P183: Best configuration for my fans?

TJM · 28 Jul 2011 at 21:35

I already have three Antec TriCool fans in my P183 (two exhausts, back and top, and one intake in the bay for the upper HD cage, which isn't in place - ignore that part of the pic) and have just ordered two Akasa AK-191s in an attempt to reduce noise and improve airflow.

I was thinking of replacing the rear TriCool with a 191, leaving the top TriCool in place and daisy chaining one TriCool and the other 191 in the upper HD bay to help with getting air into the system through the dust filters and door. The TriCools would both be on low and the 191s on full power so there is equal intake/exhaust.

This would leave me with a spare TriCool, which I could install in front of the lower HD bay, but I'm not sure if that's necessary given that part of the case is effectively sealed off from the rest.

Any thoughts?

Tealc · 29 Jul 2011 at 12:43

Unless you have major heat issues there's not much point in having two fans in the front main chamber. Far better results could be achieved with a ghetto fan mount behind the filters in the 5 1/4" bays.

Lower chamber cooling is only really necessary if you have hard drives getting too hot or a PSU that needs additional airflow.

I have a couple of gripes with the P183. The first is the top fan slot is noisy and prone to vibration and I've found it much better since blocking it up. The second is the grilles at the front causing another vibration as air passes through the holes.

Subliminal Aura · 29 Jul 2011 at 13:06

I have the kit in sig in a P182 which I recently sorted out on the noise/cooling front

First off I've sealed off the roof with duct tape

. No fans in the lower chamber.
2 x Noctuas
2 x Tri Cools running at Low or Medium depending on conditions

My configuration for silence is as follows

Silence

Intake and Exhaust - Noctua NF12s @ 912 & 960 rpm respectively
Tricool 1 (HD cage) - Low
Tricool 2 (CPU - Tuniq Tower!) - Low

Idle : CPU 35C : MB 50C (mobo is always hot) : GTX460 36C : Passive 8400GS 55C

Moderate load

Bump Tricool 2 to medium
Exhaust to 70%

(still fairly quiet)

High load/Gaming for long periods

Bump Tricool 1 to medium
Bump Tricool 2 to medium
Exhaust to 100%

Subliminal Aura · 30 Jul 2011 at 13:36

Have a read of this ...

http://www.overclock.net/case-mods-general-discussion/752586-p182-rear-fan-grill-removed.html

I concur that turbulence is the main cause of noise in this case which is why I run the exhaust slow.

Think I'm going to do this mod or maybe try some shroud experiments

Tealc · 30 Jul 2011 at 15:34

I removed the rear and front grilles and also blocked off the top slot.

I have an Apache black on the rear slot (600-900rpm) controlled by graphics card PWM. Two red wing Xilence fans on the front slots, both are running at about 700rpm. CPU cooler has a single Noctua vortex fan installed with 650 and 1000rpm speeds based on CPU temp going above 55.

System is so much quieter than it was with Tri-cools which I found noisy for a supposed quiet case, even on low. It gets warm inside now that my Thermalright shaman is fitted to my 6950 but all temps if components are fine so I'm reasonably happy.

Subliminal Aura · 30 Jul 2011 at 15:56

Nice one Teal'c

I've got to get rid of the tri-cools along with cutting out the rear grill when I get time.

I also want to do this for my gpus but I'm not sure what it is :/

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=19614884&postcount=198

TJM · 30 Jul 2011 at 20:47

I ended up removing all of the TriCools, putting a heavy book on the top grate (I'll do something more permanent at some point) and installing one Akasa fan in the upper HD cage and using the other as the exhaust. The Viper went on the heatsink.

The results are pretty solid - about 30c idle and 60c load for both the CPU and GFX - and it's a hell of a lot quieter than before.

I'm now actually tempted to replace the 191s with Apaches as I think they are the loudest part of the system. I should probably just leave well alone though.