Hey peeps, I've had this PC for over a year now and with the pandemic it's probably seen more use than it would have done. I know it's got one of the worst layouts for an AIO but I wanted something with a small footprint and this case was exactly what I was looking for. So far the AIO is as silent as it was the day I bought it but at some point this year I'd really like to put together a custom loop for the cpu and graphics card (5700xt) and as I had a free day in the workshop I've had a little mess around with mounting the radiator on the rear of the case and come up with a design to replace the side panel which provides easy routing for the hoses.
The small section of the side panel slides out to 'unclamp' from the hoses allowing the removal of the panel.
I've also moved the front facing fans from inside the case to the outside and turned them around so they're blowing air into the case rather than drawing the warm air out. I'm not sure how this will effect temps within the case as previously with the radiator mounted at the bottom of the case, those fans would have been drawing air inside and the temperature of the H80i never got above 36c and usually sat around the low 30's so the air being blown into the case wouldn't have really been that warm at all. Anyhoo, The eagle eyed viewer might notice that the panel I've made here is slightly wider than the original glass panel and extends over the front of the case to remove the gap that would have been there when the front panel was offered up to the case.
The fans I'm currently using at the Corsair 140 LL models and are exactly the same width as the bevelled edge of the front panel. I'm keeping the panel off for obvious reasons but It would be quite easy to modify this to accommodate the fans on the outside of the case but to be honest, I really like the plain panel and I'm in two minds whether or not to put them back inside.
Here's a final picture of the front panel as it would sit after any modifications to allow the front fans to operate on the outside of the case. It's sitting a bit low because the mounting brackets are being obscured by the fans but it gives you the general idea.
The side panel is made from some scrap 3mm acrylic and a piece of oak veneered ply. For the final version I'm going to use veneered MDF sheet because I've got some 4mm of that and the 3mm isn't quite thick enough for the brackets to attach to.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions, let'a rip. Thanks for reading.
The small section of the side panel slides out to 'unclamp' from the hoses allowing the removal of the panel.
I've also moved the front facing fans from inside the case to the outside and turned them around so they're blowing air into the case rather than drawing the warm air out. I'm not sure how this will effect temps within the case as previously with the radiator mounted at the bottom of the case, those fans would have been drawing air inside and the temperature of the H80i never got above 36c and usually sat around the low 30's so the air being blown into the case wouldn't have really been that warm at all. Anyhoo, The eagle eyed viewer might notice that the panel I've made here is slightly wider than the original glass panel and extends over the front of the case to remove the gap that would have been there when the front panel was offered up to the case.
The fans I'm currently using at the Corsair 140 LL models and are exactly the same width as the bevelled edge of the front panel. I'm keeping the panel off for obvious reasons but It would be quite easy to modify this to accommodate the fans on the outside of the case but to be honest, I really like the plain panel and I'm in two minds whether or not to put them back inside.
Here's a final picture of the front panel as it would sit after any modifications to allow the front fans to operate on the outside of the case. It's sitting a bit low because the mounting brackets are being obscured by the fans but it gives you the general idea.
The side panel is made from some scrap 3mm acrylic and a piece of oak veneered ply. For the final version I'm going to use veneered MDF sheet because I've got some 4mm of that and the 3mm isn't quite thick enough for the brackets to attach to.
If anyone has any comments or suggestions, let'a rip. Thanks for reading.