P183, six hdd and XFX GTX 260

ottoangel · Post by **ottoangel** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:25 pm

Bought an Antec P183 and a XFX GTX 260. I have four hdd's in the lower drivebay. Now I want to use the upper one for my systemdisks (2 old Raptor WD360 in RAID0). They don't seem to fit because of the graphics card. I can't even use one of them because it is impossible to make them fit it seems.

Can this really be true for a new highend case like the Antec P183? I mean you must be able to use the drivebays even if you have a big graphics card. The 260 is not even highend nowdays.

Is it possible to make things fit? Please help I really need this computer going for work and everything.

ottoangel · Post by **ottoangel** » Thu May 28, 2009 1:54 pm

The only thing I have come up with is to mount the the same way as the ones in the lower drivebay. Meaning that I have to drill holes and even remove the plastic drivebay system to make it work. This must be a joke. The should have warning signs on the case "Please don't use new graphics cards on this case"

Olle P · Post by **Olle P** » Thu May 28, 2009 3:15 pm

I don't think this case is meant to have as many as six HDDs and high end graphics. Users with that many drives usually opt for big towers anyway.

Your issue is well known as I've seen it mentioned in several reviews. (Applies to P180 and P182 as well, since these have the same dimensions.)

Some optional solutions I can think of are:
1) See if you can trade the case for a P193, that doesn't have this problem.
2) Use a graphics card that isn't the biggest on the market.
3) Mount the HDDs in free 5.25" slots.
4) Use 2.5" drives instead of 3.5".

Cheers
Olle

ottoangel · Post by **ottoangel** » Thu May 28, 2009 4:26 pm

The 5.25"-solution is probably the way to go I guess. Thanks.

ottoangel · Post by **ottoangel** » Sat May 30, 2009 1:42 pm

Any suggestions on what 3.5" to 5.25" converters to use?

Zeroignite · Post by **Zeroignite** » Sat May 30, 2009 2:53 pm

ottoangel wrote:Any suggestions on what 3.5" to 5.25" converters to use?

DIY elastic drive decoupling!

Olle P · Post by **Olle P** » Sun May 31, 2009 6:32 am

Given how many converters there are readily on the market I'd say: Unless you want to make your own, just pick what the local dealer has to offer. (Subject of course to any additional features you want, like extra cooling and/or noise dampening or very low price.)

The cheap and simple solution.

Cheers
Olle