Very nice. You should do the hard drive cage mod where you turn it around.
Printable View
Very nice. You should do the hard drive cage mod where you turn it around.
Is it impossible to use this case without modding it? not too bothred if cables inside don't look neat. no-one except me will be looking thru the window.
Not impossible, but it helps a ton with wires.
hmmm but how does one know if it is a "latest edition".
also quick noob question. do graphics cards blow air out or inwards?
because the 200mm fan atop this case sucks air out i hear like an exshaust. theres no problems with which way air is going in this case is there? :confused:
Valid question. It depends on where you buy it. You could obviously look into that in an actual store. However, emailing an online retailer can be a problem. The support staff doesn't always know exactly what's in stock and which revision. Maybe someone else here can help.
I got one for my AW9D-MAX from:
http://store.pchcables.com/8pinmafepoex.html
http://img409.imageshack.us/img409/2...0546rc6.th.jpg
That's about the only cable that ruins my management.
I thought of putting in some work around the hdd's but since i couldn't make it perfect i didn't bother.
I am happy to see there is a solution to my and apparently Moe's problem.
Tnx.:up:
Does anyone see a dual loop being done in this case. im thinking of mounting a PA120.2 rad on front and a PA120.2 on the top like CyberDruid. If anyone could let me know if that would one work, and 2 if anyone could give a simple overveiw on the mounting for the Front and top rad mounts, that would b sick. ive read that mounting the rad on the front of the case means u loose the HDD racks and i need atleast 3 of those b/c im using 2 5.25 res's and i have a DVD drive.
Glad to see im not the only one. the top fan gets 134 CFM. i was thinking of mounting the top one a moving the front rad to the back to keep the HDD bays and the passive cooling. im going to swap the stock fans for some Scythe "Ultra Kraze" fans. 133cfm fans. if those dont keep the system cool, nothing short of dunking it in ice will.
Yea i am current looking at x38, quad core, 2x 3870's
I want two loops, i not sure if i will reuse my mcr220 + pa120.2, or get 2 x 120.2's
I thought that might be a problem.
Tnx.
After putting my PC together I am quite happy how it turned out. All the spots which did not come out right are not shown.
Heres some before with old PC and no modifications to the case and new with New PC and my modifications.
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/4216/1010055kv5.jpg
http://img129.imageshack.us/img129/7633/1010389bj1.jpg
Huge difference if overall feel with the black interior.
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/7199/1010390jl7.jpg
3 x Western Digital SATAII 320GB RAID5
1 x Maxtor SATAI 250GB
http://img131.imageshack.us/img131/6373/1010391au3.jpg
Stock cooling for my E6550. Thinking about overclocking because it stay extremely cool.
I am going to use the EVGA Step Up Program to get a 8800GT next year.
Power Supply: OCZ GameXStream 700W
Motherboard: ASUS P5K-E Intel P35
Processor: Intel E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz
Memory: Corsair XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2-800 (PC2 6400)
Video Card: EVGA 8600GT SSC 256MB PCI Express x16
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Hard Drives: 3 x Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s on RAID5
Hard Drive: Maxtor Maxline III 250GB 7200 RPM SATA150
DVD-ROM: AOpen Black DVD 16x CD 48x E-IDE
DVD-RW: AOpen Black 8MB Cache DVD 16x DVD±R 18x DVD+RW 8x DVD-RW 6x DVD-RAM 12x CD 48x CD-R 48x CD-RW 32x E-IDE
External Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA150 inside Galaxy METAL GEAR 3.5" Black USB 2.0 & 1394a External Enclosure
Thought I would throw this at you DIYers/
If you want to really change the A900 form and function one way is to attack the front panel head on :D
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/487/dl088kf0.jpg
Cut out a slab of 1/2" acrylic. The sides are not straight but bowed so you will need to trace from the actual panel bezel.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/1025/dl089dj2.jpg
I made simple templates and used a router with a pattern collar on the base to cut out for a tray type DVD and SunBean 4-fan rheobus.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/669/dl090ed1.jpg
I fitted the acrylic piece to the case with the bezel and traced the inside bays to align the two fan holes in front of the lower 6 bays.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7475/dl091zt7.jpg
You will need to bevel the top to follow the front panel. Sometimes I add a groove to match the bezel.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2783/dl092mf8.jpg
That is how it should fit in the bezel: flush to the face.
