Antec P180 + Phantom 500 PSU

clubhouse · Post by **clubhouse** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:04 am

OK OK... before you say anything... yes, that's the stock Intel fan mounted on my CPU. And yes, it's giving me... noise nightmares! But I have just built this PC and I'm getting the Scythe Ninja this week. Also, I'm still investigating on how best to cool the Pentium D 930... that thing runs quite hot!

Anyway, to make it short, here are some photos dedicated to those who complain about the cable management in a P180 and especially if you have a Phantom 500 in there!

I personally find the cable management just perfect (a few exceptions aside) and I'm very happy with what I managed to make so far:

Antec P180 case
Antec Phantom 500 PSU
Asus P5WD2 Premium motherboard
Intel Pentium D 930 CPU
2 x 1Gb 667Mhz Corsair RAM + Coolermaster copper heatsink
2 x 250 Gb Western Digital SATA II 16 Mb in upper chamber
1 x DVDRW Sony
Sapphire ATI X300 graphics card (I'm not a gamer! and this one's fanless)

Of course, I had to switch the lower chamber fan with the top fan in order to fit the Phantom...

The only thing bothering me so far is the 12V cable. I'm gonna try to find a way to re-route it.

Phantom view from the opposite side, where the cables are. I managed to squeeze all the unused cables under the Phantom. Just perfect!

As you can see, the cables go perfectly through the "chambers seperator" and they don't even block the lower chamber fan that cools the Phantom.

Here you can see the cables going just perfectly through the dedicated space.

Global view.

Now I just need to replace that horrible Intel fan!

I'll repost pics when it's done

And btw, if you're wondering, the Phantom has a D06 serial # and it's been working like a beauty even with ambient temperatures up to 30 C degrees...

Trunks · Post by **Trunks** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 6:27 am

can you move the lower fan to the other side?

clubhouse · Post by **clubhouse** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:40 am

Trunks wrote:can you move the lower fan to the other side?

Well, yes, since I am not using any hard drive in the lower chamber, I could move the fan to the other side... But:
- I find it just perfect like that, especially that the fan is blowing really close to the Phantom, and there's nothing between them.
- I am thinking of getting two more HD to make a full RAID 0 + 1 config

Honestly: I read so much here about the P180's difficult cable management, and the nightmares with fitting the Phantom there, and I was so afraid when I got the Phantom... but it was such a thrill installing it and I found it very easy to manage the cables. I am very happy with it

roo · Post by **roo** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 9:12 pm

duude!!! you're in Singapore? I just moved to Vietnam, and can't find any of the good brands I had in Canada. I'll let you know, but could you ship me some stuff?

I was looking at getting a P180 and a phantom 500 as well, but was hesitating because of the ambient temp, but I guess Singapore and HoChiMinh are pretty much the same, weather-wise.

clubhouse · Post by **clubhouse** » Thu Mar 16, 2006 8:52 am

roo wrote:duude!!! you're in Singapore? I just moved to Vietnam, and can't find any of the good brands I had in Canada. I'll let you know, but could you ship me some stuff?

With great pleasure!

I just moved to Singapore and it's quite good here to get stuff, but the best place is Hong Kong!

Believe it or not, they actually stopped selling the Phantom here a few months ago. I called the distributor and they said they had some problems with a few units so they stopped getting it from Antec.

So I ended up getting my Phantom in HK during a business trip, but I had to call them a week before and order it, apparently they don't keep lots of stock as it's not really on demand. Good news is I got a brand new Phantom with the new D06 serial number and it simply rocks. I was very afraid of the Singapore ambient temperature and if it would work correctly here, but I am gladly surprised that it's been the best part of my rig!

