The Pac-Man Case +1

**TheShadowFl** · 10-15-2008, 06:34 PM

For years, I've enjoyed building systems in the Pac-Man case.
Low cost and plenty of room makes it great for the home PC builder.
About 18 months ago I wanted to build a new system as a test bed for Vista Ultimate x86. To keep the costs down I selected the Pac-Man case, an MSI K9N Platinum mobo and the AMD dual core 3800+ CPU.
Just one gig of DDR2 ram got the system up and running.

In this, the initial build, I had just one DVD burner and one HD so my added exhaust fan did a good job of getting rid of the heat.

Well that was then, and this is now. With three SATA2 HD's, two DVD burners, 3 gigs of ram and two added PCI cards the heat level was really getting out of control.

With one HD in the upper 5.25" drive bay and two in the lower drive bays, the front end of my case was warm to the touch. Each HD has its own two-fan cooler, but there was no air flow to blow the heat away from the drives.

The solution was to add some fans in the front of the case to draw in cool air and assist in moving the heat to the back of the case where the exhaust fan could remove it.
The first fan went into the removable face plates, so NO case cutting was involved.
With the RED EYE, it looks a little like the HAL 9000.

The red fan and the one I installed in the left side panel both came out of defunct PSU's.
That took care of the hot spot in the upper case, but the bottom front still felt hot.

So, I pulled the plastic front panel, nipped out the grillwork over the two fan holes and installed two more PSU fans in the steel front panel of the case.

Again, no cutting the case....where it shows, anyway.

Now the entire case stays nice and cool, all day, every day.
And, if I ever want to sell it, , , it won't look like a hack job.

Oh, and here's how I cool those three SATA2 HD's.
Every HD I install, gets one of these little two-fan coolers.

Raising the cooler 1/4" off of the drive with the little brass standoffs, greatly increases the air flow and assures proper cooling.

Well, except for a few minor details, like how I put a 50mm fan on my video card to replace the burned up 40mm fan, that's about it.

Cheers Mates!
The Shadow

**magnethead** · 10-15-2008, 07:01 PM

I would have never thought of the stand-off idea to get more cooling room there. I'll have to remmeber that next time i have a bottom-mount hard drive.

Fewmitz · 10-15-2008, 07:36 PM

I don't get it, why is it "The Pac-Man" case?

10-15-2008, 06:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
TheShadowFl TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Central Florida Posts: 290 OS: XP-SP3, Vista Ult. 64, Win-7/64	The Pac-Man Case +1 For years, I've enjoyed building systems in the Pac-Man case. Low cost and plenty of room makes it great for the home PC builder. About 18 months ago I wanted to build a new system as a test bed for Vista Ultimate x86. To keep the costs down I selected the Pac-Man case, an MSI K9N Platinum mobo and the AMD dual core 3800+ CPU. Just one gig of DDR2 ram got the system up and running. In this, the initial build, I had just one DVD burner and one HD so my added exhaust fan did a good job of getting rid of the heat. Well that was then, and this is now. With three SATA2 HD's, two DVD burners, 3 gigs of ram and two added PCI cards the heat level was really getting out of control. With one HD in the upper 5.25" drive bay and two in the lower drive bays, the front end of my case was warm to the touch. Each HD has its own two-fan cooler, but there was no air flow to blow the heat away from the drives. The solution was to add some fans in the front of the case to draw in cool air and assist in moving the heat to the back of the case where the exhaust fan could remove it. The first fan went into the removable face plates, so NO case cutting was involved. With the RED EYE, it looks a little like the HAL 9000. The red fan and the one I installed in the left side panel both came out of defunct PSU's. That took care of the hot spot in the upper case, but the bottom front still felt hot. So, I pulled the plastic front panel, nipped out the grillwork over the two fan holes and installed two more PSU fans in the steel front panel of the case. Again, no cutting the case....where it shows, anyway. Now the entire case stays nice and cool, all day, every day. And, if I ever want to sell it, , , it won't look like a hack job. Oh, and here's how I cool those three SATA2 HD's. Every HD I install, gets one of these little two-fan coolers. Raising the cooler 1/4" off of the drive with the little brass standoffs, greatly increases the air flow and assures proper cooling. Well, except for a few minor details, like how I put a 50mm fan on my video card to replace the burned up 40mm fan, that's about it. Cheers Mates! The Shadow __________________ A person with experience is never at the mercy of a person with an argument.

10-15-2008, 07:01 PM	#2 (permalink)
magnethead Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 3,570 OS: Vista ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 3	Re: The Pac-Man Case +1 I would have never thought of the stand-off idea to get more cooling room there. I'll have to remmeber that next time i have a bottom-mount hard drive. __________________ For proper support: what are you running? graphics, cpu, m/board, ram, PSU brand wattage PCI-E requires 26 amps at 12 volts. That's a 650W PSU. Power Supply Info and Selection . Info on thermal compounds & application . TEST PSU USING MULTI-METER . Bench Testing Your System

10-15-2008, 07:36 PM	#3 (permalink)
Fewmitz Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 134 OS: Vista 64	Re: The Pac-Man Case +1 I don't get it, why is it "The Pac-Man" case?