Scratch Build – In Progress ****** PHINIX CUBE ******* - the one and only:)

OK, so decided to go with fat a** radiator Got cheaper Feser 120.2, which is exactly same size as I have space for rad in my Cube.
Problem is that its thicker than Swiftech and now PSU in case will be very close to one of the rad's fan. 5mm gap actually between fan and PSU side.
I have to ilustrate it



As you can see, for one fan there is pretty much small space for sucking air.
Getting into acount size of rad and lentgh of PSU (which is out on the back for 5cm, so from 16cm, ther is 11cm left insie the case) 11cm of PSU inside the case will cover about 3/4 of the fan, cause first ~3cm is a barbs section on rad. It will be about 8cm of fan length covered with PSU, well still leaving 5mm of space...
Both fans will work in pushing air config.
I think there is an option - I can swap fans on other side of the rad for pulling config, then rad will be close to PSU, but fans sucking air through the rad will have more power - is that correct?
Or can I get away with original config - pulling, fan next to psu?

 

There's minimal difference between pulling through the rad or pushing through the rad - the reistance of the rad is the same in both cases, the air flow rate is the same.

So the question is really, which can suck air in best - the rad, or the fan?

As a gas turbine engineer, I'll say have the rad in front of the fans, ie pull-through. The airflow at the side of the PSU is going to be hell - the fan will be more effective when the air has been delivered smoothly through the fins of the rad, and should be a bit less noisy too because you're not going to have so much un-steady stalled flow ingested by the fan. However you're never going to have great flow, and the fan will only be working properly around the parts of it's intake exposed to clean air....

Just go for whatever looks coolest.

 

Quoted for truth.

 

I'd go for pulling air thru too. You should be able to fit the fans in the gap between the outer panels and the cubes too? would save space and it has been proven that 25mm thick fans work better in pull, whereas 38mm thick fans are better at pushing.

 

I cant put fans between rods, there is a small screw cube at the bottom. I thought that those fans I bought - Noctua P12s are great for pushing air.. how about pulling?

I will try both configs - first will go better looking one - fans pushing from inside. If tat gap will show its issue, I will change fans on the other side of the rad.... £15 for each fan and I cannot use its power cause rad is in the way...

There is possibility to move PSU a bit further from fans.. about another 5mm... but it takes a lot of to re-do the rear panel...

 

The P12's should perform better than normal fans as they'll draw a higher static pressure.

As for performing better in pull or push, like I said, there should be no difference - it's the same fan power, same pressure drop, same masslfow.

 

Hi,
This is my first post, I'm an old reader as well from Istanbul Turkey. And sorry for my English, it's not perfect. ( Also I want to say that very soon I am starting to build my cube with the inspiration from this case It will be fully aluminium and a little bit smaller. Project will start, as soon as I finish building my workshop at the basement )

Anyway, I'm not an expert on case modding but, as far as I can see the fans will circulate the hot air inside the case and if I did not missed anything, there isn't any intake for fresh air ? Will this not effect the cooling performance ?
I'm still not sure how you will place everything inside the cube, but why don't you try to place the rad in front of the PSU instead of it's side ?

Sorry if I've missed anything and saying something stupid

 

Thanks man, I will try all options and get back what solution I chose.

Welcome to the forum! I'm happy you like my Cube
About that intake - there is a battery fo holes drilled right now for air, I havent shown this yet.
Fans will push air through the radiator to outside - as you can see radiator is pushed to those acrylic square rods on both sides what kee the hot air in small chamber that only way out is through those holes I drilled. Chamber is 2cm wide, 25cm long and about 14cm high. It is limited a bit by biohazard logo on the wall but still have pretty a lot holes around. I need to buy a bigger drill bit to make some holes bigger to create a nice pattern. This will happened next week.
PSU and rad on front - I cannot do that - its all organised now Left side - radiator, rear right - PSU, center - red acrylic stand with SSD, front center - pump with XSPC top/res. So as you can see there is a little space left, I cannot re-organise it now, it would mean a lot of changes.

Now, after almost 2 years since I came up with the idea of building CUbe, I can give you a good simple advise. PLAN everything! Plan it, before you gonna build it. Especially the size of the Cube. Right now I can say if I would start it again, I would made this cube a bit bigger. Few cm more and I could use two radiators for example.
Plannning is the most important thing man! So Before you grab your dremel, grab a pen and paper.. draw it and see if you can feel it

 

Now everything is more clear, and you are right it is really to late to make any changes.

