Slightly OT: CPU cooling an the rear case fan.

[lhgpoobaa]

im about to go medieval on my rear casefan.

last week when my computer was PMS-ing i found that the cheap slow (but quiet) rear casefan was recirculating more than half the warm air it was vainly trying to exit from the case.
mostly between the fan blades and the shroud and a bit between the mounted fan and the case.
REASON?
crap design of the fan mount & hole.
the back of the case is designed such that the fan doesnt lie flush to the exit vent, and the exit vent consists of just alot of holes, 3mm in diameter in a circle pattern.

who else here has the same design? any others?
i know the PSU on this system has a better design of long curved holes, but still not as good as the simple wire guard on the enermax psu's.

my solution? 30 minutes with a pair of strong wire cutters. *evil grin*
gonna completely remove the 80mm fan 'hole'.
then maybe ill stretch and twist some cheap copper wire over the gaping expanse to prevent the remote chance of something touching the fan.

any other suggestions for simple & effective material to use for that purpose?

regards,
destructive master + hamster (back from holiday)

In memory of the 90+ Auzzies missing in the WTC disaster. An attack that has changed the world.

 

[jc14all]

I modified my mid-size tower case cooling in an unorthodox manner, but it worked for me.

I have one intake muffin fan (front bottom), one exhuast muffin fan (top rear), one card slot exhaust fan (bottom rear), my 2 SCSI HDD's are in <A HREF="http://www.hard-drive.com/dataport/" target="_new">DP2200W8 dataports</A> mounted in top case slots (both have intake & exhaust fans), and of course my CPU Artic Wind Plus, Chipset fan, P/S, and Radeon 64 fan.

My modification was that I cut a circular whole on the section bottom of the floppy disk (3.5")mounting rack just above the front intake muffin fan. Purpose: to redirect the air flow across the CPU in direct line of my rear exhaust muffin fan.

The rear of my case is just like your, <font color=red>"just alot of holes, 3mm in diameter in a circle pattern"</font color=red>. My CPU is a 1.33GHz Athlon but I don't OC. This may sound a bite overboard for cooling, but my Antec 400w P/S can handle it. If ever I decide to OC, I'm ready. I just didn't want any cooling issues .

JC-------<*){{{>{~~~~~
Fisher of men

 

[Unolocogringo]

My case sounds a lot like yours.Itook everything out including the front bezel and went at it with a 3 inch hole saw. Cut out the front intake ,rear exhaustand finally the side cover even with my video card. Sanded all hole edges.
cleaned everything up to get rid of all metal shavingsand re-assembled. then i took 3 inch 90 degree PVC pipe fitting.
Cut the bell off one end. this now sits over my cpu and heatsink fan.connects directly to my rear exhaust fan. My cpu cooler fan pulls air off the heatsink and blows it directly out the back of the case. So if either fan fails my cpu is still cooled. got the idea from a dell case with no cpu fan just the exhaust fan with a shroud over the cpu heatsink.
Now my P3 550e@880 1.85 volts runs 31 deg. idle, and 48 deg full load. Two instances of cpu stability test running with passmark burn in running and monitoring with probe.

I aint signing nothing!!!

 

[Guest]

hehe... I hacked out those stupid grills, the amount of air flow restriction was massive, but for practicle purposes I did as you suggest with the cutters and careful not to damage anything. Oh well another day in paridise.

Its nearly all sorted out, then I will remove everything and do it properly.

<font color=purple>Three ways to do things, your way, my way and the wrong way!</font color=purple>

 

[lhgpoobaa]

well i dont think im going to do what you do...
all i want is a slow speed fan that actually transfers more than 50% of its air to the damn outside!
its incredible how bad the design is... and this is a very popular case design at the moment around town. everyone has them. i feel twice as much air comming back in than what i feel going out.
and with the australian summer comming arround i just need a semi decent cooling solution.
and a pair of metalcutters and an aggressive attitude is it.

i would really like to meet the *cough cough* designer of this case.


In memory of the 90+ Auzzies missing in the WTC disaster. An attack that has changed the world.

 

[peteb]

yeah - that's pretty common and standard. Any pc outlet or online store will most likely carry 50-120mm grills that will line up with your fan mounting holes and protect accidental finger pain. I had to do the same to my last 2 cases.

For the cost of a proper hole and a grill they really stink.

-* This Space For Rent *-
email for application details

 

[Guest]

Yep, I get my gills at <A HREF="http://www.auspcmarket.com.au" target="_new">Auspcmarket</A>/casefans.

The other thing I did was to drill the outer holes in that mesh bigger so it was easier to snip through them. I also used electrical winding tape to cover any gaps around the outside of the fan to the case.

They have started selling those Dremmels here finally so I'm looking for an outlet, they look good those things with a gazillion cutters in them.




<font color=purple>Three ways to do things, your way, my way and the wrong way!</font color=purple>