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/2948/dl094pb8.jpg
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/828/dl095sv6.jpg
Acrylic is fresh from the router: no polish yet.
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/8331/dl096dk6.jpg
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/1636/dl097xy8.jpg
You will want to either fit longer knobs or mod the SunBeam to extend further forward through the 1/2" panel. I trim 5/32" off the front of the PCB and strip the hardware SunBeam uses as shims from the rheostats.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7323/dl098do0.jpg
I also redrill the PCB to reattach it to the Sunbeam bracket.
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/8948/dl100ch8.jpg
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/8655/dl101gt0.jpg
The knobs are easily manipulated now.
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/2920/dl102xe1.jpg
Now it's just polish and snap it in.
Obviously you could do a lot of different treatments with the acrylic front...but the basic idea is a 1/2" piece fits perfectly flush in the bezel (was someone at Antec thinking about this?) and you can either glue it or screw it adhesive tape (3M 4011) it into postition. I have fitted 38mm deep fans without isse: HDDs must be mounted creatively though:) I use Scythe Anti Vibration Mounts.
Merry Christmas!
Some Bondo and sanding.. Paint... Killa...
Not exactly what I had in mind lol
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/6...ay07122pf6.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/9...ay07123zx3.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2...ay07127th5.jpg
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/4...ay07129ug1.jpg
http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/5...ay07130pk0.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/5...ay07134oy0.jpg
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/8...ay07138eu0.jpg
http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/8...ay07145ac5.jpg
I think it would look cool if it were like a Car finish...
Alright, I finally got around to cutting up my case. I've been wanting to buy a dremel but I never could bring myself to getting it. With nothing but a fairly weak drill, a hacksaw, and some dull metal sheers, I did it.
I used a hacksaw to cut off part of this Ultra Kaze so it'd fit in my door with the Tuniq Tower. Turned out pretty nice.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e.../DSC05673a.jpg
The final result I was fairly pleased with considering it's my first mod.
http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/e.../DSC05676a.jpg
I have 3 x 3000 RPM Ultra Kazes. One on each side of the Tuniq Tower, and one in the door. There's 2 120mm fans in the front, and I decided to mount another because I had room for it in the middle of the case. I cut a hole in the bottom of the case so I could turn the PSU upside down, and I shouldn't have to mention the 200mm on top. All the fans are on some nice little Zalman fan controller that handles up to 6 fans. All in all a very well ventilated case.
So I found this thread and it's been super helpful. I have a few more questions though :P
I have several of those Military type switches that I want to change the LED from Blue to Red. Any idea how to open these suckers and change the LED. It can be done, they do it here: http://www.frozencpu.com/produ.....html?tl=g4
but I don't want to buy new switches.
Second, when extending fan wires, is it better to use 18AWG or 22AWG wire, or does it matter?
Finally, what's you opinion on fan filters? If using negative pressure within the case to keep it cool, it's going to suck in dust and dirt from the cracks anyway, should I even bother?
Thanks in advance!
You might have to buy new ones...
Seriously....
The size of the wire depends on the wattage and the length.
I believe that you should run 18 AWG,
I clean my computer with air almost weekly..
Keep your House clean and the computer off the floor..
I just bought one of the cases a week ago and did my first water cooling project. Now after reading this thread, it seems like there is much more to be done with a 900 case. Plus newegg has them on sale for $60 now.
What's the best way to reduce the amount of dust in this case? Mine gets dusty inside after a week. :( I have all fans on high.
You could turn the fans down and clean the environment that the PC is in.
