fan placement in new p183 build?

[spaciousmind]

My new quiet shop built computer has arrived.

case: p183,
motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H67MA-USB3-B3 Intel H67
cpu: sandybridge i5 2500k,
no video card
hard drives: 80gig SSD and a pair of samsung f4's.
PSU: Seasonic x-450

I got the antec case fans replaced with a pair of scythe slipstream 120mm 1200rpm fans....
one fan is mounted on the back and one is mounted on the vent at the top
(as you can see in the attached photos)

Now after reading these boards and finding out that sleeve bearing fans (which the slip streams are) do not last very long at all mounted horizontally (blowing up or down), im really worried about the fan on the top crapping out on me.

Please advise if there is another good way to set these up somehow so both scythes are mounted vertically, as you can see there is plenty of room in the case, no video card and nothing in the front bays right now (although I will put a card reader and maybe dvd drive in there soon).

Secondly, the Scythes are running at full speed and making an unholy din, I was under the impression that I could control the speed of these fans through the bios options in the motherboard, but now looking through the manual I cant find any mention of fan speed control. Can someone please explain how to find these settings in the bios options or tell me what alternative methods I can use?

Thankyou very much!

[Redzo]

Congratulations you have just ask that SAME question for 10 billionth time ! Really are you that arrogant as to think that you are the first person that had that issue ?
Use search function FFS.

[spaciousmind]

I have searched and read alot on these boards and still couldnt find a definative answer to my questions

I figured the airflow needs are very different in each setup - And so I thought some helpful person might be able to enlighten me after seeing photos of my specific situation....

[Abula]

one fan is mounted on the back and one is mounted on the vent at the top

Now after reading these boards and finding out that sleeve bearing fans (which the slip streams are) do not last very long at all mounted horizontally (blowing up or down), im really worried about the fan on the top crapping out on me.

If you need the top fan just use it, i mean in the past there was comments about not all fans like horizontal mounting, specially sleeve fans, some said that SFLEX were better at that, but the vast mayority of fans out there are still sleeve fans, imo just use it there, its $10, replace it if you start hearing noise.

If you really want to go into a better design fan for the top, i would consider Scythe Gentle Typhoon since they use real ball bearing, a D1225C12B1AP-11 (500 rpm) or D1225C12B2AP-12 (800 rpm) probably will be a good choice if you want a quiet fan for the top, just a warning, not all people like Gentle Typhoons, they have their own signature sound, to me they are great, but some people might not like them.

Secondly, the Scythes are running at full speed and making an unholy din, I was under the impression that I could control the speed of these fans through the bios options in the motherboard, but now looking through the manual I cant find any mention of fan speed control. Can someone please explain how to find these settings in the bios options or tell me what alternative methods I can use?

Well with the new sandy bridge mobos, you get 4pin fan connectors, IIRC you will need 4pin PWM fan to be able to do it via bios. Some mobos can control the voltage of the fans with 3 pins, but not via bios but software. If you are intersted in doing via bios and still interested on slipstreams then consider, Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm PWM Mid Speed Fan - (SY1225SL12LM-P) or Scythe Slip Stream 120mm x 25mm PWM High Speed Fan - (SY1225SL12H-P).

If dont want to buy PWM fans, and you cant control them via software, you can always do it via a fan controller like Scythe Kaze Master Ace 5.25" 4 Channel Fan Controller / Temp Display - Black (KM02-BK) or individually with a Zalman FAN MATE 2 Variable Speed Fan Controller (FanMate-2)

Good luck,

[spaciousmind]

Thanks for the reply Abula,
The fan mounted on the top also makes a fair bit of noise, ill have to see after I get a fan controller but that fan might (hopefully) not even be needed . I dont know much about airflow dynamics but theres plenty of room in there and no video card so maybe just the one fan will be enough.

