P180 HD chamber is BAD!!!

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 4:27 am

I just finished upgrading my case from SLK3000b to P180. After 10 hours of work I finally got to turn this thing on but I'm totally shocked by the result. There is a very loud noise coming from the lower chamber. I turned off every fan to make sure it really is the HD noise. The Hard drive noise is so much that P180 is really 10 times louder than my 3000b on idle. I actually think my old setup was silent now that I hear this. Funny the rest of the system sounds almost the same as SLK but the HDs are soo loud I can hear them from outside the room:evil:

I have 2 spinpoitns and one WD.

My old case was heavy modded during the last 10 months that I had it in my studio, foams were put on everywhere you could think of which made me a near silent system with zalman fan controller for recording. The only reason I upgraded to P180 was because my 3 Large soft mounted HDs were placed very near the North bridge and CPU so I thought it transferred the heat alot. Now I have the same temp with a much higher noise level. didn't you guys say P180 will do a great job of damping the HD noise that you didn't really need to do DIY hd suspension. I'm really confused, and sad.

sorry this is not a very great first post. I been reading SPCR for 2 years and never felt I had to talk, but this thing is really killin me......

vertigo · Post by **vertigo** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 1:55 pm

How were the drives set up in your 3000B? Find out exactly what is causing the noise. What is the character of the noise? Is it only when all 3 drives are running?

Mystr_Byrnz · Post by **Mystr_Byrnz** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:01 pm

I've been told that hard drives get worn in like a pair of shoes to their orientation. I don't know how true it is, but it makes sense to me.

Basically, if your drives have been mounted in a horizontal configuration for a long time, they might act up if you move them to a vertical mount, since the berrings are sitting differently.

/shrug.

Like I said, that's just what I've been told and I don't have evidence to back up its validity.

Something you might check is the silver ring on the side of the drive cage. That thing rattled like hell for me. I pulled it off and now my drives are silent.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 11:53 pm

Maybe you overtightened HDD screws? Didn't secure drive cage? Also the 38mm antec trycool fan in the bottom chamber is horrible, replace it with something better.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 10:48 pm

pictures should talk. I tried everything said here and none worked.

SLK 2 P180

SLK Setup

P180 Setup

Bar81 · Post by **Bar81** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 9:00 am

What's making your noise definitely isn't the spinpoints if they're P80s. What you need to do is put the upper chamber back in and put the 2 spinpoints in it. Then take that crappy, loud WD and put it on a sound absorbing block in the bottom portion after you remove the cage.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:57 am

both of the spinpoints are P120s one IDE 160gb other one is a SATA 200gb. The IDE is very quiet but the SATA one is pretty loud, the WD is alot better than the spinpoint sata but not as quiet as the the spinpoint IDE.

My only reason for upgrading to P180 was to get the HD heat out of the CPU picture, so after spending 200 bucks on P180 I dont really think I should put them back on the top. The P180s lower chamber with coolermaster on its max and S12 fan exhaust running still does not cool the HDs as good my old case with the Nexus 7v in front.

I'm gettin same (even higher) temps with higher noise.

Vulcan · Post by **Vulcan** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 1:55 pm

Something else had to have changed here. The P180 is not going to make your hard drive noise louder. From what I've heard the P180 is quite good at dulling access noise, so something else is going on here.

warriorpoet · Post by **warriorpoet** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 4:08 pm

Maybe it's just me, but did you install your PSU chamber upside-down and screwy? Perhaps that's the source of your poblem.

conceptsurfer · Post by **conceptsurfer** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 5:10 pm

You must become one with the machine and gain understanding of the root cause.

Feel where the vibrations are emanating from.

Is the drive enclosure vibrating?
How about each drive itself?
The entire lower chamber?

If one drive is vibrating a lot, then clear out the cage and the other drives and mount this drive flat vs. vertical on one of your foam blocks.

Feel the vibration again. Less? More? Same?

Feel all around the lower tunnel. Is there any other vibration? Some vibration gets worse due to resonance. See what is going on.

Ultimately, the P180 drive bays *are* flawed. It would have been better to design a suspension system or simply provided 5.25" bays for DIY suspension. Manufacturers who think a few silicone grommets are going to work as well as suspended drives are taking the cheap and lazy route.

For three drives, a P150 would have been a much better solution for you. You get two 92mm fans blowing cool air onto the drives and all three drives can be suspended.

The P180 is good design except for the drive bays. Antec learned and fixed this in the P150. We have two of the P150s and they are awesome. No vibration, no noise. Only wish you could get the P150 without a power supply and a little taller with space for one more suspended drive.

