Antec SLK3000B: Minimalist Midtower for Quiet PC

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Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Mon Jun 13, 2005 5:18 am

Cros wrote:Has anyone else had problems using the two front USB-ports? On my case it seems as if the USB ports are too far inside the front bezel to be of any use. Both the devices I have tried to plu in (mp3-player and digital camera) have been unable to get full contact and get kind of twisted sideways because of the plastic of the bezel blocking access to the ports. The front bezel is fully installed on the front so it shouldn't be that.
Nope, all the SLK3x00 cases I've used have worked fine in this regard.

I'd double-check that either the bezel is firmly seated, or that something behind the bezel (wiring loom or whatever) isn't pushing the bezel out.

If that fails, you could always shim out the USB bracket by adding a washer or two between it and the case.

If you really want to be ghetto, you can cut away some of the plastic that surrounds the USB ports. :)

alien zoo
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Post by alien zoo » Sat Jun 25, 2005 4:21 pm

Anyone else have trouble with the plastic side panel clips on this case? Within a week to top clip stopped closing properly and now the bottom one has too. The door does stay shut without them, but it just looks messy and doesn't feel right. Attaching the panel with the thumscrews makes no difference, and I don't want to use them anyway.

Spod
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Post by Spod » Sat Jun 25, 2005 11:57 pm

Yes, the plastic door clips are an issue on this and the 3700 series. Bending the metal they clip into can help. I find that if I tighten the thumbscrews too much, the clips pop open.

alien zoo
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Post by alien zoo » Sun Jun 26, 2005 11:42 am

Thanks. I guess I'm glad it's not just me. I guess I'll have to have another go with some pliers. Maybe I was too gentle last time... gotta show 'em who's boss :twisted:

peterson
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Post by peterson » Thu Jul 28, 2005 5:35 am

I got mine today. I intend to assemble it with my replaced 'old' parts.
It looks good so far and considering its price i'll doubt if i can demand perfection. But...

The detachable plates on the backside below the fan, what are those for?
And the holes beside the expansionslots?
The rest i'll figure out. ;)

mprezd
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Post by mprezd » Thu Sep 01, 2005 1:31 pm

Hey guys, just a couple of small queries re: this - has anyone actually tried suspending drives in this case? I have 4 hdd that I want to suspend and have just purchased this case (hoping that I can do all 4). If not I will probably buy a cooldrive or something so that I can have a fan controller and case a hdd.

Has anyone tried suspending 4 hdd the way Aphonos has done? I see he only did it with 2 so wasn't sure if 4 was going to be too heavy.

The other query - I wanted to put in a nexus fan but had considered moving the trcool fan to the front and running it on the lowest speed possible as the intake is less important and running a nexus at the back. I would love 2 nexus fans but in New Zealand cheapest you can get them is $47 - ouch.

Just wondering if anyone saw any problem with moving it to the front. Cheers

Also, is there room to maybe mount another fan just to psuh some active cooling on the suspended hard drives?

alexo
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Post by alexo » Fri Sep 09, 2005 10:45 am

I have some questions about the TriCool fan that comes with this case.

1) The review measured the fan as: 35CFM/21dBA(L), 57CFM/28dBA(M),78CFM/37dBA(H)
but the P180 review measured 28CFM/20dBA(L), 47CFM/31dBA(M), 75CFM/39dBA(H).
Why the discrepancy?

2) Is it possible to control the Tricool speed via the MB? Is it possible to mod it to use the 3-wire interface?

3) If I get a Nexus 120mm, which one should I put as exhaust?

Thanks,
Alex.

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Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 09, 2005 10:56 am

alexo wrote:I have some questions about the TriCool fan that comes with this case.

1) The review measured the fan as: 35CFM/21dBA(L), 57CFM/28dBA(M),78CFM/37dBA(H)
but the P180 review measured 28CFM/20dBA(L), 47CFM/31dBA(M), 75CFM/39dBA(H).
Why the discrepancy?

2) Is it possible to control the Tricool speed via the MB? Is it possible to mod it to use the 3-wire interface?

3) If I get a Nexus 120mm, which one should I put as exhaust?

Thanks,
Alex.
1) Hmmm.... Don't know. It's a data input error on our part. Or maybe the fans came from different batches? For now, assume the lower of the 2 data sets. We will correct the discrepancy later.

2) Only if you change the 4-pin Molex to the 3-pin connectors that go to MB fan headers.

