Antec P180 Cooling question

[Anaxibius]

Got all of my equipment for my new build yesterday evening. I had very little time, so I just opened everything up and started figuring out where to run everything. A few questions:
1) Should I mount my Fortron 500W with the fan mounted up or down (those of you familiar with the P180 case will understand this). I assume it is an intake fan on the top of the PSU, so should it face the bottom of the case or do you think there will be more airflow facing the top?

2) Is the huge fan for the PSU compartment necessary? If not, can it be used anywhere else in the case?

3) I reversed the top exhaust fan and made it an intake to circulate air over my CPU (with Ninja Cooler). Is that enough air or do I need to put another intake in the front of the case?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[nealh]

I have heard it does not matter whether the PSU fan in on top or bottom..but it seems to me if you have the fan on the bottom there will be no real airflow for it..I would just turn it upside down and install so the fan is on top

I have a OCZ Powerstream 520 which has a front and rear fan

you can remove the large lower chamber...not sure it makes much of a difference...I had to take mine out to fit everything...becareful with the lower fan branket it is easy to break

I also reversed my top exhaust fan to blow cool air in...works good to cool my ram ....my temps are a little better

The large lower fan probably can be installed somewhere but not sure where because of it size

 

[grimlykindo]

To answer you questions:

1.The bottom fan cannot be used as as intake itself, but you can use it to swap with a rear or top so you could have a front intake. (its thicker, so it won't work as a front intake)
2. I have my PSU fan on the bottom, but not sure if either way would make a difference. If you use your lower fan it probably doesn't matter if its upright or upside down cuz its gonna get air no matter what.
3. I also have my top fan flipped as an intake. If both fans are exhaust they seem to "fight" for air and slow each other down. Plus you could leave your ninja fanless with the top intake blowing into it and the rear exhausting it out.

I would also suggest getting new fans versus the stock antecs. When set to low the antecs don't move much air. and on med or high they are just plain loud. I went with all Nexus fans as you can see in my sig. It was a great improvement in sound and CFM. Plus, now they are all on a Rheobus fan controller (the antecs are 4-pin, so no fan controller)

 

[entropy1982]

you can control antecs with a fan controller

 

[JBDan]

Originally posted by: Anaxibius
Got all of my equipment for my new build yesterday evening. I had very little time, so I just opened everything up and started figuring out where to run everything. A few questions:
1) Should I mount my Fortron 500W with the fan mounted up or down (those of you familiar with the P180 case will understand this). I assume it is an intake fan on the top of the PSU, so should it face the bottom of the case or do you think there will be more airflow facing the top?

2) Is the huge fan for the PSU compartment necessary? If not, can it be used anywhere else in the case?

3) I reversed the top exhaust fan and made it an intake to circulate air over my CPU (with Ninja Cooler). Is that enough air or do I need to put another intake in the front of the case?

Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated.

1) I would mount it facing down.
2) No the one they supply is not, BUT if you mount your HD's in the lower chamber I strongly recommend you mounting a 120mmx25mm low cfm silent (800 to 1000 rpm) fan down there. Not only to cool your HD's, but also to keep your psu fan from ramping up because of heat. (cools psu very well especially if you leave the vents open around the psu). I personally think that 120mmx38mm vibrates (motor noise) too much even on low.
3) Try both and see how your temps are.