P182 case fans with 5'1/4" HD silencers

girlscoutdk · Post by **girlscoutdk** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 8:31 am

Hi all!

As a ghost reader of this board for a few months and this being my first post - thanks for great info

I've seen a couple of threads about P180/P182 cooling in here, but as my setup is a bit different, I wanted to ask you guys what you thought, before I go spend a lot of money

First of all, this is my setup:

CPU - C2D E6750
CPU cooler - Thermalright Ultra 120E + Yate Loon

GFX - MSI 8800GTS 640MB
GFX cooler - Thermalright HR-03+ + Yate Loon

Mobo - Gigabyte GA-P35-DQ6

HD1 - 150GB WD Raptor
HD2 - 500GB WD Caviar SE16
HD coolers - 2 x Mcubed vertical silence

RAM - Cellshock 4 x 1 GB PC6400

Case - Antec P182

PSU - Seasonic S12E+ 650

Fan controller - Zalman MFC2
Fans - Yate Loon D12SL

Considerations:

For PSU I originally wanted to go with the corsair 620, but after reading about the buzzing etc., I figured I'd better buy the seasonic one. 650W is a bit overkiill for my config, but I figured that this was I could probably re-use the PSU for my next setup and the pricedifference from 500w -> 650w wasn't significant.

For GFX I'm still considering the GTX version, but that isn't really relevant in regard to silence/cooling, so I'll omit that for now

As for my fans, I was reading back and forth and back and forth. Since I'm using a fan controller, I figured the yate loon was a decent choice, but to be honest, I'm unsure if they're quiet enough to perform as the case coolers, at low voltage.

The HD coolers are all in the 5'1/4" bays, meaning the bottom part of the cabinet will be empty, except for PSU and a possible fan. Also, the 3'5" bay at the middle part will be removed.

Now for my questions - the image below illustrates my case layout (the filled arrows illustrate active airflow, the unfilled ones passive airflow):

Question 1: Is the bottom fan needed?

Question 2: Is the top fan needed?

Question 3: Do I need more airflow?

Question 4: If I need to OC, how should I change my setup?

Thanks!

/ GS

Confucius · Post by **Confucius** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:29 am

I have a P182 too and it works great for me. Here's what I think:

1) Not needed in your current configuration. However, if you did use one, the fan noise would be pretty much muffled (read: silent) and if your PSU uses a temp gauge to control it's fan, then there's a lower chance of that fan spooling up. Six or half dozen of the other, your choice.

2) I like the top fan as it helps suck out all the hot air that accumulates at the top of the case. The top fan will also probably be your loudest one as it's completely exposed and probably has a direct line to your ear if your case is on the floor.

3) Not with your current configuration. However, some people have added another 120mm fan in the upper bays but that takes up three out of your four 5.25 bays. Then again, if you weren't using the drive silencers you could make room.

4) See #3.

BTW, the HR-03 doesn't exhaust out the back (per your diagram). The fan will force air over your card which then rises to the top of the case. Also, the drive silencers might be overkill, the P182 (and variations thereof) really is a capable silencer all by itself.

girlscoutdk · Post by **girlscoutdk** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 9:39 am

Thanks for the swift reply

Confucius wrote: 2) I like the top fan as it helps suck out all the hot air that accumulates at the top of the case. The top fan will also probably be your loudest one as it's completely exposed and probably has a direct line to your ear if your case is on the floor.

Ok, thanks. I was under the impression that in some cases, the top fan actually made the cpu temperature higher - I think I read it in some other threads. But then again, the harddisk silencers might require some extra flow in the top of the case.

Confucius wrote: BTW, the HR-03 doesn't exhaust out the back (per your diagram). The fan will force air over your card which then rises to the top of the case. Also, the drive silencers might be overkill, the P182 (and variations thereof) really is a capable silencer all by itself.

I know - the arrows are unfilled to indicate that theres a vent on the gfx card - only the filled arrows indicate an active airflow. But thinking about it, that may be a good reason to keep the top fan?

As for the drive silencers I found the harddrives to be the most audible parts of my old setup (in a P180), so I figured I might as well try them out and they seem to have gotten decent reviews

/ GS

girlscoutdk · Post by **girlscoutdk** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 11:23 am

Oh - and btw. I just read some threads about horizontal mounting of fans and sleeve bearings - should I get a Scythe S-Flex for the gpu cooler instead of the Yate Loon?

And if so, when using a fan controller, should I get the 1600 RPM version and undervolt it or get the one running 1200 at 12v?

With regards,
GS

sitalchauhan · Post by **sitalchauhan** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 12:30 pm

I have got an extremely similar setup currently (ignore my sig, its outdated). Ive got a p180b, thermalright ultra-120e, 8800gtx, all Yate Loon D12Sl-12 fans.

