speccing a Core 2 Duo rig, trying to avoid P180

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 6:26 am

Current setup: Antec P180, passively cooled 3.2GHz Northwood (Ninja Scythe), passively cooled Geforce 6800 vanilla, 5 hard drives (one is a raptor), Antec 550W true power PSU, 5 120MM case fans, I think 2 are Nexus 120mm. All fans on low setting. This is a *really* quiet setup. I want to remain this quiet with my new system. But I'd like to get a nicer looking case than the P180.

I'm going to Puget Systems for the custom build, to make sure I get a *quiet* system (they will do the modding). Yes, I know this is more expensive than building it myself. Use: light gaming (I'd like to try some of the new ones), HTPC, video and music encoding (divx/itunes), and all your basic music/internet/movie/office stuff. I also like to multitask, such as watch a dvd while ripping a CD into iTunes and unzipping a file and moving a bunch of files around.

Parts:
Asus P5WDH Deluxe
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 (2.40 GHz, FSB1066, 4 MB L2)
Thermalright XP-120 Heatsink w/ 120mm Scythe Fan (puget undvolts the scythe fans)
Corsair XMS TWIN2X2048-6400C4 EPP DDR2-800 2x1024MB
Asus EN7900GT 256MB w/ Artic Cooling VGA Cooler - NV Silencer 5 Rev. 3
Seasonic S12 Series 500W Power Supply
Western Digital SATA Raptor 150GB w/ Smart Drive 2002C Enclosure
Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
2x optical drives

Also, I have to fit 4 hard drives for data storage somewhere. If it's in a NAS, so be it, but getting them into the case would be great.

I was HOPING that I could get away with a Silverstone TJ04 (2x 120mm undervolted scythes) with Puget doing a bunch of AcoustiPack Standard Acoustic Composite Sheets modding. And still stay as quiet as my current system.

But, if I have to, I'll go with a black Antec P180. (I like the way it looks better than the standard one.) (I'm also trying to avoid cases that are *larger* than the P180.)

Any thoughts? I've seen tons of cases over the past few days, and I just can't find one I like.

Thanks!

MasterWerk · Post by **MasterWerk** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:09 am

man, that's a tall order. pretty picky, eh?

Check out the Lian Li V1100 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811112073

Pricy? yep, but it is a nice lookin case and, by all accounts, a good one.

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:18 am

Picky? You have no idea...
I keep my computer on 24/7, do a lot with it, and live (and sleep) in a studio apartment... c'est la vie, eh?

That Lian-Li won't work, it mounts the motherboard upside down, which screws with the heatpipe/heatsink setup on the ASUS mobo that cools the northbridge. Yeah, throwing in that whole "the mobo must be mounted rightside UP" is throwing an additional monkeywrench in the works.

But based on what I've read in these forums about the TJ04, it's steel body will help a lot, and I think if Puget does some modding with the AcoustiPack Standard Acoustic Composite Sheets and undervolted scythe fans, it might just work...

I'd just hate to be wrong after spending all this money, as I'd have to spend even more to fix it...

ceselb · Post by **ceselb** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:23 am

The Antec P150 (or solo, if you prefer it more black) will fit four drives if you don't use the suspension. I'm planning to have three in it myself.

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:32 am

Picky strikes again! I love the black aluminium front panel of the Silverstone cases.

Also, the Solo (and the P150) only have 92mm fan mounts in the front. I have yet to meet a 92mm fan that is quiet while still delivering adequate airflow. The Nexus 120mm, on the other hand...

Also, I have dual optical drives, and mounting the Smart Drive enclosure for the raptor right under an optical drive really cuts down on airflow (the Smart Drive dampens sound as well as improving cooling.)

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

ceselb · Post by **ceselb** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 7:57 am

A while ago I was thinking like you, going with all 120mm fans.
The conclusion I came to at the time was a coolermaster stacker. Depending on where you live you can even order one modded if you need it

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:13 am

A little more digging turned up the fact that the TJ04 has a very restricted flow of air for the front 120mm intake fan. Not so good.

I'm thinking it's going to have to be the black P180. I currently have an "original" P180, and I know for a fact that it can *quietly* cool a P4 Northwood 3.2GHz, a Geforce 6800, 4x IDE hard drives, a 550W antec truepower, AND a raptor sata drive.

And I suppose that going with what you know is a sure way to do it right the first time around. I can always see what cases come out in the future...

The stacker is a little too large for my tastes - even larger than the P180, which is what I'm trying to avoid.

A while ago I was thinking like you, going with all 120mm fans.

What do you do now?

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

ceselb · Post by **ceselb** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:41 am

grepcomputers wrote:What do you do now?

As I don't like the inverted nature of the P180 my choices are pretty much limited to the P150 for good silencing. Even a 92mm fan will generate enough airflow for the drives and at 5-6V it will be near silent.
I'm also counting on a positive sucking over the drives from a HIS digital iceQ card (I think blowing out the hot air instead of recirculating it is a very good idea).
I'll just have to live with it.

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:55 am

What don't you like about the inverted nature of the P180?

(I reconfigured my system with Puget, and going with the P180 actually allows me to upgrade the hard drive, solve my storage problems, drop some modding components, and pay less, so I'm thinking I'll just suck it up and deal with the size.)

ceselb · Post by **ceselb** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:39 am

Cables on my PSU would be too short (early S12 version) and reading the forums here, neatness seems to be a problem. Plus I don't think the passive nb cooler on the P5WDH Deluxe (I'm getting that board too) works optimally inverted like that. You will probably get away with it, since the XP-120s downward blowing will give airflow over the heatsink (though I'd look carefully at the nb, it will be warmer inverted). I want a ninja, so an inverted passive board goes right out, it will fry.

grepcomputers · Post by **grepcomputers** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 9:45 am

The Antec P180 doesn't invert the motherboard. Or do you mean inverted airflow? Surely that could be fixed by having the top and the rear fans exhaust (both at low RPM so as to not overpower the intake). And I believe Antec's default setup is to have the top and the rear as exhaust...

Admittedly, when I used a Ninja Scythe to passively cool my Northwood 3.2GHz, I inverted the top fan so it blows cold air down through the ninja and then out the back, but there's no northbridge cooling problem on an Intel 875 board...

~El~Jefe~ · Post by **~El~Jefe~** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:11 am

zalman reserator 1 cooling system and use the newer, plus versions heatsink for video if you go non mobo video.

do it once for several years of joy.

case could be 40 dollar antecslk3000 series type. heavy, well built, nice fit and finish.

HiddenWolf · Post by **HiddenWolf** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:10 am

I don't know about you, but having water run inside a high-end expensive rig would keep me on edge for all eternity.

One day I'd pull the case to vacuum and find I'd break a connection somewhere.