Antec cases & filters

[MrMilney]

Do either the Antec SX1240, SX840 or SX830 cases include filters for the front 80mm fan mounts or must the be purchased separately? I sure don't want my intake fans sucking a lot of dust into my new system.

 

[ledzepp98]

they must be purchased separately...but a word of warning, the standard 80mm filters that would normally screw into the fan do not fit. i bought a few (3 for the 3 intake fans) and then realized this basically, since the fans sit in a housing that they are clipped into, there is no room for the regular filters. i'm sure you can get filters that will work, or make the regular ones work if you "play" with them a little

 

[MrMilney]

ledzepp98, good point! I had completely forgotten about the snap in fan cages but I can see where they wouldn't allow for regular filters to be used.

Do you (or anyone else) think that cheese cloth would make an OK filter if it was wrapped around the fan before it was put in the cage? Seems to me that it would allow all the airflow I need and still block dust.

 

[MikeA]

MrM. I did something similar to that and it works. I used electric tape to hold the "cloth" in place and then just put the fan in carefully. It sure does catch the dust, last time I cleaned it there was almost an inch of dust on the filter.... I hate dust like hell.

 

[GundamF91]

Nahh, don't buy any of those Aluminum filters, etc. The cheapest, and easier way is to get some household airvent filters from your hardware store.

Mine came just about the right size for ALL OF the 3 80MM fans!!! I only had to trim off abit to make the length right. Then take off the lower front plastic bezel. YOu should see lower 2 fan slots, and the HD cage. All covereed behind that metal casing. And you put the filter between the metal chassis and front bezel. I just tied 2 pieces of metal wires thru the top 2 corners of the filter and let it hang there. It coveres all 3 fan slots. THen I put back the bezel, and walahhh! All 3 fans are filtered.

This is very nice, and filteres REALLY WELL! Because these filters are designed to trap all household dusts, works better than those metal ones. One caution, use some medium to high CFM fans for them, because the filter cuts down airflow somewhat. I have 3 intake and 2 exhaust, balances quite nicely. This is very nice, and cheap to do too. When I need to dust the filter, just take off the bezel, and dust.

If you have any questions how to do this, just ask.

 

[MrMilney]

<< Nahh, don't buy any of those Aluminum filters, etc. The cheapest, and easier way is to get some household airvent filters from your hardware store. >>



What kind of case do you have? Like ledzepp98 pointed out the Antec cases use a snap-in cage to hold the fans and I don't know how much extra room there is in the cage (I imagine there's not much). How deep are the airvent filters you mentioned? What I will probably end up doing is waiting until the case arives and working something out then. I really like the idea of using actual filters (instead of cheese cloth) so I will see what I can work out.

Thanks for the help!

 

[MrMilney]

<< MrM. I did something similar to that and it works. I used electric tape to hold the &quot;cloth&quot; in place and then just put the fan in carefully. >>



Cool, so if all else fails then at least the cheese cloth will provide me with some filtration.



<< It sure does catch the dust, last time I cleaned it there was almost an inch of dust on the filter.... I hate dust like hell. >>



Jeez! That is a lot of dust!

 

[GundamF91]

I have SX830, otherwise I wouldn't have posted. U'll see what I'm talking about once the case arrives.

It's very easy to hang the filter between the chassis and lower front bezel, NOT inside the chassis where fancages are!! U can tie the filter with the holes on 3.5&quot; HD cover/steelplates. (don't remove the steel plate for the lower 3.5&quot; HD, otherwise you wouldn't be able to tie the filters there)

The filters are just those 1/8&quot; thick common household filters that people use to line their gas heater vents with. comes in great sizes too.

 

[kgraeme]

I'll second Gundam's suggestion. I did this with furnace filters and my case has been dust-free. Remember though that you need to clean the filters once in a while. After 3 months mine were pretty grungy.

 

[Poncherelli]

I've heard those antistatic and dust or whatever dryer cloths work great if you wrap it around the front of the fan. Plus, you can use the leftover cloths to make your boxers and socks and shirts feel nice.

 

[MrMilney]

<< I have SX830, otherwise I wouldn't have posted. >>



Guess I should have read your signature before asking that question.



<< It's very easy to hang the filter between the chassis and lower front bezel, NOT inside the chassis where fancages are!! >>



OK, after re-reading your original post now I understand exactly what you mean. Somehow I didn't catch what you were saying the first time through. Now having read it carefully it sounds like the perfect solution. Thanks for all the input.

 

[GundamF91]

u won't regret getting the SX830, it's absolutely the best case for the price.

 

[MrMilney]

Your system looks very much like the one I plan to build! I'm leaning towards the 1240 just because I really like big, full tower cases. Both the 840 and the 830 are looking good too, though. Overall the price difference is all of $80 (going from the 1240 with 4 additional fans to the 830 with only 2 additional fans). I'm going to be placing my orders at the beginning of next month and I still don't know for sure which case I'm going with (I better decide soon).

