Antec P150 mid-tower case w/ Neo HE 430 PSU

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Hellspawn
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Post by Hellspawn » Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:32 am

Hillie wrote:As far as I know it's an Asus-only problem. I got a Nexus 4090 and it worked straight away on my Asus A7N8X-X. Going to get rid of the silly Antec power supply. We're not talking rocket science, we're talking about a frigging power supply.

Besides that, the case is really nice. Got a Samsung SP2104 200GB disk in the rubber suspension and it works just fine. Nice and quiet HD setup, I like it a lot. Also have the advertised-as-19.2dB-Nexus Athlon XP cooler, but it's pretty loud. My CPU runs stressed at 42/43 degrees Celcius, so I'm going to experiment with lowering the voltage somewhat. We'll see how that goes.

Charles
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Post by Charles » Tue Mar 07, 2006 3:15 am

Charles wrote:Hello!

Any news on the w/o PSU-type Antec P150? :?

BR!
The hope never dies ...

Charles
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Post by Charles » Thu Mar 09, 2006 3:53 am

IF the NSK 6500 will have a HDD suspension and no PSU, I will go for it. :)

BR!

gt845i4u
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LEDs are too bright

Post by gt845i4u » Tue Mar 14, 2006 2:31 am

Is there anyway to dim the two LEDs that come with the case?

GoranS
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Post by GoranS » Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:57 am

Does anybody know the distance between the topmost motherboard mounting holes and the PSU or any part of the case that may cause restrictions on the size of the CPU cooler? I intend to use an Arctic cooling 64 freezer pro on a Micro ATX motherboard with the CPU bracket close to the edge of the board so I’ll be cutting it a bit close. :roll:

Charles
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Post by Charles » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:29 pm

I do not know the exact measures of the case, but I have a F64Pro, and as if it is mounted paralell to the motherboard, it will fit nicely I belive... for most motherboards... I don't know about the mATX versions for sure, but even there there should be enough space!

BR!

Charles
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Post by Charles » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:31 pm

I have just read in the past week, that one P150 sold here in Hungary had the SAME BAD PSU as was mentioned here... :(

The PSU and the case is being returned to the retailer... So can anyone tell me, if there is an offical v2.0 serie of the P150, that has a "good" PSU?

BR!

qviri
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Post by qviri » Sun Mar 19, 2006 1:59 pm

Charles wrote:The PSU and the case is being returned to the retailer... So can anyone tell me, if there is an offical v2.0 serie of the P150, that has a "good" PSU?
No.

Charles
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Post by Charles » Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:49 am

Why? Because the current PSG fails "only" with "SOME" motherboards???
(Asus, MSI...) That's nonsense... :x

BR!

qviri
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Post by qviri » Tue Mar 21, 2006 6:59 am

Charles wrote:Why? Because the current PSG fails "only" with "SOME" motherboards???
(Asus, MSI...) That's nonsense... :x
That's a question that should be going to Antec, not us. They don't appear very eager to answer.

Charles
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Post by Charles » Tue Mar 28, 2006 1:03 am

qviri wrote:
Charles wrote:Why? Because the current PSG fails "only" with "SOME" motherboards???
(Asus, MSI...) That's nonsense... :x
That's a question that should be going to Antec, not us. They don't appear very eager to answer.
How did you get this information, that there is NO rev2???

I happened to hear, that there is indeed a 2nd version, with a PSU that not producing such problems...

BR!

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:03 am

How did you get this information, that there is NO rev2???

I happened to hear, that there is indeed a 2nd version, with a PSU that not producing such problems...
There is no "official" Rev.2 version of the P150 as such. However apparently NeoHE with A3 or higher in the serial code are fixed:

NeoHE thread
However once this fix became known to the public both companies received reports from end users that even with version 1.02 motherboards and the latest BIOS they were still experiencing random shutdowns. Once again testing was done at both companies, and from that testing it was concluded:
Old BIOS original NeoHE incompatible for 80% of users
BIOS 1009+1.02 mb original NeoHE incompatible for 20% of users
BIOS 1009+1.02 mb modified NeoHe no problem

At this time (end of November 2005) we air shipped modified NeoHe’s to both our Fremont and Rotterdam offices to be made available to customers who fell into that 20%. In addition, all NeoHE’s that were being shipped out in December included this fix. NeoHE’s with this fix include A3 or higher in the serial number bar code area.
Image

This information is all in the NeoHE thread, so you should read that first.

qviri
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Post by qviri » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:35 am

Charles wrote:How did you get this information, that there is NO rev2???

