Bottom Mounted Power Supplies?

[KevlarCA]

I'm thinking about getting an Antec P180 or 900 for a new comp, but I'm concerned about the bottom mount of the power supply.

How can you tell if a power supply cable, the 24pin one, is long enough?
Do you have to buy a cable extension to get it to route correctly & cleanly? Are there certain PS manufactures that have short cables?

TIA

PS> Be gentle, it's my first post here.

 

[czepiel]

For the most part you should be fine. Do keep an eye out for motherboards with the connector in the top top right of the board. You may have difficulty with those.

 

[Bl4d3]

i have the antec 900 and the psu is perfectly fine. all my connectors have plenty of room to spare but thats just me...

 

[KevlarCA]

I'm primarily looking at the ASUS striker for the motherboard. The connect is mid-way on the left of the board. Is there enough room in the 180 to route the cable cleanly?

Thanks again!

 

[bobvc99]

HEAT RISES!!!

why would anyone want to mount a PS at the bottom of a case???

trying to draw the heat down is contrary to the laws of physics!

i would not buy any case that had the PS on the bottom. bobvc99

 

[NotSoSober]

I agree with bobvc99

Dont understand why someone would put the PS at the bottom...

 

[NotSoSober]

Sorry,

Took a look at the pictures and now I understand

they wanted to fit those 2 12 cm fans at the top for better airflow

 

[BehindBlueEyes]

I agree with bobvc99

Dont understand why someone would put the PS at the bottom...

The PSU section of the Antec P180 is sealed off from the rest of the case. The case uses the concept of thermal zones to seperate hot zones in the case. Thus the bottom part of the case uses a seperate sealed section for the PSU and hard drives, keeping the heat away from the CPU/GPU. Excellent reviews of this case are available at silentpcreview.com.

On a related note, I use the Seasonic M700 with the P180 and dont have any problems with cables reaching. The 24 pin is fine, the 8 pin connector will reach, but not under the motherboard, was able to run under the graphics card along the back end of the motherboard.

The p180 is a great case if you are willing to deal with the cable management issues. If you are looking for a more standard case, the Antec Solo/P150 uses the standard PSU placement. I was considering the 900 case but decided against it for the noise and lack of air filter on the front intake fans.

BBE

*edit* Forgot to mention, using a EVGA 680i motherboard, not sure of the power connections on the ASUS Striker.

 

[avarice]

To chime in with my 2 cents - The P180 does a nice job with thermal zones, and the 900 uses a very open airflow design. By placing the PSU at the bottom - both designs are able to ensure that the heat that does rise is removed efficiently by the top 2 - 120mm fans.

Most quality PSUs will work for these bottom mounted cases - if not, an extender for the MB Power can be purchased. In the case of the P180 - the internals are not visible - so it doesn't matter much if the wiring is not optimal. That does not mean that you can have a bunch of spaghetti wiring going on - as that would impact airflow.

The P180 is a 'fun' case to work with as it is a bit unique in it's design. You have to put a bit of thought into what you are doing, but the results are very nice.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[GazMcfc]

i want to buy this HiperPower PSU but i have been told the cables(P4?) arent long enough to fit in the Antec 900(my case)? Is this true?
Thanks

 

[dermotti]

HEAT RISES!!!

why would anyone want to mount a PS at the bottom of a case???

trying to draw the heat down is contrary to the laws of physics!

i would not buy any case that had the PS on the bottom. bobvc99

I have the Antec 900, with the PS mounted on bottom. It makes more sense in my opinion.

With your powersupply at the top of the case its going to pull in warm air, and therefore make the PSU less efficient.

With a case like the antec 900, you have a 200m and a 120mm for exaust as it is, you dont need to rely on the PSU fan to help cool the system. The PSU fan is now dedicated to cooling just the PSU.
A cool PSU is a more efficient PSU!

 

[papi4baby]

I'm primarily looking at the ASUS striker for the motherboard. The connect is mid-way on the left of the board. Is there enough room in the 180 to route the cable cleanly?

Thanks again!

this is to go with your striker
http://www.k-y.ca/en/product/gel.htm

 

[bobvc99]

when you mount a PS at the bottom of a case, as long as another fan is mounted at the top and there is adequate air input, i can see no problem with cooling. the problems come into play when the PS exhaust fan is used as the primary or only heat eliminator.

isn't flow dynamics fun???

 

[MadHacker]

I have a P180 case and have a Asus P5W DH Deluxe.
the 4 pin connector cable wasn't long enough so i ordered one, waited 3 days till i got it and then it worked... I also bought the 24 pin extention as well but didn't need it...

it all depends on the length of the powersupply cables and the motherboard. if you don't mind the spending an extra $10, buy the extention calbes... and if you don't need them put them in a box and forget about them... but if you do need them it will save you the headache of having to order them again later.

my 2¢

 

[ibticktock]

P180, OCZ GMX 700, and Gigabyte P-DS3. The 24 pin connector is no problem. The connector for the processor only works straight up across the board. I'm eventually going to get an extension for that one and route it along the right side. http://www.svc.com/cbl-extend-12v.html

Another issue you might look at is the actual length of your PS. I was going to get a Silverstone until I took the measurements and realized that it would not fit unless I removed the bottom case fan. There are other PSs that have this problem so check first. This case may look big but it is really very VERY cramped inside. If I were to do it again I would get a PS that was modular and had unsleeved cables. The cables on the OCZ have riga mortis.

Last thought on the P180. Run your PS cables up into the center section BEFORE you mount the PS. Ditto with the little fan speed wire for the bottom fan. Once the PS is secured you are not going to pass anything through the hole.