How do you P180/2 & Antec Phantom 500 owners fit the psu to the case? Do you remove the fan from the lower chamber altogether?
I'm thinking about cutting a hole to the back of the case to get the psu stick out a bit from the case. I guess it wouldn't hurt cooling, but would make some room for the cables & case fan. The psu cage would keep the psu in place anyway. Opinions anyone?
Another issue is that Phantom 500 isn't one of the latest PSUs out there. The design sounds nice to me, but for some reason it's not overly popular. Considering that the machine needs 150-250 W power (peaks a bit higher, average being around 160 W), it looks tempting, though. Perhaps I'm missing something?
P180/2 & Antec Phantom 500: case mod needed?
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mr_plow_king
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Re: P180/2 & Antec Phantom 500: case mod needed?
The reason fanless PSUs aren't popular is that a little bit of flow from a big fan is infinitely better than zero flow, and both are inaudible "enough"ivier wrote:How do you P180/2 & Antec Phantom 500 owners fit the psu to the case? Do you remove the fan from the lower chamber altogether?
I'm thinking about cutting a hole to the back of the case to get the psu stick out a bit from the case. I guess it wouldn't hurt cooling, but would make some room for the cables & case fan. The psu cage would keep the psu in place anyway. Opinions anyone?
Another issue is that Phantom 500 isn't one of the latest PSUs out there. The design sounds nice to me, but for some reason it's not overly popular. Considering that the machine needs 150-250 W power (peaks a bit higher, average being around 160 W), it looks tempting, though. Perhaps I'm missing something?
A P500 fits into a P180/182 without modification, as long as the center fan is 25mm thick (the early P180s had a thicker fan in the bottom, which could simply be swapped with one of the other fans).
The cables are a snug fit, with a few millimeters of clearance. You should remove the fan during installation by sliding its carrier towards you. The first time, it will be quite stiff.
The cables are a snug fit, with a few millimeters of clearance. You should remove the fan during installation by sliding its carrier towards you. The first time, it will be quite stiff.
Thanks, this is welcome information! I'm just about to get P182, so the fan thickness shouldn't be a problem. But the combination won't be actually loose, either.cmthomson wrote:A P500 fits into a P180/182 without modification, as long as the center fan is 25mm thick (the early P180s had a thicker fan in the bottom, which could simply be swapped with one of the other fans).
The cables are a snug fit, with a few millimeters of clearance. You should remove the fan during installation by sliding its carrier towards you. The first time, it will be quite stiff.
I'm wondering if the case fan in the lower chamber makes sense, after all. Two fans (case fan & psu fan) are next to each other, eventhough the psu fan should stay idle most of the time (I hope). I wonder if the case fan in the lower chamber should be better placed right behind the dust filter, and the hdd cage taken that bit closer to the psu. Probably not the easiest modification to make.
Another thing I'm wondering is that Phantom is probably getting warm or even hot from the top, more than an average psu. One would think that perhaps the holes in a grill on top of the psu behind the case should not be closed, which is suggested as a standard way of making the lower chamber ventilation more logical. If the case fan is working all the time, it should push some air to the back so that the psu won't suck air from the back even when the psu fan is working.
The Phantom 500 is very different from all the other PSUs recommended on this site (eg, Seasonic).
The P500 sheds almost all of its heat from its top heat sink, which is very large. Its fan is there as a backup, and it should never activate in a case that has any airflow at all.
In a P180/182, a P500 should be mounted with no cables on top (tuck unused cables underneath the supply, not on top), with a slow fan (eg, Nexus or Scythe) in the center, and with no blockage of vents or grills. The center fan draws air across the HDD cage (this is a good place to put your drives in this configuration), and past the PSU. 500-600 RPM is all that's needed to prevent the PSU fan from coming on.
To see how I installed my P500, look here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article672-page1.html
The recommendations to block off various holes in the P180/182 are intended for more classic PSU designs such as the Seasonic, which have a quiet built-in fan that never turns off. In this situation, you want to force that fan to draw its cool air through the front of the case (and thus the HDD cage), and exhaust it out the back of the case via the PSU itself, with no short circuits or recirculation paths. This is done by blocking off some of the holes in the case.
