A guide for a beginner's mod on an Antec 900 case

[sean126]

Here’s a little guide for beginners who have an antec 900 Case. I also have the asus p5w dh Deluxe motherboard.



First is the tools. What I used was a dremel, 1 ½ inch and ½ inch key hole cutters (get the one for metal..not wood.), ½ inch rubber grommets and gray duct tape for taping the wires to the back of the case…and for making a home-made hole liner for the square and 1 ½ inch hole.





I first marked out the holes with my mother board installed. From the top, going down….1 ½ inch hole for the 4 pin mb connecter, the headphone/mic cable, usb and firewire cables coming from the case. (I had originally planned to put my sata cables coming from the psu for my 2 dvd drives through this hole…but the cables were too short. You could get by with a smaller hole here.) Next is the square hole I will cut using the dremel for the 24 pin psu connecter…I also ran my sata cables for my dvd burners through here, the video card connecter and the middle fan connecter. Next is a ½ inch hole for my 2 sata cables for my hard drives coming in from the back. The last hole is a 1 ½ inch hole with the sides cut out for all the cables coming from the psu to go through and for entry for the ubs cable (which is barely long enough) and the headphone/mic cable…which I had to splice together. I used cat 5 wire with orange butt splice connecters made by Ideal. I got them at Lowes. They have red, blue and orange. Make sure to get the orange. You also will not have to strip the plastic off the wires…the connecter cuts through it.











The holes are cut. And the other pictures show that I ran my sata cables for my hard drive and dvd burners through holes already made inside the compartments. You can run these through there and out the back. For the dvd sata cables, I had to go to the middle compartment where my media reader was installed. I ran them over top of the media reader and it fit fine.






I also took out those black zip ties that came with the case. I looked in the hardward store, but couldn’t find any 1 1/2 inch rubber grommets. I’m sure they make them. I improvised and folded up some gray duct tape to use around the edges of the holes. (I also sanded the holes with a round attachment for the dremel). I used the rubber grommets for the ½ inch holes though. Heres some pictures showing the wires inserted through the holes. ****notice at the top of the first two pictures. I bought an 8 to 4 pin motherboard cable extension and ran that one at the top of the case. I’ve seen some people drill a separate hole for this one. I didn’t think it was necessary.









Heres the finished job…I’m showing various picture angles to show that the airflow obstructions should be at a minimum now. You see all those wires at the bottom of the case by the psu? Doesn’t look that good does it? I’m not as experienced at mods as others I’ve seen, but I did manage to take someone’s idea and add to it. I added something to hide those wires at the bottom and possibly give the air coming in from the bottom fan some “lift” for possible better air flow.

I could have flipped the psu over, drilled a big hole at the bottom, for the fan, and ran the cables through the side…but I was too lazy to do that. Instead, I made a metal ramp and painted it.

First I went to Home Depot and got a “Beware of the dog” sign. It is very thin sheet metal that bends easy. I measured from the inside of the case to the outside….horizontally. I then measured from the top of the psu, going at an downward angle, to the floor of the case (towards the harddrives). I didn’t get too close to the harddrives, because I wanted enough room for the air coming in from the fan to be as unrestricted as possible. I then had to cut the spaces for the wires to slide through. We will be putting this one in from the top and sliding it through to the bottom at a downward angle.







Here’s the cut out from various angles. Notice I didn’t cut both sides (in the middle). I bent a flap over to the outside of the ramp, so when we slide it in…we can put the flap back down and use a little gray duct tape to hold it down. Also….I lengthened the whole thing a little, so I could bend the edges inward…to apply some tape to help hold it down. You’ll see what I mean.



Next you see that I added some felt to the edges. You can also fold some gray duct tape over and use that also. I found some thin, green felt to use. I didn’t mind the color because I was painting it anyway.





Here’s some various angles with it installed. Notice I painted it and I used gray duct tape to tape it flush to the top of the psu and then used a black marker to cover up the tape that was on the psu. (Now you know why I was using gray duct tape…to help match the colors. But I mistakenly got aluminum instead of gray primer color. I tried to match it up with the gray on the inside of the case.)