Also thanks for the advice I will be more carefull with the planning.

 

Duct the top fan to the PSU exaust, and hope the static pressure of both fans fix the problem.

 

Small update today:

I bought a nice replacement for my Swiftech radaitor - big fat Feser 240
Here's a comparison:







That will be a lot better for my Cube to cool ALL new stuff I'm going to put in!
YEP, changing everything, I mean mobo and cpu. Its not going to be my Gigabyte DS2R mobo and not E5200 cpu.. It will be a DFI JR P45 mobo and E8600 !!!! WOW... I can't wait.



I soldered all leds in those led strips. Still need to solder a cable and braid them.





I'm getting better with this soldering thing I like those solders, look pretty pro
Today I'm gonna re-create those 6 led chain - I burnt it last time, cause website led calculator apparently has some bug and shows you to you 1ohm resistor with 6 leds string. Which sadly is not truth, so going to solder 2+4 tonight...

Also finished front panel stuff on top - I drilled and filed and polished that dvd long hole on top - That is sick! I will never do that again in hands - this kind of holes should be cut with cnc or laser, believe me. I had my stomach right up in my mouth few times when I was drilling small holes for jig saw - yep, first drilled holes then dremel was too "slippy" for this job, so had to make 2 cuts with jig saw.. long slow cuts... one small mistake and a whole front panel would go to bin! But.. I made it.. no more "fun" stuff like that. Next time I will ask Tom from ChilledPC to do it for me. I'm too old to do so precision cuts
Also measured and drilled holes for 4 fan controller knobs, they look amazing now!
Plus one big hole for power botton. All done...








And now, small change.. because I'm going with fat Feser rad I don't need a 120.1 rad anymore.. now, this cube is modular case, cause I keep all my drive cages and other ideas, so they could be usedany time in the future - that means First drive cage for 2 hdds, drive cage for one hdd and one 120.1 radiator. That is why I'm gonna leave that nicely cut hole in the bottom panel for 120 rad for future. I have fabricated a cover for it from rad acrylic. It will be also a base for a new 18W DDC pump with XSPC res/top. Here's how it will be installed:





...till next time.. stay tuned!

 

Thats awesome bro! A masterpiece! Well done and keep on modding bro!

 

Hell!
The new rad is really fat
RIP for your led strips, brother, but sometime even I had the same trouble, so I've decided to put a resistor on each led...
Kudos for the idea to cover the hole for the 120 rad with a red plexy, if you can't hide, you must show!

 

Thanks AnG3L

Hey Mino, thanks my friend, I knew you gonna comment this one
Well, I decided to leave all idea in the cube by leaving those holes and things - it can be used in the future with different configurations, so all my ideas will be kept with this build.

Now, I soldered leds for the ring and dont know what to do here. I'll show you guys both options - one where only leds are sticking out from those holes, and second - where put those triangle covers on those leds. There is also an idea to sand those triangles a bit to mae them kinda faded..milky... dont know how to name it.. you know what I mean.. shaded..

So here's how it looks like without and with those triangle covers...


























You can see those photos are from different angles. I don't know which option to pick - originally I wanted to use covers as same as Crysis logo. Now I think only way to keep them would be to shade them...Sanded triangles would pass less straight light and would look more solid I think.. Never put a light through shaded acrylic so don't know.. I guess I will have to cut some piece , sand it and put light from led through it to see if that is the right effect I want here...
What do you guys think?

 

I think you're going to do this

 

Yes, I already mentioned this couple of times.. for example in post #384 - http://forums.bit-tech.net/showpost.php?p=1926941&postcount=384

I'm just not sure which option to choose.. should I leave the leds naked or put those covers and last thing is should I sand those covers a bit...

 

I'm a fan of naked.

john

 

Nekkid Cheesecake.

 

naked looks way better than with triangles

 

yeah... naked look more like that logo, even without that triangles, right? It looks more clean I say...
But I wanted a Crysis logo... Maybe I should use single triangles instead of double?
However those leds are too bright,maybe should I sand those tops a bit?