I would be interested to hear from anyone who has modified the HD mounting cage in the lower compartment of the P180 by drilling holes in the sides to achieve a suspended mounting arrangement similar to the recommended one here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/article8-page2.html
Suspended Drive in P180
Moderators: NeilBlanchard, Ralf Hutter, sthayashi, Devonavar
No replies so I went ahead and did the modification anyway. I drilled four 6mm holes each side and fitted small rubber grommets to protect the cord. The cord is 3mm nitrile rubber (called o-ring cord). The knots are sealed with a bit of adhesive. I cannot comment yet on how well it works as I am still building.
I´ll be here waiting for your conclusions,
Well it is now running and I am very pleased. With the case sides off I cannot hear the drive above the (very quiet) noise made by my two Noctua fans running on a quiet seting. I disconnected the fans briefly and then had to put my ear close to the drive to hear anything. With the case sides on I cannot hear the HD at all.
Of course I am using a recommended quiet drive (Samsung HD400LJ) and only one of them. Also I never tried the standard P180 mounting arrangement with the grommets so I cannot compare the two.