I am working on my case now. Wonderful wife got me one for Christmas. Looking to do a bit better with wires than my last case:
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...lashinside.JPG
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...lashnoside.JPG
I am thinking of putting the HDD on the bottom, and the DVD just above it. Move my Fans up to the top spots. Do they make like a 6" Sata cable? Would be a close run from the board to my single HDD. Wish I had spent the extra couple bucks for a sata DVD drive now, much easier to hide a sata cable than the IDE. :D
What size hole are you guys cutting for the CPU 8 pin? Also, how are you guys running the front panel wires behind the tray? Do you have a hole in the top right of the tray for that? I was thinking a 1" hole for the CPU power and a 1" hole for the front panel. Only other holes I have cut are a 4.5" for the PSU and a 2" for the power cables. After I cut the last two holes, I can finish painting the inside flat black. Have done the cages already.
Xope_Poquar,
that is a nice mod that you have,,, congrats bro, job very well done...
Thanks! I appreciate it. With the nice new airflow I was able to get my Q6600 over 4GHz on air! SuperPi was 12 seconds but it wasn't stable enough for 3dMark. I was able to run that at 3.96GHz though, and scored 14,411 with a measly 8800GTS 640MB! :up:
Alright, got all the metal in the case painted flat black. Now just have to wait till its dry and start reinstalling my parts. Will be glad to put this '98 Compaq Presario 5140 back into hibernation in the basement. :rofl: Would post some pictures but I obviously dont have Photoshop on this computer to resize the images. ;)
Maybe if I kept all 3 of my Ultra Kazes on full but each one is 46db (133cfm), and my computer rivals many vacuum cleaners. I still have to lap my heat sink. I've done the IHS but was too lazy to get the Tuniq Tower. Might help lower the temp a degree or two.
How do you mount a fan in the center bracket? The holes provided are not big enough for the screws that came with the fan. Do the screws go through the fan first or through the bracket first?
There are no screws required for the inside mounted fan, the brace just snaps in.
I typically bench my Q6600 at 4150 on a P5K premium/TRUE 120, and its stable for ALL tests and benches.
Certainly not stable like that for 24/7 use or P95/orthos yada yada though....
@ 3700 P95 small fft stable for 18 hours, but I typically run 24/7 at 3600 since I can significantly reduce my voltages for 3600 vs 3700.
FWIW......
^^ Agreed, Sounds like GPU CPU Death
It wasn't exactly Prime stable, but stable enough to bench. Recommend a good temp monitoring program because nTune only monitors my GPU.
CPU voltage: 1.472 (1.5 in BIOS)
PLL: 1.7
FSB: Auto
FSB @ 440MHz
GPU: no voltage changes
Core: 692MHz (stock 513)
Shaders: 1602MHz (stock 1188)
Memory: 1100MHz (stock 792)
The GPU hit 60 degrees once or twice but mostly stayed around 57~58.
Compare link:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=4281094
Pssst... XP powertoys
Take a look at Image Resizer :up:
MS Paint can do it...
Image > Stretch/Skew > put in like 50% for both horizontal and vertical.
Heres a couple of pics of my modd, turned out good and a lot cooler. Replaced all the fans with scythes ( back one has been replaced since pic) way quieter and still good air flow.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...1/100_0399.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d1...1/100_0398.jpg
Are you sure that that's the best way to position your CPU cooler? Wouldn't it be more efficient when you turn it 90 degrees?
I'm putting another scythe fan on when it gets here, so it will have the push pull effect, had it the other way but this seem better for some reason. Remember the 900 has a 200mm fan in the top so its pulling the air strait out.
This way the warm air doesn't immediately leave the case through the rear exhaust fan. Moreover, when it's turned 90 degrees you already get the push-pull effect because of the rear exhaust fan.
On the other hand, With a second fan mounted to the heatsink you suck the air from the 200mm top intake directly through the HS. I'm not sure which is more effective.
The 200mm fan on the top is exhaust, so it will help in pulling the air through the hs. The back fan as of now is intake to cool down the heat pipe for the northbridge, The board is a P5B deluxe so the heat pipe is under and behind the cpu hs. It seems to be working well so far. Q6600 @ 3.2 , and after 3+ hrs of gaming it only got to about 55 deg, way better than my other case!!
I just put this together, in my old case temps where cpu idle 43-44 and load 62-65, gpu idle was 62, load was usually high 70s to low 80s. Now cpu idle 37-38 and gpu idle 52 and load was mid 60s so way better and way more quiet.