Let us know what you discover.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 8:38 pm

As I said earlier I was very happy with the SLK but I thought my temps were high, P180 didn't solve that problem and only added more noise. Temps didn't change because SLK had a CPU duct, 180 didn't. The added foams and the front bezel in SLK did a great job of damping the HD noise, something that couldn't be done in P180, here is what Ralf says

"I prefer the front bezel design of the SLK3700 series, where Antec has achieved a better balance between cooling airflow and noise reduction."

when I was buying the SLK I read people saying to wait for the P180 and I wasn't interested. Neither I was interested when I bought it 3 weeks ago. I thought the lower chamber would solve my problem. There is no place even to do a DIY suspension which sucks.

But anyways thanks for trying to solve my problems. I'm ordering the P150 next week and I will heavy mod to make it silent again. Also I'm ordering two more samsung HDs to replace my current ones.

I will post again the results.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:48 pm

I personally think P180 is an excellent case, the loudest thing in my system right now is idle HDD sound which can't be dampened without putting them in enclosures, something I would never do since I value my data much more. Would you like to sell your P180, I might take it if the price is right.

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 9:55 pm

JazzJackRabbit wrote:I personally think P180 is an excellent case, the loudest thing in my system right now is idle HDD sound which can't be dampened without putting them in enclosures, something I would never do since I value my data much more. Would you like to sell your P180, I might take it if the price is right.

I will list it at a local forum called redflagdeals.com so wont have to ship it.
i live in toronto.

JazzJackRabbit · Post by **JazzJackRabbit** » Mon Dec 12, 2005 10:36 am

spolitta wrote:
JazzJackRabbit wrote:I personally think P180 is an excellent case, the loudest thing in my system right now is idle HDD sound which can't be dampened without putting them in enclosures, something I would never do since I value my data much more. Would you like to sell your P180, I might take it if the price is right.
I will list it at a local forum called redflagdeals.com so wont have to ship it.
i live in toronto.

Ouch, should have checked your location. Shipping to me would probably cost half as much as the case itself. Oh well...

Freelancer77 · Post by **Freelancer77** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 3:42 am

I have no wish to insult you, it's obvious from your pics that you did try everything you could think of to reduce the noise, but I'd still be shocked that it's the case causing it. I have four WD Raptors running in the lower drive cage of my P180 (2 x 36g, 2 x 74g), and the only sound getting out of the case to my ears is a tiny whine from the VGA cooler (Zalman 700) and some reflected sound from the top-mounted 120mm fan, because the space the case sits in only has 1.5" vertical clearance.

Understand that these are newer edition Raptors, which clearly have superior fluid bearings to the older model, but still not in anyone's "silent" category. But the lower cage doesn't vibrate, whine, or anything else.

I have to believe that somehow a metal-to-metal connection occured around the drives, allowing a path of sound conduction. Best of luck in any event...

kamina · Post by **kamina** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 4:39 am

I now have some fairly loud maxtors in the lower case, and I can't hear anything from them...

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Tue Dec 13, 2005 11:10 am

there is no space to do a DIY hd suspension, and then put lots of foams around the HDs like I did in the SLk. All I could do is to put some thin foams on the side pannel. Idid make a difference but wasnt that much. Putting good foams that has good sound absorption around the HD makes a big difference in the HD sound characteristic.

kamina · Post by **kamina** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:31 pm

Hi!

I left the maxtors at work when I brought my case home, and put my Hitachi 7k250 in the case. I was getting a really loud humming noise that came from somewhere around the motherboard. Closing the case amplified the sound so that it was audible in the whole room. I bought nexus fans and put them at 5v, but it did'nt help.

Once I stopped both the fans, I finally understood the sound was coming from somewhere else. I tried listening at the bottom chamber, but everything sounded silent there... Finally I thought it's some component on the motherboard.

After listening and listening I noticed that the sound accelerates when the computer is started, and seems to slightly slow down upon shutting it down. I opened the tightening screw of the lower hardisk case, and the sound level fell in half.

I had the disk with the bottom pointing to me, so I flipped it around. The sound dissapered completly, and now the computer is absolutly silent (well close anyway).

I still can't believe that a small change in the hardisks configuration can change it from "audible in the whole room" to "audible when your ear is next to it". I'm not convinced the direction of the drive made the differance, I left the screws alot looser this time (tightened by hand). Also two of the rubber grommits where placed with the thinner side in the cage, and I flipped them around.

