Antec P180 - As Quiet as Possible

[BulletinBored]

I need to get my P180 as quiet as possible while staying cool. Does anyone know of a good configuration with the case fans?

This is what I'm working with:

My Fans:
- One Nexus Real Silent Case fan in the front
- One Nexus " in the back
- The stock Tri-Cool in the lower bay

My Hardware (that affects noise):
- Asus A8N Premium
- Seasonic S12 500W
- AMD 3800 Dual w/ Zalman 9000 on top
- XFX 7800 GT w/ Zalman vf700 on that

FYI, I have the front Nexus fan connected to CHA1_FAN, and the rear Nexus connected to CHIP_FAN, and I'm using AI Booster with QFan enabled to adjust the speeds. Using QFan is the only way I can tell a difference.

I had SpeedFan, but I couldn't get any of the fans to respond to my settings! I'm fried at this point. Basically, I'm hoping for someone with a similiar configuration that could share some tips.

Thanks.

 

[Brad1011a]

I did some minor mods to my P180. I had a Zalman on my 7800GTX, but keeping it cool made the Zalman too loud. An NVSilencer fixed that, and also exhausts most of the card's heat outside the case, allowing other fans to run slower.

I have (believe it or not) seven 120mm fans in the upper chamber (2 on the Scythe Ninja HSF, 2 exhaust, 2 stacked at intake, 1 helping to aim intake at video cards). All of them run at ~1K RPM or less. In my experience a higher number of slower spinning fans are quieter than a few faster ones.

Also maybe you can get quieter cooling on the chipset.

 

[Brad1011a]

I almost forgot; I replaced all the fan screws with rubber fan mounts, and the second HSF and intake redirection fans are mounted on rubber too.

 

[raxen]

I took the rear exhaust fan out, and replaced it with the big tricool that sits at the bottom. So basically the only case fans I have running is the top intake, and the big rear exhaust. Top intake running at Low, Rear running at Medium.

Temps for CPU are 34/46 using stock cooler. PWM at 47/51, and chipset at 48/50.

HDDs at 37 and 42, and I placed them on the lower HDD bay.

The only thing that runs hot is the X800 GTO, which sits at 44/62. I was thinking of getting a Zalman to fix that, but you say the Arctic Silencer is a better choice?

 

[raxen]

I had SpeedFan, but I couldn't get any of the fans to respond to my settings! I'm fried at this point. Basically, I'm hoping for someone with a similiar configuration that could share some tips.

Thanks.

Go click on configure, advanced, select the right chip, and then change the PWM 1,2,3 modes to software controlled. Don't forget to check "remember it"

 

[Brad1011a]

I was thinking of getting a Zalman to fix that, but you say the Arctic Silencer is a better choice?

I like the Silencers because they exhaust the heat, instead of blowing it off the card and into the case.

 

[Ockie]

go fanless on the video card and cpu.

 

[raxen]

I like the Silencers because they exhaust the heat, instead of blowing it off the card and into the case.

I would do this, but it seems like no one sells an ATI X800/X850 series Arctic Silencer cooler around here on College Street in Toronto. They all have the Zalman though, and it is about 10 bucks cheaper too.

go fanless on the video card and cpu.

It is possible to do this with the Scythe Ninja and the P180 case, but fanless video?? You gotta be crazy. Unless of course, you start getting into phase change coolers.... hmmm.....

 

[Demon_of_The_Fall]

It is possible to do this with the Scythe Ninja and the P180 case, but fanless video?? You gotta be crazy. Unless of course, you start getting into phase change coolers.... hmmm.....

Phase change just moves the fan outside your case to your phase box.

That heat has gotta go somewhere

 

[hungryduck]

just throug the whole thing into a bathtub filled with cold water....thatll take care of all that heat.