New Antec P180 Airflow Diagram. 3 Chambers. 8800GTS w/ HR-03

SlaveToSilence · Post by **SlaveToSilence** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 1:47 pm

my new parts have arived:

viewtopic.php?t=42530

but ever since finding out about the HR-03 plus (which i ordered also) i have read that it pumps all the heat from the video card into the case and raises the rest of the temps..

so i got thinking about how to keep everything as cool and quiet as possible and had this idea:

(i half-inched the picture from google images.. if the owner is out there i hope you dont mind)

havnt decided where to put the hard drive yet though! maybe in the 5.25" drive bay with something like this:

which would also bring in cool air from the front for the cpu (remove 5.25" blanking plates, maybe fit an air filter.. only need 1 optical drive)

does anyone know where to get one of these?

what do you think? has anyone done anything like this before?

butters · Post by **butters** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:44 pm

I assume from your diagram that the HR-03Plus would be mounted with the radiator below the card. I would recommend mounting it with the radiator above the card. Your massive 8800GTS PCB is a natural baffle. No cardboad necessary.

I'm not sure that it will fit this way with a fan on the bottom side of an Infinity. I'd recommend putting the fan on the front side. The key here is that the CPU and GPU radiators are packed close together, so they can share a common airflow path.

You shouldn't need more than three fans in this upper chamber. I'd recommend a Scythe Kama Bay in the bottom three 5.25" bays, without the fan, as the primary intake. You'll get more cooling with less subjective noise by putting the fan on the front side of the CPU heatsink as opposed to using an intake fan in the Kama Bay. Those three fans will pull plenty of air through the passive intake.

Now you have minimal thermal output in the lower part of the main chamber. Try sealing the HDD intake with duct tape to emphasize the upper airflow path. Just leave the PCI vents open to allow a little extra flow over the heatblock on the underside of the graphics card. The pressue from the upper fans will pull the air around the front edge of the card and back around to the exhausts.

deadbolt · Post by **deadbolt** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 9:19 pm

How many fans are you going to use. I count at least 5 maybe 6 which is allot.

SlaveToSilence · Post by **SlaveToSilence** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:56 am

isnt lots of slow fans quieter than a few loud fans? to push the same ammount of air

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 6:32 am

I'm a fan of lots of slow fans. My current system has 6 Scythe S-Flex 800 RPM fans @ ~500RPM. They are soft-mounted with weatherstripping tape and work quite well.

I like the idea of isolating the GPU and CPU, and recommend putting the HR-03Plus underneath the card for that purpose. In my system I have done basically the same thing, but with the GPU and RAID controller above the CPU (Lian-Li chassis with upside-down motherboard mounting).

Bories36 · Post by **Bories36** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:24 am

I did that, put cardboard over it and it dropped my CPU temps by a few degrees, very good for a free mod.

That fan thing is called an iCage, made by Thermaltake, its sold on Newegg. The fan is very bright and loud though. I would get the Scythe Kama Bay, it looks cleaner in a p180 and is a lot quieter.

deadbolt · Post by **deadbolt** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:04 pm

deadbolt wrote:How many fans are you going to use. I count at least 5 maybe 6 which is allot.

SlaveToSilence wrote:isnt lots of slow fans quieter than a few loud fans? to push the same ammount of air

You did not answer my question. 5 or 6 fans seems like allot for three tunnels. I would think you could do as good with 4 fans. You may be creating a negative pressure near your CPU with the 2 exhaust fans, but only one intake on your top tunnel. Also why double up fans on the power supply tunnel fans if the PSU has its own thermally controlled ?

One other thing you might want to consider is that cardboard is flammable. You might want to consider templast or cut up a few dollar binder from a stationery to get some nice firm plastic.

SlaveToSilence · Post by **SlaveToSilence** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:54 pm

good point about the flammable cardboard, i have one of those cheapo plastic folders that i could cut up perfect

as for fans im not sure how many i will be using, id think the more the better because they would/could be slower and quieter, we'll soon find out

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 4:18 pm

Don't worry about cardboard (or paper) igniting in a computer. The hottest part of a PC is less than half the flash-point temperature of paper (451F).

However, cardboard will degrade significantly (and eventually crumble) even at 100F, so plastic is a better long-term choice for baffles and ducts.

My suggestion is to use cardboard or manila for prototypes. Final (yeah, right!) versions can be built from plastic. My preferred material is styrene.

deadbolt · Post by **deadbolt** » Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:37 pm

cmthomson wrote:Don't worry about cardboard (or paper) igniting in a computer. The hottest part of a PC is less than half the flash-point temperature of paper (451F).

However, cardboard will degrade significantly (and eventually crumble) even at 100F, so plastic is a better long-term choice for baffles and ducts.

My suggestion is to use cardboard or manila for prototypes. Final (yeah, right!) versions can be built from plastic. My preferred material is styrene.

Do you mean styrene foam or plastic ? Could you please elaborate. What does this material look like and where would you get it. Isn't styrene plastic the clear plastic that super glue will not adhere to ?

cmthomson · Post by **cmthomson** » Sun Aug 19, 2007 8:51 pm

Styrene comes in various colors and thicknesses. The stuff I use is white and about 1mm thick. It is a stiff plastic that is "glued" with a solvent, much like PVC. Here's a link to a tutorial: http://members.shaw.ca/sask.rail/constr ... kstyr.html