ROTW 5 - P183 Build - Lots of Pics

[Pepp77]

Received the ROTW 5 prize the Antec P183 yesterday (Thank You Aria) and today I started putting my file server build into it.

Full Parts

1 x Antec P183
1 x Intel e8200 with Thermalright SI-120 Heatsink and Xilence 120mm fan (MX-2 Thermal Paste)
1 x Asus P5G41-M Motherboard
2 x 2GB Corsair XMS2 800Mhz Cas5
1 x Corsair CX400 PSU
1 x Pioneer DVR-215BK
1 x WD 500GB for OS
4 x Samsung HD203WI 2TB HDDs - Media
1 x Western Digital WD20 EADS 2TB HDD - Media
2 x Western Digital WD1000FYDS 1TB HDDs - Media
1 x Seagate 500GB External eSata Drive - Backups
1 x PCI 4 Port Internal SATA Card
1 x PCI 4 Port USB, 1 Port eSata and 1 Port Internal Sata Card
2 x Coolermaster 1800RPM Quiet Fans (Front intake)
2 x Antec TriCool 1200/1600/2000RPM Fans (Rear Outtake)

Will be connected to the local home network via a 5 Port TP-Link Gigabit Switch.

Will be mainly controlling it via Teamviewer, but will have it connected to a little 17" Dell 1280x1024 Monitor.

Parts in red above are the parts I have had to buy, total outlay on those items was £61.

I have also purchased 8 x 50cm Black Sata Cables for £7.80 (and will be using a couple of other adapters I already had (eg Molex to Sata Power)).

So heres some pictures of the very well built P183.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case2-1.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case3-1.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case4.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case5.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case6.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case7.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case8.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case9.jpg

I then decided to do a basic build with just DVD Drive and OS Drive (I also installed the 2 Coolermaster fans into the front of the case, nice and easy as you attach them to a couple of removable adapters that clip into place; the black bits you can see in front of the drive bays) to ensure it worked before I started taking all my caddies apart, and came to a little snag, the 4 pin ATX cable doesn't reach (and even if it did I wouldn't be able to connect it with the motherboard in the case and the heatsink in place anyway), so I have purchased a 25cm extension which will hopefully be here Friday when I will have to remove the motherboard, connect the extension and then put the motherboard back in whilst trying to ensure that cable routes okay, as I will try and get as many cables round the back as possible, as it does appear to be quite spacious round there).

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Case10.jpg

[Spaceboy]

nice mate, still got my P180 and plan on re-using it (again) for my next build :thumb:

Solid case and this looks to have just tweaked a few areas :)

[Marv]

Much prefer that case over the led bling & window panel style. Bet it's nice and quiet.

[Zaim]

Looks great :)

[Pepp77]

nice mate, still got my P180 and plan on re-using it (again) for my next build :thumb:

Solid case and this looks to have just tweaked a few areas :)

Case feels very solidly built and has some very nice little touches, not sure I would pay nigh on £100 for it, but you can see why its classed as higher end case.


Much prefer that case over the led bling & window panel style. Bet it's nice and quiet.

Me too, although the front two fans are blue LED (but thankfully the door stops them showing up, that and I am putting this in a cupboard).

As for quiet I'll let you know once I get it up and running.


Looks great :)

I agree, motherboard looks tiny in there though lol

[Spaceboy]

Given the cost of some of the cases I've seen on here, I think £100 is not too bad at all for this... I bought my P180 in Feb 2006... that's a 4.5 year old investment and I still love the little rubber gromits on all the hdd mounts, the psu is rubber mounted, I think it's fab :D

This will be the 3rd new system I've built inside it :thumb: It's current incarnation is a fileserver with 7 IDE hdd's :D

[Mr. Pineapple]

Thinking of buying that antec case or the R3.

How many hard drives does this hold?

[Spaceboy]

Thinking of buying that antec case or the R3.

How many hard drives does this hold?

From : http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=MTgwOA==
11 drive bays
- External 4 x 5.25"; 1 x 3.5"
- Internal 6 x 3.5" for HDD
- Internal 2 x 2.5" SSDdrive bays

One of the reasons I bought the P180 was the fantastic website... animations, awesome details, everything you need to know :thumb:

[Jackster]

Sweet case for a Cool looking server!

[Pepp77]

Given the cost of some of the cases I've seen on here, I think £100 is not too bad at all for this... I bought my P180 in Feb 2006... that's a 4.5 year old investment and I still love the little rubber gromits on all the hdd mounts, the psu is rubber mounted, I think it's fab :D

This will be the 3rd new system I've built inside it :thumb: It's current incarnation is a fileserver with 7 IDE hdd's :D

Oh dont get me wrong I think it is probably worth £100, I would probably buy something like the CM690II if I was buying.


