Project Understated

skyripper said:
: )

You can fit a 120.2 as stock on the existing fan grilles and holes.

You *could* fit a 120.3 with one of two options - drill out some new holes to fit in line with the 3rd fan grille, or cut out the third fan grille to match the other two.

This really bad paint picture should show what I mean. (bodged on my laptop at work :P )

worst_photoshop_ever.png


If you go the easy route, and mod some additional 120mm fan holes (purple circles), then you are going to have 15-30mm (thats a guess) of room, which may or may not leave enough room for heatsinks and RAM. If you have a thick radiator then I would say there will not be room. My RAM sits behind my radiator and its not got huge heatsinks or anything.

The more difficult route would be to expand the third 120mm fan grille (red box) which should give you enough room. You'll still have to pop the top and front off your case and measure it up to be sure - don't forget rads have bits on each end which stick out past the fan grills. This gives you 65mm or more between your motherboard tray and the side of the radiator.

Pop the top off, grab a torch, and test fit a 120.3 (or a cardboard cutout) for sure.
Click to expand...

hey,,,,

thanx very much for the info....m planning on using the magic cool 120.3 slim rads....n 3 gentle typhoons...m hoping they will fit..without me needing to modify the case...
 
Sat here next to my rig, and to fit a 120.3 in the red box position, you'd have to remove both the 5.25in drive bays. (Or chop the side out of them).

After taking the lid off I think fitting one in the purple holes will clash with your motherboard heatsinks and ram. I think the CPU block itself will be fine. You'd also lose one of the two 5.25in drivebays.

Fractal_Top_View.png


Blue box is the limits of my 120.2 radiator. Single red line is where my heatsinks and ram etc. come to.

Parallel red lines are the 5.25in drivebay sides.
 
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skyripper said:
Sat here next to my rig, and to fit a 120.3 in the red box position, you'd have to remove both the 5.25in drive bays. (Or chop the side out of them).

After taking the lid off I think fitting one in the purple holes will clash with your motherboard heatsinks and ram. I think the CPU block itself will be fine. You'd also lose one of the two 5.25in drivebays.

Fractal_Top_View.png


Blue box is the limits of my 120.2 radiator. Single red line is where my heatsinks and ram etc. come to.

Parallel red lines are the 5.25in drivebay sides.
Click to expand...

Thats second line is my target...
 
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Hey Im doing the same with my case but 120mm + 240mm rads.

It looks like you have mounted your top rad off towards the front of the case away from the motherboard, is this so and if it is the case how did you go about it.

Im not sure but the clearance of the mini from the top of the motherboard to the bottom of the 240mm rad + fans looks bigger than the gap in the R3.

I might move my 240mm to the top and then the 120mm to the front middle for clearance on the Pump + res combo.

Also how easy was it to remove the bays that hold the HDD racks ? just a 3mm maybe 5mm drill bit ? looks the same set up as the R3 also.
 
The holes for mounting the Rad in that position were as the manufacturer put them. It left a pretty massive gap between the motherboard and the radiator meaning that big fat heatsinks on the mosfets weren't a problem.

Just check the height of your RAM if it has heatsinks on.

The drivebays were dead easy - a small drillbit and the rivets were out. If I put the drivebays back, I'll need some small M3 bolts and nuts - buyable in any Homebase.

EDIT: Whereabouts in Surrey are ya? I've just moved to near Guildford - you can have a look at the PC if it helps.
 
Hi. I like your build. Some nice custom work there. I have a question please.

Why is your rad stand not 90 degrees up from the case floor, it looks like its bending. Is it not flush with the case floor, do you have rivets there?

Also was it no issue to screw a fan in some side as you had mounted the bracket? It didn't increase the thickness to much so you couldn't get bite with the screws.

I have bought these same rad stands so appreciate the reply before I try and make them work in my own case. Thanks
 
Check out Post #50. I redid the radiator stands and its a lot more upright. The original tilt was because of rivet holes pushing up the radiator.

Also the fans can be screwed in the same side as the radiator mounts, there just isnt much bite for the screws so will take a bit of effort.
 
Yes I prefer how they look in post #50, that looks good but still a few degrees of tilt or is that just the angle of the photo? Have you tried filling down the rivets somehow to make it totally flat? Its a really nice build I am just obsessed with details like this myself...

In my case I am going to block up 2 x 240mm rads vertically but perpendicular to the case length as I am flowing air through both left to right like this -> R|F F|R -> and am a bit concerned about the fans now... I can't mount it horizontally and I want the fans on the interior / sandwiched between the two rads. I don't like the idea of having to apply a lot of force to get bite... guess I will have to see for myself when I get these rad stands. Worse case I just fit 1 fan on each 240mm rad but that is a bit of a waste of cooling potential.

Anyway, nice build, thanks
 
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