• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Antec Aria - First Mods

C

CaDLoN

n00b
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
3
I finally got around to getting my self an aria the other week, quite pleased with it overall, but i had a problem with the stock Intel cooler sitting on top of my S378 P4 30cap "Woody" 3.0GHz

Once it wound it's self up passed 4000 RPM it was too dam noisey, so i replaced the standard 120mm PSU fan with another Antec 120mm 74CFM jobbie which helped a little but not enough...

I'd seen other modded Aria's with chopped up side pannels, but i could'nt bring myself to start messing withem

So i started getting busy with a sheet of perspex, 2 x 80mm NoiseBlocker S4's and my trusty dremmel :)

aria_fitted_sm.jpg

aria_newfront_f.jpg

aria_newfront_r.jpg


The Dremmel Work is a bit rough around the edges :p but it's not bad of the first attempt

I dismantled the standard front panel and used the black plastic mounting bit's to hold my front panel on, fixed in the standard Optical Drive Cover & hooked up a couple of 48p switches for the Power & Reset buttons

Case temps are way down, everything (CPU, Case & HDD) are below 30 @ idle when the case is on the desk, when it's tucked away in the shelf they rise to 30c for all.

The stock Intel Heatsink fan never gets above 3k RPM now, even so i think i'm gonna relace it, any sugestions apart from the Zalman 7000 thingy?

I've also experimented with out the PSU fan on, it all worked ok but it started to smell of "Warm Electronics" (if ya know what i mean!!!) after a while think i can get away with a really low CFM & db 120mm which i shall try soon

Left to do
1:New Heatsink
2:Low Power/Noise PSU 120mm Fan
3:Front Fan Speed Contoller
 
Interesting... I thought only 60mm fans fit in the front, but I guess I'm wrong. I like the fan colors. Why don't you hack out those aluminum square-gridded grills, too? I'll bet that would noticeably improve temps/noise as well.
 
I was extreamly tempted to chop the square aluminium grid and put the fans inside, but i think the case would lose too much strength, it's a not the most stable/solid case in the world. plus the temp drops are quite significant any way.

I may have a go at bracing it then do the copping, but then i would be too tempted to leave the fans on the outside and stick a twin 80mm radiator in the gap :)

dont think my wallet could stand a full water cooling rig!!!

The 80's fit in ok, with a bit of tweaking
 
Eh, most of the support is at the 4 corner braces. Just do the bottom portion... Go for it! :) Watercooling is entirely optional. :cool:
 
I think i'll wait until i've got a nice new shiny bit of perspex, with holes that are cute nice and true ;)

The fan holes were hand cut/chopped with some funny looking attachment that i found in my Dremmel box, i'll use a hole saw next time :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top