# Mod a Antec P160



## Domer_und (Apr 11, 2005)

My antec P160 seems to suffer from poor airflow, when the cover is off the case the temps instantly drop 4-6 degress C. I'm thinking about modding the case to add addtional fans to help with the intake of cool air and the exhaust of hot air.

My idea is to dremel a cut out in the side case above the cpu and mount a fan. I'd cover the hols with some sort of grill of course. Is tis a good idea? Has anyone had expirence with the P160?

On this side mount fan, should it be intake or exhaust? 
Thanks for the help.

Domer


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## ebackhus (Apr 21, 2005)

In most cases you want more exhaust than intake. Depending on the turning direction of the CPU fan you can set it as exhaust or intake. If it's as exhaust then you want the CPU fan setup so that it sucks air THROUGH the heatsink and then the new fan sucks that hot air right out. The opposite would be to have the CPU fan blow air down through the heat sink and use the new fan to blow in cool air. You may want to consider getting a port or tube to help direct the air.


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## StaticInMyHead (Sep 27, 2004)

I've always known cases to be better off with more intake than exhaust. More intake means more pressure, which keeps dust from being sucked in the cracks of the bottom of the case. Higher pressure also means cooler temperatures, since that is basically how an air conditioning unit works-by compressing air. 
A port is an excellent idea for lowering CPU temperatures. A few things to keep in mind: make sure the side panel fan is filtered extremely well. Not only with a grill, but a fine mesh would be preferable because you don't want debris entering your case and clogging the heatsink and cpu fan. Another thing is to make sure the side panel fan has a higher cfm rating than the cpu fan so the cpu fan doesn't ruin the bearings on the panel fan by making it spin faster than the designated speed. With a port this is always necessary because if the panel fan does fail, the cpu will be forced to pull air through the dead fan. This will significantly slow airflow and make temperatures rise more than they were before the port was installed. 
Antec cases usually have restricted airflow in the front behind the bezel. Since it wouldn't be seen by anyone, you might want to cut some of that extra metal out so the 120mm fan there can do more work and have less stress. Good luck.


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