Watercooled P180 - Project log

w3bbo

w3bbo

w3bbo

Man of Honour
Joined
14 Nov 2005
Posts
10,682
Location
Up North
Full Specification

Antec P180
Intel Conroe E6600
Asus P5WDH
MSI 7950GTX
Creative XFI Xtreme music
2x1GB Corsair XMS2
Lite-On Lightscribe Dual layer 16x DVDRW
Asus 1608P DVD writer
2x36GB Raptors (Raid 0)
2x250GB Samsung spinpoint
1x250 Hitachi Deskstar T7K500
FSP Epsilon 700W
Coolermaster LLC-U01 Musketeer
3 x 120mm Thermaltake 'thunderblade' Blue LCD fans
2 x Sharkoon UV cold cathodes
UV reactive cabling (akasa)
UV paint

Watercooling
Laing DDC with Alphacool plexitop (modded)
120x3 Alphacool Nexxos pro Radiator
Nexxos XP (solid) CPU block
Alphacool NexXxos NBX-N Northbridge Chipset Cooler
Alphacool NExXxOS NBX-i
Alphacool Cape coolplex 25cm External Reservoir
De-ionised water
10mm UV tubing

Project Method

I initially set out to install a basic watercooling kit into the P180 but I was put off on this due to the P180 being designed from the ground up as a 'silent' air cooling case. Other than buying a new case I was informed I didn't really have a choice other than to stick to air cooling. I scoured the net but could not find any sources that used the P180 as a watercooling case other than having the rad positioned outside the case on the back (ala swiftech) which I personally don't like the look of and which also presented its own problems. I had my heart set on a triple rad and was determined to fit it into the P180 or wreck the case trying lol.

My first task was measuring the rad up to the case to find feasable locations for it. The only place I could really have it would be the top of the case, either internally or externally. I much prefer internally wherever possible and as a single 120mm hole was already present in the top of the rad I matched the included template to this loaction and marked out where I needed to drill and jigsaw. The scary bit was actually making the first drill hole but once that is done everything else is pretty much plain sailing. The main problem with using a jigsaw on the P180 are the triple layers used as sound insulation (metal/plasic/metal). I selected a fine toothed blade and cut slowly letting the jigsaw do most of the work which for the most part worked fine. The finished product however was less than satisfactory as the plastic melts and re-fuses the cut line back together so it takes 2 goes with the jigsaw to make a complete cut. Once the holes were cut I then dremmeled the edges down to give a smoother finish.

1-1.jpg


While I had the case stripped down I also decided to do the bottom fan mod, enabling me to fit a 120mm fan in the bottom section in front of the HD rack. This is done by drilling out the rivets holding the HD plate with a 4mm bit.

2.jpg


A 25mm thick (standard) fan then will just about fit which will aid cooling to the HD's as this is a hotspot for the case.

3.jpg
 
With the interior mods now done I set about building my new rig.
First off I attached the radiator. This is where I thought my plans had failed because it wouldn't fir through the normal way, fear not though because I managed to shoe horn it it through one of the 5 1/4 drive bays. I attached it by screwing the fans down through the case lid and into the rad rather than using two separate screws for each hole.

With the rad in place I set about modding the motherboard.
There is an excellent guide on the P5WDH on XS regarding the removal of the heatpipe setup and replacing the stock compound with AS5 HERE

I completed this mod but instead of replacing the heat pipe I used a Northbridge chipset block and used some zalman memory heatsinks for the mosfets. While I was at it I also removed the Southbridge and put a waterblock on there too, more for looks than anything as the southbridge dosn't get that hot I'm told. I know this adds to restriction of the loop too but hey, I'm a sucker for looks and with the GX2 covering half of the block I though it would be best not to take the chance of leaving it to aircooling. A wiser man would have taken the pics of the blocks before they were installed but I forgot to do this so here they are pre-installed :

Northbridge
UVpics017.jpg

Southbridge
UVpics016.jpg


I then fitted the CPU block. I had to improvise here as I didn't have an LGA775 kit to hand and I don't like the alphacool method of screwing the centre down as it dosn't give too much control so I used an H-bracket and backplate from a big typhoon I had lying around. This gave me much more stability and an even amount of pressure to the core. I mounted the coolplex res to the back of the case because it simply would not fit inside depite my best attempts. I added a blue led to the base of the res to light it up. With all the watercooling kit now installed I did the mandatory 24hr leak test then installed the other components.

CPU block with Zalman sinks:

UVpics008.jpg
 
Last edited:
With everything installed I set about completing a window mod. It is possible to but a P180 pre-built with a window mod but it is VERY expensive and it also shows the lower section of the P180 which to me is pointless as that includes the 'rats nest' of PSU cabling and the side of the 5 1/4 drive bays which is rather unsightly. Its much cheaper, more effective and satisfying imo to make your own.

