My experience with the Antec 193, CP850 PSU and Scythe Mugen 2 Cpu cooler

[Charlieone]

Previously, I had fallen foul of buying a case with a large side fan which blew such a draft across my feet you wouldn't believe! This pc had a 2-core amd chip and a 400W psu time until it was time to change.

I could not believe the size of the Antec 193 when the box arrived. I thought I was buying a bike! I'd seen nothing comparable beforehand. It is extremely heavy and reassuringly solid. It's also very well built. I confess I'm not one who likes to light up their case like a christmas tree. I'm more of a 'velvet fist in a steel glove' kinda guy. So an innocuous-looking case hidden and quiet under my desk that's able to deliver all the goods and then some - is my way.

For me, the Antec 193 does this in spades. I love the door closing - it does make a 'noticeable' decibel difference. But when you're game on and smoking, you can swing the door back on its hinges and it clicks firmly to the side leaving the front vents fully open. This does makes a difference of a few degrees and in such situations you can't hear the extra fan noise anyway!

Before I bought mine there was a lot of talk about short cable lengths and it was a concern of mine at the time. But, I bit the bullet and got the CP850 designed for the box. So glad I did! It's very, very good. The CP850 comes with a plethora of cables and all of them nice and long, so no worries on that score. In fact I've got quite a few residing in my spares. There's a neat little box inside which I use for the case keys (it's never locked) and all those screws and bits I might use when it's time to chage the mobo and stuff. As for the PSU itself. It delivers extraordinarily stable and economical power and I can't hear it. What more does it need to do?

The Big Boy fan on the side was, for me at least, never the issue that many reviewers made when the case first came out. The unit's under my desk I don't see it, it hold everything with room to spare. The side looks very functional, and the screen does a good job. It does intrude about 10mm inside, but it must be less than those that don't! And I understand you can spend 10 minutes with a few extra washers and raise the side unit 10 mm so it is clear of the interior. So no problem on that score either. I've read the BIG BOY fan is the best of its size with it's 2-speeds. Though on the lower speed the flow is not terribly noticeable to me at least - quite possibly a question of the high volume airflow of the Big Boy versus the higher pressure airflow that we're all so used to with the 120mm fans.

The unit has three, three-speed Tricool fans (hence the name), 2 x 140mm on top and a 120mm at the rear do a good job. Love the 140's on top, they really move a lot of heat out and I can see the 140 size becoming the 'norm' as machines get larger, hotter and faster in future. They're pretty quiet on their low setting and very noticeable at high speed. But at high speed they are really moving a lot of air and any extra fan noise goes almost unheard at such times.

I have an additional Sharkoon Silent Eagle 120mm fan (not supplied) at the front to pull in more cross-flow air - silently.

I'm using a Scythe Mugen 2 cpu cooler which is brilliant! That said, I reckoned on making it even better by replacing the stock fan. So, I've ordered 2x 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoons (1450rpm) as an experiment for both the rear Antec Tricool and the stock cpu fan. Since I believe they will provide both more total air flow and at a greater air pressure for every rpm they do when compared with my existing. The improved air pressure is important because it enables the air to 'punch through' all those vanes much better. Likewise with the case fan at the rear the new fan should expel more air through the case screen than the standard Tricool at any given speed.

Another reason for buying these fans is the extra air pressure should be better to 'punch through' any future radiator combo that I may decide upon in future...

I hope my experience has proved helpful to any prospective purchasers of these remarkable units which I warmly recommend.

[Antec-tech]

Previously, I had fallen foul of buying a case with a large side fan which blew such a draft across my feet you wouldn't believe! This pc had a 2-core amd chip and a 400W psu time until it was time to change.

I could not believe the size of the Antec 193 when the box arrived. I thought I was buying a bike! I'd seen nothing comparable beforehand. It is extremely heavy and reassuringly solid. It's also very well built. I confess I'm not one who likes to light up their case like a christmas tree. I'm more of a 'velvet fist in a steel glove' kinda guy. So an innocuous-looking case hidden and quiet under my desk that's able to deliver all the goods and then some - is my way.

