CASE MOD TIME!

Phase 5: Fans and such

Manufacturer: Thermaltake Technology Co., Ltd
Supplied by: Thermaltake Technology Co., Ltd
Street Price: 92mm - $11.50;  80mm - $10.00, 60mm - $10.75 

What is missing from the photos so far that was in the review of the Cooler Guys aluminum case is the side and rear blower.  While exceedingly functional, they covered up too much real estate within the case.  Who wants to install a window and then have your cool parts obscured?  With these two pieces gone, the airflow characteristics within the case changed dramatically.  To get the airflow right again while keeping our hearing, we turned to a bunch of Thermaltake fans.  A 92mm, an 80mm, a 60mm 7k rpm job, and a standard 60mm.  Each of these with the exception of the 7k rpm fan move good amounts of air and do it a bit more quietly than their competitors.  Thermaltake out of Taiwan graciously supplied these products to us. 

The front 80mm had nothing wrong with it but the Tt 80mm was a wee bit softer on the noise side.  A decibel here and a decibel there add up fast. 

Gone from its previous placement the case’s rear blower has now been moved up top to act as an exhaust blowing air out the front of the case.  The 80mm fan inside was replaced by a 92mm Tt.  I know this isn’t the most efficient way to do it, but weighing airflow, noise, and looks this seemed the best way.

   

Where the blower shown above was mounted originally makes for no finer a place to park a 60mm than right there.  The holes there would allow for adequate airflow but by cutting it out we can decrease the resistance.  After cutting this part out we installed the 60mm on one side and on the other, a small plastic cover to keep those sharp edges at bay coupled with a fan grill.  We set this 60mm up as an exhaust.

 

The heatsink we used was a Swiftech MCX-370 with a Papst 60mm fan.  Swapping the Papst with a 7k-rpm Tt labeled Delta gave a nice matching look.

Phase 6: Rheostat

Manufacturer: Sidewinder Computers
Supplied by: Sidewinder Computers
Price: $11.50

With everything running at full honk the fan noise is well within what I would consider tolerable.  But most of us don’t have games and benches running round the clock.  Taking the lower floppy bay cover and drilling out one side made a great home for a Rheostat to control the speed, flow, and most importantly sound of some of our fans.  As we mentioned on our Rheostat write up last week; Rheostats control the voltage being piped to whatever you have hooked up to them.  A dimmer switch in your home is a Rheostat to give you a quick example of what a Rheostat is.  We decided to hook our newly installed 92mm top blower and our rear 60mm blower to the Rheostat.  When we are typing or just surfing the web, a turn of a dial drops the airflow down when you don’t need much more than quiet. 

 

Whenever we can, we route our wires between the mainboard tray and case side panel.  The Molex connectors enter the main case via the hold beside the FDD holder.  Now this looks pretty sloppy with both sides off but with just the left side access panel removed it looks very clean.  

Odds and ends:

To bring our vanity etch out and make it show more; we put some simple black electrical tape over the rail behind it.  This way the white etched letters stand out better against a black background.  And to ensure we circulate air in the case properly, what better way to do it than with a 2CoolPC System Cooler.  (Available at the Cooler Guys for $29.95.)  We plugged this into the Rheostat as well so to manage the noise.

Here again is the finished product.  This turned out very well for us.  I just can’t wait for my next LAN party so I can hook it up then walk around enjoying the women throwing themselves at my feet and the Champaign falling from the heavens.  If you have some ideas for modding your box, what’s stopping you?  Special thanks again to The Cooler Guys, Sidewinder Computers, 2CoolPC, LoVerme Cases, and Thermaltake for hooking us up with the stuff for this project. 

 

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