I wanted to just show the motherboard area without the UV lighting being visable so after measuring it all up, out came the jigsaw and dremmel. Perhaps the hardest part of the window mod was the actual measuring up as you cant go too close to the edges for fear of not being able to actually fit it to the case due to the screws standing off against the case. In hindsight a rivet gun would have been more appropraite. The cutting was fairly straightforward but again because of the the triple layers it took a couple of runs around to get it to completely cut through. I again, smoothed out the edges with a dremmel. I also put black insulation tape around the edge of the panel as it didn't look quite right with the aluminium showing though because of the black edging of the P180, for some reason it looked a little offset.

For the perspex I originally used the side panel from an old UV reactive case I had spare but this was too 'intense' and actually detracted from the effect I was looking for.

3-1.jpg


As you can see it was quite the retina burner!

So I nipped down to the local hardware store and bought a sheet of thin perspex, cut it to size and attached it to the cut panel. As this perspex was not UV reactive it showed off the inside of the case without the blurr from the panel itself. At this point I would advise anyone who is cutting perspex and drilling to use masking tape on boths sides as it will melt quite easily otherwise, rebonding itself. I didn't do this on my first attempt and made a complete balls-up of the task! My second try was much better but then I applied too much pressure to the drill holes and cracked the perspex...AAARRRGGGHHHH! :mad:

Third time lucky and I cut a square with no scratches, cracks or melts :)

UVpics1-1.jpg


The last thing on my list and more of an afterthought than anything was painting the edge of the PCBS in some spare UV paint I had lying around. I masked the edges with masking tape then painted them with a steady hand and a small brush. I am still undecided on whether I like this but as it can be easily removed I am not too worried.

UVpics1001.jpg
 
Last edited:
Thx for the encouraging cmments guys! :D

I need to appologise for the quality of the pics because photography aint my forte :p

I tried using a dremmel to cut the 120mm holes but the case was just too thick. A 120mm holesaw would have been better but they are very expensive (circa £40). So my only option was the jigsaw and as anyone who has triedd to cut small circles with one will tell you it aint easy.

About the UV paint, I didn't want to overdo it so I just did the edges of the PCB's for now. I might do more at a later date but I dont want to spoil the effect.

I'm pleased with the whole outcome of the project but a little sad its over now as I actually enjoyed doing it but I can't think of anymore I could do with it now so once I get bored with the look I'll be starting a new project based around a new case...possibly with phase change cooling.

Thx again ;)
 
Gonna be changing the mobo to a 680i and WC the 7950GX2 aswell as upgrading the tubing to 1/2" on saturday. The CPU will still be WC ofcourse. ;)

Any opinions on what else to do while I have it all stripped down?
 
The are 4 rivets holding the HD frame to the case. Simply drill these out with a 4mm drill bit (pictures shown). You can then fit a 120mm fan INFRONT of the HD cage. Its a tight squeeze but as you can see it does fit. HD temps are lowered a lot by doing this mod and it also give you more much needed space to work with infront of the PSU because that fan is no longer needed.

Hope this helps.
 
Removing the bracket has no effect whatsoever on mounting the HD cage as that is held in place by the two plastic runners above and below (attached to the case). The rivets are not the same spacing as 1 120mm fan holes. My fan is 'wedged' into the space (told ya it was a tight fit) but I also used a glue gun for additional support which in hind sight is not required at all.

Some others have fixed the fan to the grill by the use of four screws and washers as the screwheads are too small and wont affix to the grill by themselves. Again this isn't really necessary as its a flush fit by itself.
 
humax said:
in the picture 3rd from the top for some reason your case seems to have a babys arm growing out of it .was this part of the mod also
:D
Click to expand...

LoL yeah thats my daughter helping me out with the mod's :D

Sumanji said:
Haha, I noticed the baby arm too :D

Last question about the fan mod (sorry to spam your thread!). When you say "drill out the rivet", do you literally mean stick the drill bit in the middle and drill right the way through it? I.e. passing from one side of the case to the other. I assume it's better (and possible) to drill from the outside.

Sorry for all the Q's, it's just that I'll be doing a rebuild with Conroe soon, and I wanna stick all 4 HDD's in the bottom segment, but that would definitely need better airflow with 2 Raptors!

Cheers,

Suman
Click to expand...

Yeah just drill through the centre of the rivets and they will either pop right out or stick to your drill bit. Drill from the outside. Also bear in mind that you want to give your case a good clean out once you start modding it because drilling it can create some metal fragments that if not removed could damage some other components.

Dreamcaster said:
Great set up! do you plan to watercool the graphics in the future?
Click to expand...

Well I have just changed the graphics card to an 8800GTX and the motherboard to the EVGA680i, neither of which are WC'd at the moment. Only the CPU has H2O for the time being until I'm happy everything is working as it should, then I'll cool the rest of the gear. I also upgraded the tubing to 1/2 rather than the thinner 10mm.

I was going to WC the 7950GX2 as I bought a GX2 spacer kit from the States and 2 waterblocks specifically for this purpose but hte lure of the 8800 was too much so the above kit will be appearing in MM soon.

I'll post some more updated pics soon.
 
Jigsaw for cutting and dremmel for smoothing. Cutting through triple layers was a pain as the plasic kept fusing back together but a couple of goes through and it sorted it. Dremmels are ideal for smoothing the edges out.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom