# making the case better



## Darkgundam111 (May 14, 2009)

Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower

thats the case I have, and I am wondering what things I could do to improve the airflow and prevent dust intake as much as possible. 

2 rules tho, no water cooling (too expensive XD) and as cheap as possible.

and if possible, quiet would be nice too.

OH and how do you guys arrange your psu cables and other wires? I seem to have a mess in there


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## _jM (May 14, 2009)

Thats a shot of my old 900. Look at how I did my wiring and see if you can implement it to your rig.  And as far as dust goes, the 900's are like a vacuum.. the only thing you could do is add filters to all the fans. And to help out with the cable management flip your PSU over to where the fan is at the bottom like mine is in the pic. You will need to cut a ventilation hole for your PSU.


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## Mussels (May 14, 2009)

zip ties. if you arent using it, zip tie it where you cant see it.
If you are using it, zip tie it somewhere that makes it look neater.

Antec 900 is just a poor case for dust and noise.


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## daragez (May 14, 2009)

yeah that's right!....use zip tie!....


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## Darkgundam111 (May 14, 2009)

OH WOW! i completely didn't know what those holes on the case were for. Now i see how to route the wires. 

Oh and for the psu, I have had the fan faced down on the case, and no vent hole. I remeber reading something about that being fine, or am I wrong? temps are around 32C idel and 37C-40C under load.


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## theorw (May 14, 2009)

Darkgundam111 said:


> OH WOW! i completely didn't know what those holes on the case were for. Now i see how to route the wires.
> 
> Oh and for the psu, I have had the fan faced down on the case, and no vent hole. I remeber reading something about that being fine, or am I wrong? temps are around 32C idel and 37C-40C under load.



The temps of what???????


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## DaveK (May 14, 2009)

Mussels said:


> zip ties. if you arent using it, zip tie it where you cant see it.
> If you are using it, zip tie it somewhere that makes it look neater.
> 
> Antec 900 is just a poor case for dust and noise.



Dust, yes. I have a problem with dust. But noise, not so much. Noise is kind of down to personal preference, I have my fans on low which is 25db and is a quiet hum and it's easy to fall asleep with it 2 feet away from my bed. The trade off is cooling, the fans aren't the greatest.

I suggest swapping the fans out with better ones, the Antec fans are 25dB at around 44CFM. You can get Scythe Slipstream fans that are 24dB (quieter) at around 62CFM (push more air)

That's what I'm doing, swapping the 2 front and the rear fan with a better one.


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## Mussels (May 14, 2009)

DaveK said:


> Dust, yes. I have a problem with dust. But noise, not so much. Noise is kind of down to personal preference, I have my fans on low which is 25db and is a quiet hum and it's easy to fall asleep with it 2 feet away from my bed. The trade off is cooling, the fans aren't the greatest.
> 
> I suggest swapping the fans out with better ones, the Antec fans are 25dB at around 44CFM. You can get Scythe Slipstream fans that are 24dB (quieter) at around 62CFM (push more air)
> 
> That's what I'm doing, swapping the 2 front and the rear fan with a better one.



to me, above 20db is too loud for normal use. if i can hear it at idle, i consider it too loud


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## Darkgundam111 (May 14, 2009)

wait, so is it safe to keep psu's fan faced down without a speical vent hole for it?


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## DreamSeller (May 14, 2009)

Darkgundam111 said:


> wait, so is it safe to keep psu's fan faced down without a speical vent hole for it?



yes, but i don't think it's the best way to go


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## _jM (May 14, 2009)

It is safe, but the 900's have little space between the PSU and the bottom of the case. Im pretty sure your PSU is running a bit warm if not hotter than it should. If you cannot cut a hole (or drill an ass load of them) under the psu, I would flip it back over. Running your PSU like that and it running alot hotter than it should will kill it before its time. (Too much heat and over-voltage will shorten the lifespan of any PC component)


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## DaveK (May 16, 2009)

Just thought I'd post in this thread again, the stock Antec fans are actually 25dB @ 39CFM, and if you want silent you can get the 800RPM Scythe Slipstream which is 10dB @ 40CFM, so quieter but moves the same amount of air, or you can get the slightly quieter 1,200RPM Scythe Slipstream which is 24dB @ 68CFM like I previously mentioned, everyone has a different preference on loudness, I find that the Antec fans at 25dB are a quiet hum, and I don't like loud fans.