I happened to hear, that there is indeed a 2nd version, with a PSU that not producing such problems...
There is a new revision... Antec called it A3 as posted by jaganath above.

It still produces problems. See the post in the thread linked to:
notareal wrote:After the second NeoHE (A3 at s/n label, s/n starting 0512) that do behave badly, as it requires much more than stated 1A @ +12V line to power on
Really, the too-low-of-a-load problem is one of these "it's not a bug, it's a feature" problems. It's not an easy one to solve, and perhaps Antec is getting a bit of a bad rep since they just happen to be the first company this happened to... But how hard could it be to design a small, nicely packaged PCB that would plug into a Molex connector and draw the required .5 A on start-up only? Ship 'em with revision A4, and send them out to those that have problems with earlier revisions.

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:14 am

You will be pleased to know that several "A4" versions of the NeoHE 430, 500 and 550 models received in the lab a few days ago have no need for this little circuit qviri mentions above.

These new samples power up a minimalist setup that many of the high efficiency atx12v v2.xx PSUs have been unable to boot up, mentioned elsewhere in Low power system not booting with high efficiency PSU?!

The system in question:

Any Athlon 64 CPU
Asus A8M-VM CSM v1.01 (latest BIOS)
any HDD
a GB of RAM
onboard graphics

The system above could not be booted with any of the following PSUs:

FSP Zen (80 Plus)
FSP Green 400
Seasonic 400HT (80 Plus)
Enhance 5136GH (80 Plus)

Only when an additional 24 ohm loading resistor was added across the 12V line would any of the above start this problem system. Adding any PCIe video card also worked.

With any of the A4 revision NeoHE, the system starts without hesitation in the minimal config. Hallelujah!

I'm told these are the units that are shipping from the Antec warehouse now, but I have no idea how soon they will be actually in the retail channels.
Last edited by MikeC on Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:51 pm, edited 3 times in total.

qviri
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Post by qviri » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:22 am

So you mean the loading circuit is inside the PSU rather than connected to a Molex?

Just kidding. Whatever their solution is, great to hear that it actually works.

I'd be able to consider a NSK3300 now... Speaking of which, any chance of review of the new Antec cases?

Oh, and perhaps you should turn up the zoom in your browser to help you see people's nicks better :wink:

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:31 am

With any of the A4 revision NeoHE, the system starts without hesitation in the minimal config. Hallelujah!
So the NeoHE has suddenly gone from one of the worst of the high efficiency PSU's (because of compatibility problems) to one of the best (boots systems that other HE PSU's won't)!

They could build a marketing campaing around this:
The NeoHE....refreshes systems other PSU's just can't reach
With grateful thanks to the Heineken marketing team. :wink:

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Tue Mar 28, 2006 2:53 pm

Sorry, accidentally included Seasonic S12 models that should not have been on the list above. Now removed.

acolyte
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Post by acolyte » Wed Apr 05, 2006 6:17 am

I've had a P150 case for about 4 months now. I've been very happy with it up until today.

First I noticed that the rear 120mm fan was sounding weird so I opened the case to inspect what might be causing it. I found no real cause for the noise so I decided to also check the fron 92mm fans if they were ok. Then I realized something that will cause nightmares to even the most hardened PC geek. The HDD suspencion rubber bands had snapped. Not just one or two but 5 out of 6! The three HDDs I had on them had slumped on each, making the topmost hdd hang in a 45 degree angle :(

Luckily it seems that all my HDDs are fine, but it was a damn scary experience. The rubber itself had turned pale gray and was rather brittle. I had 2 Seagates and a Samsung hanging from them. Of course it could be that the hdds were installed incorrectly, but this part of the install was where I checked, double checked and triple checked the manual to prevent this from happening.

I've been in contact with Antec about this.

How this affected the fan at the back, I will probably never know.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Wed Apr 05, 2006 9:05 am

The HDD suspencion rubber bands had snapped.
This is quite a common occurrence with the P150 HDD suspension. Do a search for "P150 suspension snapped" or similar, there's a couple of threads on it.

acolyte
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Post by acolyte » Wed Apr 05, 2006 10:50 am

Ah quite right.

