Project: Silencing the P183?

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Kaishi
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:09 am
Location: Annapolis, MD

Project: Silencing the P183?

Post by Kaishi » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:11 am

Hey guys, it's that time of year again... the time when I decide to build a new rig.

Last year's rig was quite a success and needed only a few upgrades over the course of the year. I will be converting that rig into a server, and the new system will take its place.

Case: Antec Performance One P183
Power Supply: Antec CP-850
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA790FXT-UD5P
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (200x16=3.2GHz), intending to overclock sharply (hopefully to 240x16=3.84GHz)
RAM: G.Skill DDR3-1600 (9-9-9-24 @ 1.5v), intending to overclock
GPUs: Crossfire 2x Sapphire ATI Radeon HD4890 1GB (900MHz/1000MHz)
SPU: Creative X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Champion Series (recycled from last year's rig)
HDD: Western Digital Velociraptor WD3000HLFS
HSF: Noctua NH-U12P + NH-P12 (push-pull)

This year's project is to make the rig silent as can be while providing enough airflow for the crossfire setup.

The P183 only includes 2 Antec TriCool fans, at the rear and blowhole exhaust mounts. It has mounts for an additional 2 intake fans. I intend mount the hardware to allow positive air pressure, so I may install an intake 120mm fan in 3x5.25 bays.

How would alter the case to improve airflow while reducing noise? I intend to remove the exhaust grilles for sure.
Last edited by Kaishi on Wed Jul 15, 2009 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

thejamppa
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Post by thejamppa » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:25 am

I am not sure if P18x-case is good choice for higher-mid-end Crossfire or Sli Set-ups. But If you want positive pressure, you priobably need Scythe Kama-Bay provide stable 120mm fan mount or suspend 120mm fan in 5,25" slots.

I personally would look another case for Crossfire, like Silverstone Fortress, that is already designed for positive pressure and has good 180mm fans that was reviewed in SPCR quite highly.

review in here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/silverstone_fortress_ft01

but if you already have P183, you definately need two 120mm exhausts at leasts and consider maybe reversing one of the exhaust fan as intake. And Unless you plan serious overlocking, I doubt you need two fans in CPU cooler.

Perhaps one of the best would be that using rear exhaust as intake and let that blow on Heatsink. While topexhaust would act sole exhaust fan. Problem in P18x that top resonates really easily when there is top fan. There are ways to suspend the fan in top.
Last edited by thejamppa on Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

Kaishi
Posts: 12
Joined: Thu Jul 31, 2008 11:09 am
Location: Annapolis, MD

Post by Kaishi » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:29 am

The fortress has a number of problems that remove it from my consideration. The P183 has superior dust filtration, cable management, and looks. It is constructed from better materials, and has room for the CP-850 power supply.

EDIT: I have a pair of Scythe Ultra Kaze 3000 RPM fans I can use if necessary. I know their sound profile isn't so hot, even when undervolted, so I would like to avoid them if possible.

danimal
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Post by danimal » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:42 pm

if you install 5 fans blowing inwards on the p183, you'll achieve positive air pressure... the problem is where to blow the air out, because the card slots around the video card may not be enough, and there is no grill above the slots, like you have on the earlier p18x's... i was thinking that you could try removing the two water cooling plugs above the card slots.

those ultra kaze fans seem kind of drastic, because of the noise.

danielG
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Location: Leiria, Portugal

Post by danielG » Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:01 pm

Your first order of business should be tossing those Tricools into the trash bin and replacing them with quieter fans that actually push air. Your PC will overheat with Tricools if your keep them at low setting. And it will be noisy, too.

Regarding temperature, what works best in my P182 has been two exhaust fans and one intake fan. If I had your airflow requirements, I'd be using Scythe Slipstreams at the rear exhaust and front intake and a Scythe S-Flex at the top exhaust. Rifle bearing fans, such as a Slipstream, become noisier if placed horizontally. A S-Flex does not have such problem.

JamieG
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Location: Melbourne, Australia

Post by JamieG » Wed Jul 15, 2009 5:10 pm

If CPU temps when overclocking are your concern, I would use the top fan as an intake and rear as exhaust , with a single fan mounted on whatever heatsink you wish.

For an AMD CPU, just to ensure your heatsink can face the right way, maybe look at a Scythe Mugen 2 instead. With the top fan as an intake, having a slightly squarer heatsink might be better.

A Scythe Kama Bay with fan mounted could help push cold intake air towards the CPU. With the open front of the P183 though, you could just ghetto mount a fan in front of the open intake areas. Also, ducting this intake fan towards the CPU heatsink could be good too.

In this case, you'd definitely need a front intake fan instead of the middle HDD cage. If you only have one HDD in the lower cage, you shouldn't need an intake fan down in the bottom area, particularly with the CP-850's in-line 120mm fan.

I'd use Scythe S-Flex for the top intake and Nexus or Scythe Slipstream fans for the front intake and rear exhaust.

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