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...0sideclose.jpg
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...0sidefront.jpg
Got a 3870 for christmas, have to take a new picture of the case with it installed.
Funny comparison to a 7600GT :rofl:
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Computer/VCfront.jpg
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Computer/VCside.jpg
very nice and clean set up. i wish mine was as clean :(
i need to get some power tools.....
Another one to add to the list :)
Q6600 with Xigmatek cooler
4 gig of Mushkin ram PC6400
Gigabyte DS4 rev 2.0
BFG Geforce 8800GTS 640Mb
Samsung 500Gb S-ATA2
Enermax Noisetaker 500 watt PSU
I added again the foam filters in front of the 2 intake fans ( see the minor colour difference), rest is as usual some holes some wiring, really getting used to these cases :up:
http://users.pandora.be/OAP/Hardware/jochen1.jpg
Interior :
http://users.pandora.be/OAP/Hardware/jochen2.jpg
Only thing that Antec needs to redo are all the cables coming from the front panel they are just too short, extend them with 5cm and peeps can reroute them nicely behind the mobo... but these new cases are already an improvement of the first releases :clap:
I couldn't agree more... but make it 6 inches longer for better routing... hope they listen.Quote:
Only thing that Antec needs to redo are all the cables coming from the front panel they are just too short, extend them with 5cm and peeps can reroute them nicely behind the mobo... but these new cases are already an improvement of the first releases
What the case could really use is a rear fan control for the tricools. Sucks that you have to take the sides off to flip the switch. For normal surfing I have all on Low except the top fan. The other 3 fans are routed behind the tray and I just keep that side of the case off so I can change speeds when I game. Top fan is too short, so it is only accessed for me from the inside.
Other than that, all my front panel wires were just long enough to get to their respective places from behind the tray. Front Audio was the most difficult.
Either way you already have a new revision of the case, till now I have assembled 5 of these and the last one was build just before Xmass and I stil lwasn't able to route the whole mobo connectors underneath the mobo they are just over 5-8cms too short... can you post a piccie of the inside of ya case plz
Ya the power and reset cables are about 1-2 inches too short, What I did was test them with a multi meter to be sure the worked( case was brand new , never used or hooked up) cut them and soldered in a piece of wire , the usb and firewire were ok for length. I've learned a valuable lesson tho, Know what you want to put in before you start! I've added a floppy and another hd since the mod and it wasnt fun. :down: Now runnin 3x250 in a raid 0 and a 500gb back up, even with the 8800gtx the temps are still solid, gpu idle 52 load 65 , added a second fan on the cpu so idle 35-36 load 55-60.
^^ Lol Floppy...
ya I know but its the easiest was to do raid drivers.
i was looking at my case and i was wondering if anyone saw it possible to remove the bottom 3 HDD racks and mount 120.3 rads on their sides in that area. if i cut a hole in the door and the mobo tray and then covered it with mesh i could get the airflow. The only problem i see is how to route the tubing. i could use some 90 degree angled fittings but that would kill my flow.
<EDIT>I was doing some quick measurement to the case and rads, and i need about 250-300mm of clearance to fit 2 rads, 38mm fans and have some room for the rads to breath. the case only has about 200mm width. so here was my idea. take some moders mesh and make enough room with the case. Then cover the top of the rad area with an aluminum sheet to kind of isolate it from the rest of the case use the front 120mm as a vent fan. Possibely even mod the front of the case to have 2 120mm fans to help vent even more. just throwing the ideas out. i need to buy the rads, mesh, etc before i mod, but thats my plan<EDIT>
I want the rads internal, but i also want the cooling power of a 120.3. Unless you think a 20cm by 20cm rad would cool a heavily OC q6600 and a 680i mobo. and also, where can i get those made??
i could see it doing that, now that i look at the surface area of the 2 rads. i just want to know where and for how much i could get a high quality rad made.
Whatever you do, Don't use an Automotive Oil Cooler
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...a/PC250058.jpg
custom fan controller:
http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k1...a/PC250059.jpg
i like the black and white (nice change from black with a crapload of blue LEDs). it's simple and it doesn't keep me awake. the white LEDs on the CPU cooler make a swastika shape which is amusing.
