Hot spot in Antec p180

ih8modem · 14 Nov 2006 at 15:50

I have a P180 which is generally quite a good cooler, but for one spot in the case.

The case is designed that the lower hard drive bay and the power supply are in a 'channel'. The Fan located in the centre pulls the air over the hard drives, and then pushes it over the power supply. This works really well, to the point of the PSU fans hardly ever actually turning on (I hear them now and then when gaming).

In the mobo section, I have a Gigabyte DS3 board, with a C2D and BFG8800GTX. The GTX is a really long card, and effectively cuts the mobo section in two. The part above the GTX is cooled by using two 120mm exhaust fans located at the top of the case. This section is kept quite cool, and the CPU temps are pretty low too.

The problem is the section below the GTX. IE between the GTX and the bottom channel where the PSU resides. This section is consistently above 45 degrees C. It was worse, running at over 57 at times when gaming, but an additional 120mm fan in the front brought that down a bit. I have also just mounted a 60mm fan to the back of the case in a small section that looks like it was designed to hold 40mm fans (2 of them side by side maybe).

Problem is the GB Easytune software still reports the system temp at 48 degrees. I also have a cooldrive 4 unit in the case, and I have placed a sensor in this area as well, which is currently reporting 42 degrees. Physically placing my fingers near the board, I can feel a lot of heat in the area.

Does anyone have suggestions for cooling this section?

33L · 14 Nov 2006 at 17:32

will the vga duct help by placing an 80mmm fan IN the duct - i know there is not much clearance but enough for a little bit of exahust of the hot air build up or jsut get a pci exhaust fan - extremely noisy though but they do work!

ih8modem · 14 Nov 2006 at 21:19

33L said:
will the vga duct help by placing an 80mmm fan IN the duct - i know there is not much clearance but enough for a little bit of exahust of the hot air build up or jsut get a pci exhaust fan - extremely noisy though but they do work!

What VGA duct ? Is this something that should have been shipped with the case?

33L · 15 Nov 2006 at 13:57

big black box that mounts over the vent/grill near the pci slot

ih8modem · 15 Nov 2006 at 15:54

Interesting, I never got one of those. I also opened a new box, and it also does not have one. I did notice the boxes both say P180B, is yours also a P180B ?

ih8modem · 15 Nov 2006 at 16:05

Ok I searched a bit, seems Antec changed the design a little earlier this year. The VGA duct is no longer included.

Time passes and products evolve. It's been almost a year since the P180 was first released to much fanfare along with SPCR's longest review ever (in three parts). Antec has finally released the black model of the P180 to the general public (previously, it was an SPCR-exclusive product). At the same time, they revised the original P180 to address several minor issues that arose after the case was released:

The VGA duct has been removed entirely.
Vented PCI slot covers have been added to improve airflow around the VGA cards.
New fan clips that allow a 120mm fan to be mounted directly in front of the VGA cards are included.
The power supply channel is now cooled by a standard Tricool fan; the original 38mm thick fan is gone.
The silicone padding around the power supply frame has been improved.
The front door is now made of the same 3-ply material that is used in the rest of the case, resolving warping issues with the door.
These changes are minor and do not warrant another full review. However, they do affect my original conclusions about the case, especially where the VGA duct is concerned, so it is worth giving them a quick look.

My biggest criticism about the original P180 was the fact that the VGA duct was noisy, ineffective, and complicated installation. Using somewhat strong language, I advised users to avoid this particular feature: "I cannot think of any configuration where I would not remove the duct entirely." Apparently, Antec (and SPCR's editor, Mike Chin, who helped design the case) was listening. The VGA duct has been dropped entirely in favor of a much simpler and, hopefully, more effective system.

I cant use the extra fan though, cos the 8800GTX is too damn long...

33L · 15 Nov 2006 at 20:47

as said before your only real choice is to get

1. exhaust blower - cheap effective removable
2. Mod your case - add a blow hole somewhere - cheap - unreversible and with the p180 you have to think about the sandwhich material sides or
3. New case time and as a P180 owner myself this is the route im heading and going to give the p180 to the missus for her new rig

ih8modem · 15 Nov 2006 at 23:36

I rigged a solution

I took two of the pci slot blanks that I had removed for the GFX card, bent them backwards at the first marker, kinda like a |----- shape and mounted a fan to it. Got temps right down to 37 stable now idle, and a little over 42 after a serious gaming session.

33L · 16 Nov 2006 at 11:18

glad you got your temps down- im thinking of a new case before i get a G80 card! The P180 is just to heavy for Lans and very gimmicy - going back to a normal case