For me, the Antec 193 does this in spades. I love the door closing - it does make a 'noticeable' decibel difference. But when you're game on and smoking, you can swing the door back on its hinges and it clicks firmly to the side leaving the front vents fully open. This does makes a difference of a few degrees and in such situations you can't hear the extra fan noise anyway!

Before I bought mine there was a lot of talk about short cable lengths and it was a concern of mine at the time. But, I bit the bullet and got the CP850 designed for the box. So glad I did! It's very, very good. The CP850 comes with a plethora of cables and all of them nice and long, so no worries on that score. In fact I've got quite a few residing in my spares. There's a neat little box inside which I use for the case keys (it's never locked) and all those screws and bits I might use when it's time to chage the mobo and stuff. As for the PSU itself. It delivers extraordinarily stable and economical power and I can't hear it. What more does it need to do?

The Big Boy fan on the side was, for me at least, never the issue that many reviewers made when the case first came out. The unit's under my desk I don't see it, it hold everything with room to spare. The side looks very functional, and the screen does a good job. It does intrude about 10mm inside, but it must be less than those that don't! And I understand you can spend 10 minutes with a few extra washers and raise the side unit 10 mm so it is clear of the interior. So no problem on that score either. I've read the BIG BOY fan is the best of its size with it's 2-speeds. Though on the lower speed the flow is not terribly noticeable to me at least - quite possibly a question of the high volume airflow of the Big Boy versus the higher pressure airflow that we're all so used to with the 120mm fans.

The unit has three, three-speed Tricool fans (hence the name), 2 x 140mm on top and a 120mm at the rear do a good job. Love the 140's on top, they really move a lot of heat out and I can see the 140 size becoming the 'norm' as machines get larger, hotter and faster in future. They're pretty quiet on their low setting and very noticeable at high speed. But at high speed they are really moving a lot of air and any extra fan noise goes almost unheard at such times.

I have an additional Sharkoon Silent Eagle 120mm fan (not supplied) at the front to pull in more cross-flow air - silently.

I'm using a Scythe Mugen 2 cpu cooler which is brilliant! That said, I reckoned on making it even better by replacing the stock fan. So, I've ordered 2x 120mm Scythe Gentle Typhoons (1450rpm) as an experiment for both the rear Antec Tricool and the stock cpu fan. Since I believe they will provide both more total air flow and at a greater air pressure for every rpm they do when compared with my existing. The improved air pressure is important because it enables the air to 'punch through' all those vanes much better. Likewise with the case fan at the rear the new fan should expel more air through the case screen than the standard Tricool at any given speed.

Another reason for buying these fans is the extra air pressure should be better to 'punch through' any future radiator combo that I may decide upon in future...

I hope my experience has proved helpful to any prospective purchasers of these remarkable units which I warmly recommend.

Hi Charlieone,

Thank you for wonderful input and recommendation on the P193. I personally have a P183 and I absolutely love that case. I haven't tried changing the fans but that sounds like a wonderful idea. Please keep us inform on the new fans and how it performs compare to the stock ones.

Regards,
Antec

[Charlieone]

Received the Scythe Gentle Typhoons (1450rpm and 46cfm at 21dB claimed) and was mighty impressed. So much so, that the stock Antec 120 Tricool fan at the rear of my Antec 193 case is now a thing of the past. So too is the stock fan for my Scythe Mugen 2 CPU cooler.

Here's what happened.
Initially, I jerry-rigged one fan on my desk with a simple variable fan control. At the minimum setting it was so 'silent' as to make no difference and at max speed it was 'very quiet' - much more so than the stock 120 Tricool fan on its lowest setting. My air flow test was not very technical - though everyone uses the same technique - I put my hand behind to feel the draught! There seemed little difference between them both at max speed. So, as far as my test is concerned the Scythe won handsomely.

Here's why.
I usually have my Tricools on their slowest setting (39cfm claimed) because of their noise factor. But with the Scythes I can run them at (45cfm claimed) continously. As a result my CPU is running 5C cooler under 'my normal conditions' - this is a significant drop. Then add to this the fact the PC is noticeably quieter and switching to these fans becomes even more attractive.

