Want to replace P180 due to cable mis-management

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 7:58 pm

I have a P180 and I need to get a little more air flowing. I was thinking of running the cables behind the mobo. However, it looks like this requires some cutting that I'm not sure I want to get into. Well, I'm not sure how to do it.

If I needed a replacement case that has good cooling, is quiet and has good cable management what would that be?

Thanks for any help at all.

angelkiller · Post by **angelkiller** » Thu Feb 26, 2009 9:02 pm

Yeah, the original P180 does require some cutting for good cable management. It's not as bad as you may think though. All you need is a dremel (or similar make) tool and a little time. I've done it before and I even have pics if you wanna go that route.

Alternatively, The P182 is the P180 with cable management included. So all the cuts that you would have to make on your P180 are included by default on the P182. If you like the looks of the P180, the P182 is essentially the same thing.

Tom Brown · Post by **Tom Brown** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 5:06 am

If your temps are running high, I'd open the filter doors and see if that helps. You should be able to cool a pretty serious system with a P180. If opening the filter doors fixes your temperature issues, you might want to remove the doors entirely.

There are legions of people on this site who are keeping their systems cool and quiet with P18x cases. Why don't you post your equipment config and perhaps someone with a similar/identical system will share their successful P180 configuration with you.

Personally, I'd modify the P180 to the P182 spec, or similar.

Aris · Post by **Aris** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:15 am

I've seen cases that try to do cable management, but i've never actually seen it done well. Typically if cable management bothers you at all, then its already well beyond what any built in case features have to offer.

I prefer to use hole-saw's on a drill bit. Gives a nice round circle as apposed to jagged holes with a dremel. I like to make things look proffesional though. I know some people just want it to work and dont care how it looks.

Cut a couple holes in the motherboard tray where the edge of your motherboard will be, this will let you run cables off the motherboard, back behind the tray and to where you want them without see'ing them. You can also go and get rubber holes that will fit into your cut hole to give it that added touch of proffesionalism, and also keep you from cutting yourself or the wires when putting things through them.

xan_user · Post by **xan_user** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 10:50 am

google step drill

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:23 pm

Well, I got out the saw, drill and duct tape today.

Here's what I did:

Large picture of P180 mobo plate

Slightly smaller picture of P180 left side bay

Unfortunately, I didn't get any change in temp.

danielG · Post by **danielG** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 1:36 am

Your temperatures should improve if you replace those Antec Tricool fans with something better. Scythe Slipstreams, for example.

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 3:52 am

That's good to hear. I have two Scythe fans on the way.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:09 am

Hi,

I think that different fan might be quieter, but the temps will probably stay the same. To improve temps you'll need to lower the restriction of the intake (by removing the filter and/or the grills, or by putting on bigger/better heatsinks.

What are the temps that have you concerned?

Tom Brown · Post by **Tom Brown** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 7:41 am

If you want to get your CPU or GPU temperatures down, you could always reduce the clock a couple of hundred MHz. You don't have to back the clock off much to reduce the voltage quite a bit and your temps will really sweeten.

Of course, if you're a gamer or an over clocker, this won't be a very palatable option. If you're a regular desktop user, you will probably be surprised at how difficult it is to notice the change in speed of a 5 or 10% clock reduction.

... just a thought.

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:51 am

Running stock - No OC - I'm doing about 40c idle and 57c load.
So, I think it has more to do with my cooling than my OC.

I got the Noctua cooler because I thought that would be the best one. Maybe I should have got the TRUE.

psiu · Post by **psiu** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:06 am

The fans on the CPU cooler are both blowing in the same direction right?
Those temps are fine--remember, trying to go quiet with less airflow probably means higher temps.
So if you compare your temps with those by folks on an overclocking forum they will be lower...and also have some much louder systems.
This is Silent (or_very_darn_quiet) PC Review here.

I'm thinking of hacking up my P180. When my replacement port kit from Antec gets here I think I will take the time to do that as well.

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:13 am

Thanks.

Yep, they are all going the right direction. Sticker side toward the exhaust, arrow toward exhaust.

At first I didn't want to hack up my case but then I thought, even if I screw it up nobody will see it. So I hacked and hacked. . .

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 2:47 pm

Hi Daneguy

From that second picture, it looks like you are only using one optical drive in the lowest (separated) position on the P180. Have you considered something like the Scythe Kama Bay to improve airflow to your CPU?

You could undervolt/remove the included fan if it is too loud.

Also, as this test shows there does not appear to be much benefit of having 2 fans on the Noctua. I would suspect that having the back fan on the Noctua so near to the rear case fan that you might be creating unnecessary noise by having that extra fan there.

Also, are you still using a fan in the top exhaust position? I couldn't see from your pictures. Removing this fan and blocking off this exhaust will stop noise escaping from the top of the case (useful if your case is on or near the floor like my P182 is). It may also help ensure there is less conflicting air flows at the top of the case.