The P500 sheds almost all of its heat from its top heat sink, which is very large. Its fan is there as a backup, and it should never activate in a case that has any airflow at all.
In a P180/182, a P500 should be mounted with no cables on top (tuck unused cables underneath the supply, not on top), with a slow fan (eg, Nexus or Scythe) in the center, and with no blockage of vents or grills. The center fan draws air across the HDD cage (this is a good place to put your drives in this configuration), and past the PSU. 500-600 RPM is all that's needed to prevent the PSU fan from coming on.
To see how I installed my P500, look here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article672-page1.html
The recommendations to block off various holes in the P180/182 are intended for more classic PSU designs such as the Seasonic, which have a quiet built-in fan that never turns off. In this situation, you want to force that fan to draw its cool air through the front of the case (and thus the HDD cage), and exhaust it out the back of the case via the PSU itself, with no short circuits or recirculation paths. This is done by blocking off some of the holes in the case.
I'm running a Phantom 500 in a P180B case. It's VERY VERY tight, but it's entirely doable. Note that you can move the fan to the opposite side of the divider by unscrewing it from the bracket and direct mounting it to the divider with the same screws. Ultimately I went with a Noctua fan and got it in the original location.
The key to making this PSU work with this case is very carefully working out how you route your cables. I did it one way, then a month later went in and re did it with the new fans, in the course of which I rerouted some wires.
IMHO that PSU with this case and a different fan is an awesome combination. I have the PSU swtich set to the 'hottest' position, figuring that the case fan and the heatsink will do the job 99% of the time.
The key to making this PSU work with this case is very carefully working out how you route your cables. I did it one way, then a month later went in and re did it with the new fans, in the course of which I rerouted some wires.
IMHO that PSU with this case and a different fan is an awesome combination. I have the PSU swtich set to the 'hottest' position, figuring that the case fan and the heatsink will do the job 99% of the time.
Thanks for all of you, I appreciated all your comments.
Phantom is now in place. It wasn't actually as tight as I expected. The cables coming out of it caused a bit trouble, as they are not organized at all. Difficult to route them in a spacey way.
At first I wasn't overly impressed by the results, the system was somewhat noisy even with Phantom. I then replaced the Antec fans with Nexus ones and stuck the two hdds to old SilentDrive enclosures I happened to have. I left them just laying at the bottom of the drive cage in the lower chamber. Need to keep an eye of their temperatures. When driving the fans at around 600 rpm the system is pretty silent now. This is the first time I now hear the irritating noise coming from my Samsung 305T TFT display...
Phantom is now in place. It wasn't actually as tight as I expected. The cables coming out of it caused a bit trouble, as they are not organized at all. Difficult to route them in a spacey way.
At first I wasn't overly impressed by the results, the system was somewhat noisy even with Phantom. I then replaced the Antec fans with Nexus ones and stuck the two hdds to old SilentDrive enclosures I happened to have. I left them just laying at the bottom of the drive cage in the lower chamber. Need to keep an eye of their temperatures. When driving the fans at around 600 rpm the system is pretty silent now. This is the first time I now hear the irritating noise coming from my Samsung 305T TFT display...
I used string to pull the cables coming out of the PSU away from the 25mm deep fan, knowing that the string will not deteriorate like other methods (rubber bands) and is tied to the holes at the back of the case.
I have tucked a few of the cables I wont be using out of the way down the side of the PSU, this is better than underneath the PSU if you are using very low airflow like I am - 5v Nexus. And I also never used the "U" shaped bracket that is supposed to go over the top of the PSU, again this wont help airflow, and is unnecessary for a fanless PSU anyway.
Unless you are aiming for an ultra quiet PSU, I would reccomend getting a SS anyway, as you then wont need a case fan in the PSU/HDD section if you are only using one fan.
Andy
I have tucked a few of the cables I wont be using out of the way down the side of the PSU, this is better than underneath the PSU if you are using very low airflow like I am - 5v Nexus. And I also never used the "U" shaped bracket that is supposed to go over the top of the PSU, again this wont help airflow, and is unnecessary for a fanless PSU anyway.
Unless you are aiming for an ultra quiet PSU, I would reccomend getting a SS anyway, as you then wont need a case fan in the PSU/HDD section if you are only using one fan.
Andy