during the last 25 minutes or so i have been brainstorming idea's of how you could make a very high airflow case. here is my theory ' well if i had the dvd-rw, hdd drives above the actual case then the case will be pretty spacious (being very efficient at airflow)'. i could have a small water cooling radiator (space for 1 fan) and then put the pump next to it in an enclosed box with noise dampening foam (which would be right next to the psu. there would be three quiet akasa amber fans shifting air into the case and then the exaust would simply be the fact that the place where the i/o things and gfx go would be instead of metal, mesh!
Of course it would be spacious, but there would be a lot of issues introduced. How to connect the drives? Some PSUs have an extra molex at the externally exposed side, but then how do you connect the drives to the motherboard? Plus, you would need an additional metal enclosure for the drives so that they weren't sensitive to damage or electronic noise. THEN you'd need to add a fan or at the very least vents to the enclosure. You *could* theoretically attach them via USB, but you would take a HUGE performance hit. I have no idea where you intend to put these components. You mention an enclosed box next to the PSU. In a typical case, one side of the PSU faces the CPU cooler and the other side shoots out all the power cables. Mesh would restrict the airflow a little bit. Besides that, with three inputs and no exhaust fans, you'd see higher pressures inside the case and hence you'd have higher temperatures. Also, if you have three intakes, I can imagine that there would be some turbulence, but I can't even hypothesize what the ramifications would be. Unless you channeled the air somehow, three intakes could be counter-productive. Case manufacturers allocate a lot of resources to produce new and better case designs. Lian Li and then Antec, have designed cases which separate components into different zones, with each dedicated zone being cooled as much or little as necessary. I know you're trying, but this kind of stuff belongs in a xanga blog or something. You can't post EVERY single brainstorm you have. At least limit yourself to posting the ideas you're actually going to try out. Having someone say "oh listen to this great idea" means nothing unless that can pull it off or at least try. Antec Example Lian Li Example 1 Lian Li Example 2 There are other varieties, but I think you get the picture.
well ok i forget to say modular psu and that but you see when you said where the pump goes here is your answer : when i say the psu i mean it would be at the far back on top of the case and enclosed with vents and vibration dampening foam. the exaust could probably be 2 fans
Having a case with good airflow is always a good idea. As Stuey83 pointed out there are many cases avaliable now which have excelent airflow. Of these, server chasis are some of the best. My case is an Enlight 5032 with pretty much every possible fan installed (Running at 6V to protect my hearing). These cases are specifically designed with airflow in mind and achieve many of the aims that you describe. When my system is idling, the airflow through the case is enough to cool the CPU (with this Heatsink) without the CPU fan running . One other thing to think about. It isn't just the CPU & VGA that require cooling. HDDs and especially power supplies require cooling too. Consider a 500W PSU that is 80% Efficient (That's pretty good). To get 500W output from that Power Supply you would have to input 625W of power. The remaining 125W of power is lost as HEAT. That's more heat than you CPU will produce under full load. I would also agree with Stuey83 that posting every little idea that comes into your head is probably not the best idea. Take some time to read other peoples posts and learn from what they are doing. Many of the things you ask about have been done before. Learn froim their experiences and if you decide to attempt something (and actually do it) by all means let us see it and give you advice. Happy Modding
yeah but well let me revise my plans: revision 3: lets just have separate things ( the psu , the hdd etc) away from the whole case
I made my mind already a lot of times about good airflow. So my decision to get the best result comes always to the same layout. Put the motherboard on the ground, place the PSU (have to have 120mm) above the PCI-Slots, another 120mm Fan above the I/O-Shield. The drives to installed in the upper front corner, side by side. And on, and on... Because it is not so easy to describe, just look at those two projects of mine. The actual (first link) one is not ment to use watercooling, but the second one (one of my previous projects) is spacious enough for an 240 Rad. See my actual project SCS and my previous similar CUBE33
err.. so why have a case? As said before, there are already cases that compartmenalise everything, which is a far neater solution than "having separate things" (although that's been done before, irrc).
You can have components outside the case, but you'd better shield them via an enclosure to protect them and to sheild out their operating noises. THEN you have to consider airflow for the different components. Instead of going through all that trouble, imagine how much mroe simple it would be to just intelligently tidy up the inside of the case. The optical drives don't obstruct airflow, so you only have to be concerned with the HD. The PSU takes care of its own cooling, so your main concern is making the cables and connectors all seem invisible to the airflow, which isn't too difficult if you're careful and meticulous.
