Antec SLK3000B - Interchangeable panels?

ComputerLiebe · Post by **ComputerLiebe** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:20 pm

Hey guys, decided on the Antec SLK3000B case for a mate. Only issue is that I'm quite sure that the intake duct on the side of the case won't line up correctly with the CPU on his board.

He's sold on the case and idea of the duct so my question to the owners of this case is can the two side panels of the case be interchanged (like you can on generic cases)? If this is the case, what I figure we could do is just remove the ducting from the side panel, bore a correctly placed hole in the other case panel and just transfer the ducting device.

Would really appreciate it if someone could confirm this for me.

Cheers

BigA · Post by **BigA** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:04 pm

Yes, you can definitely do this, however, you will want to make the switch before you install your motherboard as you will need to bend a piece of metal over in order to make this work. This will be a very easy modification, especially if you do not have anything in the case when you make the change. The piece of metal which you will need to bend or cut is a small metal tab approximately 5mm x 15mm which sticks down through the motherboard tray and which will interfere with the operation of the bottom plastic latch. This metal tab is part of the assembly which holds the brackets for your expansion cards.

As an alternative to what you are suggesting, you might consider removing the air duct entirely and blocking off the opening. While the air duct improves cooling of the processor, it also provides a shortcut which reduces airflow through the front of the case. Since the airflow through the front of the case cools your hard drives, airflow through the front of the case is arguably more important than CPU cooling (assuming that your CPU cooling is adequate). If your cooling solution will include a rear exhaust fan, this would also generate airflow past your CPU heatsink. Similarly, you might consider blocking off the air vent for the VGA card. Whether you will want to do this or not will depend on a variety of factors, which will include whether you will be running a hot VGA card. As the VGA card in my SLK3000B is an older card with minimal energy requirements, this was an easy decision for me.

ckolivas · Post by **ckolivas** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 9:19 pm

The duct is easily unscrewed. I've put together two systems where the height of the heatsink prohibits the duct being in place at any height so I removed the duct entirely and just left the grill. Of course this leaves an opening in a place which you may not desire.

oh and
Welcome to SCPR!

ComputerLiebe · Post by **ComputerLiebe** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:31 pm

Hey thanks for the detailed response BigA - very much appreciated. We plan on installing a Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu HSF as well as a Nexus 120mm intake fan at the front of the case. His video card is of an older generation and doesn't generate too much heat.

I think we will try your suggestions re blocking the duct off completely at first and see how the traditional push-pull arrangement works.

Thanks again.

Cheers for the welcome ckolivas. I'll be moving back to Melbourne incidentally in the next few weeks - can't wait as I'm presently in Adelaide