I had a look and the two slip streams are connected to the psu via the molex adaptors, so its no wonder I couldnt control them through bios

Ill have to go with the fan controller option, ive been looking around at whats available in my part of the world, and come up with 3 likely options:
1. the zalman fanmate 2. . .. .this is nice and cheap but it states that it only takes one fan per fanmate and has a 6w limit, the slip streams have a rating of 0.26 A so attaching the pair together would bring it over the limit.
2. lian li pci slot fan controller http://www.lian-li.com/v2/en/product/pr ... dex=94&g=f
This one says it takes up to three fans (has three 3-pin connectors) but I'm worried the range won't go low enough to get it really quiet as it only has 3 settings (100%, 80%, 60%)
3.This aywun pci slot controller http://www.aywun.com/ProductDetails.asp?ID=95 which looks nicer than the lian li and has a range of 12v-5v, but it doesnt say anywhere on it how many fans it takes.
Maybe I could still connect both the slip streams to it using the molex chain connectors they came with, as it takes up to 8w?

And lastly the cpu fan that came with the sandybridge is connected to the motherboard so I am assuming that I should be able to control this one at least through the bios or software?

[Abula]

And lastly the cpu fan that came with the sandybridge is connected to the motherboard so I am assuming that I should be able to control this one at least through the bios or software?

Get inside the bios and check it, in my case is F2 in the loading screen, but might be different in other mobo, check if you have a performance or power management tab on the bios, or maybe a fan control. Some new mobos have very nice UEFI bios that you can even have fan control graphs, etc, i would assume all mobo have their own custom design so cant help you much here, but check the bios or your mobo manual. The intel stock cpu coolers are 4pin, so it should be able to be controlled by the bios as long as the mobo supports it and you are using a 4pin connector.

On the fan controller, i had a good experience with the Scythe, but if you cant get it, there are other brands like Lamptron, NZXT, Zalaman etc, personally i prefer one with front case display so you can monitor and adjust it to your personal liking or the current task the computer is doing, but the fanmates from zalman should be an option if you dont mind changing it from the inside.

[Arbutus]

...im really worried about the fan on the top crapping out on me...Please advise...

...the Scythes are running at full speed and making an unholy din...

Fans bearings come in many types and qualities and fans are relatively inexpensive and can be easily replaced. You probably don't need the top fan for your heat load and probably can remove this fan and plug the noise leak with a blank filler plate. The rear fan speed can be easily tinkered with a Zalman Fanmate.

Also, because of the Power Supply not having a fan, you probably should install a fan in the lower chamber or move the storage drives to the upper chamber.

[spaciousmind]

The intel stock cpu coolers are 4pin, so it should be able to be controlled by the bios as long as the mobo supports it and you are using a 4pin connector.

Yeah I checked and found that the CPU fan is connected with 4pin and it is adjustable in bios (and presumably with speedfan)

speedfan and bios readings for cpu temp after having it on yesterday ranged from about 25C to 30C (mind you it was hardly breaking a sweat, cpu usage didnt go over 15%)
and the stock CPU fan was on auto ranging between 1100-1200rpm or so.

I imagine after undervolting the scythes this fan will be producing the most noise, but ill deal with it after and see whats acceptable, need to find out how slow i can keep that cpu fan without overheating too much, and even look at aftermarket cooling if i need to.

On the fan controller, i had a good experience with the Scythe, but if you cant get it, there are other brands like Lamptron, NZXT, Zalaman etc, personally i prefer one with front case display so you can monitor and adjust it to your personal liking or the current task the computer is doing, but the fanmates from zalman should be an option if you dont mind changing it from the inside.

Yeah I decided to go with the sunbeam rheosmart 3 fan controller, it has knobs in the front bay, i think i should be able to wire that back into the (4 pin)systemfan header on the mobo to get the rpm readings for the scythes, and control them with the pwm if I wanted to (will most likely keep them constant though)

Fans bearings come in many types and qualities and fans are relatively inexpensive and can be easily replaced. You probably don't need the top fan for your heat load and probably can remove this fan and plug the noise leak with a blank filler plate.

Yeah, I keep reading things advising against mounting the slipstreams horizontally, so ill definately take it down from there and try it out as a middle front intake instead.

How would you recommend covering up that hole? is there something I can buy to screw into the fan mount to cover it up from the inside or do you just put duct tape over the top or something?

Also, because of the Power Supply not having a fan, you probably should install a fan in the lower chamber or move the storage drives to the upper chamber.

Ooops my bad I actually have the seasonic x-560w PSU down there, which does have a fan for times of need, which I think is triggered only if the PSU has to work hard, so I don't think its even needed to engage yet - and it probably wont help with cooling the hard drives because of that.

