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Questions about Antec P180

N

Navaros

Member
I'm thinking about getting an Antec P180. I already bought and paid for all my other parts which are:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor LGA775 Conroe 2.40GHZ 1066FSB 4MB Retail

Zalman CNPS9500 LED Copper CPU Heat Sink 92MM Fan 1350-2600RPM 18-27.5DBA W/ Blue LED

Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400C4 2GB 2X1GB PC6400 DDR2-800 CL 4-4-4-12 240PIN
Dual Channel Memory Kit

OCZ GameXStream 600W ATX12V 24PIN SLI Ready Active PFC ATX Power Supply 120MM Fan Black

ASUS P5W DH Deluxe ATX LGA775 975X DDR2 2PCI-E16 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA2 GBLAN Sound Motherboard

EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT KO 580MHZ 256MB 128BIT 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card

I plan on taking my old IDE hard drive and IDE DVD drive and IDE CDRW drive into this case if possible.

Here is my questions. Specific answers to all of them would be greatly appreciated.

Questions

To optimize performance of your P180 the choice of your power supply is crucial. Antec strongly recommends choosing from our Phantom, NeoHE or TruePower series
Click to expand...

1. Would my OCZ GameXStream 600W be fine in the P180 case or am I really in trouble for not getting the ones they listed? Are the cables on the OCZ GameXStream 600W long enough to work on this case?


I want to keep my case as dust free as possible. I notice the P180 has "Built in washable air-filter".

2. What areas of the case does the "Built in washable air-filter" cover and what areas of it does it mean I don't need dust filters over my fans for? How many fan dust filters would I need to buy in order to keep this case as 100% dust-free as possible?

3. Which direction should I make my Zalman CNPS9500 LED face?

4. Is there any way to disable the LED of the Zalman CNPS9500 LED since I can't see it anyhow with this case?

5. Should I use the thermal grease that comes with the Zalman CNPS9500 LED or buy some Artic Silver instead? I want to do whichever is more ideal.

6. Does the Antec P180 come with a manual?

7. Are there any technical reasons why it may be better for me to have a professional assemble my parts into the P180 or would it be just as good for me to do it myself even though I have never worked on a case that unorthodox before? I do know how to build computers for the most part although what I am uncomfortable with in general is: mounting the motherboard, putting thermal paste onto a heatsink, mounting the heatsink, connecting the highly technical small cables of the motherboard (not the large molex connectors; I mean like HDD light cable etc.)

8. I forsee problems with my IDE drive plans seeing as the ASUS P5W DH Deluxe apparently only has one IDE connector. Is there any way to work around this problem so that I can use all 3 of my 3 IDE drives with this motherboard?

 
Quite an extensive post ya got there 🙂

I might not be as specific as you'd like, but I'll give ya a little jump start..
1. Yes your psu will be fine...might not be able to "hide" cables as you would like, but the cable lengths will reach.
2. P180 has 2 dust filter/screens...they are in the front intakes...they work well, but DO NOT keep the finer dust out...for me its no biggie to "compressed-air" it out once in a while.
3. Towards the rear exhaust fan
4. I do not know...it does no harm so maybe leave it...
5. The paste that comes with the 9500 is easier to spread then AC...either will be fine
6. yes
7. Take your time...be patient...and research! the web...there are 1000's of guides and info to help you
8. you can get an IDE controller card (PCI)

Good luck...it's a ton of fun building a pc 😉

 
Thanks for the answers. I tried experimenting with some compressed air to clean an old GPU a few weeks ago and was shocked that the can was getting wet and dripping water from the bottom after I used it. I made a thread about that on another tech board and they told me it was condensation that made that happen. I asked if compressed air is safe to use on my hardware and one guy said "not really, anything compressed, when decompressed, it condenses." I don't wanna risk spitting water onto my hardware hence I'm scared of compressed air. :Q

9. Is there an alternative to removing dust from hardware that doesn't involve any potential liquid?

10. Is it normal to put dust filters on exhaust fans, or no?

11. Will dust filters on the intake fans reduce cooling efficiency at all?

12. Is it possible to use a PCI card to convert my IDE drives to SATA?
 
9) I think you're being a bit too paranoid, be a bit more sparing (use it in bursts) and leave it for half an hour for any moisture to evaporate off if you're worried.

