Fan arrangement in the Antec 900

[Gambini]

I just ordered the Antec 900 yesterday, and I was wondering about how I should arrange the fans that are in the front. As stock, they are both on the bottom, but should I move that around? I'm only planning on having one HDD and one disk drive (and possibly a fan controller). From what I know, you can move them around, but if I'm wrong then let me know.

The (quite obvious) choices are:
Fan
CD
Fan

Fan
Fan
CD

CD
Fan
Fan

Where "CD" refers to the disk drive.

So, to repeat everything I said in one sentence: What would be the best all around order for the front of the Antec 900? And as a question that just came to my mind: Will it even make a difference?

 

[ajw84]

Hi Gambini

I have my Antec 900 set up with the 2 fans at the top. this leaves 3 drive bays at the base, where i have a cd drive and a fan speed controller. i thought this would be a good idea as i planned to over clock, and the fans at the top produce ideal airflow. what you can also do with the 900 is add another 120mm fan on the inside. i did this on the top so it blows air straight onto the cpu cooler.

if you were to install a fan speed controller you could set all the fans to high using the 3 speed controllers provided with the case, and then simply turn down all the fans for near silence. using the maximum speed for gaming etc.

hope this helps

Alex.

 

[Silverion77]

Depends also where the case will be.....

Mine is on my desk so the drive is on the bottom for easy access but on the floor I would put it on the top (like my parents)

 

[Conumdrum]

I have a 900. My fans are on the bottom and I have a door fan blowing in. I like them on the bottom so my PSU and vid card get cooler air. Methinks one on top, one on bottom is okay too. And running the 200mm on medium is still silent. The rest I have on low.

 

[purplerat]

Generally front intake fans should be near the bottom and rear exhaust near the top as thats the path air will naturally flow going from cold(in take) to hot(exhaust).

 

[PCtechie]

I have 900 also and I have my front fans at the bottom. I agree with purplerat in that this is the best configuration as you want cold air coming in from the bottom and hot air exhausting from the top. If you have a side fan it kind of even things out so that everything's getting the proper amount of cooling possible before it's exhausted out the top.

 

[Gambini]

... what you can also do with the 900 is add another 120mm fan on the inside. i did this on the top so it blows air straight onto the cpu cooler.

I was also wondering about that, if they were different ratings and the fan on the inside pushed less CFM, would that hinder the fan in the front of the HDD cage? Or if the one on the inside was faster, would it create a vacuum and rip a hole in the space-time continuum?

I might just have to test and see which I feel more comfortable with and get lower all-around temperatures. I'll probably have it on top of my desk; why have a nice window if you have to bend over to look inside of it? :lol: That gives me 2 for the two fans on top and 3 for the two fans on the bottom. That is enough for Congress to overturn a presidential veto. (I think I just made that up)

I can see how a fan on top could possibly blow over basically nothing before getting exhausted, or get in the heatsink before getting exhausted, which would lower the cpu temperature. Having both on the bottom would get sufficient air to everything, but the CPU would be getting the warmer air. Having one on the top and one on the bottom would look really weird and could either suck really bad (the very first sentence of the paragraph) or be a good mixture of the two. Which leaves me the arduous task of testing.

Keep the suggestions coming, as I probably won't get it until Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[tigertop]

Hi Gambini,

If you do go for a fan controller bear in mind the Zalman multifan controller is incompatible with the Antec fans--there is no way round this except to change out the fans for another make with 3 pin connectors.

But the Antec is a fab case and you should not need to alter the fan positions--the guys who designed it spent a long time working on the optimum design --and it shows in the quality

 

[Kwyx]

I just built a system with this case last week. I went with the DvD drive on top and the fans in the middle and bottom positions. Mostly because my case is on the floor and the DvD drive any lower would be inconvenient. I also figured that since this was the pre-configured setup that it would be fine.

I added a cheap fan to the side vent for extra airflow, and run all the stock fans on the medium setting. It's surprisingly quiet for all those fans.

I put my HDD in the middle of the bottom drive bay. Not sure if this restricts airflow much but I didn't see any other options.

 

[Grimmy]

How about:

FAN
FAN
FAN

and just get an external DVD, and put some wheels on the bottom and wings on the side to watch if fly around the room?

. o O (J/K!!)