Next, you may wish to try moving the front intake fan on to the end of the middle hard drive cage (which you have removed) to direct cooler air directly at your graphics card. In fact, given that one of the heatsinks on your passive graphics card is so close to your CPU, you may wish try inserting a cardboard duct between the back of the graphics card and the CPU cooler. This would result in the graphics card being thermally separated from the CPU, with the hot graphics card air hopefully being pushed out the rear of the open PCI brackets. I'd only do this if you went with the Scythe Kama Bay option though, as the CPU would need its own intake air.

Most of these suggestions are more silence-orientated I think, but if you can improve air flow and particularly air flow direction, you should hopefully get cooler temps as well. With the two Scythe fans you have ordered + the Noctua fan you should be able to free up (+ maybe the included fan with the Kama Bay if you go down that route) and proper fan voltage control then you should have all the quiet fans you need.

Best of luck with your project!

(Sorry for the long and rambling nature of this post, but it's just a collection of my thoughts as they occurred to me.)

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:49 pm

JamieG wrote:Hi Daneguy

From that second picture, it looks like you are only using one optical drive in the lowest (separated) position on the P180. Have you considered something like the Scythe Kama Bay to improve airflow to your CPU?

You could undervolt/remove the included fan if it is too loud.

Also, as this test shows there does not appear to be much benefit of having 2 fans on the Noctua. I would suspect that having the back fan on the Noctua so near to the rear case fan that you might be creating unnecessary noise by having that extra fan there.

Also, are you still using a fan in the top exhaust position? I couldn't see from your pictures. Removing this fan and blocking off this exhaust will stop noise escaping from the top of the case (useful if your case is on or near the floor like my P182 is). It may also help ensure there is less conflicting air flows at the top of the case.

Next, you may wish to try moving the front intake fan on to the end of the middle hard drive cage (which you have removed) to direct cooler air directly at your graphics card. In fact, given that one of the heatsinks on your passive graphics card is so close to your CPU, you may wish try inserting a cardboard duct between the back of the graphics card and the CPU cooler. This would result in the graphics card being thermally separated from the CPU, with the hot graphics card air hopefully being pushed out the rear of the open PCI brackets. I'd only do this if you went with the Scythe Kama Bay option though, as the CPU would need its own intake air.

Most of these suggestions are more silence-orientated I think, but if you can improve air flow and particularly air flow direction, you should hopefully get cooler temps as well. With the two Scythe fans you have ordered + the Noctua fan you should be able to free up (+ maybe the included fan with the Kama Bay if you go down that route) and proper fan voltage control then you should have all the quiet fans you need.

Best of luck with your project!

(Sorry for the long and rambling nature of this post, but it's just a collection of my thoughts as they occurred to me.)

Thanks for all the great tips!!
I never considered the Kama Bay but I'll look into it.

That's very interesting about the Noctua. So, which fan could I remove, the push or the pull? closer to the front or the back?

I got rid of the top fan. You're right, it produced a lot of noise.

I just installed the two scythe fans. Didn't really change anything as far as temps but they are more quiet. Idle is about 42-47c and load is as high as 73c. Just seems high for how good the Noctua is supposed to be.... I have a TRUE on another computer. I may have to steal it.

JamieG · Post by **JamieG** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:43 pm

daneguy wrote:That's very interesting about the Noctua. So, which fan could I remove, the push or the pull? closer to the front or the back?

I would remove the pull fan (the one closer to the back of the case and the rear case fan). AFAIK the standard set up would be to push air through.

If you want to test how the Kama Bay might help, remove all the metal drive shields and the plastic drive covers in your three empty optical bays. Just so you know, you won't be able to put the metal bits back on, but you can pop the plastic drive bay covers back in to seal the area again.

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:48 pm

Thanks!

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 5:08 am

Hi,

daneguy wrote:Running stock - No OC - I'm doing about 40c idle and 57c load.
So, I think it has more to do with my cooling than my OC.

I got the Noctua cooler because I thought that would be the best one. Maybe I should have got the TRUE.

Those temps are perfectly FINE! You could undervolt the CPU (probably) and this would drop both a bit -- but 40C idle and 57C load are completely normal/good/fine.

Stop worrying about them!

Q: is the system quiet enough?

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 7:15 am

Thanks, NeilBlanchard.

It's not as quiet as I'd like. I think it was more quiet when I had the stock Intel fan and the Tri-Cools on low. I'm going to turn off one of the Noctua fans and try to figure out how to slow the Scythe fans (not sure how to do this yet).

daneguy · Post by **daneguy** » Sun Mar 01, 2009 8:22 am

Uh oh. I removed the front Noctua fan on the heatsink and now the temps are about 50C at idle. Guess I better put that back on.