And another thing
On paper the Tricool is the more powerful fan at max speed (2000rpm and 79cfm claimed) but it also makes a terrific 'din' while doing it - which I'm not prepared to accept. There is no way the Tricool is running at the claimed 25dB. How do I know this? Read on.

I discovered these remarkable fans through a 120mm case fan review on the net (22 fans on test) and one of the most striking things about the whole test was the difference between the real world results and the various claims by manufacturers. Take the Scythes for example, their claimed noise level is 21dB but the reality in the test was 28.6dB. On that basis the claimed 25dB for the Tricools is laughable at any of the 3 speeds they're capable of...

Finally, the claimed output of the Scythes is 45.9cfm but on test the real world result was 61cfm - definitely more for less.

[giskard]

Thanks for your informative post, but you didn't say how you managed to fit the Mugen 2 into the P193 - I tried it but couldn't as the cooler is too all. Please elaborate.

[Charlieone]

For Giscard.
My Mugen2 'flew in' with the std fan on the left side 'pulling' towards the rear case fan. I'm using Corsair Dominator 1866 RAM without the enclosed fans - which I find are not needed with my 4GHz OC. There is not enough room adjacent to my RAM for sure. But I've since upgraded my cpu fan to the Silent Typhoon 1850 which is now located at the bottom of the cooler 'pushing' air upwards through the unit towards the two 140mm case fans.

I have also purchased and RMA'd the NZXT Sentry 2 fan controller which arrived with an unresponsive touch screen - awaiting imminent replacement - which should kill the excess draught/noise according to my needs.

Took a photo of the Mugen in place but unwilling to get involved with the fiddle req'd to upload to yet another site as this forum requires. Can't find any links to quickly send you a PM with it either. If you can, I will reply with photo.

[giskard]

Thanks for reply.

What I was trying to get at was that I don't understand how you've installed the Scythe Mugen 2 cooler in a P193 given that I've tried the same and found that I couldn't fit the case side-panel because the big-boy side-panel fan interferes with the Mugen's heat sink.

From your post it seems that you've managed to install the Mugen in a P193 with no modifications to the case or the heatsink and so I was wondering if you'd done that and if so how?

[Charlieone]

Giskard,
I'm using a Asus P6X58D mobo and the Scythe Mugen 2 is mounted so that the longest length is running vertically inside the case. The cooler is so good that for all but the largest cpu overloads (60%+) I'm running the Antec 193 with the top case fan nearest the front switched off for greater quiet.

The fan controller makes a terrific difference. Though the sensors on such things are generally redundant because they can't be relied upon to improve on the accuracy of progs such as 'core temp' which I have running in my task bar so I can always monitor my temps. Removing the sensors saves quite a bit of wiring too!

Hope this helps.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/20/dsc0007jz.jpg

[giskard]

Charlieone,

Many thanks for your reply and the photo. I must admit to being truly baffled - I fitted my Mugen 2 in the same way as you have (there is only one way anyway), except I mounted the cooling fan facing the rear of the case. I found that the tops of the Mugen's cooling tubes interfered with the internal housing of the side-panel fan and so I couldn't fit the side panel, hence I was very surpirised when I read that you'd managed it. For the record my mobo is an Asus P6TSE and the CPU is an i7 920.

Can I just confirm and clarify that you haven't modded the side panel or side-panel fan in any way, and that you haven't moved the side-panel fan assembly so that it's completely mounted to the outside of the case (with nothing protruding inside the case)?

Thanks again

[Charlieone]

No mods to the Big Boy fan at side. Only mod at end panel was replacement of antec fan for scythe gentle typhoon.

[giskard]

No mods to the Big Boy fan at side. Only mod at end panel was replacement of antec fan for scythe gentle typhoon.

Thanks for the reply. Now I'm really stumped as to how you've managed to fit the Mugen 2 into a P193 with the big-boy side-panel fan.

The only thing I can think is that the position of the CPU is different enough on your mobo that the cooler doesn't interfere with the side-panel fan

[Charlieone]

The only thing I can think is that the position of the CPU is different enough on your mobo that the cooler doesn't interfere with the side-panel fan

Yep, that's probably it.