Case Pics

[ChuckleBrother]

Added the pic, and yeah, I started with the top rad, then added the single, then said screw it and added the triple to the back. Wires not done yet though, my fan wires for the top rad can be seen in that last picture, need to break out my little sticky pad things with the clips on them and anchor those fan wires.

The only bad thing about having it neat internally is the place I hid all the wires, good lord is it messy(anyone who can tell me where they are gets a cookie).

[3.0charlie]

That case is huge. I never figured out the size until I saw that second pic. And still you have all that empty space of the HDD caddy? Damn. I like the angled res, one bend less. Got to remember that. What are the temps under load for both CPU and GPU?

[ChuckleBrother]

On a nice day of something like 20-25 ambient in my room I was getting low 40's on the gpu, with the CPU at 3.2 I was getting loads around 45-50 after 5 hours of Prime95. I really SHOULD take it apart and add the quad nozzle stuff, but I am a little worried about messing with the block and causing a leak.

Angled res was actually an accident, I got it in there and then realized I cut my tube too short on the pump feed, but it seems to work well since the pump always gets nice unimpeded flow, so I left it. Still trying to decide what to do with the drive bays, I'm fairly sure that sooner or later something awesome is going to come to me.

[3.0charlie]

I don't believe that those nozzles really do give better temps. I never used them, never felt the need to add those in any of my loops.
I must say those are great temps for an oc'ed Quad and a 8800Ultra.

[Lithotech]

the loop is a little messy

Loop looks fine! Awesome in fact! It's the pump and resevoir that being in plain view makes it look a little messy.

The only water I have worked with is an Aquagate mini. Very short loop, impossible to mount it all perfectly. I can only imagine how difficult it is to put together a system like yours, no matter how big the case.

Other than maybe stealthing the pump and ressy in the drive bay area, the loop looks top knotch!

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[Jack Rabbit]

Originally Posted by ChuckleBrother

The only bad thing about having it neat internally is the place I hid all the wires, good lord is it messy(anyone who can tell me where they are gets a cookie).

Behind the mainboard tray? I give up `cause it looks great from these angles.

[silverchair]

Originally Posted by frosty

Heres my system after swapping out the parts from the Antec 900 to the Antec 1200...

Kewl, not bad for the anrtec 1200 case

[Lithotech]

Finally getting around to uploading my Antec 300 pics.

Specs:

DFI LP DK P35-T2RS (01/09/2008 Beta BIOS)
Intel E2180 Allendale 2.0GHz/800/1MB @ 3.2GHz (SLA8Y L747A924 Feb 01/08)
Zalman CNPS9700 LED
2x1024 G.Skill 6400 NQ (F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ)
XFX 8800GT 512MB @ 600/1800 (PVT88PYDF4), 169.21 Drivers[/b]
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB 16MB Sata2
PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750 Quad

Still in progress, need to straighten up the cables beside the mobo, some sleeving and fan controller. Not keeping this mobo in the case, so prolly won't do much more with it till I put a diff sys in there.


[b]Notes:

• The PCP&P 750 Quad PSU has a cable bundle as thick as your wrist and longer than your legs! It was the only PSU I had with long cables and an 8pin EPS connection the mobo needs. I was concerned how it would handle leftover cable. Unlike the 1200, there are no passage holes in the mobo tray area to pass cables through. Fortunately, the cable stash area is quite generous and I was able to put the huge amount of leftover cable in it without any difficulty, zipties or tangles.
• The only mod I did was due to the PSU being slightly bigger than standard, I had to drill out the rivets and remove a small right-angle stabalizing bracket on the back bottom of the case, usually sits snug up against the PSU.
• The 140mm top exhaust fan is loud and vibrates even at lowest speed -- not happy 'bout this Antec!
• Case came with one free extra fan, but you still need two more to fill up all the slots including the side panel. The cooling is excellent, and was improved by adding the side panel fan (tested before and after), taking a lot of temp off the vid card and NB. So when they stop shipping with the extra fan, you will need three more!
• The system is very quiet with the fans on low, even though the top fan should be quieter. At high speed, it is a cooling DEMON but sounds like a vaccume! At least it doesn't sound like a hair dryer, but it would if the vid fan throttled lol. Performance-wise, this case is like a hot-rod car with no insulation or carpets. You hear and feel everything, yet it performs like a bat-out-of-hell! Not bad for the price, really.
• Front panel comes off super easy, nice filter system that will be easy to clean and keep the inside near spotless.
• One pic comparing to a Thermaltake Matrix, the Antec is a little higher and hence, a little more room inside. Cooling is only slightly better because of the extra fans, and because the Matrix is already stellar (and quieter). They are roughly the same price.
• Beware, if your PSU has a 120mm fan and you mount it with the fan UP, the cable bundle will be on the wrong side! IMHO, mounting it with the fan down would be a bad idea.
• I like the DFI colors, very halloween (black and orange). This combo may look good with a black and orange paint scheme inside the case. Hmmm...
• I hate the location of the floppy power connection on the mobo, you have to drape a line all the way across the mobo. I'd make a long floppy adapter and sleeve it for this if the mobo were staying in this case. So I didn't concern myself about how it ruins the look, it'll be a mess no matter what.
• I gotta say the mobo is a charmer. NB temps run a little hot with a modest FSB and OC, I'll be more concerned if it still runs hot with a stock 1333mhz FSB CPU. I can't wait to get a quad or E8400 in it and see where she goes. System is very very fast with an E2180 at 3.2ghz!
• I like the CMOS clear jumper in the back I/O plate, because the side panel fan is hooked to the mobo which makes taking the panel off a bit of a PITA.
• Side panel fan is the only LED in the system, the power and HD LEDs are very small and non-obtrusive. The only 3 pin fan I had on hand was LED, so what the hell.
• I've included a couple of overclock shots, one is the E2180 at 3.2GHz, the other is a Prescott 640 at 4GHz. Interesting to note, the Prescott failed to boot in more than a couple of other contemporary/modern mobos. It only ran 4GHz in one other board it's been in (Asus P5B Plus), the rest were incapable of pushing it beyond 3.8GHz with maximum avail Vcore. The E2180's usually top out at 2.7GHz with stock wolts, and this is the first one I've had that hit 3.2GHZ stably. The DFI left plenty of room to spare too, I feel the limit on both CPUs to be higher.

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[sswilson]

Great job for such a small case!!!

I like the hinged fans on the front... I'm sure that makes tucking the excess wires into that space a lot easier.

[Lithotech]

Originally Posted by sswilson

I like the hinged fans on the front... I'm sure that makes tucking the excess wires into that space a lot easier.

Yep. Bit of a double edged sword, that.

The fan wires get a direct route to the cable stash area. I put the fan wires through last, so that they would be sitting on top of all the rest, easiest access to them in case of changing or cleaning them.

Now, if you are pulling them right out, no problem. But if you just open the doors and pull some wire slack, unless you take the back panel off it's tough to get the wire back in when you close the doors.

The problem is due to the snug fit of the fans and doors to the case front panel itself. No room really, to have any excess fan wire there or it could get pinched inbetween the fan or door and the recessed slot in the front panel.

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