Antec P183 top fan problem, more to do with the case help

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 12:13 pm

hi all i have a problem with the p183 case and its startign to wind me up a littile, the problem is the top fan mount as silentpc review states.

At the top of the case, cutouts in the metal allow air to pass through. We believe the remaining metal outline of the fan hub and struts is the reason the top fan sounds so much worse when mounted compared to the rear fan. As a result, the top of the case vibrates heavily when a fan is mounted in this position. Why a complete circle wasn't cut instead is a mystery â€” there is absolutely no reason to leave a metal tracing of the fan structure. In addition, as the top panel of the case cannot be removed, and there is little clearance between the metal and the plastic grill above it, cutting this piece out will prove problematic. Decoupling the fan would certainly help, but this is also no easy task, as only one side of the fan is secured with screws. The other side has two metal tabs that keep the fan flush against the metal surface. This is an odd annoyance in an otherwise well evolved case.

I dont want to remove the fan as it does help air flow and i was woundering would a better fan stop this from happening at all ? or some sort of mod, I have the fans set to low but it still vibrating the top of the case i have even tried puting some heavy weight on top of it and has reduced it by 50% but you can still hear it a littile.

has anyone sorted this problem out and if so how ?

shame antec did not do a better job of the top fan as the rest of the case is top quality.

any help welcome

thanks

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:18 pm

i cut it out easily with tin snips.

as i recall, you can pull it out at the center, enough to where the snips will be able to get a grip on the metal... after making the cut, you can bend the piece of metal back and forth, where it meets the main case metal, and it will eventually break off... not a problem.

Wayne Redpath · Post by **Wayne Redpath** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:31 pm

The top of my p180 case resonates without the top fan running.

I screen fans for vibration by placing them on a surface that will amplify the vibrations and then run them at a full 12 volts.

You didn't say and so I am supposing that "I have the fans set to low" means you are using the Antec TriCool fans that came withe case. There are better quality fans available.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:44 pm

what fans ?

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:44 pm

danimal wrote:i cut it out easily with tin snips.

as i recall, you can pull it out at the center, enough to where the snips will be able to get a grip on the metal... after making the cut, you can bend the piece of metal back and forth, where it meets the main case metal, and it will eventually break off... not a problem.

did you do this to your p183 and did it make a difference ?

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:10 pm

yes, i did it on my p183 when i first got it, but i never ran the stock fan... plus, the noctua pf12 that i have there is blowing inwards, for positive case pressure.

a totally different situation, but i can't hear any vibration, at least over the noisy power supply

Wayne Redpath · Post by **Wayne Redpath** » Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:28 pm

meridius said "what fans ?"

My only experience with good quality fans is with the Scythe brand. They all work well and the Silent Typhoon model I have is VERY smooth.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:15 pm

what speed of s-flex would be good as the antec case fans are spec at low setting of 37cfm at 1200rpm dont want to get any fnas to loud and dont want to get fans with less spec ?

or the NOCTUA NF-S12 SERIES

Wayne Redpath · Post by **Wayne Redpath** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:43 pm

1. Both the Tri-Cool and the 800rpm S-flex were tested in this comparative review:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article695-page1.html

2. This review is also very good:

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0

3. The Scythe Gentle Typhoon is VERY smooth and has the most non-annoying noise signature that I know of.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cooler ... html#sect0

4. Two years ago I was using a Pentium 840 Extreme Edition CPU. I had the top fan blowing in to the Ninja CPU cooler and the rear fan blowing out of the chassis. That was very effective. Now I have a E2220 and have the top fan position blocked off.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 10:58 pm

cheers is it always better to block the hoel off if not in use ?

what s-flex fan should i go for

800rpm

or

1200rpm with fan controller

or a

NOCTUA NF-S12 SERIES

I am going to replace the rear fan as well i want somthing with the same spec as the antec tris at low setting but are a much better fan and poss quieter.

going to be getting one of these to for the rear fan but i dont know if its worth it for the front fan as they are mounted on a platsic mount then u slid eit into the case.

might even try it on the top fan dont know yet as many say to close the top fan off and place it at the front ?

AcoustiFan Anti-vibration Soft Silicone Fan Gaskets

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/produc ... fangaskets

ces · Post by **ces** » Thu Mar 25, 2010 11:30 pm

meridius wrote:what speed of s-flex would be good as the antec case fans are spec at low setting of 37cfm at 1200rpm dont want to get any fnas to loud and dont want to get fans with less spec ?

or the NOCTUA NF-S12 SERIES

Check the SPCR review of the Scythe Slipstream fans. Run the 1200 rpm fans at 5 volts, it is silent and pushes about as much air as the sFlex or the Nexus running at 7v.