Thinking of buying that antec case or the R3.

How many hard drives does this hold?

If you do it right 12 + 1 ODD

4 x 3.5" in bottom cage
2 x 3.5" in top cage
2 x 2.5" in the bay between the two cages
4 x 3.5" in a drive holder using 3 of the 4 5.25" bays

Leaving one bay for an ODD.

Im only sticking 8 in, 4 in bottom, 2 in top cage and 2 in 5.25" bays

[Pepp77]

My 4 pin extension cable came today - fantastic service considering I ordered about 3.30pm yesterday.

So I took the motherboard out connected the cable to it and then reinstalled the motherboard. Connected the fans to the molex cables and connected up the ODD and HDD as well as the front connections (bar the eSata cable), connected the VGA cable, network cable and power cable and switched it on. The screen displayed and I got one beep :)

Deleted into BIOS, everything looking right and CPU temp in the mid 20s.

Stuck in my XP disc and rebooted, went through the install and then opened core temp. Cores showing at 31-34c. Better than Ive seen with this chip previously.

The next problem came when I went to activate Windows, it would appear my OEM XP licence no longer works (not even with a phone call), so I needed a new OS and after asking downloaded Ubuntu 10.10. Just in the process of installing that to have a play with, but for now heres a pic showing where I plan to house the build.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/Serveralive.jpg

The drawers hold all my cables (USB, HDMI, DVI, Ethernet etc), the PC has to go in sideways as it is 3cm too big for me to close the door if it faces the front. My printer used to be in this cupboard on the drawers, but I am now going to move it to the top shelf (you can see it in the picture).

[I3R0K3N7FEET]

btw... wont it overheat being stuffed away in a cupboard?

[Pepp77]

btw... wont it overheat being stuffed away in a cupboard?

Nah, but it will probably make the cupboard cooler :)

[Gunslinger]

I like the way they have finally given you access to the CPU mounting area through the mounting tray area, i was so tempted to cut my P193 for that feature !

Found the info on the SSD compatibility as well .... got this image from another site, it's of the Antec Solo/P150/Sonata Designer cage on the left, and the P183 (rev2?) cage on the right. You can see holes for you to reallocate the silicone grommets to install SSD's.
(credits to the original poster/photographer)
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j14/kaydat/P183%205870/drivecagecomparison.jpg

[Pepp77]

I like the way they have finally given you access to the CPU mounting area through the mounting tray area, i was so tempted to cut my P193 for that feature !

Found the info on the SSD compatibility as well .... got this image from another site, it's of the Antec Solo/P150/Sonata Designer cage on the left, and the P183 (rev2?) cage on the right. You can see holes for you to reallocate the silicone grommets to install SSD's.
(credits to the original poster/photographer)
IMAGE

Issue with the CPU mounting area is on the motherboard I have in there I can only see and get to one of the 4 screws lol

Okay, so the P183 SSD compatible cage is the top one in the pics (holds 2 x 3.5" drives, or Im assuming using no brackets 2 x SSDs).

Had a play with Ubuntu 10.10 today and didnt really like it, so I have reinstalled XP for now (will use it for upto the 30 days before most likely getting win 7, although I am currently downloading a Server 2008 R2 180 day evaluation disc) and decided to run a bit of Prime 95 to check temps (this is sides off, rear fans on low and cupboard door shut), had been running just under 30 mins.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/temps-3.jpg

[Alexceptional]

Great looking build mate.



Had a play with Ubuntu 10.10 today and didnt really like it, so I have reinstalled XP for now (will use it for upto the 30 days before most likely getting win 7, although I am currently downloading a Server 2008 R2 180 day evaluation disc...

Big discussion here (http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=31653) relating to OS, you may be interested.

[Gunslinger]

you have to use those trays regardless of drive size.

what they have done though is just punch some extra holes in the tray to accept SSD's .... however if you use one of those akasa adaptors (and add four tapped holes into it) you can then mount 2 drives on one of those trays ;)

[Pepp77]

Great looking build mate.

Big discussion here (http://forums.aria.co.uk/showthread.php?t=31653) relating to OS, you may be interested.

Cheers I've had a look, gonna download an eval disc of home server and have a play, but as it costs the same as win 7 I would more likely just opt for that. Have also downloaded a 180 day eval disc of Server 2008 R2, which I am going to have a play with before making any decisions.


you have to use those trays regardless of drive size.

what they have done though is just punch some extra holes in the tray to accept SSD's .... however if you use one of those akasa adaptors (and add four tapped holes into it) you can then mount 2 drives on one of those trays ;)

By brackets I meant something like the Akasa things, otherwise it would just be two connected to the new narrower holes as you say.