I've heard putting the case on a desk and keeping it high off the ground helps prevent dust, but you'll still have to clean it out now and again. I see you only have 1 hard-drive, maybe try putting it in the 3.5" to 5.25" drive adapter to free the drive cage so the fan doesn't have a drive in the way, I don't see your hard-drive overheating or anything, it's not like they absolutely need cooling anyway.

Maybe try putting the 2 drive cages up the top so all the air flows at the important components and have the 3 5.25" bays at the bottom as you probably don't need cooling down there. Or maybe: 5.25", drive cage, 5.25", drive cage then 5.25". You can stuff wires under the drive cage in the bottom with the extra room, if there's a lot of wires though lol.

Just some ideas, if you post a picture we could see what your cable management is like.


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## _jM (May 16, 2009)

My case sits on this little table thingy beside my desk.. and when I had my 900 up there it still pulled a shit load of dust/dirt/and dog hair into the case. Thing pretty much tried to vacuum the carpet when the fans were set to high or med. I found that the low setting is a perfect balance between performance and sound. Fan filters are a must with the 900's front intakes.


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## BumbleBee (May 16, 2009)

some mods you can do are. 

* drill out front, rear and top fan mount holes with a 1/8" bit and install rubber grommets
* place rubber trim to prevent vibrations in the side panel on the top and bottom of the housing with hot glue or super glue
* cut out rear and top grill with a dremel or hole saw, file off the edges, seal with rubber trim  
* cut out 120mm x 25mm fan mount on the bottom panel with a dremel or hole saw, file off edges, seal with rubber trim, install rubber grommets and place filter
* cut out 120mm or 140mm x 25mm fan mount for power supply intake with a dremel or hole saw, file off edges, seal with rubber trim, install rubber grommets and place filter
* cut out a couple rectangular holes for cable management on the motherboard tray with a dremel, file off edges and seal with rubber trim
* cut out window with a dremel or jig saw, install a new window on the side panel and cut out two 120mm x 25mm fan mounts with a hole saw, seal with rubber trim, install rubber grommets and place filter
* cable sleeving
* mount hard drive in 5.25" bay with 5.25" to 3.5" hard drive adapter and place rubber trim to prevent hard drive from vibrating along the sides of the adapter plate with hot glue or super glue, drill out screw holes with 1/8" bit and install rubber grommets
* install casters or high rubber feet to set it on the floor
* mount new fans if you haven't already the stock Antec 900 fans are loud and not very efficient, I recommend Yate Loon High Speed if you have no controller purchase the Sunbeam Rheobus it is very important to have a controller because you want to create an airstream

thats about the extent you can do to this case. should keep you busy for a while.


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## Darkgundam111 (May 16, 2009)

wow thats some nice mods there. guess i got some work to do, Thanks for the info everyone


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## Mussels (May 17, 2009)

DaveK said:


> Just thought I'd post in this thread again, the stock Antec fans are actually 25dB @ 39CFM, and if you want silent you can get the 800RPM Scythe Slipstream which is 10dB @ 40CFM, so quieter but moves the same amount of air, or you can get the slightly quieter 1,200RPM Scythe Slipstream which is 24dB @ 68CFM like I previously mentioned, everyone has a different preference on loudness, I find that the Antec fans at 25dB are a quiet hum, and I don't like loud fans.
> 
> I've heard putting the case on a desk and keeping it high off the ground helps prevent dust, but you'll still have to clean it out now and again. I see you only have 1 hard-drive, maybe try putting it in the 3.5" to 5.25" drive adapter to free the drive cage so the fan doesn't have a drive in the way, I don't see your hard-drive overheating or anything, it's not like they absolutely need cooling anyway.
> 
> ...



the scythe fans click. not everyone can hear it (yes morpha, you) but every last one i've tested clicked, and it only got worse if their voltage wasnt exactly 12v. the further from 12v it got (up or down) the worse the clicking got.


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## 1Kurgan1 (May 17, 2009)

This is how you cool a PC, but you better be able to take noise, these badboys move air. I have 2 of them and love them, play my games pretty loud so I don't hear them. I am a firm believer in, the faster you want something, the louder it is going to get.


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## DaveK (May 17, 2009)

Mussels said:


> the scythe fans click. not everyone can hear it (yes morpha, you) but every last one i've tested clicked, and it only got worse if their voltage wasnt exactly 12v. the further from 12v it got (up or down) the worse the clicking got.