 

[Silverion77]

and just get an external DVD, and put some wheels on the bottom and wings on the side to watch if fly around the room?

. o O (J/K!!)

lol :lol: :lol: :lol:

Never know.....might work

 

[Gambini]

Hi Gambini,

If you do go for a fan controller bear in mind the Zalman multifan controller is incompatible with the Antec fans--there is no way round this except to change out the fans for another make with 3 pin connectors.

But the Antec is a fab case and you should not need to alter the fan positions--the guys who designed it spent a long time working on the optimum design --and it shows in the quality

a.) Isn't there a 4-pin to 3-pin adapter? You must have read my mind because I was looking at the MFC-1.
b.)I thought about the fact that they probably put some R&D time on the fans, but then again there are plenty of times where it isn't always the best. (See the 8800GT single-slot cooler)

How about:

FAN
FAN
FAN

and just get an external DVD, and put some wheels on the bottom and wings on the side to watch if fly around the room?

. o O (J/K!!)

Too heavy to get off the ground. It would more than likely just make a big dent in the wall. Then, I'd sue you like that one person sued McDonalds for a hot pickle or something But what I could do is make 3 front fans into exhaust fans and tie it to the ceiling and watch it go around in circles. Really fast. I just realized the extent of what the Antec 900 is capable of! The possibilities are endless. You could enter it into a RC drag race and probably win some cash...etc.,

 

[ajw84]

Yes you can use 4 to 3 pin adapters. i have the MFC-1 and it works fine, matches the case quite nicely aswell.

let us know how you get on.

 

[Gambini]

Yes you can use 4 to 3 pin adapters. i have the MFC-1 and it works fine, matches the case quite nicely aswell.

let us know how you get on.

Nice to know that it works, and I'll let you know how it does.

My parts should be arriving on Wednesday and being my first build, it'll take me a while. When I finally get it nice and built, I'll start my onslaught of tests. Temperature and sound will be the main focus, with looks and ease of use being the tie-breaker. I'll post some temperatures by next Tuesday (hopefully by Saturday or Sunday) and my final conclusions.

What temperature monitoring program should I use? Does Prime 95 stress the CPU and read temperatures?

Well, if someone would like to set up the procedure with what software and whatnot that I'll need to use, then I'd be more than happy to carry it out. That would help me a great deal. If not, then I'll just use my Google skillz and hope it works for the best.
(This kind of reminds me of the science fair back in 6th grade or something :lol

 

[althius]

Gambini, I am getting ready to do a build too with the 900 in a week or so. I would very much appreciate it if you shared any thoughts on your build. If its not too much trouble.

Send me a PM or a link to a thread you start if you write anything up.

Thanks in advance!

 

[kjmulhol]

Hi there, can anybody suggest the best Fan setup with Antec 900, Asus P5N-D, qx6700 core 2 extreme, Nocua NH-U12P and Dual SLI 8800GT. Which way should i connect the four case fans to the four Motherboard fan connectors CPU_FAN, CHA_FAN1, CHA_FAN2 and PWR_FAN?. The motherboard also came with a chipset fan but not sure if i should connect it. Any suggestions much appreciated.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[kjmulhol]

Oh Yeah processor is QX6700 not E6700

Thanks again
Kevin

 

[jsc]

I left the fans in the stock position. I have three HD's in the lowest bay. The middle bay is empty, so that fan blows directly toward my GTX260 video card. My HSF is oriented vertically (warm air wants to rise, why fight physics).

CPU is Q9550 OC'd to 3.6 GHz., TRUE/S-Flex SFF-21F HSF. RealTemp reports loaded core temps of 55 C to 58 C. SIW reports HD temps of 23 C. Case fans are all set to LOW.

For you builders contemplating the Antec 900: it does not come with a system speaker. And I really wish it had a removeable motherboard tray.

 

[djcoolmasterx]

I have mine as:

===
FAN
===
===
FAN
===
SPACER
DVD DRIVE
DVD DRIVE

 

[viropass]

Just got my Antec 900 yesterday. Should the case fans work if I connect it directly to the PSU w/o connecting the Motherboard to the PSU? Am trying to determine if my PSU is faulty. Even the power LED on the motherboard does not light up.

 

[cjl]

No, they shouldn't. You need the motherboard hooked up, because the motherboard sends the signal to the PSU to power on.