3) The Nexus and TriCool are similar when they are set to the same RPM. It's a tossup which you should use where.

alexo
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Post by alexo » Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:00 pm

Hello Mike,
MikeC wrote:
alexo wrote:I have some questions about the TriCool fan that comes with this case.

1) The review measured the fan as: 35CFM/21dBA(L), 57CFM/28dBA(M),78CFM/37dBA(H)
but the P180 review measured 28CFM/20dBA(L), 47CFM/31dBA(M), 75CFM/39dBA(H).
Why the discrepancy?

2) Is it possible to control the Tricool speed via the MB? Is it possible to mod it to use the 3-wire interface?

3) If I get a Nexus 120mm, which one should I put as exhaust?

Thanks,
Alex.
1) Hmmm.... Don't know. It's a data input error on our part. Or maybe the fans came from different batches? For now, assume the lower of the 2 data sets. We will correct the discrepancy later.

2) Only if you change the 4-pin Molex to the 3-pin connectors that go to MB fan headers.

3) The Nexus and TriCool are similar when they are set to the same RPM. It's a tossup which you should use where.
Thanks for the reply.

When you say "lower", do you mean the P180 test?

In that case, the Nexus seems to push quite a bit more air at 12v (42 CFM, 23 dBA/1m) than the Tricool on "Low" (28 CFM, 20 dBA/1m). Since I don't have a fan controller, I won't be matching RPMs.

Also, about the 3-pin connector:
Where do I get the 3rd wire from?

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Fri Sep 09, 2005 2:13 pm

Um... actually, I take that back -- I don't know which of the sets of data are correct. But what I do know is that at the same speed/noise level, the airflow of the two fans are similar. OK? The Nexus might have a slight edge, but it's not a big difference.

3rd wire is not needed. That's just for RPM sensing.

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Post by Chrysalis » Sat Oct 01, 2005 7:55 pm

Hi I just setup mine today, my previous case was a unbranded standard midi tower, here is the comparison.

OLD CASE

Volcano Fan triple speed 3500,5000,7500rpm the top 2 speeds were very noisy, bottom was a bit too noisy for my liking.
4 hd's one on bottom of case on cardboard due to not enough slots.
No case fans.

cpu temp was 47 idle today before i stripped it down, and side of case removed to keep temps bearable, during summer I had to have a desk fan blowing in case to keep temps below 65 under load. HD temps were all above 48 highest on 56.

NEW CASE

Arctic cooling copper silent L2 fan, brought arctic silver but decided to use compound that came with fan.
Additional 8mm fan used in front of case.
3 hd's mounted in bottom bracket with gap's in between so not close to each other and 4th hd mounted below floppy drive.
The new cpu fan on middle speed (1800,2200,2800rpm)
The built in fan at back of case also on mid speed currently.
My front 80mm fan is single speed dont know what rpm is.

Cpu temp is currently 28 idle
the 3 hds in bracket been cooled by front fan all below 30 degrees
the 4th hd is 44 degrees
side cover of case is on.

system spec remained same.
amd xp 2200+ tbred A
1 gig ddr ram
liteon 812s burner
asus a7n8x deluxe v2
60 gig ata 100
120 gig ata 133
120 gig sata
all 3 maxtor
and western digital 200 gig sata
ati radeon 9600 pro with broken fan
smc 100mbit lan card

new in the rebuild audigy 2 value card

Ok my opinion of the case, is I feel its money well spent my new temps speak for themselves, although I had a new fan as well, I think the funnel thing has helped, as when I put the side back on case the temps didnt rise by 1 degree and the funnel probably was the reason, the back fan I am hoping helps give my case needed airflow and the front fan allows me to cool my hd's, I also now have enough room to mount all my hd's. The case looks sleak and I like the front usb.

Ok however this isnt perfect here is what I feel are the faults. The lack of manual lead me to big confusion at times, only after reading this thread I can now shut of my pc and mount my dvd burner properly :) , the inside of the case looks like cheap workmanship, work bits of metal etc. The top doesnt come off meaning I struggled to get my psu in, unlike some others I was lucky and didnt need to remove my cpu fan or anything I just about got it in. The cpu holes are inconsistent with taking few attempts getting screws to fit. The funnel extender is flimsy and if extended is likely to fall of or slip into different position. Their wasnt 2 covers supplied to add support to amd motherboard's but I just got the cover of my old case to use on my board. Finally the metal base which the motherboard mounts to cannot be removed.

