Cheap case mods to improve airflow

jamesgoss

jamesgoss

jamesgoss

Associate
Joined
6 Jan 2009
Posts
425
Hi guys!

Hope you're all having a nice evening. Last night I managed to get a badly behaving CPU to drop 20 Celcius by applying some new thermal compund and I am relieved to say the least. The saga is in the CPU section of the forum!

Instead of buying a new case, is there a cheap way of improving the one I currently have? Bearing in mind any new case I'd only spend £50? Here is a couple of photos, they may or may not help...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37664129@N06/3466078295/in/photostream/

It is a generic case, 80mm exhaust fan, duct over the HSF leading to a side vent. There is somewhere for an intake fan at the front but is covered by plastic!

Any ideas would be great! Thanks

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37664129@N06/3466077379/in/photostream/
 
Might be of some use to you - my recent case hole-chopping event.. !

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18000562

It was my first ever attempt at doing any of this stuff, and has helped big time - like thwe help and advice I got here !

I would suggest looking at the front grill to see if you can fit a dust filter to it in any way - if so, they you can chop out all the plastic it will hide to increase air flow. Also, a hole in the top or bottom with a fan fitted would do lots to help !

Good luck with it - I really enjoyed the morning mine took, and am planning more soon
 
Cut that hole here and there airflow blocker blocking rear exhaust fan and also front seems to have equally restricted hole plate as intake.
 
That's what I really like about this forum, everyone seems really keen to help find a solution to someone's problem.

Steveinspain, love the idea of creating a special intake for the PSU, absolute genius!! The only problem with some of the mods is that I have few/no tools. Such a shame really. I was thinking of perforating the small dimples on the plastuc front of teh case where the power buttion is and possibly installing a fan there. But Diggsy's suggestion of that Kama Bay looks really handy.

The only problem with the Kama Bay is that it's quite on its way to the cost of a new case, I've found the Coolermaster 590 for £45 delivered on t'interwebs, and it has far more cooling potential than my case, and comes with 2 x 120mm fans...
 
Antec 300 case on offer this week, £45.99 and probably gonna struggle to find a better case for that much.

Depends on if you want to get a new case or mod your current one? In the long run a new case would be better, but modding can be a lot cheaper and is certainly more satisfying :)
 
jamesgoss said:
That's what I really like about this forum, everyone seems really keen to help find a solution to someone's problem.

Steveinspain, love the idea of creating a special intake for the PSU, absolute genius!! The only problem with some of the mods is that I have few/no tools.
Click to expand...

That is exactly why I am a member - so many are keen to help people like me who are beginners at all this !
As for tools needed - yes, the better the tools, the easier it is, but if you use fan filters, at about 3 pounds a piece, you can cover up whatever butchery you achieve - like I did (note the lack of close-up pictures in my thread ?)
A drill to make a circle of small holes plus a file would do the job, a hole saw would be better, and I used an angle grinder and some patience - you can get a drill or grinder from Homebase/BandQ/Screwfix etc for little over a tenner I think.
Mind you, as Ducky Spud says, an Antec 300 at 46 plus postage is tempting - I am tossing up between one of them or a well second hand P180 at 35 pounds at present, and plan to take my tools to them as well !

Depends in some ways of you want the fun of cutting up a box or a shiny new one in many ways - good luck !
 
Diggsy said:
A Kama Bay in the front would make a big difference for a mere £17...

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=SY-000-SY&groupid=701&catid=57&subcat=399
Click to expand...

+1 for this since you have 3 x 5.25" bays free this would be a great boost to cooling performance.

Ducky Spud said:
Antec 300 case on offer this week, £45.99 and probably gonna struggle to find a better case for that much.

Depends on if you want to get a new case or mod your current one? In the long run a new case would be better, but modding can be a lot cheaper and is certainly more satisfying :)
Click to expand...


+1 here too, if you aren't going to mod then the Antec300 is a great case for the money, you can get some fairly decent cheap fans and have up to 5 case fans in this case (2 front intake, 1 side intake, 1 rear exhaust, 1 roof exhaust). However, Ducky Spud is right and I'm sure Steveinspain will agree that modding your own case is far more satisfying overall!
 
