Here is what I am wanting to do. My current case, the Lian Li pc-60 is a nice case, very sleeky looking. However, the air flow in this thing is horrid unless I have all fans going. There are 6 places for fans - 2 in the front bezel, 2 on the side panel (its a custom panel), 1 on the back panel, and 1 on the top of the case. What id like, and I have picked out cases accordingly, is to have an intake, outake, and have them both be 120mm, some with a side intake hole for vga/cpu cooling. Help me pick the right case. I want to be as silent as possible, so suggestions on NEW FANS would help me out as well, something that allows airflow, but is silent as well.
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Which case should I choose?
- Thread starter fury3
- Start date
JBDan
Platinum Member
I have not seen 1 of the cases you selected which is the Performance+View2. Even if I had seen one, I would tell you P180. What you described, besides the side intake which degrades silent performance, is a perfect match for the P180. On the fans....as you have probably read, Nexus will get you the quietness you want garunteed. If too steep for you, then the CoolerMaster 22dBA 42cfm fans will suffice. Read through this forum closely as soooooo many threads talk about the different configurations you can try for fan placement and noise control in the P180. If you get it, all the info you need is right here at AT.
Corporate Thug
Lifer
my money is one the P180 to win this poll
I have the PC-7 Plus case w/ window- it has a 120 mm in the front, 120 in the back, and 80 mm blowhole fan. No side fan, but I haven't had airflow or heating problems at all with this case.
I bought mine from Shentech.com, I'm sure it's at other places...
Lian Li PC-7 Plus
I love this case- there's no mobo tray, but that's not a big deal to me. It's light, sturdy, very well made.
I bought mine from Shentech.com, I'm sure it's at other places...
Lian Li PC-7 Plus
I love this case- there's no mobo tray, but that's not a big deal to me. It's light, sturdy, very well made.
JBDan
Platinum Member
They are all removable. When you say "does it handle a low noise" I'm not sure exactly what you mean. Its noise dampening properties are excellent if thats what you are asking. The dampening is built in...its a 3 layer exterior consisting of plastic sandwiched between 2 sheets of aluminum.
I think the power and HD activity lights are both blue.
Personally, I'd go with a Centurion 530. Newegg has a killer deal on the 530 running until Friday, and it's got incredible potential for cooling. One 120mm fan on the front, one 120mm exhaust in the back, plenty of room for a blowhole up top, 80mm fan on the side, slits near VGA area for additional airflow, and you can put a CM 4-in-3 device on 3 of the front drive bays to add another 120mm intake fan. That's a ton of cooling right there.
I ordered a P180 but I'm trying to sell it now because I'm trying to save some money by getting a cheaper case so I can afford an X2 3800. If you're interested in buying a P180 (it's unopened), let me know, I'll give ya a good price 😛
Personally, I'd go with a Centurion 530. Newegg has a killer deal on the 530 running until Friday, and it's got incredible potential for cooling. One 120mm fan on the front, one 120mm exhaust in the back, plenty of room for a blowhole up top, 80mm fan on the side, slits near VGA area for additional airflow, and you can put a CM 4-in-3 device on 3 of the front drive bays to add another 120mm intake fan. That's a ton of cooling right there.
I ordered a P180 but I'm trying to sell it now because I'm trying to save some money by getting a cheaper case so I can afford an X2 3800. If you're interested in buying a P180 (it's unopened), let me know, I'll give ya a good price 😛
chrisrod01
Banned
I have this it has rear 120 front 120 and top 80 http://www.coolerguys.com/840556060840.html
I say to get this case http://www.coolerguys.com/840556060611.html
Everyone is going to tell u to get the P-180. Yes its a great case and it also comes in black. But that case is design to maintain neat wiring and one of the best airflow and noise reduction.But i heard is has cheapy part made of of plastic anyone else? You should look at the thermaltake ARMOR
I say to get this case http://www.coolerguys.com/840556060611.html
Everyone is going to tell u to get the P-180. Yes its a great case and it also comes in black. But that case is design to maintain neat wiring and one of the best airflow and noise reduction.But i heard is has cheapy part made of of plastic anyone else? You should look at the thermaltake ARMOR
chrisrod01
Banned
First of all he put a Thermaltake Xaser 3 on his poll and pls remind me how loud that case is?My case is very silent dude. How much noise can 2 120 make and the p180 has what 3 120's with noise damp . And plus some of the cases he put have 120's.As for the other how loud can it be is not like it has 8 80mm fans.
JBDan
Platinum Member
I dont know I have not used a Xaser case. I have used a Tsunami though. I believe you that your case is silent. I don't know your exact point here...just said that the case you linked is a very nice build, but in my opinion, w/ high performance components, he could not achieve "silent as possible" results, which is what he asked for. Silent to you might be loud to me and vice-versa. So when someone asks for "silent as possible," I just give MHO. 😉
The P180, although an incredible case, is far from perfect.
On the plus side, it's about as silent as it gets. Thanks to its triple-layer panels, everything's much quieter and many people have assembled systems that are effectively silent. It's got very soft rubber grommets for the hard drives to keep them from shaking and rattling around. It's also got an advantage in cooling thanks to its unique design where the PSU and hard drives are placed below everything else to keep their heat from getting to the motherboard and everything on it. It has a rear exhaust and a top exhaust fan, both 120mm, and a front spot for a 120mm intake fan so there's room for some good airflow in there for sure. In the bottom, there's a nice 38mm thick 120mm fan to pull in air from the bottom to cool the hard drives and PSU. And although many people choose to simply remove it rather than fool around with it, there's a VGA duct in the back that's supposed to be used to cool the PCI area (I, for one, refuse to believe that it's completely useless, people just give up too easily). So, to summarize it, it's #1 in silence and definitely "up there" in cooling. It's not the best in cooling due to its total lack of side ventilation whatsoever, but it's definitely up there thanks to its thermal isolation and exhaust power.