If you need more air, the 1200rpm slip stream has that in reserve as well.

I put the data in some posting on this forum somewhere. I just don't remember where.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 9:55 am

mmm the antec at low is 20 dBA@1m 870 RPM 21CFM i thought the antec spec shhet said they run at 1200rpm at 37cfm set to low ?

are the antec tri fans over rated as spcr says they are ? if this is the case a 800rpm fan like a s-flex would profuce the same results as the antec tri fans.

but would the s-flex sound better than the tri fans at the same speed.

the antec p183 top fan might be casuing the vibrations on the top of the case as ehn i put a paper weight on top nearly all vibrations sounds stop and sounds like it should. so its the fan casuing it or the fixing of the antec p183 is poor as it is only screwd in at one side and a hing at the other.

so its the fan unbalanced or the case what holds the fan in is not good, also what i noticed is that the right hand side of the top of the fan when i put my hand there i can not feel any vibrations but on the left of the fan i can so its only vibratain on one side of the fan at the top of the case.

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 7:44 pm

the fan mounting on the top of the antec p18x cases isn't the problem, because it holds the fan really securely, it sounds like you may need to remove that metal that we talked about.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:43 pm

so are you 100% sure that if i cut out the centre it will stop the vibrations ? did it stop for your vibs ?

jsut dont want to start cutting and findinfg out it did not do anything.

alos can anyone help on what speed fan to get to get the same air out as the antec tri fans.

are the antec tri at low 850rpm fans ? the antec book says there 1200rpm at low ?

cheers

ces · Post by **ces** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 2:06 am

meridius wrote:mmm the antec at low is 20 dBA@1m 870 RPM 21CFM i thought the antec spec shhet said they run at 1200rpm at 37cfm set to low ?

are the antec tri fans over rated as spcr says they are ? if this is the case a 800rpm fan like a s-flex would profuce the same results as the antec tri fans.

but would the s-flex sound better than the tri fans at the same speed.

You really can't compare db test results between different testers. It is too variable and specific to the particular testing environment and protocol.

Just my subjective experience - the tricools are noisy. Noe noisy - I don't know.

All these fans generate noise, if not from anything else, from the air they move or from the filters their blades sweep by.

The best you can do is get a good fan and run it under 800 rpms. Once you get a good fan, the most significant variable is the speed of its blades.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 8:49 am

ok so shoule i get a s-flex 800 or a 1200 with fan controler ?

just dont know what to do as i want to get a fan that is at least as good as the antec tri fans set to low i dont want to get a fan and find out that the fan is not taking out as much heat as the antec tri on low

cheers

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sat Mar 27, 2010 5:35 pm

i can't promise anything, because my situation is different than yours... maybe try reading the p18x reviews here at spcr, if you haven't already? there has been a lot of discussion about the upper fan.

meridius · Post by **meridius** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 3:26 am

Hi i am going to cut the centre out as alot have said this is the problem

so i was thinking i might as well replace the rear and top fan with a better one and was thinking of getting a s-flex fan.

the problem i dont know which one to get a 800rpm version or the 1200rpm version, the antec case book says the fans set in low are running at (1200rpm 25db 39cfm) but spcr says that the antec fans run at low (870rpm 20db 21cfm) which is a hugh difference to what antec have said they run at.

i checked the spec of a s-flex and the 800rpm model is (850rpm 20db 23cfm) a slight improvment or air flow but the same sound levels.

so the question is is the s-flex 800rpm model on par with a antec tri fan at low setting or should i get the s-flex 1200 and use a fan controller.

would i get mouch improvment from a s-flex over the antec fan or is it not worth it

and what about the NOCTUA NF-S12 SERIES is this a better fan than the s-flex as it to seems to have the same spec (840rpm 20db 22cfm)

they all seem to fall in the same spec as the antec at low setting if its true about the antec fans running in low at (870rpm 20db 21cfm) opposed to antecs specs of low at 1200rpm 25db 39cfm)

can anyone help

ces · Post by **ces** » Sun Mar 28, 2010 6:41 am

meridius wrote:the problem i dont know which one to get a 800rpm version or the 1200rpm version, the antec case book says the fans set in low are running at (1200rpm 25db 39cfm) but spcr says that the antec fans run at low (870rpm 20db 21cfm) which is a hugh difference to what antec have said they run at.

Download the free speedfan utility. Then try hooking up each of these fans to the 3 pin fan header on your mother. Depending on your motherboard it should read the fan speed.

Measure the speed yourself. Experimenting on your own is the last step you should make in any decision. What something does you your specific system is the only thing that counts. There are just too many variables and versions and sources of confusing noise out there on the internet to take any information as accurate or applicable - even information from the manufacturer - especially information from the manufacturer.

Heck - that includes this very posting.