case modding and related products

[specialzied2002]

here a new thread for modd chattin...im sure allot of people around here have modded cases and stuf etc etc..feel free to write any details here and see wot ppl have got ..

[Happy Joe]

I currently have an extra wide beige minitower of unknown parentage, now down for minor surgery.
I am moving the powersupply form the top to the bottom of the case; thus lowering the center of gravity and making room for a duct mod. The old powersupply location will mount a Tt smart fan 2 for exhaust through a home made rotatable vent (to direct the hot air away from the intakes).
Intake ducting through to the processor will be handled via a sunbeam duct from the back of the case to a second TT SF2 through a homemade v shaped spacer to my new Thermalright slk900A heat sink (Santa was good to me!). The heatsink will be drilled and tapped for a support bracket, removing most of the stress of the HSF and ductwork from the heat sink mounts on the socket to the motherboard support tray, which will be reinforced if needed.
Enjoy!

[specialzied2002]

sounds complicated but interesting....

ive heard about that duct mod that TT make for the cpu but wud u think it wud make much diff ?

i was thinking that if i had a like tube over the cpu going out of the case so it sucks only the room temp air onto the cpu insted of the stuffy hot stuf inside the case..
wot u reckon ?

[bblqj78]

In theory it seems like a good idea.
However, when I take the side panel of my case and quickly insert my hard it usually feels rather cool, and generally cooler that the external room temperature. I would take from this then that if you have a good sufficient constant airflow through the case then it probably woulndt help help sucking air in. I currently have two intake in bottom front of case, two exhale at top back of case, one fan on sidepanel blowing on graphics card...and a dual fan variable Enermax Power supply also sucking air out. Pretty quiet now actually now i've changed out a Vantec Aeroflow for a TT Silent Boost!

[Happy Joe]

My intent is to push this 2500 barton just as hard as it'll go. So I'm trying to implement all availiable air cooling technology (including reaserching the streamlining of fan hubs).
My case used to typicaly run 80 deg F internal ambient (I'm trying to reduce it farther).
I have seen ducts work quite well for cooling processors. The simplest version being a tube from the HSF to a hole in the side of the case. so I thought I'd try the sunbeam as its flexible tube will let me keep my case sides intact.
I overclock not because its easy but because I can. Speed is good, I have little use for it... but I like it.
I have tried the TT duct mod It works (sometimes) by shifting the dead spot in the air under the fan hub to the side hopefully alowing better airflow to the spot above the processor chip itself. It does not remove the dead spot it simply relocates it to a less important spot. I did find that turning the fan on the duct makes a differance in the position of the dead spot. If you try the mod try turning the duct different directions and also try turning the fan on the duct. The airflow out of the fan is not symetrical.
Enjoy!

[Happy Joe]

Is anyone doing radical case or cooling mods?
Enjoy!

[scottluebke2003]

I simply cut out the fan grills on the back of my case to decrease air resistriction, this worked wonders for my cpu temp. I also cut out the front fan grill, which cant be seen, but this also reduces air restriction.
I installed regular finger guards over the fans, mainly for looks. my fingers never get close while it is running.


5 Zalman ZM-F1's running at low speed, and 1 Zalman 92mm running at low speed makes for a fairly cool comp at a very low noise level. Also a dual fan Enermax PSU exhasuting air as well.

[Happy Joe]

Cutting out the stamped metal grills is an excellent cooling mod it increases air flow and you can't beat the price. I too had to add wire grills (my cat is fascinated by whirling fans).
I'm in the process of graduating from 80mm to 92mm fans and the Zalmans are starting to look interesting; their noise level also looks attractive.

... I just got a box in the post; my Sunbeam duct (overclock cooler) came in. I was not expecting to get my moneys worth, but it ain't half bad. For less than $20 US (on sale at directron.com) you get a very light flexible aluminum duct, a filter, 2 80mm adaptors (with slightly different sized square sections (one looks like it can be adapted to work with 90mm fams)), a 70mm adaptor and a cheap stick on right angle deflector.

http://www.sunbeamtech.com/new/products/index.htm

These people also have a lot of case lights etc. for the glow in the dark folks.
Enjoy!

[Johnny Fist]

I made my own custom clear plates that allow you to see in from the front of my case. I've also done a couple of windowed hard drives that always seem to fail. I just think they look cool sitting on the coffee table.

[Happy Joe]

I too have been tempted to do the windowed drive mod, but never had the courage to try it. How do you achieve a dust free environment during the replacement of the cover?

Does any one know any thing about Datech fans? I obtained a thermally controled 92mm for less than 4 bucks and am going to shave the sides to make it fit in the power supply hole as an exhaust fan. It apears that I might be able to make it operate in a dual mode by paralleling the heat sensor with a potentiometer. I may try it this week, if it works it will let me set the minimum speed while alowing the heat sensor to kick the fan up to 95 cfm for overheat conditions.
Enjoy!

[Johnny Fist]

I've never tried it in a dust free environment. I either do it on my work bench in the basement of on my kitchen counter. They give me old hard drives at the computer store down the street and I use that. Even if they worked, a 200Mb drive is pretty much worthless nowadays. I plug them into one of my windows 95 or 98 machines upstairs just to see how long it takes them to fail. The best I've done so far is two weeks.