FaceplantSi said:
+1 here too, if you aren't going to mod then the Antec300 is a great case for the money, you can get some fairly decent cheap fans and have up to 5 case fans in this case (2 front intake, 1 side intake, 1 rear exhaust, 1 roof exhaust). However, Ducky Spud is right and I'm sure Steveinspain will agree that modding your own case is far more satisfying overall!
Click to expand...

Agreed, but the antec 300 is still such an easy case if you want to get into modding. I need to figure out what to do with mine which i have spare at the moment. :o
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Agreed, but the antec 300 is still such an easy case if you want to get into modding. I need to figure out what to do with mine which i have spare at the moment. :o
Click to expand...

Yeah me too, altho I think mine might be going to my missus - as it'd be a shame to get rid of it because as you say it is a great little case.
 
Blackhawk47 said:
Agreed, but the antec 300 is still such an easy case if you want to get into modding. I need to figure out what to do with mine which i have spare at the moment. :o
Click to expand...


haha, that's such a shame, you'll just have to build a new rig. How awful's that?! :D Unless of course you drop it off at a charity shop near me out of the goodness of your heart! :p

Leaning towards the Antec 300 I've got to say. It is a nice and minimalist case. And I think I'd prefer the way more advanced cooling it's got on offer. Think I may take the plunge...with a couple of front intake fans too (but which?!)!

What sort of temperatures have you got merely by switching to the Antec guys?
 
I was using Noctua fans all over:

NF-P12 for front intake x 2 and side intake x 1
NF-S12 for rear exhaust
Antec supplied 140mm fan for top exhaust

Temps on my Q9550 were about 40 idle and max 60 load - altho the side fan wasn't needed for the CPU it did have a significant effect on reducing my GPU temps, knocked about 10 degrees off!
 
I was running 3 sharkoons silent eagle 120mm fans at 2000rpm though i toned it down on a fan controller. Took out the 140mm fan as it didnt benefit my setup much if at all.

The case keeps all my stuff cool even cooler then it does now. Its got great ventilation. ;)
 
A couple of pieces of perspex/acrylic, carefully cut to shape, can be used to create "tunnels" through which you can channel air more effectively.

Eg with an antec 300 you might want to drill some intakes for the PSU in the bottom of the case so it has it's own intake-output route. Then direct the intake from the front fans up towards the motherboard and isolate the side fan to blow onto the GPU.

Edit: A very crude diagram to give the idea. I think this is a coolermaster cm-690 (or 590) but the principle is the same for whatever case; try to divide up the airflow and direct it more accurately to give a faster in-out route.

cooling.png


In fact with this case you could ignore the side input and route the bottom fan directly to the GPU and the front fans up past the motherboard and out the back/top. The effect is to make three wind-tunnels where the air keeps moving quickly straight through for maximum cooling, while isolating the temperatures as much as possible. The more care you take with your perspex the better you can direct the airflow. If you wanted you could even direct an input fan straight into the CPU HSF and out the back, leaving the other to take care of the rest of the motherboard and exit out the top.
 
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I have seen this done once or twice but tbh on the Antec300 I doubt it's really worth the effort as the case is just a bit too small internally. The case doesn't have a particularly decent 'ground clearance' without having some extra deep feet put on it so the PSU inlet (altho a sound idea) is gonna require those at the very least, Also the front intakes cool the HDD's on the way through the case and hence getting the acrylic behind the HDD's could be troublesome due to the cabling being in the way.

Overall a nice idea if you can do it, but imo it's gonna be more trouble than it's worth.
 
Well since yesterday I've had a bit of a change of heart. I think the only way to go is to start drilling holes in my case and installing fans wherever I can, just because I can :p

I'll perforate the dimples at the front and install a fan behind the plastic (but inside the case).

I'm also very tempted to drill holes in the top of the case to allow the PSU to get some fresh air (I can't cut a hole, no angle grinder).

Audigex, your perspex idea is really good, but I think my case, as it is now, and without the multiple intake/exhaist fans, wouldn't benefit much. Could be an excellent mod for when I do get a better case though...
 
thought I'd do a bit of resurrection to find out some info about mesh products!

I've read some old threads about buying some cheap mesh from B & Q, I was wondering if anyone knows offhand if it's still the case? Would love to put some mesh where the three empty 5inch bays are at the front of my pc. prefer the personal touch to the kama bay cooler, elegant solution though it is. There's some perfect airflow potential through that gap:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37664129@N06/3482925597/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/37664129@N06/3482927001/in/photostream/
 
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