The Intel CPU fan is the most horrible nightmare, it actually spins at 3000rpm whenever the ambient temp is too high, for instance at night when I switch off the AC (when the computer is idle!... crazy

)

The P180 sells here at a few places, for S$260. I'm also extremely happy with it

Please feel free to PM me in case you need help in the future!

zoob · Post by **zoob** » Fri May 12, 2006 3:01 am

The only thing bothering me so far is the 12V cable. I'm gonna try to find a way to re-route it.

Run it behind your motherboard when you get your Ninja. Use some tape near the bottom of the motherboard to keep it in place. I did this and it makes it look more tidy.

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Fri May 12, 2006 5:34 am

zoob wrote:
The only thing bothering me so far is the 12V cable. I'm gonna try to find a way to re-route it.
Run it behind your motherboard when you get your Ninja. Use some tape near the bottom of the motherboard to keep it in place. I did this and it makes it look more tidy.

That's fine, but since the 8-pin connector is being used, an extension will be necessary. Here's a couple of US links:
http://www.athenapower.com/sub/CONVERTE ... 20LIST.pdf
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/ ... ts_id=2514

andyb · Post by **andyb** » Fri May 12, 2006 9:06 am

Without sounding too nasty, that looks really tight.

I have done mine quite differently, heres how and why.

1. I have pulled all of the cables through the hole above the PSU except for the PCI-E graphics power cable (I'm using AGP, which is on the bottom of the case on the right hand side of the PSU from the front, well out of the way).

2. I didnt see the point of the plastic thing that you have got the fan screwed into, and have soft mounted the fan using rubber grommets. The grommets are a little thinner than the plastic "thing", so I gain another 2mm.

3. I used soft cotton based garden string 2-3mm thick and tied it round the cables, and strait past the PSU (not touching it) and tied it to the back of the case.

4. The metal frame/bracket that holds the PSU down and reduces vibration due to the silicone strips has never been installed, as it just gets in the way, and is pointless for a PSU that doesnt vibrate, as its essentially fanless.

The above gives the 25mm fan extra clearance from the cables, which will help with the fan pressure, and therefore airflow.

5. I found that 4 HDD's + associated cables in the PSU/HDD section with the above implemented reduced airflow enought to cause the HDD's to warm up, as air is not escaping fast enough, and the PSU fan too kick in (nasty noise). So I removed both air filters from the front intakes, left 2 HDD's in the bottom, one on each side, for maximum airflow through the middle, and put the other 2 in the section above. I also turned on HDD power saving so I only have 1 or 2 HDD's working at a time (4 drives in total).

Since I have done No. 5 the PSU fan has not kicked in once, and the ambient temps have gone up 5C since then. The airflow through the PSU section has increased significantly, and the air is much cooler.

Andy

Dr. Gonzo · Post by **Dr. Gonzo** » Fri May 12, 2006 1:32 pm

I can see that fan in the lower chamber (right up on the PSU) causing problems mate. I'd remove it as essentially its not doing anything anyway besides possibly impeding airflow.

Raygers · Post by **Raygers** » Fri May 12, 2006 4:08 pm

Clubhouse, how's your soldering skills?
I've read where adding an extension to a power cable can cause problems if the connection points are able to oxidize (corrode) to the point where it adds an extra resistance load.
So bearing that in mind, when it came time to install the 12v wire in my P180 I spliced a length of suitable wiring (4 pieces) and soldered it in and then used heatshrink tubing to cover the joints.
I used enough length to be able to run along the bottom of the seperator panel to the back corner, and then up the corner, over the rear fan to the motherboard socket.
I still have some changes to make yet and one of them is to open a hole in the corner through to the PS compartment for the 12v wires, then I can eliminate the bottom run, it'll go straight up the corner, and if you use black split loom it'll hardly be visible at all to the untrained eye.

As for the Ninja, that's one great cooler. Think about ducting it out the back, or even the back and top as I ended up doing.

Above all, have fun.

Ray

acaurora · Post by **acaurora** » Sun May 14, 2006 7:29 pm

Looks nice, definately clean! Hope you find a solution for the 12V!