Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods

derek_jones_36 · 04-04-2009, 12:08 AM

Ok Now we all know that the fan thing has been done to death here on the forum but hey who can help it right.....we all have questions about how to best cool our rigs to get optimal performance but at the same time who wants to break the bank and who wants to settle with less than ideal temps when we can get so much more out of the units we spent so much time and effort customizing.

I just put in a vantec double fan below my GPU. Now it's a steady 42 degrees (HD4850) which is great. When I play anything for more than 2 hours I reach maybe 52-55 if I'm lucky but that's besides the point. I have a clear side window on my Rig (Pic Below). What I want to do is where I have the adjustable fan behind the black vent holes I want to remove the fan mount and use the actual vent holes to mount a fan instead of the bracket that came with the case. This will be a semi-risky procedure because it's do or die time when I cut that metal with the dremel there will be no turning back. I plan on leaving the four mount holes and then leaving the open space...perhaps not even putting a grill or mesh over it. I would like to actually use it as a vent fan to pull all the warm air out since I now have a total of seven fans with three exhaust and the remaining ones are intake except for the CPU and PSU units. The benefit I see to having this as a vent unit is to exhaust the hot air from the HD4850 which is right infront of it.

The one exhaust fan I have is a PCI slot fan which honestly with the other higher powered units has become quite useless and I am going to remove it. It's a little unit that doesn't really seem to pull out too much air and besides if I have the larger 120mm over the GPU then it really does a more than adequate job. I also want to cut a larger hole in the plexi right above the fan so I can add a larger one...perhaps 140mm...not too sure yet. I think that one may be an intake fan right over the CPU fan which blows down anyway so I can get a larger quantity of air over that unit. And then there's the top fan unit which is a stock unit that cam with the case. This fan I believe is inefficient as it tends to run to slow and can't be manually controlled.

I think a TT Smartfan fan might be the one to use here as I am looking for something I can really crank out the RPM's. Also I am going to need to try and make these units are as quiet as I can so I am wondering what the effectiveness of a dampening system might be...perhaps an adapter that I can get between the case and the fan to lessen the noise. I saw these http://www.coolerguys.com/840556041795.html My TT fans right now make a nice wirly sound when I get them up to speed. I want to vent the air as best as I can and I couldn't care less how many fans are in my rig just as long as I have good airflow. Now I know that there's no shortage of options and the opinions I'm sure will vary greatly so any suggestions would be great. I will take some pics to chronicle the event.

Jones

derek_jones_36 · 04-10-2009, 10:56 PM

Just as an aside to the thread I placed here I had been also contemplating wether or not it would be adviseable to place either the 120mm for exhaust on the side of my case or two 80mm fans instead. If I place them side by side I should be able to get them to fit. I believe that the grill attached to my case side has extra room in the grill area which may accomodate these mods.

Jones

metalguitarman · 04-11-2009, 01:02 PM

well in my experence the bigger the fan the better, they pust more air at lower rpms which makes for a much friendlier sounding case. as a matter of a fact right now im in the prosess of mounting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835706002 that fan to the top of my case for heat venting. as for air flow i always like to push cool air in through the bottom and out through the top since heat rises anywho. so in your case since i dont think that you have a fan on the top of your case do you? then I would just stick like either a 220 or maby even a 250 mm fan on the side of your case. it will drop the temps a lot better than you think it might and they are only about 25 bucks. plus with a fan that big its pertty much covering everything important in your case. as for the the pics i cant see those small pics so well do you think you can post bigger pics so I can see what your talking about the adjustable fan? if you can that would be great.

derek_jones_36 · 04-11-2009, 01:53 PM

Hey thats a pretty nice fan which I can't get down here but nice anyway. I have an 80mm at the top....want to have a speed controlled unit for the additional heat dissipation so I may get this one.....http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...5067&CatId=801

or this one is pretty nichttp://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4244286&CatId=801e as well and quiet...

Either way I have plans on adding aftermarket fans to at least two areas of the case. I have some closer pics for you to check out.

derek_jones_36 · 04-11-2009, 10:41 PM

Sorry I didn't post the link to the fan right...it's one of the Noctua 80mm fans. They are suppose to be great. I may even get one for the side as well to replace the stock unit which doesn't spin very fast so I need something I can adjust on the fly when I need it. It's a pain having to go into the program every time just to adjust speed based on custom settings all the time. I might even just get myself a fan controller for the front...nice six speed unit....should do the trick beautifully.

Jones

Fan

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4284&CatId=802

Fan Controller......

