sailer :
Hey ryan. Just looked at your hardware config and noted that you have a Cheiftec dragon case. That's what my Alienware came with. I've had that case through three upgrades now, moded it a bit, and it will be the one for my next build. Its a cheap case compared to some they sell these days, but it sure seems to allow me to do anything I want. Of course, maybe I'm just too cheap to buy a modern case. Don't know the answer to that.
Man I have modded and remodded this Cheiftec Dragon case over and over, after getting it I saw no reason to get any other case, just modd this one to what I needed. Its presently modded with 2 / 120mm blowholes, and 1 / 120mm side fan directly blowing on the video card area, I actually used the right side panel to bore and align my holes exactly where I needed them. Swapped the original left side panel to the right side and used graphics to cover the old misaligned holes.
Newest challenge was adding the 1000W P/S its huge length 8 5/8" would have been a show stopper for many other cases, thats 3" longer than a standard P/S, not to mention the wire cable trunk coming out the rear of the P/S added another 2" to make the bends, installing her was definitely a challenge.
The P/S completely blocked the rear 120mm blowhole, leaving about 3/4" clearance over the top of the P/S to the bottom of the fan, not leaving the fan enough draw area to pull air, solved that by relocating the fan outside the case on top, looking pretty impressive actually, and allowing a solid 2" air draw inside, which the fan works great with that much draw area.
Second challenge was installing the Tuniq Tower 120, huge heatsink! When you first open the box and look at it all you can say is WOW!, and first thoughts are can my M/B support that thing? It fit inside the case with room to spare, but wouldn't clear the side fan I had added over the graphics card area, so that fan also was moved on the outside of the side panel, looks great and has better flow also.
Tuniq note: I used a nylon cable tie from the top of the tower to the Cheiftecs case cross brace the P/S rests on, so when the case is upright the cable tie supports the outer weight of the Tuniq, so really the only pressure on the CPU socket is the clamp tension itself, the Tuniq gave me an 8c temp drop instantly over the stock air cooler and the AS5 hasn't burned in good yet.
Did lap the Tuniqs base, its a little on the rough side when you receive it, and you have to be careful handling it, it will cut the crap out of you if you're not careful, but its nice to know when its retired, you can dice vegetables with it quite effectively! :lol:
Moving the fans outside the case has made it look quite impressive, I was concerned about it at first, but it also gave much more clearance inside, and outside looks like an industrial grade server, still cool to me and also keeps my room warm in winter! [Just Kidding] :lol:
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