Antec 300 Front Muffle

speedkar9 · Post by **speedkar9** » Wed Jul 14, 2010 5:41 pm

I was thinking about how we could mod an Antec 300's front end so that it would be a bit more silent-pc friendly.
I came up with the idea to add a piece of metal in front of where the grille would be, leaving the surrounding for air intake. It would be supported by a piece of acrylic mounted on the back of the front panel.

The back of the front panel,

Any thoughts?

Post by **MikeC** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 2:53 pm

Your drawings are very impressive.... but I wonder if your design isn't overkill? I would just cut a dense piece of packing foam or similar material that's handy and wedge it to block unwanted/unneeded. The end result would be very similar both visually and aurally.

speedkar9 · Post by **speedkar9** » Thu Jul 22, 2010 5:49 pm

Thanks Mike,
What I meant to achieve was a more "professional" mod to the very popular and cheap Antec 300 that mimics the way quiet cases (like Solo and P18x) block hard drive noise, by allowing air to enter the surrounds while direct noise is muffled. This (and the fact that 300 doesn't have suspension[without mods

]) is what prevents the stock 300 from being a decent choice for a quiet pc

sub · Post by **sub** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:27 am

Hi speedkar9,

Another solution: cut an aluminium plate and remplace the fan grid, without damaging the front pannel

Post by **MikeC** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:40 am

speedkar9 -- ah gotcha now.

speedkar9 · Post by **speedkar9** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 11:57 am

sub wrote:Hi speedkar9,
Another solution: cut an aluminum plate and replace the fan grid, without damaging the front panel

Then that essentially blocks all airflow coming in the front...

Sorry for the bad explanation, maybe these pictures explain more of what I meant; a piece of metal or something that sits in front of where the grill is that blocks direct noise but allows air to enter below, above and around its sides.

I hope this helps. Feedback is appreciated.

sub · Post by **sub** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 2:04 pm

Then that essentially blocks all airflow coming in the front...

Yeah but that block the noise too...

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 4:01 pm

Would be interesting to see how it works.

For a further refinement, you could have some noise-damping foam attached to the back of the extruded plate to perhaps assist with some of the noise that would leak out.

Or, for anyone who wants to maintain a bit more of a 'gamer' look, use clear acrylic instead of aluminium for the plate, with a 240 rad grill cover screwed on top or some design cut into a second layer of opaque acrylic. Backlight it with a couple of LEDs if that is your thing.

Anyone got an Antec 300 for an experiment?

speedkar9 · Post by **speedkar9** » Fri Jul 23, 2010 5:47 pm

JamieG wrote:Or, for anyone who wants to maintain a bit more of a 'gamer' look, use clear acrylic instead of aluminium for the plate, with a 240 rad grill cover screwed on top or some design cut into a second layer of opaque acrylic. Backlight it with a couple of LEDs if that is your thing.

Thats exactly how I got inspired to design this mod!

JamieG wrote:Anyone got an Antec 300 for an experiment?

I'd really like to try a few mods to a 300, but I just don't have any more computers in the house that need a new case

. I'm eyeing up this open box 300 on NE with free shipping though

.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 5:05 pm

speedkar9 wrote:
JamieG wrote:Or, for anyone who wants to maintain a bit more of a 'gamer' look, use clear acrylic instead of aluminium for the plate, with a 240 rad grill cover screwed on top or some design cut into a second layer of opaque acrylic. Backlight it with a couple of LEDs if that is your thing.
Thats exactly how I got inspired to design this mod!

Yeah, I had that MNPCTech mod in mind when making that suggestion!

danimal · Post by **danimal** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 9:23 am

from the testing that i have done with the p18x, that space between the plate and the intake will be restrictive, and depending on the fan configuration, it will result in higher internal temps.

the advantage with the p18x is that you can just open the door, tho, and remove the restriction.

Bill Owen · Post by **Bill Owen** » Sat Aug 21, 2010 10:53 am

Nice job speedkar9. I have never seen renderings for the 300 before.

speedkar9 · Post by **speedkar9** » Wed Aug 25, 2010 6:45 am

Bill Owen wrote:Nice job speedkar9. I have never seen renderings for the 300 before.

Thanks Bill.

To preserve the clean flush look of the 300's front, I am looking to make an internal front muffle for this case.

Here is my first attempt using wood,

However there isnt much space to work behind the front panel of the 300, so I end up with more of an air blockage,

The space is merely the thickness of a pencil,

We'll see how it goes and post the final project when its done. Any ideas?

Hangfire · Post by **Hangfire** » Sun Sep 05, 2010 3:34 pm

If you take a look at my Antec 300 thread, you'll see I built an internal front panel contraption (muffle) that blocked the upward sound path while allowing an open air path from below. Think venetian blinds at 45 degrees. It's not pretty but it can't be seen when closed and it does its job well.

-HF