Idea for a basic case mod

Boozebeard · 21 Sep 2013 at 17:21

Hello, not sure if this is the right place to put this. So I've ran into a situation. This is my current PC case. I really love it but it doesn't really agree with my new graphics card (EVGA classified 780) as the heat sink blasts the air out to the side and as you can see the case has no form of ventilation on the side panels.

Taking the side panel off gives me a massive 10c difference to the gpu underload and I really want to push the OC on this card so I was thinking about doing a basic mod to add some ventilation to that side panel but I need advice.

At first I was thinking about adding a fan or two to the side but I'm not sure if that would mess up the air flow as the fans on the GPU would be trying to suck air into the heat sink while the side panel fan would be trying to push air out of the case from the same area. So maybe simply having a grill in the same fashion as the one on the front would be a better idea.

What do you guys think?

Pgreenwo · 21 Sep 2013 at 18:05

Could have intakes on the side. I think a Perspex window with ventilation would look pretty trick

Boozebeard · 21 Sep 2013 at 18:14

I dunno, I think the problem is the the hot air has no where to go rather than needing more cool air. It's got 3 intakes (1 front, 2 top with a radiator) and only one exhaust at the back near the top at the moment. Not really interested in getting a window, was just thinking of getting a grill where the card is exhausting, in the same style as the front.

If I decide to do that does anyone have any recommendations of where I could get it done? I'm guessing you'd need at least a pillar drill to do it accurately, which I don't have access to.

Unicorn · 21 Sep 2013 at 18:22

Boozebeard said:
I dunno, I think the problem is the the hot air has no where to go rather than needing more cool air. It's got 3 intakes (1 front, 2 top with a radiator) and only one exhaust at the back near the top at the moment. Not really interested in getting a window, was just thinking of getting a grill where the card is exhausting, in the same style as the front.

If I decide to do that does anyone have any recommendations of where I could get it done? I'm guessing you'd need at least a pillar drill to do it accurately, which I don't have access to.

Windowed side panel perspex with ventilation slits maybe like 45 degree slashes across the length of your card.. Providing your air pressure is positive (which it sounds like it is) it will just exhaust hot hair out the ventilation..

Iv done a quick mock up for you

I couldn't imagine you would need very wide slots either and providing you keep positive pressure you wouldn't need to add filters

To do something like this you would only need a dremel, Some clear or even tinted perspex double sided foam tape (numberplate tape works a treat) and some patience

Threepwood · 21 Sep 2013 at 21:11

I would try sticking an uprated 140mm fan in the front, an uprated 120mm fan at the back of the case while running the exhaust through the top as well as the rear.

Edit: I mean the whole mesh front of the case looks like one massive passive intake to me, even the parts not covered by the 140mm fan. I reckon its just dying for more negative pressure to get the wind tunnel effect going. Which you might kill by adding side shizz, not saying it will, just saying.

What front and rear fans are in there at the moment?

Boozebeard · 21 Sep 2013 at 21:41

That sounds like a good plan actually. It's just got the default Lian Li fans. Might be worth replacing them? Not sure if the front can take a 140mm, I'll have to check. The power supply does actually take up the bottom third of the mesh and exhausts out that way but it still sounds like your idea would be good.

I'll try flipping the top fans and see if it makes much difference.

Edit: Actually I've got 2 vipers lying around. I'll put them on the rad.

Edit 2: What does uprated mean?

Edit 3: Ok yeah it does take a 140 on the front. I think I'll just try putting vipers on the rad, making them exhaust fans and get a 140 for the front.

Edit 4: I just realised the fan it came with is probably already 140mm. Not sure it's worth replacing.

Threepwood · 22 Sep 2013 at 16:34

Hi, by what you are saying I'm sure we could sort your temps with fan adjustments.

Not all fans are created equal

What I mean by an uprated fan is one that is better at moving air. The only problem with uprated fans is unless one is willing to spend a little extra they will be more noisy.

This is usually solved by putting the fans on a controller so when at idle you can turn them down, and when the comp is at load when gaming you can turn them up.

I'm struggling to find a way of putting a fan controller on your case, (dont want to drop your optical drive do you?) BUT i'm confident that we will be able to use a 4 pin 140mm fan at the front (and allow your motherboard to increase fan speed as temps rise, just like your watercooler fans can off the 4 pin cpu fan connector on the mother board.

The problem with supplied fans is they are made to run pretty quiet and not move 'that' much air.

Imho you require a 120mm fan at the back which moves more air, this one you should spend some money on to make sure it is as quite as possible, because this fan will have no control.

Something like this would be great. There is better version that pulls a 1/3 more air at the expense of loudness. If we could control this fan I would go for it (it's this one) but with this example we can't so just something to think about.

Next we hop onto a 4 pin PWM fan to use at the front and connect to your MB's 4pin fan header. (you only have one 4pin header spare right?)

This is perfect it's only a little louder than the previous example, but it is at the front of your case which is typically closer to your ears!

it will spend most of its time at low speeds anyway.

Both of those will deliver more air flow at around the same loudness as your current case fans.

So, it's up to you really you could spend less and get the same amount of airflow at the expense of noise, or you could spend the same amount have more airflow at the expense of noise or you could spend even more on fans which are still quiet at greater air flow speeds, but there is a break point as the moving air creates noise too...

My, 2p anyway.

Research your current front and rear fans specifications and compare airflow and Db with the examples.