APC_Australia_Issue_442_June_2017

howto » pc builder masterclass
POWER TIME
3
The Corsair CX500 is always a great option if you’re trying
to build on a tight budget, because it’s a quality brand, and has
plenty of power for modest builds, but still manages to roll in at a
frankly ridiculous $85. It isn’t modular, which is hardly surprising
at this price point, so you’ll have to be creative with your cable
management to keep things tidy. We installed the power supply
with the fan pointing downward here, and had no problem
securing it in place after applying a little pressure on top of the PSU
to counter the P9’s sponge strips on the PSU bracket, which are
designed to help stop vibrations.
REVERSE STORAGE
4
There are plenty of options for your drives in the Antec P9,
but the best place to install your SSDs is in the back of the case,
in a caddy that can hold two standard SSDs. A pair of screws hold
this caddy in place, which makes installation much easier than
trying to screw the drives in place with it in situ. The case comes
with plenty of screws, so securing our boot drive with four screws
makes sense. It’s worth noting that, as space is a little tight back
here, you can’t use angled SATA cables, because they come out
further than the chassis allows at this orientation. We installed the
data drive in the bottom block of cages at the front of the machine,
with the cables hidden out of sight.
LONG GRAPHICS CARD
5
There are some great deals to be had on RX 480s at the
moment, and the ASUS RoG Strix RX 480 8GB is a good example
of what’s out there. This triple-fan card boasts higher clocks than
the reference cards, but isn’t noisy under pressure, which is a boon.
Its length can be a problem, though, and indeed wouldn’t quite
fit inside the Antec P9 until we removed the middle drive bay —
a ridiculously easy task that simply requires the releasing of one
screw. Once removed, the card eases into place no problem,
then it’s simply a case of connecting the power cable.
TIME TO TIDY UP
6
All the way through this build, we routed as many cables behind
the motherboard tray as humanly possible, because this helps with
airflow and also keeps the machine looking tidy. It helps that the P9 has
plenty of holes to make this a possibility, and there’s a central column of
cables that you can easily add to as you go. Having said that, there isn’t
that much room back there, and having a solid central bank of cables
isn’t possible — well, that’s the excuse we’re using for this not being
quite as tidy as we initially hoped for. We could have used a few more
cable ties on the power cables, but ultimately, it’s a tidy enough build,
given we were still trying out different configurations right to the end.
94 www.apcmag.com