And just to make my day super great, the bearing on the 120mm rear fan died. And here I was under the impression that Antec fans were of good quality. First fan that had died on me after being used less than a year.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Wed Apr 05, 2006 12:58 pm

And just to make my day super great, the bearing on the 120mm rear fan died.
Remember, crap things always come in threes, so look out for your PSU dying or a power surge taking out your motherboard. :wink:

To replace your dead Antec fan, Yate Loons, Globalwin NCB, Scythe S-Flex and Scythe DF are all good, quiet fans (up there with Nexus).

Charles
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Post by Charles » Wed Apr 12, 2006 11:52 am

I am happy to see, that there is the "A4" PSU version.

But the FAN and especially the HDD mount's failure dissapoints me! Did such thing happened to other "HDD-hanger" products, like SilentVibes?

My HDD-s are in a home-made suspension for 3.5 months now.
Anyway I will only use one HDD, but I don't want the rubber to be snapped under it... :(

And from a forum -mate, I heard, that the TriCool fan is making strange noises, and somtimes gets loud this way. The replace P150 is just a few days (week?) old... (the PSU only works, when all the Tricoo fans are run)

BR!

Charles
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Post by Charles » Sat Apr 22, 2006 10:52 am

Hi! :D

I have bought the P150 finally! Luckily, we had a special sale, where only the case itself was sold, without the PSU. So it was cheaper, but of course not with the price of a new HE430W.

The Tricool is not bad, or I could say it is quite good, but I will replace it with a Nexus 12cm. I have not put any fans in the front yet, but the two Samsung HDD-s are cooler even now. And the rubber mounting is very nice. The HDD temps are 36/42, were 42/46, while they were up in the 5.25" bays in the CM Centurion 5.

BR!

ChrisH
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Post by ChrisH » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:11 am

There is a missing picture on page 5 of the review. The last picture showing the completed system is missing.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page5.html

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Apr 28, 2006 8:31 am

ChrisH wrote:There is a missing picture on page 5 of the review. The last picture showing the completed system is missing.

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article272-page5.html
Victim of site upgrade... now fixed. Thanks for the headsup.

kabanan
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Post by kabanan » Sat Dec 16, 2006 11:57 pm

Well, I bought the Antec Solo which is basicly the same as the P150 without the PSU. I must say that I am disappointed.

First of all, you must remove the side-panel to get access to the locking tabs for the front bezel. Everytime I want to clean the dustfilter (every 2 weeks) I must also remove the sidepanel, just waiting for the threads to get worn out...

Who the heck designs a case with two 120mm exhaust fans (one in case, one in psu) and two 92mm intake fans (behind a filter). Even when undervolting the case fan (replaced to a 1000rpm ADDA) and using a slooow Seasonic psu the case sucks in air everywhere BUT the filter in front (two 92mm 1500rpm ADDA). Heatsink, floppy and DVD-RW are full of dust because of the negative pressure inside the case + the open unfiltered vents just above the expansion slots.

Antec, next time you design a case, make one with all intakes filtered and SPCR next time you write such a glorious review, try out the case in a real enviroment for at least a couple of weeks.

ps: Old system in sign.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Sun Dec 17, 2006 2:39 am

Who the heck designs a case with two 120mm exhaust fans (one in case, one in psu)
As you pointed out the Solo is actually a P150 chassis, so it was not designed for 2 120mm fans, but one 120mm and one 80mm.
Heatsink, floppy and DVD-RW are full of dust because of the negative pressure inside the case + the open unfiltered vents just above the expansion slots.
which vents are you referring to? the one next to the PCI slots? do you live in a particularly dusty environment?

Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Sun Dec 17, 2006 6:37 am

kabanan wrote:SPCR next time you write such a glorious review, try out the case in a real enviroment for at least a couple of weeks.
I have.

My P150 has been in use for over 60 weeks now and I have absolutely no issues with it. It's, by far, the best PC case I've ever used.

I stand by my review 100%.

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Post by MikeC » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:51 am

jaganath wrote:As you pointed out the Solo is actually a P150 chassis, so it was not designed for 2 120mm fans, but one 120mm and one 80mm.
Not. Actually for one 120mm exhaust and two 92mm intake. [plus whatever exhaust is provided by the PSU fan.] The actual in/out vent area is not that different.

imo, kabanan's comments are sour and picky. He's not comparing the case to any product that exists but some fantasy perfect case in his mind. I've never heard of anyone who wants to clean the filters every 2 weeks.
Last edited by MikeC on Sun Dec 17, 2006 8:01 am, edited 1 time in total.

jaganath
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Post by jaganath » Sun Dec 17, 2006 7:54 am

Oh, sorry, I was referring to the 80mm in the NeoHE.

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