Thermaltake A2309 iCage in Antec P180?

[SpencerL]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to fooling around with case mods and such, so please bear with me if I say something stupid. =)

I have an Antec P180, which has 4 x 5.25" drive bays. However, I really only need one of these bays, and have an opportunity to use the other three bays as extra 3.5" slots. I did some google research and found the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999141

Reading the reviews, I am fairly confident that this iCage will fit into my case....with one possible exception. That is the possibility of the fan on the cage protruding out of the drive bays so far that the case door will not close. It is important to me that the case door closes because I sleep in the same room as the PC, and apparently the blue LED on the iCage can not be turned off (?).

If anyone out there has any insight as to how this iCage will work for my situation, I'd be grateful. Also, if there is a better option for me, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks!

 

[306maxi]

Hey guys, I'm fairly new to fooling around with case mods and such, so please bear with me if I say something stupid. =)

I have an Antec P180, which has 4 x 5.25" drive bays. However, I really only need one of these bays, and have an opportunity to use the other three bays as extra 3.5" slots. I did some google research and found the following:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999141

Reading the reviews, I am fairly confident that this iCage will fit into my case....with one possible exception. That is the possibility of the fan on the cage protruding out of the drive bays so far that the case door will not close. It is important to me that the case door closes because I sleep in the same room as the PC, and apparently the blue LED on the iCage can not be turned off (?).

If anyone out there has any insight as to how this iCage will work for my situation, I'd be grateful. Also, if there is a better option for me, I'd be happy to hear about it.

Thanks!

What's wrong with the six other 3.5" bays in the P180?

 

[SpencerL]

What's wrong with the six other 3.5" bays in the P180?

They're in use.

 

[SpencerL]

You don't need a fan on the drive cage. So you could remove the fan.

That's a good point, thanks. I would prefer the fan of course, due to the cooling ability, but I suppose if there's no other alternative, removing the fan would be best.

 

[Il_palazzo]

6+ hardrives, that has to be a joy to listen to when working.

Try looking for a Coolermaster 4-in-3 Module instead as it holds 4 hardrives, personally I might consider useing the included fan but I would run it at 7v or 5v depending on the noise produced.
Since you have the P180 I would also install a nice black dust filter just to help keep dust down and keep things nice looking.

Coolermaster 4-in-3 Module at Jab-Tech
Black Dust Filter ok so it might not be the best dust filter but should look cool, cheaper plastic version.
And a inexpensive fan I know is quite at 5v. This is more for future reference incase the CM fan sucks.
And guide for doing the 7v/5v fan mod.

 

[SpencerL]

Thanks palazzo. As far as the noise for my system, I guess its rare that all 7 of my drives currently in the case are working at the same time. But I was really amazed at how quiet the system was even when under stress. It's actually hard to tell that its on when you're more than a couple of feet away.

That cooler master option looks pretty good, with the 4 slots instead of 3. However, I would imagine it still leaves me with the same problem with the case not being able to close properly. I'm really hesitant to leave the fan on, and remove the door on my case. I'm thinking at this point that maybe the airflow in this case is good enough without that new fan (I could just remove it like previously suggested).
On the other hand...maybe heat will be an issue when/if I actually put 4 HDDs into the space of 3 x 5.25" bays........

 

[Il_palazzo]

Actually it should not interfere with closing your case door, as it should not stick out any more then a regular drive.
Better pictures of it.
http://www.directron.com/stb3t4e1.html
And slow moving fan should be able to cover any cooling your hardrives need.

Edit actually those thing are intended for use in a Coolermaster stacker, so actually they will be able to sit behind for original drive bay covers. Hmm accually you might need to make your own dust filter or buy a scythe karma bay. (Fan filter with 120mm fan might requite a little moding)

 

[SpencerL]

Ok, so Directron says the Cooler Master 4-in-1 is not guaranteed to fit a case other than the CM Stacker. It seems reasonable that it'd fit my P180B, but I can't be totally sure without trying it, so I guess I'll have to take a risk.