Making the best out of it: P180 (Dialup Warning)

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:24 pm

I haven't been happy with the P180 overall, aside from other things I've posted about it in the forums already. Cable routing and management is a big problem I have with the case. What I've done is try to clean it up as best as I could. System specs in sig.

Case:
P180, NeoPower 480, 3x 120mm Yate Loon controlled by an Aerogate III (all 3 at 900rpm).

The first thing that bothered me is the divider between the 2 lower chambers. Why they did not notch either side in order to route cables is beyond me. I trimmed up the right side of it. Doesn't effect the mounting of a fan at all and plenty of room for cables to come through now. But where do those cables go?

I used a dremel and made a cutout so the ATX cable and any others could come up into the motherboard chamber close to the motherboard tray. They don't block air flow from the front fan anymore.

I inverted the PSU so the ATX, P4 connectors would be on the right side of the case, giving both cables a bit more reach. I took care of the p4 connector by running it behind the motherboard tray

Cut out a small notch so with the side panel in place it will not buldge. I'm still working on a more "elegant" clip to hold the wires in place on the backside, but the tape works for now.

This goes up right to the top of the mother and can run any kind of fan connectors or whatever

I use the lower HDD cage to keep the clutter down in the upper chamber

Next I cut a hole on the underside of where the upper HDD cage would be to route SATA cables through there.

I never liked all the front panel wires running all over the place

Made a small hole to run the wires in the compartment next to the floppy drive (same place the SATA cable are running through)

Overall I'm happy how it turned out as the cables are much cleaner than previously.

Here is the system with all cables installed. Though not 100% done, I'm waiting on a replacement front panel/door from Antec so I didn't bother with the wires. I'm also waiting on more ATX connector pins so I can shorten the pcie cable.

What I was worried about is if the Yate Loons would push enough air to cool everything. But they provide plenty of cooling at 900RPM, there is only about a 2C difference in temps overall between the case being closed and open.

With normal browsing usage, cpu sits at 27C-29C and system temp at 30C. I ran 2 instances of Folding@home last night for about 8 hours with case closed and the cpu went up to 40C and system to 34C-35C. I run the Nexus on the Ninja at 12v, just because I can't hear it. Temps for the 3 HDDs range from 31C-33C normally. The hottest I've seen any of them run is 36C.

I'm glad I finally decided to get to the bottom of the silence vs cooling issue and found SilentPC Review. Before now, I thought Antec fans were pretty quiet. But they can't compete with the ones I use now, I'm pleasantly surprised by the low level of noise now. I was running 3 of the Antec Tricool fans at the lowest setting before with a Zalman 7700cu. My computer is now more quiet with both side panels off than it was before all closed up.

Silence would be great, but I was never really looking for a completely silent machine. The low, whooshing sound of air is no problem at all. The only thing I really have to complain about now is Abit not allowing for some way to turn the blasted red LEDs off on the motherboard

Sorry for rambling but that's my story

Thanks.

matt

McBanjo · Post by **McBanjo** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:05 pm

Intresting...just hope I dare to do some of it when I get the case. Put a dremel to that expensive case shakes me some ;-P
Still nice mods and I'll probibly use some of it myself

narrasuj · Post by **narrasuj** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:32 pm

Great cabling ideas (I really appreciate any cable ideas, I'm considering a P180), but does it affect the thermal separation idea? i.e. Does the heat from the hard drives rise up any into the upper chamber? Just wondering. Still, great ideas (though I agree with the above poster whether I'd be able to take a dremmel to a brand new P180).

Tzeb · Post by **Tzeb** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:36 pm

I think the extra molex under the last pci slot is needed only in SLI mode. I see you have one card, so you can get rid of it ---> one cable less

Nice work btw.

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:20 pm

Thank you guys.

but does it affect the thermal separation idea? i.e. Does the heat from the hard drives rise up any into the upper chamber?

Not that I have noticed. I'll try and snap a couple more of the hole I made for the ATX cable. I wouldn't see it being more of a problem than the stock solution (the black sliding partition) which I have it closed off.

I think the extra molex under the last pci slot is needed only in SLI mode. I see you have one card, so you can get rid of it ---> one cable less

I see, I wasn't 100% sure if it was only required or not. But I figured until I know for sure to just use it. I don't plan on going SLI, I couldn't find the AN8-Ultra

But one less cable is always nice

shades_of_blue · Post by **shades_of_blue** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 7:17 pm

i'm a bit curious as to if there is any noticable case vibration caused by the hard drives, all the reviews i've seen on the p10 have said that the drive cage is quiet. but i have yet to see a review touch on if the lower cage actually carries over any noticable vibration. since it appears that you have all your fans set low and multiple drives, i would assume that you might be able to answer that question.

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 7:54 pm

In my opinion it's very minimal, only when the drive(s) are working. But light or idle, no vibrations.