Like others I hear some kind of buzzing noise which after some sleep will try and track down the cause, I guess it may well be my hd's that are the course or possibly that front 80mm fan, the fan is taped in place which I hope it doesnt fly of one there spinning wildy but I think with the hd bay up against it it wouldnt be able to move too much I hope :)

Thanks for the review its what made me purchase the case and brought me to this site.

flarkit
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Post by flarkit » Mon Oct 03, 2005 11:56 pm

Hi

I've been practically lusting after the 3000B for a long time. So-much-so that I was about to order 1 each for myself and a friend, in preparation for upgrading to AMD64. Now it seems that the TAC specification doesn't really allow for AMD64 motherboard layouts, correct?

Should we perhaps opt for the Sonata-II instead? (even with its irritating duct)
:?

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Post by Sizzle » Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:22 am

Anyone able to put a 120x38mm fan on the front between the hd case and the inside wall of the cage? You'd have to remove the pastic fan mount and mount the fan to the case to even make it close I think.

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Post by norman-ramsey » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:02 pm

Just a short note---as others have noted, the CPU duct indeed does not line up with the CPU on an AMD Socket 754 board (ASUS K8N).

A minor irritation is that the power switch is located behind the door on the bezel. For a home system that is turned on and off a lot, I hate to be opening and closing the damn door all the time. Has anybody removed the door? Can it be done without damaging the case?

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Post by norman-ramsey » Sat Oct 29, 2005 8:07 pm

Cros wrote:Has anyone else had problems using the two front USB-ports?
In order to get proper access to these ports, I had to bend the metal on which they are mounted. Carefully! Carefully! First time I bent it too far. Everything has to be 'just right' or the ports don't line up (and it's hard to get the bezel on all the way).

Wouldn't surprise me if your ports are misaligned and so the bezel isn't going all the way home.

mhe
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Post by mhe » Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:39 pm

I just got myself a couple more disks for my server and i really need to change that old crappy chassi.

The question is, those rubber grommets, do they really help anything against vibrations? Im gonna run 4 HDs (7200rpm) and the machine is right outside the room where i sleep, wich means, i want it quiet. Fan "blowing" sounds cant really be heard through the door, but hds rattling will surely annoy me.

I just think it looks kinda crappy, like 2mm rubber gromets thats supposed to isolate the disk from the hd cage.

Image

This looks alot better.

Image

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Post by MikeC » Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:43 pm

mhe --

Your right. :lol: :lol:

Those black rubber grommets on the SLK3000 (and many other cases) do virtually nothing.

The ones on the P180 drive cage come close to HDD elastic suspension.

Devonavar
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Post by Devonavar » Sun Nov 06, 2005 5:44 pm

No, the grommets don't do much, epecially with multiple hard drives, as it demonstrated by the comparison in the P180 review that you've already visited if that photo is any indication.

Suspension is the way to go...

mhe
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Post by mhe » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:04 pm

Thanks for the fast replys guys. :o

The slk3000 had such a nice layout otherwise, 120mm in the front would be perfect for a 4hd setup. :cry:

Ill have to figure something out, probably just build a drivecage of my own and just place it in the bottom of my current chassi.

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Post by MikeC » Sun Nov 06, 2005 6:12 pm

mhe wrote:Thanks for the fast replys guys. :o

The slk3000 had such a nice layout otherwise, 120mm in the front would be perfect for a 4hd setup. :cry:

Ill have to figure something out, probably just build a drivecage of my own and just place it in the bottom of my current chassi.
Try looking through this thread. HDD Suspension... Show your pics! Lots of ideas.

Hauser
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Post by Hauser » Sun Nov 13, 2005 1:30 am

Tzeb wrote:I have my SLK300b for a month now and it has the holes for mounting 120mm fan in front. 8)
I'm not sure if this has been said before, but my SLK300b has "tattooed" on the back of the front door, near the place of the sticker REV, year, month and day of the production.
I have rev 1, year 2004. month 10, day 8.
I just got a 3000b and I thought I should mention that the stamp says 2005.08.19 (I don't see a Rev number though) yet the fan mount doesn't have the regular screw holes.

I don't get it. So, my case was made almost a year after the one mentioned in the quote above, yet it isn't Rev 1?

