Show me the insides of your P180!
- Thread starter Sumanji
- Start date
Soldato
Soldato
Back to on topic, I just put my western digi 74gig raptor and Maxtor diamond 9 250gig sata drives in the bottom chamber.
Some people say dont use the bottom fan, if your using a psu with a fan. But my maxtor drive gets very hot if i dont use a fan next to it. Its top operating speed is 55c and witout the fan it was easy at 50c! got the fan back down there now and its sitting at 38c
If you have one of these maxtors you need cooling, I already lost one in the past, due to heat.
Some people say dont use the bottom fan, if your using a psu with a fan. But my maxtor drive gets very hot if i dont use a fan next to it. Its top operating speed is 55c and witout the fan it was easy at 50c! got the fan back down there now and its sitting at 38c
If you have one of these maxtors you need cooling, I already lost one in the past, due to heat.
Soldato
Just keep the cables out of the way. Was easy really, I'll post some better pics tomorrow.
Soldato
Update with pictures.
All surfaces that were dynamatted now also have a layer of carpet added, to reduce sound reflections.. Made quite a difference to noise, and looks a LOT neater too.
Any exposed metal was painted black, to improve the appearence of the insides.
Window ws added to the side panel. Metal cutting jigsaw blade made easy work of the side panel. Still some tidying to do around the cut, but this gives a very good idea of what the finished product will look like.
Wiring is 90% done, still a few wires to hide and some that are crying out for colouring black.
To give you an idea of the amount of wiring thats hidden in there here a bit of a rundown of connections/hardware:
All front panel connectors are connected,
All onboard USB ports are connected,
4 hard disks (3 sata, 1 pata),
1 floppy drive,
1 DVD-RW,
Zalman fan contoller with 4 fan channels connected and 1 switch connected (to the cathodes)
2 cathodes,
2 temperature LCD's on the front, 1 to each raptor currently
4x120mm fans in upper compartment (2 case exhaust, 1 cpu and 1 front intake)
PSU is on its own in the bottom chamber, ALL hard disks are in the upper chamber.
Images:
Cathodes were just added, hence the messy wiring.
Sam C
All surfaces that were dynamatted now also have a layer of carpet added, to reduce sound reflections.. Made quite a difference to noise, and looks a LOT neater too.
Any exposed metal was painted black, to improve the appearence of the insides.
Window ws added to the side panel. Metal cutting jigsaw blade made easy work of the side panel. Still some tidying to do around the cut, but this gives a very good idea of what the finished product will look like.
Wiring is 90% done, still a few wires to hide and some that are crying out for colouring black.
To give you an idea of the amount of wiring thats hidden in there here a bit of a rundown of connections/hardware:
All front panel connectors are connected,
All onboard USB ports are connected,
4 hard disks (3 sata, 1 pata),
1 floppy drive,
1 DVD-RW,
Zalman fan contoller with 4 fan channels connected and 1 switch connected (to the cathodes)
2 cathodes,
2 temperature LCD's on the front, 1 to each raptor currently
4x120mm fans in upper compartment (2 case exhaust, 1 cpu and 1 front intake)
PSU is on its own in the bottom chamber, ALL hard disks are in the upper chamber.
Images:
Cathodes were just added, hence the messy wiring.
Sam C
Caporegime
^
That looks really nice. Very very tidy Good job. Like your window mod aswell.
That looks really nice. Very very tidy Good job. Like your window mod aswell.
Soldato
Are you not getting some high temps? though samcat?
Its a very good idea and I appluad you, just I would be worried about higgh temps, because that matting might act as insulation.
Its a very good idea and I appluad you, just I would be worried about higgh temps, because that matting might act as insulation.
Soldato
Jimbo said:
Conduction through the case is minimal, especially in the P180... Plastic between the metal layers dont ya know!
