Antec P182 too noisy!

dereksbelanger · Post by **dereksbelanger** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 6:35 am

Even on the "low" setting the case fans in an Antec P182 are the noisiest part of my newly built system. Since they plug into molex, rather than into the sysfan port I cant control their speed with speedfan.

I'm not sure what to do. Replace the fans? Somehow adjust the voltage delivered to the stock fans?

Who's got advice?

Matija · Post by **Matija** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:08 am

Replace.

Jurph · Post by **Jurph** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:12 am

Have you tried adjusting the fan speed with the built-in fan controllers on the back side of the P182? My P182 hasn't arrived yet but from what I've seen it looks like it is wired to the case fans by default. They should be a pair of small recessed switches on the back plate, right near the top edge of the case. ETA: Is that what you mean by the "low" setting?

If that doens't work, an expensive-but-functional solution would be to strip out the molex powered generic fans and replace them with 3-pin 120mm Scythe fans. That assumes you've got mobo headers available.

A cheap-but-riskier solution would be cobbling together an inline molex M/F passthrough to limit the fan speed. You'd think there'd be a market for molex rheostats!

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:27 am

Hi Derek & welcome to SPCR,

How many fans are you using? Try going with just one in the back (with the top one blocked off) and see if that still works?

Otherwise, you'll need to replace the fans with something quieter.

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:40 am

Replace fans and control the voltage on them.

protellect · Post by **protellect** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:43 am

if you're in the US, you can replace the tricool's with YateLoon's and Zalman Fan Controllers at less than 10$ per.

dereksbelanger · Post by **dereksbelanger** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:53 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hi Derek & welcome to SPCR,

How many fans are you using? Try going with just one in the back (with the top one blocked off) and see if that still works? Otherwise, you'll need to replace the fans with something quieter.

Hi Neil - thanks for the welcome! I've got an AMD chip and a XIGMATEK HDT-S1283 which means that my CPU fan blows straight up at the top of the case. So I figured that the top case fan has the most value in this situation. Running just the top fan does keep temperatures under control. I'll do some testing with tempratures running only the rear fan, but even that one fan is too loud.

Jurph wrote:Have you tried adjusting the fan speed with the built-in fan controllers on the back side of the P182? My P182 hasn't arrived yet but from what I've seen it looks like it is wired to the case fans by default. They should be a pair of small recessed switches on the back plate, right near the top edge of the case. ETA: Is that what you mean by the "low" setting?

If that doesnâ€™t work, an expensive-but-functional solution would be to strip out the molex powered generic fans and replace them with 3-pin 120mm Scythe fans. That assumes you've got mobo headers available.

A cheap-but-riskier solution would be cobbling together an inline molex M/F passthrough to limit the fan speed. You'd think there'd be a market for molex rheostats!

Hi Jurph! Yeah, the fans are on their quietest setting and still too loud. I've got one 3pin sysfan plug on the MoBo, so that would be an option. (BTW, except for noisy fans, the case is awesome, you're gonna love it!)

So far survey says: replace them suckers! If I can cool the case with one fan, a three pin replacement attached to MoBo would provide good control via speedfan - I think thatâ€™s the way to go!

Thanks-a-million guys!

Nick Geraedts · Post by **Nick Geraedts** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 10:42 am

I'll add to the vote of replacing the tri-cools. When I moved my system into a P182, the first thing I did was remove the tri-cools and install my own Scythe SlipStream fans (highly recommended).

dereksbelanger · Post by **dereksbelanger** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 1:27 pm

Thanks Nick. How do the SlipStream and S-FLEX fans compare?

..I know S-FLEX is twice as expensive :p

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 4:57 pm

Hi,

If you get the Scythe Slipstream 800RPM and use some Zalman FanMate II (or control them on motherboard headers), then you should have a quiet system.

ekerazha · Post by **ekerazha** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 3:42 am

dereksbelanger wrote:Thanks Nick. How do the SlipStream and S-FLEX fans compare?

..I know S-FLEX is twice as expensive :p

S-FLEX bearing is better than the plain sleeve bearing of the Slipstream, so they should be better especially for the case fan at the top which is in horizontal position.

dereksbelanger · Post by **dereksbelanger** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:11 am

Niiiiiice info, Neil. Thanks!!!