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Aria cooling and removing card reader

R

RanceJustice

Supreme [H]ardness
2FA
Joined
Jun 9, 2003
Messages
7,064
Hey guys,

I was wondering if anyone had successfully removed the card reader on the Aria and made that area into a 3.5inch bay? In addition, I am planning to window and install fans on both sides of the case. Should I invest in 80mm or 92mm fans? 120 is definately too tight, 80 seems more reasonable but I may be able to fit 92. Thanks!
 
80mm should be sufficient considering the small dimensions of the Aria. People seem to like the slim Zalman 80x25mm fans. I am thinking of removing the card reader myself and installing an 80mm front intake fan instead; I think it is definately doable. I want to avoid fans on the side panels of the case, although doing so results in adequate cooling for the aria (which is saying alot).
 
Hmm, those Zalman thin fans seem okay - tell me, how easy is it to cut the word "zalman" off the front and add another fan grill? I know those are about 10mm deep - will 25mm deep fans fit for the side panels, especially if I window at least one of them?

Also, where does everyone mount their HDD - I heard that mounting it horizontally and having a DVD-RW above will cause the DVD to get too hot?
 
Xaeos said:
Also, where does everyone mount their HDD - I heard that mounting it horizontally and having a DVD-RW above will cause the DVD to get too hot?
Click to expand...

Well, it depends which HDD you use... obviously a 15K SCSI will be too hot, but a nice cool 7200rpm, 8mb buffered Seagate shouldn't be a problem. I'd put the drive in underneath, then measure temps and decide if you need to move it. I don't image it being a problem, though.

If you're really concerned, you could always use the space where the card reader was and fabricate some mounts to sling the HDD lower. Word to the wise though, use rubber grommets between the case and the drive because the aluminum will transmit vibrations/drive noise better than a steel case.

-SEAL
 
One of the first things I did was to remove the card reader. Where most digital cameras come with USB cables or a docking bay, why do we need a media reader? The only reason I removed it was more to do with cable management and less clutter than to add a 3 1/2" bay. If you did add a bay, you are going to have to modify the front bezel to fit the floopy in.

As far as fans go, I've added an 80mm SilenX fan to the graphics side of the case. At 14db pushing 30CFM you cannot hear the fan in operation. It dropped the internals by 6c which is a nice improvement. I did have to modify the drive cage as the fan bumped up against it by using a nibbler and cutting the outside drive overhang. The overhang lip isn't needed to mount the disk drive since the drive mounts with two holes on the top of the cage (vertically). Overall, the 120mm stock Antec fan is the noisiest component in the case, even with the removal of the honeycomb cage protecting the fan.

-E
 
The 120mm antec fan is the power supply one, right? Would it be easy/feasable to replace with something quieter?
 
SEALTeamSix said:
Well, it depends which HDD you use... obviously a 15K SCSI will be too hot, but a nice cool 7200rpm, 8mb buffered Seagate shouldn't be a problem. I'd put the drive in underneath, then measure temps and decide if you need to move it. I don't image it being a problem, though.

If you're really concerned, you could always use the space where the card reader was and fabricate some mounts to sling the HDD lower. Word to the wise though, use rubber grommets between the case and the drive because the aluminum will transmit vibrations/drive noise better than a steel case.

-SEAL
Click to expand...
I'm using a 15k SCSI. It's fine. Then again I have 120mm fans on each side...

Rubber grommets may be a good idea for noise, but a very bad idea for heat. Drive transmits it's heat through the sides and the case helps cool it. The noise difference isn't going to be significant anyway.

Xaeos said:
The 120mm antec fan is the power supply one, right? Would it be easy/feasable to replace with something quieter?
Click to expand...
They don't come much slower/quieter than 1300RPMs and the heat is bad enough, but as long as you don't mind voiding the warranty, it would be easy.
 
You managed to fit 120mm's on each side? Are they quiet? Could we have some pics? I'm trying to envision how the whole thing works togeather? Also what fan controller do you use?
 
Xaeos said:
You managed to fit 120mm's on each side? Are they quiet? Could we have some pics? I'm trying to envision how the whole thing works togeather? Also what fan controller do you use?
Click to expand...
They could definitely be quieter, but that's due to the fans I chose. I'm not using a fan controller on them. They're temp controlled and I think they hover at around 1650 RPMs. TT A2018.

All in all, it was a fair bit of hassle installing them. In addition to cutting and drilling holes in the sides, you have to hack off the excess sides on the CD-ROM tray and grind down part of the lower edge on the right fan to clear the memory slots on most boards. Also means no extra long PCI cards in your last slot. Last I was having to resolder the temp controller on, because it kept getting pinched off between the case and the fan, again a problem with the fans I chose.

With different fans, longer screws and access to a hack saw it would not be much harder than smaller fans. It's doable.
 
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