P180 has very good airflow design, hence you can run silent and still get good temperatures, one of the features I like about it (been a silent pc nut for years, always trying out new stuff)
4600+ idling at 29oC both cores (room at 22oC), load is around 55oC (Si-120 with amber fan at 10v)
Sam C
Last edited:
Soldato
Yeah I just put my top 2 fans on low and the fan in the lower chamber that cools my drives too.
very quiet indeed. My motherboard though runs hot (Asus P5w DH) 45c in there at the mo. I took an old ide 80gig maxtor drive out of the case today and the difference in noise with it not being in there is amazing.
very quiet indeed. My motherboard though runs hot (Asus P5w DH) 45c in there at the mo. I took an old ide 80gig maxtor drive out of the case today and the difference in noise with it not being in there is amazing.
Soldato
Jimbo said:
Drive choice plays a HUGE part in how noisy a pc is, along with how the drives are mounted, where they are mounted and if they have noise optimisation software
Raptors can be fast and quiet... My board is currently showing 35oC, but its not really doing anything, just copying a load of files around.
Sam C
samcat said:Drive choice plays a HUGE part in how noisy a pc is, along with how the drives are mounted, where they are mounted and if they have noise optimisation software
My board is currently showing 35oC, but its not really doing anything, just copying a load of files around.
Sam C
How does this compare noise / temp wise to that beast of a watercooled rig you used to have?
Soldato
DaveMac said:
Quieter 95% of the time. (thats my priority these days)
Temps are a little higher, graphics card is the worst of the bunch for high heat output...
Not overclocking anywhere near as much as I used to, the 4600+ just doesnt really need a huge overclock.
Only if I am gaming late at night does the sound bother me, and thats fairly infrequent these days. I realised that usually when gaming I turn the volume up, and gaming is when the PC works hardest and gets noisy. Most of the time its an improvement, and I no longer need a case the size of a small planet. The MM case was a pain to silence, panels were too large and would resonate, fans were open to the front and rear (nothing to deflect the sound)...
After swapping back and forth a few times I think I am sticking with the P180 for now, so will be adding a small mountain of watercooling bits to the for sale forum this weekend, and a HUGE case.
Cheers,
Sam C
samcat said:
Thanks Sam, a P180 sounds promising for what I need then.
A distant mate wants me to do a new build for him and is impressed by the quietness of my watercooling, but wouldn't dream of having watercooling himself (he can just about manage to take a case side panel off, but that's about his limit!). This would be an ideal solution.
Within reason, yes, but positive quieting features out of the box as standard all add up to a quicker and more straightforward build for me, and he likes the styling of it.
As long as it survives the 2 hour car journey home it probably won't be opened again until it's time for me to do the next upgrade in a year or so.
As long as we don't get a bendy door version, I don't forsee any issues.
As long as it survives the 2 hour car journey home it probably won't be opened again until it's time for me to do the next upgrade in a year or so.
As long as we don't get a bendy door version, I don't forsee any issues.
Thread above this one: http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17625844
Just be careful and there will be none, just any case which can develop such obvious faults to me is one to stay well clear of.
It has some huge plus points, mainly out of the box silencing features, its just the overall quality of the product is below what I would call acceptable.
Just be careful and there will be none, just any case which can develop such obvious faults to me is one to stay well clear of.
It has some huge plus points, mainly out of the box silencing features, its just the overall quality of the product is below what I would call acceptable.
Soldato
DaveMac said:
And if you do contact Antec and they ship out the fixed door free of charge. Mine was bendy and they sorted me out very quickly.
Yewen said:
Just interested exactly what makes you think this? It may well be items that Antec have now addresses.
I am very happy with mine, and Antec have been amazing in the aftersales support they have offered.
Cheers,
Sam C
They ship out the side panels too. My clips broke on both panels after constantly removing/replacing them. Contacted Antec and told them what had happened and I also requested a door (mine hadn't bowed but better to be safe than sorry) and within 3 days I had 2 extrqa panels and a re-inforced door - *** service from antec imo 
The P180 with its side panels and doors, they have fixed them but the old models are most certainly still in retail channels.
Yes the support is second to none, so they do fix the issues, but the P150 has issues, so does the 1650 and lower down models.
Yes they are good cases, but they do generally have build quality issues across the board, which are the issues Antec without question offer support for.
Yes the support is second to none, so they do fix the issues, but the P150 has issues, so does the 1650 and lower down models.
Yes they are good cases, but they do generally have build quality issues across the board, which are the issues Antec without question offer support for.