Here's a pic of the mount on my 3000b in case I'm misunderstanding something.
Image

frostedflakes
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Post by frostedflakes » Sun Nov 13, 2005 2:25 am

It probably does, you just can't see them because of that plastic fan mount. Take off the front panel to gain access to the screws and remove the mount.

mhe: The grommets are not very effective at eliminating seek noises. However, they do seem to change the character of the sound. With my old Barracuda IV in an Antec SLK3700-BQE, seek noises were very unobtrusive. There was no rattling, clanking, or any type of metallic noise, just a soft (but still audible from about 1m away) thudding. If it's in another room, I wouldn't think it'd bother you. Especially since the HDDs likely won't be reading/writing all the time.

mephisoft
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newcomer's questions

Post by mephisoft » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:15 pm

Hi,

Though I have been following SPCR for more than a month now, this is my first post. Now I am 'living' on SPCR - I just hope that I soon manage to get my PC *practically* noiseless and then I can return to a more normal life :) Anyway, thanks to all of you for your great work.

I'd like to ask a few questions, but before that, let me summarize my story so far.

I used to have an Athlon 1400 system with 2 Seagate HDDs in a Chieftec case for 3 years. One of my main purchase criteria at that time was to be low noise. Even so it was terribly noisy. About 2 months ago I told myself: ENOUGH! I had never opened a PC case before myself, but I collected some courage and started my journey...

I use my gear for normal word processing, Web browsing, image and video processing and as a PVR (this is new). For image processing (photography is my hobby) I need a powerful machine. This is also true for video editing, but no matter how strong a config is I will need hours for DVD production (family videos), so top performance is not required.

On the other hand I want to use this as a PVR as well, that means I need low (idle) power consumption, since it will be on for extended periods of time.


BTW: My PC sits under a wooden desk on wooden floor, no carpets under the desk.

I purchased some stuff:

- Abit A8n Ultra MB (heatpipes for cooling the hot stuff on the MB!),
- A64 3000+,
- Arctic Cooling Freezer 64
- Seasonic S12 430.
- 2 * 512 MB Kingstone DDR400 (the originally purchased no-name RAM just didn't pass the tests)
- low end PCIe VGA card with passive cooling (Sorry, I don't know the exact data, I am away from home right now, just this is the first time I happen to have time to write this down)
- 250 G SATA Seagate HDD

I reused my 3 years old 40GB WD, and 1 year old 120G PATA Seagate HDD and floppy.

I installed all these stuff into the Chieftech case. Dramatic improvement! However, after a few hours I felt again, that this is still loud. HDD temp went well over 50C since the 3 HDDs and the floppy were toucHing each-other. - I got rid of the old WD drive (= reinstall XP :( ) and the floppy, then temps went down a bit bellow 50C.

Then I got an Arctic Cooling T2 case (at that time I was not yet reading SPCR). Things (other then HDDD temp) didn't improve much if at all.

BTW: the AC case was a pain to install stuff into, when removing my HDD later I broke the suspension system. Great idea, but crappy implementation.

Now I started reading SPCR. So the next step was:

- Antec SLK 3000B,
- rear Tricool fan on Low,
- drive cage and the stuff on the bottom of the case removed with a drill
- the HDDs put on carefully positioned foam strips on the bottom of the case - to let air pass through bellow, between and above drives - this being a temporary solution, I am in the process of designing my suspension).
external DVD burner

I had already ordered two SmartDrives and Acoustipack Delux, but they were not yet here when I put this together for the first time.

After putting this together I realized that my CRT is hissing ;) For a few minutes I thought that my system is practically silent. The biggest surprise was, that the HDD noise (both idle and seeking) also disappeared. (I wouldn't have ordered SmartDrive after this experience, but it was already on its way.)

But then came the night, the kids went to bed, traffic ceased and I realized that my PC is not silent, so this was not yet the end of the journey. - It was not easy to find out what was still noisy. Perhaps the Antec fan?

Anyway, I checked the temps. Ambient temps in my room are 21-22 C. HDD temp was a bit high: around 43C. I taped all holes of the box (including side vents) but the exhaust and the main intake: the HDD temps went down to about 35C. This increased the CPU temps a little bit to 47C max (CPUBurn) - I thought this is an OK compromise.

Next time (night) I mounted the Antec fan on elastic suspension (similar to the EAR stuff, something manufactured here locally by a small vendor). - I am not sure there was any noticable difference. Perhaps yes, but I am not sure.

Next night I applied Acoustipack - not yet to the bottom (because my suspension system is not yet ready), and not yet above the space designated for the optical drive - because I may want to install such a drive later, and I fear the Acoustipack may be in my way then…) - I am not sure there was any noticable difference. Perhaps yes, but I am not sure. No change in the temps.