The system I've priced out looks like this:

Antec SX1240, SX 840 or SX830
EPoX EP-8K7A
AMD T-Bird 1200(266MHz)
Crucial PC2100 512MB CAS2.5 DDR (2 X 256)
IBM 60GXP 60GB Ultra ATA/100
Plextor 16/10/40 EIDE
Pioneer DVD106S 16X-DVD/40X-CDROM EIDE
VisionTek GeForce3 64MB DDR
Hercules Gaming Theater XP (retail)
Boston Acoustics BA4800
Linksys LNE100TX 10/100 PCI
Taisol CGK760092
Panaflo 80mm (3 for the 1240, 2 for either the 840 or 830)
Panaflo 92mm (for the 1240 only)

 

[GundamF91]

Nice looking setup you've got there MrM.
u're gonna be fine with either case...depend on your budget of course. What you planning on HSF??? Got Arctic SIlver 2? If you getting OEM 1.2Tbird, u should pick up a HSF. I'm using the cheap $8 ThermalTake Volcano II. If you don't o'c much, it'd work fine for you. Also use AS2 instead of cheap thermalpaste that comes with Volcano2.

and be sure to have 24&quot; ATA100 cables or you won't be reaching HDD and CDROMs in SX830...and probably worse in 1240.

 

[MrMilney]

<< What you planning on HSF??? Got Arctic SIlver 2? >>


I was planning on getting the Taisol CGK760092. I'm also considering the Taisol CGK442092 due to some threads I've read saying there's no actual performance difference between the two (only a price difference). And I've already got the AS2 on my list as well.



<< ...be sure to have 24&quot; ATA100 cables or you won't be reaching HDD and CDROMs in SX830...and probably worse in 1240. >>


I'm currently planning on ordering one 18&quot; rounded IDE cable for the hard drives (since the HDD Cage is so close to the motherboard) and a 24&quot; one for the DVD &amp; CD-RW. Unless your experience says I should go with 2 24&quot; cables?

 

[GundamF91]

Depends on how you're going to connect CDROM and HD........you might not have enough. 18&quot; would be fine for 2 HDs together, but the 1 24&quot; can't do both CDROM and CDRW...because the first interface isn't 24&quot;.

That's why I mastered both HDDs I have, and then slaved both CDROM and CDRW. the 18&quot; could BARELY do a HD and CDROM on the lowerest bay. The 24&quot; is necessary for another HD in the cage, and the CDRW on the 2nd/middle 5.25&quot; bay. Since 8K7A is not a RAID board, u can only do 2 IDE cables, unless u use a ATAcard. Be sure to plan this carefully, or the dream system could turn into a nightmare.

 

[MrMilney]

<< Depends on how you're going to connect CDROM and HD........you might not have enough. 18&quot; would be fine for 2 HDs together, but the 1 24&quot; can't do both CDROM and CDRW...because the first interface isn't 24&quot;.

That's why I mastered both HDDs I have, and then slaved both CDROM and CDRW. the 18&quot; could BARELY do a HD and CDROM on the lowerest bay. The 24&quot; is necessary for another HD in the cage, and the CDRW on the 2nd/middle 5.25&quot; bay. Since 8K7A is not a RAID board, u can only do 2 IDE cables, unless u use a ATAcard. Be sure to plan this carefully, or the dream system could turn into a nightmare. >>


Right, I was planning on putting my HD as master in the lower cage using the middle connector of the 18&quot; cable. The CD-RW would be slaved on the same cable in the lowest external drive bay using the end connector of the 18&quot; cable. Then I would hang the DVD drive off the 24&quot; cable in the next highest external drive bay. It's hard to tell by the picture on the Antec web site but judging by it and what you have said that arrangement should work just fine.

 

[kgraeme]

Here's something to keep in mind with the cables:

From UltraCable:
-------------
18&quot; length meets the SFF-8049 specification for UATA/UDMA protocol and will support 33 MB/s, 66 MB/s, and the new Ultra ATA 100 MB/s hard drives. 12&quot; from board to secondary drive. 6&quot; from secondary drive to primary drive. (CA-905131-02)

24&quot; non-compliant custom configuration. 18&quot; from board to secondary drive. 6&quot; from secondary drive to primary drive. (CA-905136-02) For use in UDMA/33 only.
-------------

So try to use those 24&quot; cables for CD, DVD, Zip type drives.

 

[MrMilney]

<< So try to use those 24&quot; cables for CD, DVD, Zip type drives. >>


Right, like I said I plan to hang the one HD in the system off the 18&quot; cable along with the CD-RW and use the 24&quot; for the DVD only.