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possible case mod for better air flow.

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Bigbacon

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Jul 12, 2007
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Maybe not better air flow at least better cooling for 2 specific things, the PSU and the video cards.

I have an old chieftech full tower, looks like this minus the case fan above the PSU and the 2 fan areas on the side panel.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811160027

So, what I am thinking is adding two 120mm fans onto the side panel.

One right by the PSU and one right by the exapnsion card area so it would be something like this

http://starshipvonbraun.com/ss/P1020729.JPG
(ignore the shitty paint job, it looks fine except in bright light and used to shine and reflect rather well but as you see it's abused now)
Not a awesome picture nor are the circles to scale but you get the idea.

Do you think it would really help to do this or do you think a new case that is just much better suited for all this high heat stuff is in order?
 
when it comes to 120mm fans, what RPM should I look at. I don't want anything outrageously loud.

< 2000?
 
If you want to keep things quiet best thing is to cut out the factory fan grills, you will be shocked at how much air noise they add. If you want really quiet look for something 1000rpm or lower. The slipstream fans are hard to beat, the 1,200rpm being the best if you plan on undervolting or have a controller, if not look into the 800rpm model unless you don't mind some noise. They run about 7.50-8 or so bucks, I believe SVC had the 1,900rpm model on sale for 5 something, but would without a doubt need undervolting or a controller.

Also, I would go for top and bottom mounted fans rather than side.
 
I have a similar case and I was going to address this same idea in another way. I' going to add a medium speed scythe (just foward of the PS) 120mm fan on the top of the case, and then add 2-80mm vents with screens to cool the areas I need it cooler.
 
I <3 Panaflo 120x38mm fans... though they may not be ideal for mounting on a side panel, since they're thicker than usual and could interfere with stuff inside if it's especially tall.

Also. Badass domain name there, guy. SS2 forever.
 
Bigbacon said:
So, what I am thinking is adding two 120mm fans onto the side panel.One right by the PSU and one right by the exapnsion card area so it would be something like this
http://starshipvonbraun.com/ss/P1020729.JPG
Click to expand...
Nothing on top which would require much cooling. (instead cut away that airflow blocking stamped grill of rear top fan)

Do you think it would really help to do this or do you think a new case that is just much better suited for all this high heat stuff is in order?
Click to expand...
For todays graphics cards depth of case is quite small so you can't have much HDDs in their cages.
 
E.T said:
Nothing on top which would require much cooling. (instead cut away that airflow blocking stamped grill of rear top fan)

For todays graphics cards depth of case is quite small so you can't have much HDDs in their cages.
Click to expand...
remember, my case is different than the one I linked to. My case does not have that extra fan at the top nor anything on the side panel.

about the HD That is a problem in this case. I can only use the top HD caddie as the video cards block the lower one. I might be able to cram another HD at the top of the lower caddie but I'm not sure.

I ended up with some 1500rpm fans. They shouldn't be to bad. I just couldn't justify 8 or 9 dollars for a stupid fan.

I also decided to finally rid myself of all IDE devices and picked up a second, matching SATA dvd burner. Now I can get rid of the honking huge rounded IDE

I haven't done a case project in years, even though this is a silly one.
 
Now that my mind is on this. What do you think the best option for these fans are, pull air in or push it out?

I've changed my strategy a bit as well. I think I will just cut a hole in the top just for a vent area for the PSU to bring air in. right now the PSU fan faces that side panel and airflow between the lower and upper half of the case is pretty much zero. I can't see the PSU fan getting lots nice air as it is.

OR

I will put one of the fans inthe front of the case, in the 5.25 bays that will pull air into the top half of the case.

Now for the video card fan at the bottom, I am not sure which is best. Pulling air in means the video cards can get a blast of cooler outside air but I don't know where that air really goes after that. Pushing air out means the fan can pull hot air away from the cards and out of the case.

I'm going to take some pictures of the case tonight and start a work log. I have some other things I think I will do to it as well to open up more space for cabling and what not. Hopefully I can get a some decent pictures of the mess. It's been such a long time and I'm excited now. My old case will live on.

I found the original listing on Newegg. I bought this thing on 6/12/2002 for $49.00 and it's held My current PC, My C2D PC, My AMD X2 PC, Althon MP PC, and my Athlon 1ghz (XP??), and probably some other random machine (it was used as a network HD share for a bit) so it's been around the block per se.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811125009
 
Last edited:
a pict of your actual case would help a lot. Side fans are better than nothing (but not much more)

Best cooling/efficiency is intake from the front and straight out the back.
 
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