antec 300 vs mini P180?

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar

Post Reply
truflip
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:59 pm
Location: Ottawa

antec 300 vs mini P180?

Post by truflip » Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:42 am

I suspect the Mini P180 would be quieter? Anyone else have the 300 and find it rather loud? It sounds like it resonates every thing that happens in the case.

I love the look of the 300 but I think I'd go for something quieter. Ive tried turning off the large fan, 120mm on low, CPU fan on low, GPU fan on low and it still hums. the PSU fan certainly makes noise but its pretty quiet. I think its just the case resonating everything.

Anyone else feel the same and switched?

sub
Posts: 105
Joined: Fri Jan 29, 2010 6:27 am
Location: Belgium

Post by sub » Thu Jun 10, 2010 10:47 am

Welcome on spcr truflip,

If you use antec fan i suggest to swap for quiet models like the nexus one, suspend your hdd on a free 5.1/4 bay with bungee cord.

A case won't be quieter than another if your don't have silent parts.

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Post by m0002a » Thu Jun 10, 2010 4:53 pm

I have a P180 Mini, and the stock Antec fans 200 mm top, and 120 mm rear, on Low speed are quite satisfactory IMO. Seems like the case is getting hard to find, almost as if it will replaced soon by a newer model?

alexrock23
Posts: 4
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2010 7:25 pm
Location: us

Post by alexrock23 » Thu Jun 10, 2010 8:08 pm

I have a Antec 300 and love it. It's an amazing case for the price. So much room in such a small size. I can't say I have used the P180 mini but I don't care too. I am so happy with my 300.

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Post by m0002a » Thu Jun 10, 2010 9:47 pm

alexrock23 wrote:I have a Antec 300 and love it. It's an amazing case for the price. So much room in such a small size. I can't say I have used the P180 mini but I don't care too. I am so happy with my 300.
Have you set a date yet?

BlackWhizz
Posts: 266
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2010 8:19 am
Location: OV, The Netherlands

Post by BlackWhizz » Sun Jun 13, 2010 1:58 pm

alexrock23 wrote:I have a Antec 300 and love it. It's an amazing case for the price. So much room in such a small size. I can't say I have used the P180 mini but I don't care too. I am so happy with my 300.
I have a antec P180 Mini and love it. Blablablah.

Worthless argument. Not to offend you but you have to have some arguments to support it.

Well, i have a P180 Mini and i think its a great nifty little case. Muchos punch in a midtower case. Really. Suspended harddrives. Enough space for 120mm fans.

The only thing as far as i can tell is the top fan. The motor/hub makes a noise when its mounted horizontally. Its not that loud (for example my quiet WD6400AAKS drive has the same sound level. I can hear both a little).

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Post by m0002a » Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:45 pm

The Antec 300 is not really designed for quiet computing (the subject of this website). It is designed for efficient cooling, but has too many open-air areas in the front and the side of the case to let noise out, and the panels are not sound-deadening like the P180 Mini.

For me, the 200 mm top fan opening on the P180 mini is not a problem because my computer is under a desk, and the fan is on low speed, so not noticeable to me. If it were a problem, it could easily be covered up and the rear case fan can be used instead.

truflip
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:59 pm
Location: Ottawa

Post by truflip » Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:27 pm

sub wrote:Welcome on spcr truflip,

If you use antec fan i suggest to swap for quiet models like the nexus one, suspend your hdd on a free 5.1/4 bay with bungee cord.

A case won't be quieter than another if your don't have silent parts.
thanks for the welcome sub!

I'll look into different fans. i managed to quiet down the antecs by applying rubber washers between on the screws so the fan doesnt touch the metal right away. seems to have helped quite nicely.

I also suspended my harddrive as you suggested on the 5 1/4 drive bay and i don't even hear the thing tick anymore when accessing data. I didn't use bungee, just thick rubber bands so I'll be replacing it with bungee before the rubber dries out and snaps.
m0002a wrote:I have a P180 Mini, and the stock Antec fans 200 mm top, and 120 mm rear, on Low speed are quite satisfactory IMO. Seems like the case is getting hard to find, almost as if it will replaced soon by a newer model?
thanks for your input m0002a. only two left in the whole city that I can find here. I did some research and an Antec rep mentioned there won't be a replacement to the Mini P180 coming up within the next six months. Maybe low demand so Antec isn't pushing them out?
BlackWhizz wrote:Well, i have a P180 Mini and i think its a great nifty little case. Muchos punch in a midtower case. Really. Suspended harddrives. Enough space for 120mm fans.

The only thing as far as i can tell is the top fan. The motor/hub makes a noise when its mounted horizontally. Its not that loud (for example my quiet WD6400AAKS drive has the same sound level. I can hear both a little).
I think my 300's top fan also makes a slight, low hz, noise. It would resonate on the thin metal of this case so I put rubber between it and the metal and didn't tighten the screws as much. fixed the issue for me.
m0002a wrote:The Antec 300 is not really designed for quiet computing (the subject of this website). It is designed for efficient cooling, but has too many open-air areas in the front and the side of the case to let noise out, and the panels are not sound-deadening like the P180 Mini.

For me, the 200 mm top fan opening on the P180 mini is not a problem because my computer is under a desk, and the fan is on low speed, so not noticeable to me. If it were a problem, it could easily be covered up and the rear case fan can be used instead.
Yea I realized that now. I'm satisfied with my temps and I decided to keep the case and work on silencing it. I really much prefer the look of it esp where it sits under my desk (dark so the perforated mesh front doesn't show much of what's behind it).

I double taped some egg-crate foam on the side panel and covered the side vent too. I'm thinking of painting on some undercoating paint on the side panels. They're supposed to help deaden or reduce resonance. Hope it'll work, if not, ah well, always wanted black interior :)

Thanks again everyone!

m0002a
Posts: 2831
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 2:12 am
Location: USA

Post by m0002a » Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:53 pm

truflip wrote:
sub wrote:thanks for your input m0002a. only two left in the whole city that I can find here. I did some research and an Antec rep mentioned there won't be a replacement to the Mini P180 coming up within the next six months. Maybe low demand so Antec isn't pushing them out?
I noticed the same thing (many vendors out of stock), and asked in another thread if it was being replaced by a newer model. I am not sure what is going on, because it seems to be a fairly popular case, at least on this forum. But the P183 ATX case is not much larger than the P180 Mini, so hard to say what will happen.

Post Reply