I think it's due to the system being a lot more quiet overall. But the HDDs now are really loud, both idle and active. My next thing is to figure out a way to suspend them in the lower chamber. If that means cutting out everything associated with the lower drive cage then so be it. The whine, at least to me, is annoying now that I can hear it more.

shades_of_blue · Post by **shades_of_blue** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 8:23 pm

well that answers that question. I had a feeling that were would still be a noticeable vibration carried over the case.

If I may make a suggestion, instead of hacking up your cage remove the plastic rails and in place of them allow the drive cage to rest sandwiched between two pieces of foam. I’m not sure how well it would work with those metal guide rails obstructing the foam pieces and the tie down screw notch possibly making contact. But it sure beats chopping up your drive cage for a solution that may or may not eliminate vibration.

Throwmeabone · Post by **Throwmeabone** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:59 am

So does your RAM fit okay with the ninja and the fan?

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Mon Mar 13, 2006 10:53 am

Hello,
Yes it fits fine. I install the ram first, then installing the Ninja I secure the clips closest to the ram and then the other 2. With the Ninja installed, there is enough room still to pull out the ram. The fan doesn't go any lower than the clips it basically sits on the clips.

So the bottom line is if I had to switch out the memory, I would only have to take the fan off. I have to tear the rig apart in a couple days, so I'll take a pic of the Ninja+fan over the memory.

Svartberg · Post by **Svartberg** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 2:39 am

That is a very useful topic for me, thanks.
I'm currently running the p180 with 2 of the tricool fans (front and back, not using the x35mm) with a 7700 zalman, i bet that brings memories

Basically the system is quieter than my last rig while idle, but on cpu intensive tasks it's noiser.
from what i read on SPCR, the 7700's fan is a noisy (although the heatsink is considered good), and the tricool fans aren't the best solution either.
I can't seem to find all those cool fans that are recommended here, although i can get a thermalright 120 or a scythe ninja, i can't seem to find a decent fan to go along with them.

reading this thread varifies what i was thinking about regarding the cpu/tricools, would the globe S1202512L-3M fans be a better solution than the tricools, and what nexus/yate fans were you using ?

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Tue Mar 21, 2006 11:10 pm

Sorry, the Yate Loons are the D12SL-12, I think that's the medium speed model. They spin at 1350rpm at 12v. I have all 3 hooked up to a Coolermaster Aerogate III, set to about 900rpm (somewhere around 7v I guess) and they are extremely quiet. I was using 3 Tricools before in the case and I can say there is a noticeable difference with using the YL.

On the Ninja I was running a B&W Nexus 120mm, but recently I tried it and I'm able to run the Ninja passively with just the exhaust fan.

The Nexus, from my limited experience, is the the most quiet fan I've heard running at any voltage. But the 7700 is a good sink too. I ran that for a while on this 4400 and kept very cool on low speed, even with a modest overclock at the time (200mhz).

So if I were you I'd hold off on replacing the Zalman and get some different case fans first. Then see how the Zalman sounds or if it's quiet enough for you.

I personally haven't used the Global fans, but from what people say they are right there with the Nexus and push a bit more air.

Have you tried PerformancePcs for fans? Thats where I got my YL and Nexus, I believe they do international shipping, not sure of the costs though. Coolerguys does international shipping too.

Raygers · Post by **Raygers** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 8:26 am

mbetea wrote: On the Ninja I was running a B&W Nexus 120mm, but recently I tried it and I'm able to run the Ninja passively with just the exhaust fan.

I was having prolems with memory and didn't like having to remove the fan from the Ninja to get to the memory, so I ducted to the rear fan and left the fan off the Ninja. I have the rear fan, a Yate Loon, plugged into the CPU header on the motherboard so it varies with the load.
Temps are great, noise is reduced and things are just easier to get to now.

Ray

mbetea · Post by **mbetea** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 5:48 pm

That's exactly what I'm looking to do. Well the duct part anyways, just haven't gotten around to it yet. I did try the concept out with some cardboard. CPU load temps dropped about 1-2C, but I saw a good improvement in my PWM temps, about 4C compared to without the duct.

Would like to do something in sheet metal though so I can drill a couple holes in the back of the case around the exhaust fan and mount the duct with thumbscrews for easy removal/installation.

BlueAvatar · Post by **BlueAvatar** » Wed Apr 12, 2006 3:49 am

mbetea wrote:The only thing I really have to complain about now is Abit not allowing for some way to turn the blasted red LEDs off on the motherboard

Yeh, I have an AN8 with red LEDs all over it too.. the only ones that really bugged me were the ones near the twin exhaust fans cos they would shine out the back of the pc. I found the easiest (and least effort) way was to stick a tiny blob of blu-tack over each one

Making the best out of it: P180 (Dialup Warning)

Making the best out of it: P180 (Dialup Warning)

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