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...8133&CatId=501

metalguitarman · 04-12-2009, 01:11 AM

yeha would say get a fan controller too, you know you could just take that bracket out all togeter and mount the fan on the plexiglass. just a thought, might look a little cooler you know with a grill instead of a big huge pice of metal right there. that is what I would do. just 2 mins of your time. and you should go with something bigger if you going to mount directly onto the glass perhaps 250 mm is too big for most people afterall it takes up 3/4 the glass. but any of these should do http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sort=0&Recs=10 they are 140s and they all push really good air. and all you really need is like a 3 in hole saw to make the cut into the glass. dont quote me on the 3 my math is really rusty and its like 2 in the morning where im at. oh and if you dont wanna do the glass thing i wouldnt drill into my case unless i was certan that I was never going to change it again... and if one thing that I personally can be certan of is that I will never stop tinkering and taking apart my rig... just throwing that out there.

derek_jones_36 · 04-12-2009, 01:22 AM

Thanks for the tips and yeah I had originally contemplated the grill mount before but I wasn't too sure if I was going to get the same airflow. The holes in the side of the case are pretty small which is why I wanted the two fans...one in the grill and the other up top in the plexi...no worries about cutting into it and yeah the hole saw idea came to mind last week....thought it was the best idea since it's quick and I have three drills at home anyway so it'll be quick. If you check this post you'll see some better shots of my Rig with everything in it. The wiring has been drastically improved since these shots...I used a really good velcro system for arranging cables..etc. Just scroll down a bit for the velcro pics....and more rig shots as well.

Cable management?

lets see your rig

the post above is probably the best view of my system. Like I mentioned the wiring isn't all that great. The first post has better pics in it.

Jones

04-10-2009, 10:56 PM	#2 (permalink)
derek_jones_36 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 491 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP2 My System	Re: Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods Just as an aside to the thread I placed here I had been also contemplating wether or not it would be adviseable to place either the 120mm for exhaust on the side of my case or two 80mm fans instead. If I place them side by side I should be able to get them to fit. I believe that the grill attached to my case side has extra room in the grill area which may accomodate these mods. Jones __________________ "Look at it this way...If Everyone Lived Forever, where would you Park?"

04-11-2009, 01:02 PM	#3 (permalink)
metalguitarman Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: hillbilly hell (Texas) Posts: 13 OS: vista 64 bit sp1 My System	Re: Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods well in my experence the bigger the fan the better, they pust more air at lower rpms which makes for a much friendlier sounding case. as a matter of a fact right now im in the prosess of mounting http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16835706002 that fan to the top of my case for heat venting. as for air flow i always like to push cool air in through the bottom and out through the top since heat rises anywho. so in your case since i dont think that you have a fan on the top of your case do you? then I would just stick like either a 220 or maby even a 250 mm fan on the side of your case. it will drop the temps a lot better than you think it might and they are only about 25 bucks. plus with a fan that big its pertty much covering everything important in your case. as for the the pics i cant see those small pics so well do you think you can post bigger pics so I can see what your talking about the adjustable fan? if you can that would be great. __________________ Peace, if only the human heart really knew what it was....

04-11-2009, 10:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
derek_jones_36 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 491 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP2 My System	Re: Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods Sorry I didn't post the link to the fan right...it's one of the Noctua 80mm fans. They are suppose to be great. I may even get one for the side as well to replace the stock unit which doesn't spin very fast so I need something I can adjust on the fly when I need it. It's a pain having to go into the program every time just to adjust speed based on custom settings all the time. I might even just get myself a fan controller for the front...nice six speed unit....should do the trick beautifully. Jones Fan http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...4284&CatId=802 Fan Controller...... http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...8133&CatId=501 __________________ "Look at it this way...If Everyone Lived Forever, where would you Park?"

04-12-2009, 01:11 AM	#6 (permalink)
metalguitarman Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: hillbilly hell (Texas) Posts: 13 OS: vista 64 bit sp1 My System	Re: Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods yeha would say get a fan controller too, you know you could just take that bracket out all togeter and mount the fan on the plexiglass. just a thought, might look a little cooler you know with a grill instead of a big huge pice of metal right there. that is what I would do. just 2 mins of your time. and you should go with something bigger if you going to mount directly onto the glass perhaps 250 mm is too big for most people afterall it takes up 3/4 the glass. but any of these should do http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...Sort=0&Recs=10 they are 140s and they all push really good air. and all you really need is like a 3 in hole saw to make the cut into the glass. dont quote me on the 3 my math is really rusty and its like 2 in the morning where im at. oh and if you dont wanna do the glass thing i wouldnt drill into my case unless i was certan that I was never going to change it again... and if one thing that I personally can be certan of is that I will never stop tinkering and taking apart my rig... just throwing that out there. __________________ Peace, if only the human heart really knew what it was....

04-12-2009, 01:22 AM	#7 (permalink)
derek_jones_36 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada Posts: 491 OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit SP2 My System	Re: Proper Fan Placement...looking to do some serious mods Thanks for the tips and yeah I had originally contemplated the grill mount before but I wasn't too sure if I was going to get the same airflow. The holes in the side of the case are pretty small which is why I wanted the two fans...one in the grill and the other up top in the plexi...no worries about cutting into it and yeah the hole saw idea came to mind last week....thought it was the best idea since it's quick and I have three drills at home anyway so it'll be quick. If you check this post you'll see some better shots of my Rig with everything in it. The wiring has been drastically improved since these shots...I used a really good velcro system for arranging cables..etc. Just scroll down a bit for the velcro pics....and more rig shots as well. Cable management? lets see your rig the post above is probably the best view of my system. Like I mentioned the wiring isn't all that great. The first post has better pics in it. Jones __________________ "Look at it this way...If Everyone Lived Forever, where would you Park?"