You’ll also notice those flaps that I bent inwards and taped down. We also bent those flaps back over on the top and used a little gray tape to hold them in place.





We need to make a side for it…so, I took the measurements….cut it out and folded it….painted it and taped it down to the ramp.
















Here it is with it all installed. I figured that the ramp would give the air coming from the bottom fan more “lift” and circulation…rather than just crashing against the psu and wires. I also replaced the 79 cfm fan with a 89cfm fan in the back. So I’ve got the rear and top fan on high…the two in the front on medium and the side and inside fan on high. My regular activity temps are 24 C core 0 and core 1. I haven’t stressed the cpu yet…Because I’ve just lapped my cpu and heatsink also…and want to give the paste time to cure just a bit. In about a week I’ll see about those temps.


The pictures don’t really do it justice. It’s not the best wiring job I’ve seen…but it actually looks better in real life than in pictures. Considering this is the first major mod job I’ve ever done…it didn’t turn out half bad. I definitely got better wire management and airflow now. This mod, my lapping and my homemade airfilters mod I posted earlier….It’s good to go now.

Thanks for reading.

[halutzparilla]

very nice

very useful guide for who owns tools that you mentioned...

add a tool list to this and pix of the tools then your good to go...

btw there are a lot of cheap rotary cutters other than Dremel, like Craftsman and Borsch , but i agree its like a uber tool for a moder to have... (i own one set!)

[gvblake22]

WOW, very nicely done on the wire management!
The duct tape and outside filter material looks a little ghetto, but hey, it works!

[sean126]

Originally Posted by gvblake22

WOW, very nicely done on the wire management!
The duct tape and outside filter material looks a little ghetto, but hey, it works!

LOLOLOL....yeah...I guess it does. I was going to name this piece....The getto fabulous Antec 900 case mod. LOLOL.

One option is to paint the ramp piece black and use either black tape or take a black marker and color the gray tape on it. The duct tape is better than the electrical tape i think. I could have even up-ed the tapeing at the bottom...but I was the only one going to see it.

As far as the filter....I bought one of those 120mm filter guards and replaced the foam in it with the cheese cloth for better airflow on the side instead of having the whole side with cheese cloth like I have in the pic.

The filter box frame I made for the front is good enough. I was going to make a different frame out of another sign, paint it black and use the wire mesh from a "splatter guard" with it. the holes are just as small as the cheese cloth...but my wife didn't want me to waste anymore money. Maybe when I buy the antec twelve hundred I'll do that. I'm sure it will look more professional than the cheese cloth box frame I have on the front now. I figured out that the thin sheet metal will fit in the cracks between the cage boxes in the front...so it won't move.

I got all these ideas from other threads...maybe a new guy will get an idea from me and make it neater or more professional looking. I'm imaginative...but not very neat. LOL.

The wires still look more cluttered in the pictures than what they really are in real life.


halutzparilla....Luckily I didn't have to buy a dremel...my neighbor had one. I think the reinforced cutting blades cost maybe 8 bucks or so...the grinding wheel (which wasn't pictured) cost about the same. The two key hole cutters cost about 10 bucks apiece. You'll also need to buy an adapter for them for your drill. All the pieces are in the first picture, with the exception of the grinding tool for the dremel.

Just wait until I post my next guide for the Ultimate airflow case. I've modified a gas powered blower in the front and one in the rear. the one in the rear is set on "vacuum". Talk about good airflow!!! You can only use this computer in a well ventilated area.

Thanks guys.

[[Dr. V]]

WOW everything looks awesomely done and amazingly functional. Excellent job - simply great.

[Death_blooms]

Tidy job on that guide there. Reminds me how i've got to get writing again soon. Dam coursework...

[Yellowhello]

Great job.
I give that a "you'd have to be drunk not to read it" rating.

[sean126]

[RAID]

excellent guide!!!

[othman11]

Great guide! Though my type A personality would've done it differently. The lazy dude side would win and do it your way. LOL