I have got the corsair HX620 and it runs completely silent. I am not sure what buzzing problem you was referring to, but my corsair psu does not buzz at all. I even just put my ear right up against it to check and there is 100% no buzzing.

I would say that the bottom fan in the psu area is completely unnesessary, especially considering you havent even got any hard drives down there. It will just increase noise without helping anything. The psu fan will never ramp up significantly, even at load, because of the compartmentalisation of the p180 where the psu is in a seperate thermal chamber.

I would definately put the top fan in just to remove any heat that rises above from the thermalright ultra-120. In my setup it is the most audiable fan because it is the closest to me, but helps my cpu load temps by a few degrees.

You do not need more airflow. My setup is similar and I was getting very low temps with all of my yate loon fans running at 7v, 1000rpm. So low infact that I have managed to overclock my e6600 cpu to 3.30GHz while still keeping all my fans at 7v, so I my system is still as silent but also overclocked.

About mounting sleeve ball bearing fans horizontal. It apparently wears the bearing out quicker, but I have got my top yate loon fan mounted horizontal. It has not had any problems so far, about 2 months. It is still as silent as when I first got it. But i have bought 3 extra fans aswell just incase the bearing does eventually wear down, so that I can then switch it out for a new one.

If you are getting a fan controller, definately get the Yate Loon D12SL-12 fans that run at 1350rpm at 12V. You can undervolt them and then they will run silent. Get the Nexus Real Silent fans if you are not going to get a fan controller, because they run quiet at 12v 1000rpm. Also, if you get a faster fan and undervolt it, if you ever need some extra airflow, such as if you start overclocking, you have always got the extra headroom unlike if you bought a slow fan to start off with.

girlscoutdk · Post by **girlscoutdk** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:08 pm

sitalchauhan wrote:I have got the corsair HX620 and it runs completely silent. I am not sure what buzzing problem you was referring to, but my corsair psu does not buzz at all. I even just put my ear right up against it to check and there is 100% no buzzing.

The "problem"I was referring to is mentioned in this thread, although there doesn't seem to be any definite answers:

viewtopic.php?t=41464

sitalchauhan wrote:I would say that the bottom fan in the psu area is completely unnesessary, especially considering you havent even got any hard drives down there. It will just increase noise without helping anything. The psu fan will never ramp up significantly, even at load, because of the compartmentalisation of the p180 where the psu is in a seperate thermal chamber.

Alright, that makes sense!

sitalchauhan wrote:I would definately put the top fan in just to remove any heat that rises above from the thermalright ultra-120. In my setup it is the most audiable fan because it is the closest to me, but helps my cpu load temps by a few degrees.

I read somewhere (on this board) that it could actualle increase CPU temps in some scenarios. Anyway, the Yate Loons are pretty cheap, so I guess I'll just try and put one there and see how it goes.

sitalchauhan wrote:You do not need more airflow. My setup is similar and I was getting very low temps with all of my yate loon fans running at 7v, 1000rpm. So low infact that I have managed to overclock my e6600 cpu to 3.30GHz while still keeping all my fans at 7v, so I my system is still as silent but also overclocked.

That's quite nice - I'll look forward to trying that!

And thanks for the good feedback

/ GS

sitalchauhan · Post by **sitalchauhan** » Thu Aug 02, 2007 1:57 pm

If I switch off my top fan, my cpu load temp increases by 2 degrees at load.

If I reverse my top fan so that it is an intake, it actually lowers my cpu load temp by 3 degrees lower than normal when both are exhaust. However, it increases the ambient temp inside of my case because most air is just circulating around the cpu area. I think it is best to leave them both as exhaust because then your ambient temps are lower, even though your cpu temp is slightly more.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Sun Aug 12, 2007 7:53 am

I wish someone made an 8800 compatible cooler that blew air out the back of the case, like the stock one does. In fact, I think the stock cooler may currently be the best option for 8800 cards.

The HR-03 is good, but has it's flaws. It takes up a lot of space. For an 8800 series card, it needs fan cooling, and the stock fan on my XFX card is no louder than a Nexus 120mm at 7V (i.e. the WD5000AAKS HDDs in a 182 are louder). Worst of all, it does not exhaust any air like the stock cooler does, so your case temps go up a lot.

What is really needed is something like the stock cooler, but modified to accept a quiet 80/92mm fan. Maybe if it were expanded to a three slot solution, it could use heatpipes and have the fan at an angle to fit, with a shroud like the stock cooler to force air out the back. It would allow SLI too that way.

I keep wondering if there is a suitable CPU cooler that could be modded into something like that. Basically an Aeccelero S2 with extended fins and a shroud.

I am considering modding the stock cooler. The shroud could be improved I think, and the bracket could have every other or 2 out of 3 bars removed for better airflow. The fan is already very quiet and only ramps up in heavy duty gaming, at which point it is drowned out by game sounds anyway as it's still not that loud.