Improving airflow on my old Coolermaster ATCS Case?

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singh_uk

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Jul 28, 2007
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Hello,

I have a coolermaster atc-201 ATCS case currently housing a e6600@3ghz, GTX260OC rig.

The case is pretty old but I dont really want to change it because it is very well made and looks better than any other case around today.

It has 2 80mm intake fans at the front near the bottom, and 2 exhaust fans - one at the top, one at the back.

I have worked out, I can just about squeeze some 92mm fans in at the front, so I am replacing the stock fans (27CFM/22dB) with 2 92mm fans that should push about 35-40CFM each.

I have replaced my top exhaust fan with a Silverstone FN82 fan - basically a 92mm fan with 80mm fan holes.


I am stuck as to what to do with the back fan - should I get another Silverstone FN82 fan (pushes about 37CFM) which should *just* about fit, or should I get a 80mm to 120mm adapter for outside of the case, and stick a scythe 120mm fan on - which would give better results?

On one hand the air holes at the back of the case only accomodate 80mm fans anyway so surely some of the effectiveness of the silverstone FN82 is lost, but conversely, I have heard that 80mm to 120mm adapters dont work particularly well.

I would also like to avoid drilling/altering the case as far as possible (I wouldnt be able to drill holes for a 120mm fan on the back anyway, there isnt enough space)

Also, is slightly positive pressure (which would also limit dust) or negative pressure usually better?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
 
Positive pressure to limit dust is better... cpu and video card heatsinks will become substantially less effective once dust starts to build up. As for fans... You can mount a 120mm fan on the outside of the case at the back, you'd just need to cut a big enough hole to do so. I wouldn't recommend the fan adapter though, it'll lower the effectiveness of the fan and look ugly.
 
Thanks for the advice.

A 120mm fan would not even fit on my case at the back even if I cut a hole out, the case is simply too narrow.

With this in mind would I be better off with another FN82 Silverstone 92mm fan on the back which fits 80mm holes, or the ugly 80 to 120 adapter? (I dont mind how it looks since the back half of the PC is not visible)
 
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