On the negative side, there have been multiple instances of people reporting that the door for their P180s bends and warps. Without going into too much detail, it suffices to say that the door tends to warp because of the material being altered by temperature changes. People have also reported many instances of the side panels' plastic clips busting because, well...they're plastic. From what I can gather, you have to be very careful when handling the P180's side doors if you don't want their clips to bust. Still others have said that the case's hard drive cages can get jammed in place - again, because plastic components are involved (why Antec used so much plastic in a case like the P180 I'll never know). Another common complaint is that the VGA/PCI cooling capabilities of the P180 tend to be very poor since the VGA duct is so hard to use. Silent PC Review's own look at the P180 showed that the budget-minded Antec SLK-3000b handily defeated the P180 in VGA cooling ability thanks to its side ventilation. I wouldn't even think about using an SLI setup in a P180 for this reason.
With the P180's VGA duct, you pretty much have to use a 15mm thick 80mm fan in it due to VGA card clearance issues, although I saw someone on HardOCP mod the duct to fit a 120mm fan (but I don't know what kind of a temperature effect that had). The PSU blows out hot air from the bottom, which rises and is most likely sucked in by the VGA duct, which could be one explanation for why so many people have hotter-than-average graphics cards. One reason I'm considering selling my P180 is because I'm worried about the VGA cooling capabilities of the case...take that opinion for what it's worth.
I've been looking at Cooler Master's new Ammo 533 case. Say what you will about its looks, but that ventilation on the side could provide some incredible circulation within the case. Just screw on a Sunbeam Wherever PCI Rack over the VGA card, put on one or two 120mm fans on the rack, blowing directly over the VGA and PCI area, and presto - thanks to the side ventilation, plenty of circulation that'll keep that area nice and cool.
So, no, the P180 is definitely NOT a perfect case. It's without a doubt one of the best to hit the market in some time, but it's not without its drawbacks either.
On the plus side, it's about as silent as it gets. Thanks to its triple-layer panels, everything's much quieter and many people have assembled systems that are effectively silent. It's got very soft rubber grommets for the hard drives to keep them from shaking and rattling around. It's also got an advantage in cooling thanks to its unique design where the PSU and hard drives are placed below everything else to keep their heat from getting to the motherboard and everything on it. It has a rear exhaust and a top exhaust fan, both 120mm, and a front spot for a 120mm intake fan so there's room for some good airflow in there for sure. In the bottom, there's a nice 38mm thick 120mm fan to pull in air from the bottom to cool the hard drives and PSU. And although many people choose to simply remove it rather than fool around with it, there's a VGA duct in the back that's supposed to be used to cool the PCI area (I, for one, refuse to believe that it's completely useless, people just give up too easily). So, to summarize it, it's #1 in silence and definitely "up there" in cooling. It's not the best in cooling due to its total lack of side ventilation whatsoever, but it's definitely up there thanks to its thermal isolation and exhaust power.
On the negative side, there have been multiple instances of people reporting that the door for their P180s bends and warps. Without going into too much detail, it suffices to say that the door tends to warp because of the material being altered by temperature changes. People have also reported many instances of the side panels' plastic clips busting because, well...they're plastic. From what I can gather, you have to be very careful when handling the P180's side doors if you don't want their clips to bust. Still others have said that the case's hard drive cages can get jammed in place - again, because plastic components are involved (why Antec used so much plastic in a case like the P180 I'll never know). Another common complaint is that the VGA/PCI cooling capabilities of the P180 tend to be very poor since the VGA duct is so hard to use. Silent PC Review's own look at the P180 showed that the budget-minded Antec SLK-3000b handily defeated the P180 in VGA cooling ability thanks to its side ventilation. I wouldn't even think about using an SLI setup in a P180 for this reason.
With the P180's VGA duct, you pretty much have to use a 15mm thick 80mm fan in it due to VGA card clearance issues, although I saw someone on HardOCP mod the duct to fit a 120mm fan (but I don't know what kind of a temperature effect that had). The PSU blows out hot air from the bottom, which rises and is most likely sucked in by the VGA duct, which could be one explanation for why so many people have hotter-than-average graphics cards. One reason I'm considering selling my P180 is because I'm worried about the VGA cooling capabilities of the case...take that opinion for what it's worth.
I've been looking at Cooler Master's new Ammo 533 case. Say what you will about its looks, but that ventilation on the side could provide some incredible circulation within the case. Just screw on a Sunbeam Wherever PCI Rack over the VGA card, put on one or two 120mm fans on the rack, blowing directly over the VGA and PCI area, and presto - thanks to the side ventilation, plenty of circulation that'll keep that area nice and cool.
So, no, the P180 is definitely NOT a perfect case. It's without a doubt one of the best to hit the market in some time, but it's not without its drawbacks either.
JBDan
Platinum Member
You are correct as all cases have their drawbacks, but let me point out something for possible future P180 owners. The door warp issue...it warps mid-door between 1/16" and 1/8" out away form the firewire/usb port area. It is an easy fix (just bend it back) and is very minor, never-the-less it still warps. If you are breaking the plastic clips on the doors, then you handle pc cases poorly. You don't have to be "gentle" at all, just be smart. My upper HD cage requires a little strength to remove...it fits like a glove...I see no issue with this. They used so much plastic imo for dampening purposes and cost. I recommend the AC Silencer GPU coolers for the P180. I axed the duct so I cannot comment on this component. ShadowKnight uses a passive Zalman on his GPU in the P180 minus the duct and speaks highly of it. It is not a perfect case as there is no such thing except to the user him/herself. For me, its as close to perfect as I have found.
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