Then I got the SmartDrives. I installed them (still just on left-over Acoustipack stips) - I am not sure there was a big difference. Perhaps yes, but not big. Difficult to tell, my acoustic memory is especially weak. HDD temps went up to about 40 C (idle). After very carefully repositioning the drives, the foam strips and using a few blocks from my kids Lego, HDD temps went back to 37-38 C.

This is where I am now. I am proud, but not yet satisfied. My battleplan:


Here comes my first question: I suspect that now the main source of noise is the Antec fan. The exhaust air is cool even at full load, so perhaps I can slow it down. I want to try to use something similar to Zalman's Fanmate (manufactured by a small local vendor) Will this work, will this fan start at lower voltage? Or am I better off if I replace it with a 12 cm Nexus? I already have the Nexus (2 of them) in my cupboard, but won't be able to mount them elastically as the Nexus fan case is 'closed' (sorry for my English), my silicon gadgets are not long enough for the Nexus. - I know, I can try it out myself, but I'd like to spend as little time with this as possible - i.e. I don't want to spend all my time with this ;)

The next question: has anybody tried to cut out the grill of the SLK3000B? Would that make a significant difference in noise assuming the Antec fan on low setting? How about the same question, but assuming an undervolted Antec fan is (or undervolted Nexus)? - This is definitely something I don't want to try out unless someone confirms that this indeed makes sense :) I've just read the 'Case fan grills are evil' thread, but the SLK3000B was praised in this respect, so I don't know relevant this would be in my case. (I don't mind a Celsius rise if things are still practically noiseless but safer - I have small kids.)

Then I am considering to install a front fan to bring HDD temps further down. I will do this together with the suspension - perhaps already the proper suspension will reduce the air impedance? Anyway, the 3rd question is: would a Nexus fan at the lowest possible speed be audible if in the front intake?

If things are still noisy, I may replace the Seagete HDDs with Samsungs. This would be a painfull move, not just because of the price, but the installation …

Then I may put carpets bellow may desk (also good to keep my feet warm during winter :), put some carpet on the bottom side of my desk and on the wall behind my desk, ...

If this is still not enough, then come the notebook drives; but this would now be really painful since I would miss the 250G capacity for video editing. (BTW: I am not able to get my HDDs be turned off when idle - previously it worked with my secondary HDD (not with the boot device), but now both are spinning all the time no matter what I specify at the power settings. Is it perhaps due to the 'Minimal power management setting' required by Cool & Quite?)

I hope this will suffice, these are about last things I can do before I'd consider myself insane :)

BTW: I don't want total silence; I'd be happy if I can't hear the PC when sitting at the desk - actually I would be willing to tolerate some seek noise.

***

Just a side comment: the Antec SLK3000B case is an OK case, but very-very far from something I'd categorize as a piece of quality product. It just feels cheap. Everywhere. My old Chieftec was significantly better in this respect, though I wouldn't call that a quality product either. I am now eyeing the Lian Li cases - some of them use the same bottom PSU - HDD duct design as the P180. With some Acoustipack and HDD suspension and cut out wents (the Lian Li vents seem to be extremeley restrictive) I could imagine a nice computer built from them. :wink: :wink:

kaange
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Post by kaange » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:15 pm

To all those who find a hum after building up a SLK3000B, I am almost certain that you will find it is caused by the HDD vibrations being transmitted to the case. I didn't notice these vibration noises with my old generic case but that could well be due to the SLK3000B being so much quieter in every other respect (I used all the same components but added a fan controller as I found my m/b and cpu temps dropped so much I could afford to slow own the CPU and case fans).

I would recommend they look at the suspension scheme used by ozdoc in this thread. This is such a simple and obvious means of using the supplied drive cage that it is brilliant. Plus the drives are still bolted to a fairly large piece of metal that has a large surface to transfer heat to the airflow so their heat is reduced vs completely suspended drives.

I actually just placed the cage on a bed of foam to acheive the same degree of isolation as I don't move my PC around. Now I just have
a bit of fan noise from my PSU which I'll tackle when I have time/can be bothered.

The side vents don't release any extra noise from my system as I tried taping them over so I agree with Mike that the vents won't make a quiet system noisy but may make a noisy system noisier. I've added a 80mm fan running at very low speed as an intake fan to allow my CPU fan speed to be lowered further.

To all those who think this case feels rather cheap, I'd say look at the price tag. It's a very well engineered case built to a low price but at the end of the day, it performs very well. I can only think it can be improved at it's present price point if it had the front bezel of the Sonata III.

Greg

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