Let me say first that I think that you guys have some amazing skills on this forum. I've been lurking for a while, checking out your guy's creations, and I find myself burning off 2 hours in front of the computer like it's nothing. I sort of wish I had built my own computer so I could customize it, since I love doing these type of things, but I'm also glad I bought a Dell, because when I get a new hobby, I become a fanatic about it, and I would've spent a buttload of money on it...
Ok, yeah, I know all of you hate Dells, but it's what I have, and I gotta make the best with what I have. Ok, so I have a Maxtor 240gb, IBM 60gb, and IBM 120 gb. The first two were in my computer because I was going to put the 120 in an xbox, but I decided to use the 60 instead, so I copied the data to the 120, and tried to format the drive, but it started to make the same clicking noise my gf's HD made before it went kaput. So I stopped trying, and gave it to my roommates who work at the tech dept at our school's bookstore to mess around with to see if they could fix it.
Ok, I typed too much already. Sorry. Long story short, wondering why HD failed after only 3 years, DL programs to monitor HD health and temps, find out HDs are running at avg 50C (240gb) and 46C (120gb).
I've never been into OCing and modding my computer since it's a Dell (and I didn't want another hobby that would suck my wallet dry. I've spent enough on R/C cars and car stereos), but I thought that was pretty freaking hot. So, I decided to mod my case so that the HDs could breathe a little easier.
Oh, a couple days ago, I installed a Zalman Reserator w/ the CPU block as well as a GPU block because I wanted to cut down on noise, so I turned the CPU fan around and am using it as a exhaust fan. So now all I have to do is cut a hole in the front, and air can flow into the case, over the HDs.
Oh, here's my computer's specs right now. They're not the greatest, but I haven't been gaming much recently. Mostly just graphics work, and some video editing recently.
Dimension 8300
Pent IV 2.8 ghz
1.5gb PC3200 DDR
Asus GeForce4 Ti4200
SB Audigy 2
DVD-ROM and DVD+R
and the two hard drives.
Ok, so here's pics of what I did. It's not very much, but it did what I needed it to do, and it does it well.
I first took off the top and bottom pieces, and then I could take off the front piece.
Then I cut out some of the cage in front of the HDs.
Then I decided to cut some more, since the metal was strong enough as it was.
Here's the front panel with most of the stuff taken off, minus the button shroud. I wanted to cut this entire area out for more ventilation, but I didn't feel like moving the button.
So then I trimmed what I could without cutting into the button area.
Then I held the panel up to the frame, and sorta outlined the openings, and realized I could trim some more of the frame.
Here the trimming's done.
And here it in with the front cover back on. Oh, I also colored the frame with a black sharpie I didn't want to go through the hassle of disconnecting the watercooling to spray paint it.
Then I realized that if I put the hinged door back on, it'll block a lot of the airflow, so I cut some holes a little lower so that the door would just snap onto the front of the case to cover up the USB and headphn jacks. And since I wasn't using the hing anymore, I cut it off the cover, and trimmed up underneath the lighter grey panel so it'd look cleaner. Sorry, I didn't take any in between pics.
So here it is, finished up.
Closeup of the hole
And a shot of the overall setup. Don't mind the stickers. I was bored a couple years ago and we seemed to have a buncha stickers lying around the house from misc parts we bought so we stuck them on our computers because there was no where else to stick them.
Edit* - the tower is behind the LCD monitor. It's tucked in at an angle so that I can access the drives easier.
Pic of watercooling for fun.
Yeah, so that's my Dell that you all hate. Well, the Maxtor that ran at 50C now runs at 31C, and the IBM that ran at 46C now runs at 33C, so it's a lot better now.
I'm still trying to get my computer quieter (maybe silent? ), just for the heck of it, so I ordered some 20 db fans to replace the CPU/exhaust fan and maybe the PSU fan. Is a PSU fan swap hard? would you guys recommend it?
Well, let me know what you guys think
Ok, yeah, I know all of you hate Dells, but it's what I have, and I gotta make the best with what I have. Ok, so I have a Maxtor 240gb, IBM 60gb, and IBM 120 gb. The first two were in my computer because I was going to put the 120 in an xbox, but I decided to use the 60 instead, so I copied the data to the 120, and tried to format the drive, but it started to make the same clicking noise my gf's HD made before it went kaput. So I stopped trying, and gave it to my roommates who work at the tech dept at our school's bookstore to mess around with to see if they could fix it.
Ok, I typed too much already. Sorry. Long story short, wondering why HD failed after only 3 years, DL programs to monitor HD health and temps, find out HDs are running at avg 50C (240gb) and 46C (120gb).
I've never been into OCing and modding my computer since it's a Dell (and I didn't want another hobby that would suck my wallet dry. I've spent enough on R/C cars and car stereos), but I thought that was pretty freaking hot. So, I decided to mod my case so that the HDs could breathe a little easier.
Oh, a couple days ago, I installed a Zalman Reserator w/ the CPU block as well as a GPU block because I wanted to cut down on noise, so I turned the CPU fan around and am using it as a exhaust fan. So now all I have to do is cut a hole in the front, and air can flow into the case, over the HDs.
Oh, here's my computer's specs right now. They're not the greatest, but I haven't been gaming much recently. Mostly just graphics work, and some video editing recently.
Dimension 8300
Pent IV 2.8 ghz
1.5gb PC3200 DDR
Asus GeForce4 Ti4200
SB Audigy 2
DVD-ROM and DVD+R
and the two hard drives.
Ok, so here's pics of what I did. It's not very much, but it did what I needed it to do, and it does it well.
I first took off the top and bottom pieces, and then I could take off the front piece.
Then I cut out some of the cage in front of the HDs.
Then I decided to cut some more, since the metal was strong enough as it was.
Here's the front panel with most of the stuff taken off, minus the button shroud. I wanted to cut this entire area out for more ventilation, but I didn't feel like moving the button.
So then I trimmed what I could without cutting into the button area.
Then I held the panel up to the frame, and sorta outlined the openings, and realized I could trim some more of the frame.
Here the trimming's done.
And here it in with the front cover back on. Oh, I also colored the frame with a black sharpie I didn't want to go through the hassle of disconnecting the watercooling to spray paint it.
Then I realized that if I put the hinged door back on, it'll block a lot of the airflow, so I cut some holes a little lower so that the door would just snap onto the front of the case to cover up the USB and headphn jacks. And since I wasn't using the hing anymore, I cut it off the cover, and trimmed up underneath the lighter grey panel so it'd look cleaner. Sorry, I didn't take any in between pics.
So here it is, finished up.
Closeup of the hole
And a shot of the overall setup. Don't mind the stickers. I was bored a couple years ago and we seemed to have a buncha stickers lying around the house from misc parts we bought so we stuck them on our computers because there was no where else to stick them.
Edit* - the tower is behind the LCD monitor. It's tucked in at an angle so that I can access the drives easier.
Pic of watercooling for fun.
Yeah, so that's my Dell that you all hate. Well, the Maxtor that ran at 50C now runs at 31C, and the IBM that ran at 46C now runs at 33C, so it's a lot better now.
I'm still trying to get my computer quieter (maybe silent? ), just for the heck of it, so I ordered some 20 db fans to replace the CPU/exhaust fan and maybe the PSU fan. Is a PSU fan swap hard? would you guys recommend it?
Well, let me know what you guys think