Case inhabitants:
ABit AW9D-MAX
E6600 @ 3.6(9x400) 1.375V
Ultra-120 with Papst 4412-FGL
Papst 4412-FGLL rear exhaust
Zaward ZGF120 front intaker
Standard Antec fan in the lower chamber, set @ low
X850XT w Zalman VF900
Raptor 150Gb(temporary, just for testing)
2 x Seagate 7200.10
A few words about the ABit AW9D-MAX.
As of late, ABit is the only brand those in pursuit of silence and overclocking can seriously take into consideration. The uniquer FanEQ feature is something all other MB makers should consider. It is just amazing what you can do with it. Previously I had a P5B-Deluxe, but since it wasn't able to control the attached fans properly I just had to ship it back(here in germany, if you buy a product over the net, you have 14 days to decide whether you keep it or send it back. no questions asked. nice). Anyway, I really can't stress enough how well this FanEQ feature works. Should there be anything similar to FanEQ from other mobo , please let me know, it never hurts to have other choices as well.
The mobo is stripped of it's normal chipset cooler, on it's south bridge lies now a Zalman ZM-NB47J while on it's north one a HR-05 Sli keeps the chipset decently cool(34C under orthos, 29@ idle). I had to bend the two heatpipes of the HR-05 to make it fit nicely between the gfx card and the Ultra-120 monster, anyway, if you plan to do the same, be careful not to bend too much as the pipes can get damaged.
I also detached the default heatpipes leading to the mosfet cooler behind the CPU socket(very easy, they didn't solder them, only some thermal paste used), so now it only cools those vregs.
I also added some ZM-RHS1 heatsinks on the vregs that feed the chipsets/RAM slots, I know it's overkill, but since I had them around, why not, they are mute anyway
So that would be all the extra there is.
Previously I had a Silentmaxx Big Tower, with 4 80mm silents fans.
Compared to that case, which is a lot taller, this P180, altho smaller, is so well designed it actually offers more space. The cooling is also much better in the P180 and by using 120mm fans, there are only 3(make it 2 if you have only up to two HDD and no raptors) needed instead of 4.
Overall, the system seems to be just as quiet as when using the silentmaxx case, but much better if you have a raptor, the seeking noise of a raptor was horrible in the silentmaxx, also the reason I sold it(this one is not mine, the raptor). While the P180 didn't render the seek crankings mute, it helps a lot, they are still somewhat loud(so I won't get another one) but much much quieter than in the silentmaxx. Anyway, I heard the new T7K500 are really quiet and their performance is good enough for me, so I'll get two and say bye to these rapty forever.
Now comes the bad part, the quality of the P180 is really really bad compared to the siletmaxx. While I had the SM for over 3 years now, I don't give the P180 much of a chance to survive that long. Actually, as I was mounting the front intaker with rubber thingies I managed to broke the little plastic piece that holds the small "door" of the fan so now it won't close nor open properly. The rails that hold the 5.25" units in place are also less than optimal, I don't know how long they will last. The front door, idem. I guess I'll just post in this thread once the things start falling apart.
The way this case is built just reminds me of the way things run over here vs in the states. I won't go into details, but those who can think will know what I mean.
So yes, it's a good case, but crap quality. Good enough for now. Tomorrow? Right, who cares. Too bad Antec didn't care about quality, I would have paid 30-40 eur extra for the same case, just better quality. For them to make it better, it would have costed them maybe $1, but some wise bean counter decided crap is good enough, so there you go.
PS: the only thing I can think off that could have been done better(beside the quality)... well, the case would have been better if only 2-3cm deeper, the lower part gets really crowded with cables when you have 3HDD. With 4 it's even worst, not to speak about 4 P-ATA ones. Horror.
