, not having a floppy drive would not really ease the installation of a single, dual-fan rad very much, due to the divider panel. I'm quite surprised he thinks it's the floppy bay that's the problem.

-Ed

i dont find floppies very useful, but i guess for some raid drivers.

modding to fit the dual rad in would be very easy if the fans were closer together. just cut a slot in the dividing plate and slide the rad in. it is likely that you would bolt the rad to one of the fan positions, and it would be slightly off the second, but it wouldnt be a big deal. with the floppy bay in there, thats out of the question. even if you could remove the interior mounting portion, one of the 120mm positions would be way off. maybe if you left the front floppy bay cover off, it would be alright.

my attention has been diverted to the sonata II now. i think modding that to fit a new 160mm rad might be what im looking for.

That 160 is a nice looking rad, too; I like the offset fittings--makes filling and bleeding way easier!

-Ed

Nice case - but I do not like the Top fan hole idea.
I would rather see just the rear fan move up closer to the top of the case .
the less fans the better .
the issue being that if you remove the top fan negative pressure will turn the top blow hole into an intake unless it is blocked off . for me it is easier to put a hole in than remove one .
Not for me I'm afraid . I will stay with my Sonata.

I just had to use one to flash my BIOS; I couldn't boot to windows with a Venice on my mobo without an update. I have to agree, floppies aren't very useful, but when you need one, there's pretty much no way to get around it.

I know some businesses need them too- My parents know a small business that still receives data on 5.25" floppies sometimes!

Thats really sad you know that?

Their industry (petroleum geology) can have some pretty demanding calculations. My parents just upgraded some of their older P4s since they were too slow... trying to imagine someone still using a system with just a 5.25"...

More on topic, I really want one of these, too bad I need the money for a hard drive I'll review one if someone will buy it for me

Most (all?) bioses I hav treid the last few years can be updated with something else than a floppy (a cd or something else, or even from windows, although that wouldn't help in your particualr case). And the drivers you need for sata can also be put on the XP-cd (slipstreamed). I cannot think of a situation in a modern pc where you canot do without a floppy, but sometimes you need to plan ahead, and it can be a little bit of hassle to make due without. Personally i do not use floppys anymore.

AtW

Yes, it can be done without a floppy, but if the MB manufacturer ships the drivers on a floppy then it is a lot easier to have one available. Most people have one laying around, and even new they only cost about $10.

I dont have a floppy in my system but I have one in a drawer so if I need one when installing windows I just open the side of the case up and hook up the floppy drive for a few minutes. When I am done I put the floppy drive back in the drawer. Slipstreaming a XP cd is nice but if newer drivers are released in a month later you have to do it all over again. For me its just easier to have the floppy drive in the drawer

[quote="IceWindius"][quote="Tzupy"]@MikeC: for the actual review, please show the P180 populated with a nForce4-SLI motherboard and two long cards fitted with AC Silencers. I don't think they will fit with the middle HDD cage installed. Of course, you won't really need the middle cage if the bottom one works as specified. But I'd like to see some close-up pictures of the cables passing from the bottom compartment to the upper one.[/quote]

Huh? Won't fit? Give me a puff of what your smokin there. [/quote]

Funny...
In my 3000B, if I'd want to use a Silencer, it would push into the ATA cables. Other people have encountered this problem too, the 3000B could be a bit longer. OK, this doesn't mean 'not fit at all', but 'not comfortably fit'... It looks like the P180 isn't much longer than the 3000B, but maybe I'm wrong.

Looks like it's already available for pre-order here in Australia for about US$170...

Would a Phantom 500 with the fan off work in the P180 with the airflow of that lower chamber 120mm TriCool?

How will you disable the fan without getting inside the PSU? It's well nigh impossible to get into a Phantom because of the way it's assembled.

-Ed

Maybe the Aria will work for you. I think it is as close as your going to get.
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article146-page1.html

This is a very tempting case, but for me the size and weight maybe prohibitive. But then that is probably unavoidable without compromising it's goals of being the ultimate quiet and power case. I'd still like to see a version about the size and weight of a Sonata. Maybe someday.

Are you sure?

The review says that «the grill can be popped off» and I'm willing to bet that the connector with the red wire is the power for the fan

Ah my bad; I totally forgot the fan is in a separate compartment, not buried within the bowels of the interior.

Thanks.

-Ed

So would that work? I'm just being hypothetical here

Actually I was thinking of doing something similar; installing an S12 with the cover and fan completely removed, even part of the interior panel snipped out, to make maximum use of tunnel air flow.

-Ed

if you remove the case of the psu, EM radiation will zap the planet!

Actually I think the P180 itself does a handsome job of preventing that.

-Ed

frontierpc.com has a "SPCR special edtion" available for pre-order

It's too bad the «spcr special edition» doesn't have some kind of extra noise-reducing features

Hey guys, here's an idea for what to do with that top blowhole out back for you water coolers! I'm thinking of trying this out if I can figure out a good way to prevent leakage (I didn't have great luck stopping the leaks with my last two Tundras)...

-Ed

Isn't the fan thermally controlled though? What I'm getting at is that if the 120mm TriCool keeps the temperature below 55C, then the fan in the Phantom won't turn on.

Actually, that's adjustable (the kick-in point), but yes, if it stays below the kick-in point, it won't kick in (duh...).

The question is whether it will definitely stay below the kick-in point or not.

-Ed

Yes, that's perfectly correct.

Here's a preview of a review conclusion: There's hardly a PSU in any system that could not be cooled in the bottom chamber with the TriCool fan set even at low -- assuming reasonable ambient temps (say under 30c anyway) -- maybe even with the drive cage filled with drives. Has to be documented / verified, but that what it seems like so far.