Yes, but if you're going to take it out of the case, you're going to need to enclose it somehow so it doesn't fall off the tower, and so you can hide the power cables routing out of it. Then, you're still going to need vents. My main concern about this is moving the HDs outside of the case... that'll give you a tough time making a custom enclosure and then ensuring your signal cables are of proper length, your HDs have enough cooling and protection. If you're REALLY concerned about the HDs being in the way of the intake path, add a side-panel case fan and duct it so that the air is channeled towards the location which most needs it (ususally the CPU). Right now I'm running an HTPC rig with a full size ATX mobo in a Silverstone case. The case is REALLY cramped. My intake fan is quite weak to ensure silence, but I've strategically tidied the wiring situation so my temps are pretty good. Why does one consider airflow? To ensure optimal component temperatures. Removing the HD and PSU may not even have an effect on the system. If you're REALLY concerned about having fresh air reach the CPU, add a side-duct, or have two side-panel fans (one ducted to the NB). This is a case of "does the end result justify the means". If you think about it, the answer is no.
Thing is, if you use watercooling (seeing as you are talking about pumps and rads etc.) why do you need high air flow in your case in the first place? The watercooling loop would carry the heat away from all major heat sources to the radiator, which is therefore the only component that needs really good airflow. The rest of the case just needs a mild breeze to take care of the components on the motherboard that rely on passive heatsink cooling (such as the MOSFETs). As Stuey83 says:
did you know if i ever won readers drives in custom pc i would definetly try building a rig like this . and oh yeh i would sell the stuff you get instead of keepin the expensive oudated ish stuff
Interesting thread. Tim, you should draw some pictures to more accurately convey the ideas you are trying to convey with words. And a suggestion (may have been done, I just skimmed the thread) would be to use ducting (this kind of stuff) and direct the air in from the front, split into 2 ducts, one goes to the cpu, one to the gpu, then 2 smaller pieces of ducting, one connected to the CPU heatsink and takes the heated air from the processor out the rear fan hole, the other takes GPU heat out the rear card slots. Might work.
Personally, I'm not a big fan of standard air cooling, never made much sense to me, so I encourage working out better systems. Here are some of mine: 2 Tower case. Keeps the motherboard isolated, nice and cool. Single Tower Case. This one's more about looks, but I get such good airflow I run the Scythe Ninja fanless with an overclocked Prescott first generation core! Bench project. This one I can put the fans or radiators anywhere I damn well please. Anyways I always start with a blank sheet of paper and a theory of airflow, and let my imagination go from there. navig
Looks pretty damn nice! Where did you find the Lubic kits - I just did a 2 min search and couldn't come up with any reputable retailers. EDIT: I actually just found a supplier of aluminum framing (similar to the Lubic stuff), and it's pretty cheap for large lengths, but having it pre-machined for me is going to add $2.00 to each length. Then comes the mounting hardwares! Also, did you seen any thermal performance benefits from using dual chassis for your hardware?
I don't own any "normal" case to compare to, but I guaranty I get some of the best air cooling numbers period. If you want general gut instincts, as a general rule I feel that a proper exhaust fan is the most important aspect to keeping a case cool. Yes, positive pressure probably helps keeps the dust bunnies away, but I'm of a much more performance bent. Kits are becoming harder to find, but I know of a few sources in the US (feel free to pm me and I'll be specific). At this point, since I've worked with it for a while, I'd probably go for the diy approach myself, but the cost is important--as you can see in the bench project I'm already using all of my own angles and brackets. This source of yours, will they also provide the threaded rectangular nuts? navig
Well I scratched the idea of using professional suppliers. The cost for machining the parts is too high, and purchasing connectors separately will be too aggravating if I have to place multiple orders. The manufacturer sent me the link of its distributor since they can't sell to end-users, so I'll try to purchase the kit there. HOWEVER, the kit isn't on sale via their site yet so I'm not sure what exactly comes in the kit; I've seen several kit varieties reviewed online even though only two are currently offered. I should have mentioned this... I'm interested in the aluminum stock and connectors to construct a small robot chassis and possibly a small computer chassis if I can't get the robotic chassis to fit my requirements. That's another problem with the sources I found - the aluminum framing and T-slot components I found aren't quite at the dimensions I prefer. The most readily available extrusions are at a minimum of 2 cm in width which is a bit too big. The Lubic kit appears to be the perfect size for multi-purpose needs. I actually did notice you used readily available connectors. Also, a 50 pound load capactiy is impressive. Actually, it's very impressive, especially since the center of the extrusion is unsupported. Granted only 13 lbs or so is distributed at that location, but still... impressice nonetheless.
A bit off topic, but Navig, do you have any guides for how to do those motherboard and hardware mods?
