hmmm...I think I agree with hydro. It kinda defeats the point if you warm the water (even a little). I'd want to add another exhuast fan somewhere, but you don't have much space. I think I'd try switch the intake above PSU to an exhuast. Then maybe add an angled but of tubing sort of like this Code: ___ / | / | /____| but with more of an angle. Could look pretty cool in that blue (or UV). maybe even a good bit for stenciling. Reason I'd try angle it is so that you get (some) circulation rather than a tunnel Oh yeah, hood looks cool
Nice work so far . I like the look of the top shroud and I'd want to glue clear plexi spacers between the layers but far enough in to not be seen - so the layers look like they're levitating. Additionally I'd put the fans bellow the radiator if possible. Firstly puts the fans just a little farther away & behind the rad, which might help a little with sound. Secondly this would have the fans blowing through the rad (which is my preference) rather than trying to suck air through. Thirdly it gives them more room to breathe (I think they'd be too close to the top of your shroud the way it is now) but that's just my 2 cents.
@lnr: Thanks for the thoughts. I know that exiting the warm air through the rads is not the ideal situation, but I don't really have a choice since the case is so small and limited in fan positions. I also live in an extremely dirty and dusty city which forces me to have filters on my fans and no canned air is available here. It's actually quite frustrating at times! I like your idea of the little angled 'tube' for the fan. I assume you mean to angle it up towards the top of the case, not towards the mobo or PSU, right? @tyinsar: I never thought about the fans being on the inside of the rad helping with the sound, but I think you're onto something there. I'll try to see if it fits, but I have a couple of cables going to a firewire 800/400/usb slot thingy that might block it. I'll try to post an update soon. Please please keep the suggestions and comments going, you all are really a huge help to me!
headala, I suggest using long bolts or screws to put the shroud on. Put the bolts through the top of the case, then mark off the points on the shroud. Drill them out, then start putting the shroud down, and instead of using nuts to hold the shroud in place, try superglue (loc-tite is fantastic) with a spacer to hold each peice's place..and do it one peice at a time. It'll give the impression that the shroud is levitating while still giving you the airflow that plexan in between each panel would deny you. The project's looking great. I love the shroud idea, too.
Yeah, meant angled upward sorry for being unclear. If you can find space to mount fans underneath the rad it would be best but it looks real tight and if you managed to get them in your case may end up looking cramped. I'd do a quick photoshop to see what it will look like. You've got that hood to play with as well. Maybe mount the rad on top of the case, fans underneath and hood over it? I mean just switch the fan and rad positions. That might work...
Another possibility is ducting the fans in from the side like this: Code: view from back of computer airflow ^ ^ ___|___ |_______|<- Radiator Fans->| | /| airflow->| | /<|-- Deflector/duct |_|__/ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |_______| This might even allow you to put in larger, but quieter, fans. - But I would still want some way for warm air to escape near the top of the case.
Great suggestions, keep em coming. I'm still trying to sort out all of the options. Would it help if I reversed the PSU fans so that it sucks air in? Or, would it add too much heat to the inside of the case? Or, I could mod the top fan (the one near the cpu socket of the PSU) to be on the front (where the cables come out) so it would suck air from the dead space in front of the PSU instead of from the CPU socket area. What do you think?
You're welcome Good luck No!!! Yes My suggestions at the moment (just before bed) Code: view from back of computer airflow airflow ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ___|___ ___________|_____|____ |_______|<- Radiator | |______________|<- Radiator Fans ->| | /| | | | airflow ->| | /<|-- Deflector/duct | |Ducted fans * | |_|__/ | | |______________| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 | | | | X 3 Fan _| | \ / |<- Exhaust Fan | X \/ | | / \ | |_ X / | -> airflow | | airflow->| | / __/___| | \ / |<- PSU Fan Fan----->|1| 2/ | | | / \ | | | / | PSU | -> airflow |_______| |_|___/_________|______| 1) put as many or as big a fan(s) as possible in front (bigger=better+quieter) 2) deflector (made of plexi) behind front fan (& HD cage?) 3) maybe another fan at the "X"s blowing the air from the front up into the top for circulation. 4) angle fan as suggested by lnr *) duct & fans below radiator would look best (to me) if clear Air is lazy & stupid, never give it an option of where to go and don't confuse it by having an exit and entrance too close together.