Hmm, I'll keep that in mind. Think if I'm getting some Scythe fans I'll just get 2 intakes and see what they're like. I was going for quieter fans but saw the Scythe Slipstreams move a lot of air so decided they were best, there is an Asus fan that's 60CFM @ 23dB and the Xigmatek XLF-1253 which is 61CFM @ 20dB...hmm. Shame Noctua fans look horrible because they have a nice fan that does 59CFM @ 18dB, colours are just horrible :shadedshu

I have some thinking to do lol but any of those fans will do as my limit is 25dB and these fans are less but move more air than the Antec fans (25dB @ 39CFM) and my Yate Loon fans (25dB @ 44CFM)


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## Mussels (May 17, 2009)

one thing to think about with fans is what arctic cooling say. They dont measure in decibels because it only measures the 'amount' of noise in the air. You can have loud noises that are less annoying than quiet noises (nails on a blackboard, vs rain) - they measure in sones instead (annoyance to the human ear)

You can get a fan rated at 10db, but it can be an irregular 10db contsantly clicking, or changing pitch.


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## Darkgundam111 (May 18, 2009)

ok so i modded my case as in made 2 holes, one for the case wires to go to the MB, and one for the psu wires to go wherever. However, there is a problem, every part in the computer seems to have become warmer than before. 

MB from 28C to 30 C
cpu from 40C idle to 42C 
hardrive from 34/35 to 37/38
psu from 32 to 35

there is a lot more space in there, so i would believe that airflow is better. And, there was no change to anything but the cable management and the drilling of 2 holes.


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## BumbleBee (May 18, 2009)

Darkgundam111 said:


> ok so i modded my case as in made 2 holes, one for the case wires to go to the MB, and one for the psu wires to go wherever. However, there is a problem, every part in the computer seems to have become warmer than before.
> 
> MB from 28C to 30 C
> cpu from 40C idle to 42C
> ...



it's either a coincidence or the cables that were not tucked away were redirecting the airstream. how many fans do you have, what brand are they?


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## DaveK (May 18, 2009)

I don't really see how the hard-drive would get hotter from cable management, could just be a hotter day or your room is hotter than it was previously? Like my CPU idles at around 45C, usually on a cold morning where I'm shivering it has an effect on my PC and my CPU idle temp has been as low as 35C.


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## Darkgundam111 (May 19, 2009)

yeah i think it was a hotter day. or maybe some of the cables aren't quite finished tucking away cuz I am still waiting for my new video card before I finalize the cables. but the CPU was buggin me a bit, and when I looked at it yesterday, the contact point was a bit off center on the CPU, so i decided to redo the thermal paste and reposition the cooler, now it seems to be a bit better i guess. maybe I'm just a little paranoid XD.

as for the fans, i got 2 in the front drawing in air and then one fan in the back blowing the air out. dunno what brand, just came with the antec 900 case. and i guess one more fan since the psu I have has one that directs the air out.


quick question, does adding a fan to the side of the case help a lot? I have a hole for a fan on the side, and was wondering whether adding one would be good.


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## BumbleBee (May 19, 2009)

Antec 900 Stock 120mm Fans that come with the case are not the greatest. yes a Side Fan Mount is the most important on a case even if there is only one which is usually meant for the GPU however some case manufacturers get lazy and don't line it up with the GPU.


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## Darkgundam111 (May 20, 2009)

what would you suggest for the side fan?


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## BumbleBee (May 20, 2009)

head over to Jab-Tech if you have a big budget purchase some Scythe S-Flex if not purchase some Yate Loons they perform on par with the Scythe S-Flex but cost only a fraction.


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## Mussels (May 20, 2009)

BumbleBee said:


> head over to Jab-Tech if you have a big budget purchase some Scythe S-Flex if not purchase some Yate Loons they perform on par with the Scythe S-Flex but cost only a fraction.



yate loon are far superior to S-flex in terms of noise.


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## BumbleBee (May 20, 2009)

I disagree. fluid dynamic bearing vs. sleeve bearing? Scythe wins. plus the fluid dynamic bearing has a higher MTBF not that I ever had a Yate Loon die on me.


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## Mussels (May 20, 2009)

BumbleBee said:


> I disagree. fluid dynamic bearing vs. sleeve bearing? Scythe wins. plus the fluid dynamic bearing has a higher MTBF not that I ever had a Yate Loon die on me.



i own several, and the scythes have more erratic noise patterns and they click when undervolted.


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## BumbleBee (May 20, 2009)

Slipstreams maybe not S-Flex I also own both S-Flex and Yate Loon. maybe something is wrong with the bearing or the motor is faulty my S-Flex don't make any clicking when undervolted. one thing I heard is that the Sony FDB isn't even a "true" Fluid Dynamic Bearing and that Panaflo Hydro Wave Bearing is the only one that really uses this technology.


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