[Gunslinger]

yeah, correct ..... i'm doing something like that, lower one will hold a 3.5" drive the upper will be the SSD on the akassa bracket, giving me room to add another SSD later :)

[Pepp77]

Bit of a little update on this.

Have had so much on recently and so this has been on the backburner.

But I have now bought a Crucial C300 to go in my main HTPC and so the Vertex 2E from that will be going into this as a boot drive.

I have also discovered that the simple metal 3.5" to 5.25" drive adapters you can get are not very useful with this case as you have to use front entering mounting brackets on the 5.25" bays, so I have purchased a Coolermaster 4 in 3 module to house the top drives (waiting for it to be delivered).

I dont think I am going to be swapping the SSDs over until I get my new Compro S800F for the HTPC at christmas, so other than this update Im not sure Im going to be doing much more until around christmas time.

I will post some pics and more info when I get back into this properly.

[Gunslinger]

I have also discovered that the simple metal 3.5" to 5.25" drive adapters you can get are not very useful with this case as you have to use front entering mounting brackets on the 5.25" bays, so I have purchased a Coolermaster 4 in 3 module to house the top drives (waiting for it to be delivered).

I will post some pics and more info when I get back into this properly.

thanks for the update, and please do post some pics, as i'm having a little trouble visualising the problem (probably just me not thinking straight right now !)

[Pepp77]

thanks for the update, and please do post tome pics, as i'm having a little trouble visualising the problem (probably just me not thinking straight right now !)

Missed this sorry, basically the 5.25" bays are filled from the front using attachable rails, so you take the bay cover off and then slide the device in from the front, there is nothing inside the case to screw the brackets into, you have to use the rails (unfortunately I didnt get pics of this exactly, but there are side shots where you can see the 5.25" area and lack of screw holes).

Final parts used were

E8200 with Thermalright SI-120 and Xilence 120mm fan
Asus P5G41-M
2 x 2 GB Corsair XMS2 PC6400
60GB OCZ Vertex 2E
1 x 500GB WD
2 x 1TB WD
4 x 2TB Samsung
1 x 2TB WD
1 x LG GH22NS50 DVD-RW
Corsair CX400
2 x Antec 120mm Tri-Cool fans on top and rear as exhaust
3 x Coolermaster 120mm fans on front as intake
Scythe Kaze Q 3.5" Fan Controller for the Coolermaster fans
Windows 7 HP x64

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0087.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0088.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0099.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0094.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0095.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0098.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0091.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0111.jpg

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/IMAG0112.jpg

Not going to be able to power it up until tomorrow as I have to do a bit of a room organisation as I need to run cables into the cupboard properly for this and the printer. Also going to finally install my Gigabit switch and move my PS3 on my AV stand and decided I might as well take the opportunity to label up all the power plugs.

[Gunslinger]

ah ok, i understand what you mean by that adapter thing not working very well ... fair point too, what i have seen done before is some sort of hammock type of arrangement with the elastic/rubber suspending the HDD in the bay.
But yes, i see where your coming from, and i too would have done what you did, and that is probably why antec removed the separator that used to be in that area between 2 of the 5.25 bays in the early P180 cases, because even that option would not have been available to you !

Interesting to see the lower section with the fan mounting removed, i always said it was a pain in the rear, but, it does look like it was handy for aiding cable management a touch, because yours looks a little unstructured down there !

Lot of drives you have in there by the way :D that is one plus point of these cases, lots of expansion possibilities.

SSD sits well in there, i'll still be using the akasa bracket, as i can slide 2 SSD's in there that way :) looks like yours sits further in than mine will, which should help you if you stretch out the GPU card length at any point during an upgrade !

I am soooooo jealous of that CPU mounting bracket access though, none of mine have that, although my P193 might get that added, however, it would be one area less where i could stick cable tidy things to help keep the mess out of the way !

That CPU cooler fan looks huge btw :p


Best thing is to see one of the prizes really put to good use, without it i am sure you would have picked a much cheaper less capable case and it would not have been half as well cooled or built

[Pepp77]

Funny thing is if I hadnt won the case I would probably have sold the CPU, motherboard, RAM and heatsink making me about £150, I then also wouldnt have bought the PSU (£35), SSD (£71), Gigabit switch (£15), HDD Holder (£15), Sata Cards (£27), fan controller (£11) and would just have muddled through with my drives being in external caddies and would be a good £300 better off :)

Quick temps pic taken, not going to bother stressing it again as I did that when I first built it and it maxed out at about 47c, even adding 10c for the decreased airflow thats fine, especially as its never going to be stressed heavily.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c62/pja77uk/TempsP183.jpg

Voltages have never read correctly on this board.

[Gunslinger]

.....and there we have the business arguement for the free gifts in the competitions ;)

Can't see the image here at work (stupid restrictions) but 47c doesn't sound too bad