Can a p182 handle a 4870x2?

[semisonic9]

Topic. Has anyone tried it?

Build is shaping up as follows: Q6600 + 4870x2 build

I'd like to boot the Lian Li case for a cheaper alternative. I tried to hang in there, but I'm not wild about the A71b and am not willing to shell out an extra $100-150 for it's newer, mildly upgraded brethren.

The Antecs are a good mid-tower for quiet builds, but with an OCed Q6600 and a 4870x2, I'm just worried I'm either going to cook everything inside the case or that I'll have to crank the fans so high it'll sound like the thing is about to life off!

Has anyone done this? What are your temps and how well did the card fit?

~S

 

[MichaelD]

I have a P180. Big cards like the 4870X2 or GTX280 will fit, but you will probably need to remove the upper HD cage in the case. You can still fit 4 drives in the bottom cage, so that shouldn't be a problem.

AFA cooling goes, the P18X variants are some of the quietest cases around even with the stock fans. You should be fine, temps wise, with the fans on Medium, which is still dead quiet IMO. This is assuming temps in your room are not 90F + of course. The 4870's exhaust heat outside the case which is a very good thing.

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

I'd go with a case that is H20 cooling friendly

 

[semisonic9]

I don't have any plans to WC atm.

~S

 

[CurseTheSky]

If you do go with the P182, plan on keeping the third fan in the lower chamber (probably on medium or high), and buying a fourth fan to place in the middle chamber (in front of the top HDD cage). Keeping all fans on medium (still very quiet) will keep things cool. I have mine running on high during the summer due to the ambient temperature in this room (75F+); you can hear them, but it's not like a vacuum cleaner by any means.

I would suggest buying a spare fan grill for the lower fan though.

 

[Hauk]

It does indeed fit and case is okay on heat. I have a Q9450 oc'd and my exaust fans set to medium.

You'll not be able to use the upper drive cage for HD's if they protrude at all. You'll also not be able to use the upper drive cage as a fan duct with two 120mm fans. Quite the bummer there. Solution.. make a shorter fan duct:

Antec P182 w/4870 X2

I also have a 120mm fan blowing directly onto card which helps:

120mm fan on med, Velcro taped in place

No worries with the case. Be more concerned about getting the card's fanspeed to 40% or better. Most use the CCC fan speed fix. See video forum for details.

 

[Dorkenstein]

What is that fan blowing on your memory? And how did you make the shorter fan duct?

 

[Hauk]

The fan is an Antec Spot Cool. It mounts to a mobo mounting. I've taken it off recently as it was overkill. The fan duct was already blowing a lot of air towards the memory.

I made the short fan duct by taping two 120mm fans together with a piece of shoebox cardboard. Remove upper drive cage, remove black plastic brackets.

Cut a piece of cardboard long enough to wrap around one fan, cut such that the duct length is around 5" then tape the two fans together. Verify airflow. Mount a fan to the fan bracket. Making the duct can be a little tricky, tape is your friend. I use aluminium foil duct tape found at wal-mart or hardware stores.

The upper drive cage normally makes for a great fan duct with the P182, but it's a no go with cards longer than 8.5". A fan duct works wonders though. Though use of the fan duct, the 120mm fan blowing onto card, and a custom bios running the fan at 40% startup, I achieved excellent temps with the stock cooler... 44c avg GPU 1 and 40c avg GPU 2 idle temps. Load temps are around 71c and 64c.

The bios mod oc's a little with 3D use and runs the fan at 40% minimum. You can use the CCC fan fix to run the fan at 40% however. With some good airflow blowing and and thru the card, you should achieve similar results.

Worth noting, GPU-Z reports the fan running at 40% on 4870 X2 cards. The fan actually runs at 27%. GPU-Z is wrong. Catalyst 8.8 doesn't help. Making the CCC profile is the easiest way to bump fan speed. For these cards, a minimum 40% fan speed makes a world of difference. Okay, back on topic, cases..