Spec me some air cooling please?

wesimmo

wesimmo

wesimmo

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Joined
19 Mar 2012
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I have got an Antec 900 Case which came with 3 x 120mm fans and a 200mm fan.

The 200mm top exhaust fan is a molex one with a 3 speed switch, not too concerned about that, even on High it's quieter than the GFX cards when they rev up.

The 120mm fans though are 3 pin with manual 3 speed switches and noisy on high, and most of the time i don't need them to be on anything but low anyway, but that involves taking the sides off and switching them up when i want to game.

There's also a mount on the side of the case for another 120mm fan to blow air on / from the GFX cards.

So i want to replace the rear exhaust and 2 front intake fans for 4 pin fans and also add one to the side of the case to help cool the GFX cards, i've got 4 sys fan headers to play with, another reason to keep the top 200mm molex.

I also need a CPU cooler as i'm still on the stock one, but have now been paid since i bought the original parts and Xmas.....

My case looks like this, i've done all i can at the moment to try and keep cabling out of the air flow, but there's no room behind the motherboard to even route the power cables out and in again, until i change the PSU at some point.

Which cooler do you think would work best and which fans will keep the air flowing as best it can given the cabling? Is £100 going to do it?

Thanks

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I had the same case with similar fan problems (the noise), I ended up replacing the two front intake fans and the rear exhaust fan with Akasa Apaches. These made the case a lot quieter

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

I left the top fan in place as it was relativity quite.

Cooler wise the case should fit most of the large air cooler that OCUk stock, I had a Phanteks PH-TC14PC cooler fitted. It was a very tight fit and I did have to cut off the part of the side fan clip.

In the end I replaced the case for something more modern with more features.

Edit: you could add a fan controller to give you adjust the fan speed on-the-fly. Have a look at the BitFenix Recon, however you will have problems managing all of the extra cables in that case. (I had some 'issues' with mine)
 
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Tbh, I'd put that cash on a better case and upgrade the cooler later on. You should be ok for around 4ghz on the stock cooler if you want to OC. Maybe not with Prime or IBT, but most games won't get the cpu temps up too much.

Then again, you could get yourself something like a Xigmatek Midgard II plus a good cooler for about £40-50.
 
Fire_fly said:
I had the same case with similar fan problems (the noise), I ended up replacing the two front intake fans and the rear exhaust fan with Akasa Apaches. These made the case a lot quieter

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FG-057-AK&groupid=701&catid=2331&subcat=4

I left the top fan in place as it was relativity quite.

Cooler wise the case should fit most of the large air cooler that OCUk stock, I had a Phanteks PH-TC14PC cooler fitted. It was a very tight fit and I did have to cut off the part of the side fan clip.

In the end I replaced the case for something more modern with more features.

Edit: you could add a fan controller to give you adjust the fan speed on-the-fly. Have a look at the BitFenix Recon, however you will have problems managing all of the extra cables in that case. (I had some 'issues' with mine)
Click to expand...

+1 also can i just say loving the build i have one of those msi cards, your tempting me to get a second g-card
 
TBH, I'm now banging my head on the desk wondering why I bought the case, especially at the price I paid.

I think I saw all those pre installed fans, figured there was 40 quids worth there, not realising they weren't PWM and as a first custom build didn't even consider the woeful cable management issues.

I'm now set on replacing it, just need to work out how best to sell it. Used ones are listed on a certain marketplace for about £58 which would pretty much pay for a decent alternative, and the £100 budget is safe too.
 
wesimmo said:
Is this worth looking at on the special deal?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-037-ZA&tool=3

The biggest drawback i can see is the lack of USB 3 on the front panel, but i could add that later using one of the drive bays?

I'm going to look for smoe builds using it, but can anyone tell me how the HDs mount, are they tranverse to the case?
Click to expand...

if you want to get that case, google zalman z9-u3, that's the usb3 version (that ocuk dont stock) but google should show you where its stocked.
the u3 also has a better side panel (less fugly)
 
I still haven't got round to a new case, a £700 gas / electric bill and £400 car bill put paid to fun spending for a while!

A birthday gift voucher did buy a couple of Akasa Apache Super Silent fans though when they were reduced a bit.

I also spotted a B Grade Zalman CNPS12X for about £30 which i decided i would give a go.

Temps are great, idles in low 20s and gets to about 65 on Prime 95 with a 4.4Ghz overclock. Never goes above mid 40s during Far Cry 3 sessions.

Tight fit though, i can just about get the side panel on, though i had to remove the fan and the fan clip on the case just touches the cooler.

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I've now got a HD5850 in an auction with bids up to £36 and 30 odd people watching it so i reckon i'll get £60+ towards a new case soon.
 
Got my new case, quickly threw it together today in my "lunch hour" working from home...

A bit of tidying still to do, and i'm a bit concerned that the SYS_FAN_1 has gone on my MOBO as 2 fans (both 3 and 4 pin) fail to rotate when plugged into it.

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Idleman said:
Is that the NZXT Phantom 410 Enthusiast Midi Tower Case, looks good.
Click to expand...

Yep, got it on one of the daily specials the other day.

Excellent service from OCUK and DPD yet again. Ordered, despatched within the hour and arrived at 11:58 the next day as per the DPD email.
 
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