Some pics with mid fan and 3870 installed. Note to others. If you want the mid fan at the top like mine, do not put a cable hole in the top most corner of the case. Had a :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana: of a time getting the fan cage in with the wires. Should have put the hole right next to the mobo.
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Computer/900inside.jpg
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...0insidelow.jpg
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...insidehigh.jpg
http://www.cincidubs.com/Aaron%20Com...nsidefront.jpg
Forgot to add my temps. Runing at specs in sig I idle at 36c. This is with all fans on low except the top fan is on high. CPU fan is at a silent speed as well. In my old case I had idle temps at 38-39c and that was with fans on high speed and CPU fan on very un-silent speed. The mid fan dropped my temps 1c by itself.
Howdie haha im a panda :welcome:
Japan Time is 12.36am Jan 1st 2008...
1st post of the year! Happy new year ppl!
:party:
Is any other Case have so many posts? gues not!
V D R
This is my first modding experience but Im not gonna get to crazy with this cause I wanna start rocking that Crysis and COD4. Here are some pics of what I've done so far.
What I have so far: Corsair TWIN2X4096-6400C5 (4Gb), Asus P5N32-E 680i, Rosewill 850Watt PS, 2 X 74Gb Raptors (RAID0), 1 X 500 WD Caviar (storage), Floppy :p .
What Im waiting on: Intel Q6600 Quad, EVGA 8800 GTX 768Mb, Windows XP 64-bit. (Probably dual boot Vista 64-bit eventually.)
The ATX power harness was too short.. thats why its not shown. I'm gonna find a way to route it in the case or get an extension.
I hope to be overclocking this thing sometime in the future. I have much to learn here though. I have never tried to OC professionally. :)
My only OC attempt was my current P4P800 Deluxe with a P4 2.4. Used bios to OC 10% :)
is it possible to remove the 2 front vents and screw in a WC rad with fans ? and if anyone with experience can say, whats this case like with a WC setup
thx in advance
^^^ LOL Floppy..
well.. I have a crap load of floppys from years ago with pictures that Im too lazy to change over.. :)
^^ Mess of wires above the HDDs...
What makes the mobo so bright around the ram? Looks like there is lights on the ram, but the mobo is bright right there. Is that the only light for that area?
I hate reading this thread, I want my parts back from RMA so I can have blue waffle patterns on my bedroom wall and my blinky ram lights again :) :(
Maybe I'll build my old A64 system up in my 900 just for fun and to see how the 900 cools compared to my old trusty Antec SX1040b, I love that old case... I got it with my long gone Athlon XP 1500+/gf3 ti200 and I bet I'll have it to put my q6600 in when I build a new system lol.
Oh, and I wonder if they will offer a version of the 200mm tricool with the led lights. I should also try to find 3 more 120mm tricools with the leds for my side panel and the two 120s on my heatsink.
/me exits overkill mode
just for my clarification, 3 SATA power connectors on 1 power cable would provide enough juice for the hard drives? just making sure.
thanks in advance.
Wow Butifull Wireing I Love It Very Very Very Good Job Mate 2 Thumbs Up On That One
Question,
How can I get the top (with the 200mm fan) off? Can it be done without having to remove other parts of the case? I tried a few things but the damn thing won't budge. I want to flip the fan to make it an intake instead of an exhaust. The build is already done and I don't want to go through the hassle of removing all the hardware from the case just to flip the fan.
Thx
I did the what you said in your post , I took long case screws then drilled two holes in the black plastic fan shroud then taped the rad from their though the fan's with the long screw , its hard to explain but it does work and its the only way I found to work. if you get a WC setup for the case make sure your pump is small.
Were can I get those SATA power connectors that you clip onto the cable?
I found some here for $1.19 each.
What color did you want? Performance-pcs carries them, but they're sold-out of the black ones.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=1220
FrozenCPU carries them, and they're in stock, and cheaper.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/17...Z92N&mv_pc=804
Thanks deees. I like that frozencpu link because I was looking for the push down type. Color doesnt mater since they wont be seen.