On the other hand the drives are only an SSD and the two 5400RPM 3.5" drives, so I might not need to worry about these overheating?
my temp readings yesterday from speedfan for the samsung drives started out at 23C and then got as high as 25-26C at the end of the day (transfering files onto them for most of that time)

It might not be necessary but I could always put them in the bottom front bays of the main chamber, and then put that second slipstream fan as an intake behind them?

cheers!

[Arbutus]

My Main System lives in an Antec P180 spcr_edition Case. The upper chamber heat load consists of a ASUS M2A-VM HDMI mainboard, an Athlon II X4 640 quad core processor running at stock 3 GHz, 2 Gbytes DDR2 memory, Optical Disk Drive, Floppy Disk Drive and a RADEON HD 3450 Graphics Card.

I use only one fan in the upper chamber of my P180 case. The top fan position is blocked off and air enters through the filter on the front and exits through the rear fan position. A 3" long ducted fan assembly is constructed from a Scythe 120mm PWM fan sandwiched between two 120mm fans with the guts cut out and is mounted on the rear chassis fan location. This ducted fan assembly aligns well enough for adequate air to be drawn through the Scythe NINJA CPU cooler. The fan is connected to the CPU fan connector and variable fan speed is enabled.

This cooling setup compared to normal configurations reduces noise because there is only one fan making noise and the turbulent air from the fan has 1" of space to moderate before hitting that nasty cheap steel stamping rear grill. At idle this computer is almost silent during the day and when things quiet down in the late evening I can here a gentle, quiet whirr.

[onlineaddy]

Wow, note the huge difference in the responses from Redzo and Abula. I know which one contributes to this topic.

Anywho, to get back to the OP, you can move the top case fan to the back of the top drive cage, which would make it vertical instead of horizontal. You'll also get a good front to rear airflow with this setup. This is how I have my P183 configured. Look at the Puget Systems SPCR Edition for pictures. Good luck.

[onlineaddy]

Also, as Arbutus mentioned, block off the top fan mesh. Puget details this mod too.

[lb_felipe]

I think you must buy this and cover the P183's top hole: http://www.pugetsystems.com/store/item. ... d8cd9&que=

It's the same fan hole cover used with Puget Serenity for just 8.40 dollars (without shipping).

[spaciousmind]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions -
Just an update regarding this build,

I removed the top fan and instead put it as an intake on the front middle fan mounting grill (the screws that came with the case were actually too short to hold it into place unfortunately, but its jammed in front of that pull out chamber for the front bays anyway)
Installed a sunbeam rheosmart 3 channel fan controller for the two case fans, and it works brilliantly, managed to get them down to about 450RPM set on manual - although I can only RPM moniter one of them cause my mobo only has a cpu and system fan header.

Now the loudest thing in the case is the stock intel CPU fan, I managed to control this with easytune6 (bios and speedfan didnt seem to work). .. But only got it down from its default 1200 RPM to about 1000RPM (apparently as low as it will go).

I would like to ask you fine people for recommendations for a quiet as possible aftermarket cooler to replace it with. .
I have no graphics card (for the time being) so space shouldnt be an issue and the temps seem very good.

Its winter here and its been mostly idle so temps are probably favourable but ive been watching it for awhile now and system temp seems to stay between 35C - 40C. I couldn't find any info from gigabyte as to whats a healthy temperature for their motherboards.

the CPU cores usually sit around 20-30C each maybe reaching 40C on occasion. (with the intel cooler at 1000RPM)

And the two samsung F4's 5400RPM hard drives range between about 30C - 36C after warming up (when I booted up this morning they were as low as 17C and were making alot of noise!)

Now ive got both of these drives + the SSD installed in the bottom chamber with no fan blowing on them (and ive only noticed the PSU fan go on briefly once so thats not much help).
although I have been leaving the front door open. Do you think I need to worry about getting a fan specifically for the hard drives? These temps seem very reasonable to me but I do want to be on the safe side.
I like them down the bottom because they do tend make a fair bit of seek noise!

Regarding that top vent cover I'm in New Zealand so don't thing Pugent ships over here, and TBH I don't think it will make too much of a difference, without that top fan its not making so much noise anyway, and its going under the desk

Thanks!