Post by **MikeC** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:47 pm

conceptsurfer wrote:Ultimately, the P180 drive bays *are* flawed. It would have been better to design a suspension system or simply provided 5.25" bays for DIY suspension. Manufacturers who think a few silicone grommets are going to work as well as suspended drives are taking the cheap and lazy route.

This is so misconstrued...

1) There are few cases that cases that have rubber grommets for the HDDs, and much fewer that work even half as well as the ones in the P180. This may be just about the first use of silicone rubber for HDD mounting in a commercially made case.
2) There are only two cases that have rubber suspensions for the HDD -- the single drive capacity Arctic Cooling Silentium case, and Antec's own P150.

Products have different life cycles. Companies have learning curves, too. The P180 came before the P150 and affected the latter's final config, including the mounting for the HDDs.

Freelancer77 · Post by **Freelancer77** » Sat Dec 17, 2005 3:53 pm

I still can't believe that a small change in the hardisks configuration can change it from "audible in the whole room" to "audible when your ear is next to it". I'm not convinced the direction of the drive made the differance, I left the screws alot looser this time (tightened by hand). Also two of the rubber grommits where placed with the thinner side in the cage, and I flipped them around.

Indeed, a great number of factors and conditions play into any sonic emissions.

As for the drive grommets supplied with the P-180, there is such a thing as too tight, and almost no such thing as too loose. And the thicker side of ALL the grommets should be positioned UP. Those bear the weight, against the screw-heads on the outside, and the drive body on the inside. This is the Antec recommendation as well, included with the case's instructions. Having the thicker side receive the weight will mitigate vibrations more than having all of the thick sides toward the drive.

Poisonsnak · Post by **Poisonsnak** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:03 pm

I can also vouch for the P180, in the PSU tunnel I have a Phantom 350, SilenX 120mm (yes I know it sucks), 2 Seagate 250GB and 2 Seagate 200GB and they are pretty much silent, quieter than my ATI Silencer 5 anyway. I also have a Samsung 40GB in the top HDD tray and it is quieter than the vid card also.

Gxcad · Post by **Gxcad** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 8:39 pm

Freelancer77 wrote: Indeed, a great number of factors and conditions play into any sonic emissions.

As for the drive grommets supplied with the P-180, there is such a thing as too tight, and almost no such thing as too loose. And the thicker side of ALL the grommets should be positioned UP. Those bear the weight, against the screw-heads on the outside, and the drive body on the inside. This is the Antec recommendation as well, included with the case's instructions. Having the thicker side receive the weight will mitigate vibrations more than having all of the thick sides toward the drive.

Exactly, the screws should be tightened by hand not by screwdriver. Hand tight IMHO is perfect. Face the thick side of the grommets up as stated. If done properly I can't see how these thick soft grommets would transfer significant vibration. I wonder what really is the source of the noise increase? Could it just be less foam?

-Ken

spolitta · Post by **spolitta** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:38 pm

Poisonsnak wrote:I can also vouch for the P180, in the PSU tunnel I have a Phantom 350, SilenX 120mm (yes I know it sucks), 2 Seagate 250GB and 2 Seagate 200GB and they are pretty much silent, quieter than my ATI Silencer 5 anyway. I also have a Samsung 40GB in the top HDD tray and it is quieter than the vid card also.

your post really makes me fell you have made another meaning for silent for yourself. How could a system with FIVE 3.5" HD be silent? no matter how quiet the HDs are. somebody guide me here.

Freelancer77 · Post by **Freelancer77** » Tue Dec 20, 2005 11:48 pm

spolitta wrote:
Poisonsnak wrote:I can also vouch for the P180, in the PSU tunnel I have a Phantom 350, SilenX 120mm (yes I know it sucks), 2 Seagate 250GB and 2 Seagate 200GB and they are pretty much silent, quieter than my ATI Silencer 5 anyway. I also have a Samsung 40GB in the top HDD tray and it is quieter than the vid card also.
your post really makes me fell you have made another meaning for silent for yourself. How could a system with FIVE 3.5" HD be silent? no matter how quiet the HDs are. somebody guide me here.

By a significant margin, the Zalman 80x15mm fan in the VGA duct is the most noticable sound in my case, the VGA cooler being second. That includes four Raptors in the lower bay and a WD1600 in the upper. Now I've never called it silent, but what noise it makes isn't influenced in a big way by the HDs.

P180 HD chamber is BAD!!!

P180 HD chamber is BAD!!!

do a bit more clue gathering

Re: do a bit more clue gathering