A8N-32-SLI/P180 Customization ( 3 Views )

1. I thought I'd share my experiences with this hardware, and my customizations to keep them as cool and quiet as possible.
   
   As many have discussed here the A8N32-SLI is a pretty warm running board. To maximize case cooling I replaced the fans in the upper chamber with ones that push more air, and are quieter than the stock fans. The fans are the Mechatronix G1225S12B's (from coolerguys). I added the same model fan to the front intake. All fans are remounted with rubber supports (including the lower chamber one). There are no hard drives in the upper chamber.
   
   Since the VGA cooling duct of the P180 doesn't seem to work too well, I put in a 60x25mm rubber-mounted fan I had lying around blowing onto the video card's HSF with fresh air directly from the rear of the case (see photo), since there is a big enough gap between the video and sound cards. I also rubber-mounted an 80mm fan on a card bracket blowing at the SB chip, and rear of video card. This fan is running silently at 5V. The other fans are also running at virtual silence.
   
   With these modest mods. the system is a little cooler than the stock setup was at a much louder level.
   
   Photos:
   http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...stemphotos.htm
   Specs:
   http://members.dslextreme.com/users/...ms/systems.htm
   
   I hope this may help anyone who's trying to keep similar hardware cool, and virtually silent. Temps: 38/40 idle, 44/46 load. Video 43 idle/65 load.
   
   
   (samet, Azerbaijan)


2. I have a similar setup as you. I swapped the stock fans out (all of them) and added the extra 120 with these:
   
   http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811999346
   
   I also pulled out the stock VGA cooler and replaced it with this:
   
   http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3147
   
   It almost fit the stock holes however I did have to drill to get it to fit right. Also, this was all done from the start so I never noticed the temperature issues.
   
   
   (bejna, Guadeloupe)


3. Cool
   
   
   (bilge, Tajikistan)


4. Quote:

   Originally Posted by Mr_Gl@ss I also pulled out the stock VGA cooler and replaced it with this: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...oducts_id=3147 It almost fit the stock holes however I did have to drill to get it to fit right. Also, this was all done from the start so I never noticed the temperature issues.

   How much clearance is there between the blower and the video card? There was none when I tried to use the Antec blower (the Zalman VGA cooler extends beyond my card).
   
   
   (altan, Saint Lucia)


5. I figure I'd add my 2 cents worth here since I am using the above board and case.
   
   My current temps are about exactly the same as yours except I have the (mis)fortune of trying to squeeze SLI in this case. Man, it took alot of planning.
   
   IMHO if you swap that vf700 (or fatality) with an NV Silencer you can pull those VGA mounted fans out of there. My SLI setup doesn't seem to go above 52C under load.
   
   Anyways, here's the pics:
   
   The system overall:
   
   
   A closup of the tight-squeeze for SLI:
   
   
   
   Figured I'd share.
   
   
   - Stan
   
   
   (seda, Ecuador)


6. Hey Stan, what kind of overclock do you get out of that setup (fans, HSF, etc)?
   
   
   (büþra, Benin)


7. Quote:

   Originally Posted by StanD My current temps are about exactly the same as yours except I have the (mis)fortune of trying to squeeze SLI in this case. Man, it took alot of planning. IMHO if you swap that vf700 (or fatality) with an NV Silencer you can pull those VGA mounted fans out of there. My SLI setup doesn't seem to go above 52C under load.

   Yeah I'm trying to think of some ways to cool more. The last couple of days have been very warm here, and at 2.5Ghz things are getting toasty (50-CPU, 69-Video), although stability is fine.
   
   
   ( bulent, Dominica)


8. Quote:

   Originally Posted by sac_tagg Hey Stan, what kind of overclock do you get out of that setup (fans, HSF, etc)?

   Right now I'm still getting everything setup and tweaked initially and am current running Prime stable @ 250 FSB without a single hitch.
   
   For reference my current config shown in the pictures above is as follows:
   
   Processor: AMD X2 4400+ (currently @ 250x11)
   Heatsink: Scythe Ninja
   Fans: Nexus 120mm
   RAM: OCZ PC4000 Platinum EB (DDR500)
   Board: A8N32
   Case: P180
   Video: 2x 7800GT's in SLI (with NV Silencers)
   Audio: Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic (sandwiched between the two cards)
   HDD: 2x WD Raptors 74GB
   CD / DVD / bla bla bla
   
   Getting the system to 250 FSB was a joke actually. This setup seems to have loads of headroom and even with these settings and ambient of 22C the max temps I am getting are around 41C CPU and 34-35C case (closed).
   
   I've got some more experimenting to do, since there are way to many options in the BIOS to adjust :)
   
   Hope this info helps,
   
   
   - Stan
   
   
   (Ýbrahim Halil , Estonia)


9. Poster with the picture, wow, can it be good to bend the crap out of the X-Fi like that? I'm curious because I have the same board and I'm thinking of adding the 2nd GTX in about a week, that looks like a nasty config. (I have a P180 too lol)
   
   
   (Deniz, Cocos (Keeling) Islands)

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