My Antec 300 on its way to Silence and Performance

[CoolHandL]

Well here are some shots of my Antec 300.
Asus P5Q Pro Turbo
Q6600 Intel Core 2 Quad (OC'd to cpU 3.0Ghz fsb1333)
HD5750 Sapphire Vapor X
Coolermaster 212+ CPU Cooler
ModXtreme Pro 500W Modular PSU
2GB Dual channel DDR2 Kingston Hyper RAM (2x 1GB)
4GB Dual channel DDR2 Kingston RAM (2X 2GB)
LG DVD Read/ write
WD Black 640GB HDD
Case Fans - Front intake 2x Noctua 120mm, Rear Exhuast 1x Noctua 120mm,
3 Perforated PCI slot covers.
Ive Cut out the front fan intake grills, ive cut the plastic out of one/both of the 5.25" bay covers to let direct outside air flow to the CPU cooler
Used Extensions for the 24Pin ATX and 4Pin ATX power cables.
Im looking at drilling holes in the bottom to mount my PSU face down.











[/img]
here are my new pics with different fans mounted.

Removed both plastic centers in 5.25 bay inserts




[/img]
Updates, HDD Suspended, Sound Damping material Added and Cable.
routing holes cut and cables re-routed. Thanks to Mike C for the Bungee Cable and Acoustipack.








More Case Damping Material added, this is getting closer to silence.
still hear some turbulance from the rear exhaust(Noctua 120mm at 385RPM)




Here i used a square of rubber damping material attached to the top of the sticky side of the material i used to line the top of the case. Blocks the 140mm fan mesh and keeps the sticky backing of the other material from collecting dust.


and a shot of the inside Because i like the inside.

[CroSsFiRe2009]

Darn good job there. You've almost done everything I had planned to do with mine this summer. Maybe paint it black and add in a window? If you want to take it even further and don't mind a bit of warranty voiding, remove the fan grill from the PSU and swap the fan for something quieter like an S-Flex. Also, hows the noise on that video card?

[CoolHandL]

The Video Card is quiet, when at 20% i cant hear it, at 40% its the only thing i can hear in my case.
i was going to paint it, but i'll probably upgrade the case soon anyways, Ive got the building itch

[Sushi Warrior]

Antec 300 is not a case one would expect to be silent.... don't the 2 exposed fans on the front make quite a bit of noise?

[CoolHandL]

you wouldnt think so, but with the 2 front intakes running at 400RPM its quiet,plus i use the high quality noctua fans that are engineered for silence and the inside damping material seems to absorb any sounds that might escape the front. Interestingly enough SPCR has done a review on the Antec 1200 as being a silent case, and its litered with holes.
large fans spinning slowley bring in enough air to cool while keeping noise down. my issue is the vapor x has some fan noise thats audible when above 40%(wonder what it will be like after crossfireing it), and the HDD seek noise, going to fix this with a SSD once the price falls some more.

[Kovok]

I cut the 3.5" bays out of my Antec 300. Useless if you do what you did. I also flipped the psu around so it sucks air from the bottom and put a 120mm fan in a hold in front of it. What trim are you using on the front fan grills?

[jcmaz]

HAHA, just saw this on Overclock.net. @ OP, are you from Overclock.net?

Anyways, wouldn't you be letting alot of dust in by cutting the 5.25 slots?

Good job :)

[CoolHandL]

^^ I used auto trim from CDN tire but ha to remove it because it fit too tight and created some washing vibration noise that was unbearable. I felt there isn't enough space to get proper air flow with the antec 300 only like 1/2 inch, maybe i will try it. How is the air folw to your PSU?

^thanks! yep on both forums, found this one after, trying to help, as when i was looking for ideas it wasn't an easy search to get antec 300 build pictures, since im Canadian thought id support a CDN site too. I've put screen mesh in to act like a filter in the 5.25 bay slots, also i have since used some rubber sound damping to block them as now my hard drive is in the 5.25 bay. once i get an SSD i will change the config around.

[CroSsFiRe2009]

Booo, your ugprading :( If HDD noise is bothering you, get a hammond box and get some sorbothane. A sheet that can cover an entire hard drive is around $20. Stick it in the box and voila, no more noise. Temps shouldnt be that problematic and it does solve the noise problem quite easily.

That 5750 is just asking for a fan to be zip tied to it or even an Accelero S1.

[CoolHandL]

Ive read the S1 has to be modified to fit the 5750 and or does not fit it., id go for it in a heart beat if i knew for sure it would fit.