firstly at Tyinsar's code diagrams. Cool man! I agree with Tyinsar on all counts there. Don't use PSU as intake. I thought about doing the same until I realised that unless you have a problem with ice in your case, it ain't helping I think I get what he is saying about the ducted fans and that would help with the water heating problem. Not too sure how you can do it without making the case look a little overwhelmed. I went back over the thread to see if I've been missing anything that might help, and I have! Missed another thing that doesn't help though... I had completely forgot about you 92mm intake fan on the window! I also didn't notice that you have no cooling on your drives Not the biggest problem, but lets try solve that too I am assuming you are keeping your drives in their original position. Anyway, if you used ANOTHER angled fan on the window instead/in addition to the Tyinsar's plexi and pointed it to where your res will be you should disrupt the tunnel sufficiently to have a good deal of airflow. Reckon if you can get the rad into the hood you should (heh, rhyme...) coz you do need the space it affords. oh, dnt think modding the psu fan will make any difference but I'm none too sure... I'm going to be thinking about this case all day
Yeah, his code diagrams remind me of programming class in the 9th grade when I made a Confederate battle flag in ascii characters....wow I had too much time on my hands back then! Thanks for the thought that you all are putting into your comments; it's great to have this community to help when you're stuck, and to offer suggestions when you're not! Firstly, the front fan is cooling the hard drive. I hope to (one of these days) get a couple of silentstars for the front hdd (will have 2 or 3 later) and remove my drive cage. But for now, the front nexus fan will cool the hdd just fine. Next, I was not able to get the fans inside the case at all. There's simply not enough room up there, especially when I try to put tubes on the res or mount the pump. The rad cannot go outside the case because the holes in the middle of the plexi pieces are sized for 2 120mm fans and it would weaken the pieces too much to enlarge the holes. So, I went ahead and installed the fans and the 2 pieces of plexi to hide the fans. I haven't yet installed the top piece to hide the top of the fans. I'll try to post pics of that later this afternoon (it's morning here right now). As for the airflow, I'm all for attempting to build some duct/dam/shrouds, but am concerned about cluttering up an already cramped case (especially with the WC gear in it). But, like I said, I'm willing to try it. I'm also a little worried that 1 nexus 120mm intake and 1 nexus 92mm intake will not be enough for PSU exhaust, nexus 120mm exhaust, and 2x 120 delta exhaust. Should I be worried? I'll try to post updated pics later today so that you all can see what we're dealing with. Thanks!
At the moment I'm just too lazy to load sketchup (I've seen others here do some awesome work with that) (example)
Alrighty, sorry I’m late getting these pics up…been a busy day. First of all, I went ahead and mounted the top fans in the two pieces of plexi. They fit almost flush and look good I think. I’ll mount the third piece of plexi on the very top, with spacers attached via Velcro to the tops of the fans. I may use some modders mesh to create a very open grill for the fans since a finger in there would be VERY bad. Here that is: Next, I’ve managed to mount the res, rad, and pump all in the top area of the case. It was NOT easy since I had to hold them in the case, measure tubing, pull them all out, assemble it all, put it all in as one piece, test the fit, remove it again, apply clamps/ties/coolsleeves, and put it back into the rig. I slid it through the front bays using my mother and wife as extra hands. Assembly in progress: Now pic of the build in its current state: So, as you can see, the rad, res, and pump are all in the top ¼ of the case, with the flow sensor pointing down. As far as the WC’ing goes, I just have to put on the cpu, gpu, and nb blocks and run that tubing (should be a cakewalk, but you know how it goes…). Of course, after that is leak testing and putting in the final fluid (Koolance fluid). So, that just leaves the air cooling…I have a LOT of options but not all of them are mutually exclusive: a) mount small (80mm)? quiet fan (probably vantec stealth) on the back of the case, blowing in through the unused expansion slots, thus giving some fresh air to the rad and adding to the positive pressure in the case b) modding the psu so that the fan on the top goes on the front so as to not suck out so much of the fresh air that will be put in by the side window fan (will be over socket area)- possible to still have a cowling to prevent a tunnel from the front fan to the psu c) keep the rear 120mm fan as intake, or switch to exhaust (as numerous people have suggested) d) put some small vents in the top of the window to allow fresh air in to the rad e) put a system of shrouds or cowlings to guide the air around the case All of these have their pros and cons; which ones are feasible or would help?
The top plate (#3) will need mesh for airflow (or an opening to another layer). BTW the HD cage looks good but the pump looks fugly hanging there - if properly mounted it could look cool. You've got a LOT of dead space below the 5 1/4" bays - I would suggest mounting the pump and flow sensor in that area & then adding another front fan for air intake. And, as for the rest - as I said before: Air is lazy & stupid, never give it an option of where to go and don't confuse it by having an exit and entrance too close together.