10) Nope, not notmal as far as i'm concerned. My computer can pump as much dust out into my room as it wants.

11) Yes they do, they obstruct the airflow a bit. In which case turn the fans up higher.

12) Very much so. Except you dont convert them, you use a PCI PATA card to give you more channels.
 
I'm not versed in SATA or PCI PATA at all.

I am probably going to pick up the case today because a local shop has it for 15 bucks off, but that special ends today.

It would be useful to me if I could also on the same trip pickup the best thing to use with my other components to make my system as efficient as possible with my 3 IDE drives.

If one of you could have a look at the website of the store I'm going to and then tell me what PCI card is best to buy for solving my SATA/IDE problem, that would be super.

13. What is the best thing they can sell me to solve my SATA/IDE problem?
 
I was just reading the 1.1 revision review on SPCR and it said:

Time passes and products evolve. It's been almost a year since the P180 was first released to much fanfare along with SPCR's longest review ever (in three parts). Antec has finally released the black model of the P180 to the general public (previously, it was an SPCR-exclusive product). At the same time, they revised the original P180 to address several minor issues that arose after the case was released
Click to expand...

14. Does this mean that all of the Black models in stores are the 1.1 revision?
 
built in case filters are rather coarse mesh, not that restrictive, but they do restrict a little. lets you go longer between case dustings. and well, better its restricted at the case fan instead of restricted over the heatsink when it gets caked with dust. best to weed the big particles that most easily clog cpu coolers.
 
Thing is I hardly ever use my CDRW drive, hence I can theoretically live without that drive for a while and use the one IDE channel I have on the new mobo to connect my hard drive and DVD drive.

I'm wondering if I should buy that Best Connection PCI IDE ATA133 Raid Controller or instead wait until SATA DVD-RW drives become cheap?

15. How long would it likely take until SATA DVD-RW drives become cheap?

16. Is "Best Connection" a good brand or should I look for a card that does the same thing from a more familiar brand?
 
If you don't want to use PCI cards, you can use something like this. I know you guys in Canada can't use Newegg, but that is to give you an idea.
 
1. I would get a modular PSU, as i have a Anted true power 550 and the cables are a mess, no real room to do cable management.
2. The front is the only area with air filters, which are easy as hell to take out and clean.
3. Face it where the air is blowing up. If you can.
4. No, it is built in to the fan. As heat rises.
5. Either will work, but i have never used it, i always use AS products. Read this. http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_silver_instructions.htm
6. A very detailed one at that.
7. Just take your time, read the case, and mobo instructions when you need the.
8. like the guy said above, A controller card. I have one if interested.


This has been my .02 cents. If you need any help just Pm me.
 
15. Shouldn't be too long, i'd expect them to start turning up in larger numbers in 2007. Not much choice really with the single channel motherboards.

16. Never heard of them in my life. Rebrand.
 
17. Is something like the Rosewill IDE Device to SATA Device Mini Vertical Bridge a better solution than a PCI PATA card? What are the differences between them?

18. After I install my new gear and I have to reinstall Windows XP Pro on the same hard drive that I'm using right now, will it will still retain my all my files and Registry entries that I have on the hard drive right now?

19. I'm having a really difficult time trying to buy something like this in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. My local home hardware stores don't have them, my local computer shops don't have them. I don't wanna be ganked with shipping and customs charges just to buy a $10 item like that, anyone know where I can buy that from a Brick & Mortar store in Toronto?
 
17. Anything made by rosewill (or rebranded to them) is something to avoid.

18. I think you should be able to do that, but i prefer having them on seperate partitions to make sure so i haven't rested it.

19. You don't need one, as long as you're not playing with a vandergraf generator or walking around on a nylon carpet you'll be fine. Touch a radiator every few minutes if you're worried.
 
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