Antec P180 with OCZ ModStream 450W and Asus P5B Deluxe?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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raddygast
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Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:56 pm

Antec P180 with OCZ ModStream 450W and Asus P5B Deluxe?

Post by raddygast » Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:59 pm

I have spent countless hours deciding on a new case. I am building a new system and need to leverage my existing PSU.

I finally decided to forego the window and overclocking potential and just go for a silent PC. The P180 looks like a dream come true. Only the reviews I've read mention that due to PSU placement and the height of the case, some MB's will make it difficult to connect the ATX and 12V power cables from a bottom-mounted PSU.

I have an OCX ModStream 450W -- anyone have any experience with this? How much do I need in terms of cable length? The motherboard I'm considering has the 12V in the upper left corner, sadly.

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Post by NeilBlanchard » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:22 pm

Welcome to SPCR!

How long are the ATX and the 4-pin 12v cables on your PSU? I'd guess that ~18" is the minimum you'll need?

raddygast
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Post by raddygast » Thu Apr 12, 2007 6:44 pm

NeilBlanchard wrote:Welcome to SPCR!

How long are the ATX and the 4-pin 12v cables on your PSU? I'd guess that ~18" is the minimum you'll need?
Thanks, it's nice to be here.

I guess I'm out of luck... I measured 14.5" at most for the 12V cable. That's really unfortunate as I may have to get another case altogether, or throw in another hundred and fifty bucks for a Corsair HX620W.

:(

Any other case recommendations? I was really sold on the triple-panel construction of the P180 and was looking forward to a barely audible PC.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:38 pm

I was really sold on the triple-panel construction of the P180 and was looking forward to a barely audible PC.
The P180 is good, but it's not a miracle-worker. AFAIK the ModStream is a pretty noisy unit, placing it in a P180 might help a little but "barely audible" probably not on the menu (depending on your ambient noise level). If you must keep your existing PSU consider a fan swap and maybe change the case to a Solo (P150 w/o PSU).

raddygast
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Post by raddygast » Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:51 pm

Yeah, just finished reading up on the Solo, and I think I'm in love. Also it's much cheaper.

I just love the idea of suspension mounts for the HDD's.

As for the ModStream, it says it's "whisper quiet" and in my current system I can't really hear the fan noise above the noise of my insane 28.8 dbA 80mm fan that pushes 32 cfm (and the stock Intel cooler on my P4).

I can't do a fan swap on the PSU without voiding the warranty, right? Any recommendations for a silent fan? Have you guys heard of a company called SilenX? Their published specs put Nexus stuff to shame, so I'm wondering if they're full of it or not.

How silent is the P150/SOLO compared to the P180? I imagine that I'll run my machine completely fanless except for the CPU, PSU fan, and the one exhaust fan (which I'll replace with a 120mm Nexus or SilenX).

Here are my proposed specs so far:

Antec SOLO
OCZ ModStream 450W
Asus P5B Deluxe (fanless motherboard)
Core2Duo E6600 (stock cooler?)
Asus EN7600GS SilentHT (fanless)
WD5000KS mounted using suspension system

fans:

exhaust: 120mm SilenX (46 cfm 11dBA)
intakes: none (unless needed)

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:44 pm

Antec SOLO
OCZ ModStream 450W
Asus P5B Deluxe (fanless motherboard)
Core2Duo E6600 (stock cooler?)
Asus EN7600GS SilentHT (fanless)
WD5000KS mounted using suspension system
Good choices. These are pretty much all SPCR recommended parts, exc. the Modstream, which can be made quiet if necessary.
I can't do a fan swap on the PSU without voiding the warranty, right?
Correct.
Have you guys heard of a company called SilenX? Their published specs put Nexus stuff to shame, so I'm wondering if they're full of it or not.
If you search the forums for "SilenX" you'll find they have an extremely poor reputation around here. The specs are generally agreed to be complete BS. That's not to say they don't make good fans, but personally I would get a cheap, reputable fan such as Yate Loon D12SL-12 (from jab-tech.com). Virtually every SPCRer has at least one of these.

raddygast
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Joined: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:56 pm

Post by raddygast » Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:40 pm

I read up on that SilenX stuff, and as far as I can tell, they are on the "sh/t list" because of some shady underhanded forum tactics to promote their products. Is their stuff really bad? Cuz I already have a 80mm SilenX "14 dBA 32cfm" fan on the way to me for my current computer, as a stopgap measure until I assemble the new one.

The Yate-Loon you refer to... is that simply the Nexus 120mm? The thing I'm wondering is, is it only quiet if you undervolt it? I imagine most of my stuff is going to run at 12v.

Also, I meant to ask this earlier -- what fan would you recommend for the PSU fan swap? The same Nexus 120mm? Will it even work, i.e. does it have the right connectors to hook up to the OCZ PSU thermistor? Or is there no thermistor, and the fan speed is controlled by PSU load?

Finally, does anyone know of a quiet CPU cooler for a Core2Duo, but not necessarily performance oriented? The big CNP9700S LED by Zalman looks great but it's too big and expensive for me. I don't really want to overclock anymore; at least that's not my intention.

Would it be possible to use the retail heatsink and simply swap the fan with something quieter? Or is that technically not possible due to the way the fan and heatsink are connected?

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