Antec Superlanboy, PLZ rip away!

bryzzz · Post by **bryzzz** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:48 pm

hi guys, I am a newb... I'd love for you guys to rip away at me so that I can know how to improve the looks and noise level of my rig.

The only 2 foreseeable updates I plan on having are another WD Sata drive and one of those new Zalman northbridge heatsinks coming out sometime in the near future...

i supposed I'm going to hear some comments on cable management... haha.. i have no idea how the other lanboy guy got his HD cables put in back!

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 4:20 pm

One obvious thing to try is to place a cylindrical duct around the CPU heatsink to the rear exhaust. This should improve PSU temps, and should improve airflow (indirectly improving hard drive temps).

First, try it out with a simple piece of cardboard rolled around it to see if things improve. If so, then you want to make a better looking duct.

Look for a clear plastic drink bottle with the correct dimensions and good looking color/texture. Then, just cut it down to an appropriate shape.

bryzzz · Post by **bryzzz** » Thu Mar 30, 2006 5:17 pm

thnx for ur input

yes that'd help temps... well i dont really care too much about temps... i'm idling around 60 C haha... only a 3000+ too... i think something's wrong w/ soltek... unless its clean, i wont do anything about the looks

Mr_Spork · Post by **Mr_Spork** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:32 am

What happened to the rear case fan? To reduce the noise levels?

You might want to try mounting the HDD backwards so that the cables can be routed behind the drives - although it might be harder with the thick silver cables you have there. Check out my thread to see what I mean

You could also try stuffing all those silver cables to the area between the DVD drives cage and the back panel - watch out for the tool box though cause the wires might get in the way and push it out.

Are your zalmans linked to a fan controller? You might be able to hide those wires behind the hard drives.

Overall that's quite a nice setup

bryzzz · Post by **bryzzz** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 3:54 pm

Mr_Spork wrote:What happened to the rear case fan? To reduce the noise levels?

You might want to try mounting the HDD backwards so that the cables can be routed behind the drives - although it might be harder with the thick silver cables you have there. Check out my thread to see what I mean

You could also try stuffing all those silver cables to the area between the DVD drives cage and the back panel - watch out for the tool box though cause the wires might get in the way and push it out.

Are your zalmans linked to a fan controller? You might be able to hide those wires behind the hard drives.

Overall that's quite a nice setup

thnx! you are totally the guy i was talking about w/ the MEANASS lanboy setup! i just noticed that there are thumb screws on the right side of the lanboy... does that mean I can take off that panel?! that's make things SO much easier for routing undernearth the mobo... though my OCZ vables are very inflexible...

no exhaust b/c its like a 3-4 C difference at best and isnt worth the noise... thought about one of those new artic coolin 12 cm ones though...

my zalmans are linked to one of those zalman voltage regulators... each spinning w/ 5V of power... pretty quiet...

if i can take off that other panel i'll redo my set up b/c i have to get some arctic silver on the cpu... right now i am using ZALMAN paste HAHA

rs_1089 · Post by **rs_1089** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 9:14 pm

I think some exhaust would help. get a good quality fan and undervolt it. By not having an exhaust, most of the hot air is being recirculated in ur case, even though some of it is forced through the rear grill. Also, your psu is probably hotter because it is exhausting more of the hot air on its own. Just my 2 cents.

len509 · Post by **len509** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:36 pm

rs_1089 wrote:I think some exhaust would help. get a good quality fan and undervolt it. By not having an exhaust, most of the hot air is being recirculated in ur case, even though some of it is forced through the rear grill. Also, your psu is probably hotter because it is exhausting more of the hot air on its own. Just my 2 cents.

I agree. Put in an undervolted Nexus, Yate Loon, or Global Win. I doubt you will hear it over your Zalman 9500 and power supply.

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Sun Apr 02, 2006 4:25 am

There's simply no need for an exhaust fan if the CPU heatsink is ducted to the rear case exhaust. As it is, the CPU fan is already pointed straight toward the exhaust so it's probably already acting somewhat as an exhaust fan.

If anything, more attention needs to be paid toward intake area rather than the exhaust. I'm not familiar with this case, so I don't know how open the intake is by default. From the looks of it, it's no match for the 120mm rear exhaust plus PSU exhaust. If the CPU fan is ducted to the rear exhaust, then the PCI slot backplanes could be opened up to bring in more fresh air--helping cool the GPU and CPU--while at the same time not diminishing the amount of air cooling the hard drives.

toNka · Post by **toNka** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 4:30 pm

You can get rid of those stiff PSU cables and make your own.
That is one of the beautiful things about the OCZ ModStream.
It might be hard to see from this picture but try and look:

I made a ubersmall 4 inch cable for my DVDRW.
You can do likewise with everything else.
I think I'm only using one of the cables it came with for my HDD.
But you should be able to reverse you HDD and run the cable down the back like mentioned above, that's what I did.

toNka · Post by **toNka** » Mon Apr 03, 2006 9:26 pm

You also need to get those HDDs suspended!

bryzzz · Post by **bryzzz** » Thu Apr 06, 2006 8:28 pm

Thanks for all your guys input, I really appreciate it...

I thought about a couple of 120 mm intake/exhasut fans... but here's my thinking... it'll cost another 40 USD for 2 Nexus fans... about 30 for 2 Akasa Ambers... but is it really worth it to pay more money for like... a 5 C drop in temps and also more noise? Not to mention I will have to use more cables!!!

I think if the lanboy was better at sound supression I'd definetly consider it... but it stinks... if anything, i'd get some undervolted akasas.

BTW... OCZ power supply... man... if Antec NeoHEs get fixed... I'm making the switch... those hard cables are annoying... not to mention it clicks occasionallly! ARGH!

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri Apr 07, 2006 3:33 am

Yeah, if you already have enough airflow then you already have enough airflow. I'll bet the CPU fan is already shooting plenty of air straight out that rear exhaust already anyway.

Still, I think it's worth experimenting with a tube duct from the CPU heatsink to the rear exhaust. A simple cardboard tube is easy to try out, and if it works out then you can work an a really great looking duct. IMO, a clear plastic duct made out of a Coke bottle would look awesome around that heatsink even if it had no effect on temperatures.

The main benefit from such a duct would be to improve PSU temperatures. At load, the PSU fan wouldn't ramp up. It should also improve hard drive temperatures by actively forcing more air through the intake.