Okay, I did some research, and it seems the way to get quiet fans is to have big blades rotating at a low RPM. So, what about desk fans! You can get some really big ones (20 - 30cm) and have them rotate slowly. You could go down to like 100rpm with those things and still get quite a lot of air moving. Best of all, with a good quality motor and barings it should be almost silent. I`m going to do some experiments with the side of my case off. If it works, who will be the first to cut a massive hole on their's (that would be a nice window!) and mount it internally?
My brother has been using this kind of setup with his computer for two summers now. Side panel off. Good cooling with low noise as you said. Installing this inside the comp ... that is another story. Motor for these fans is usually quite big so you would have to leave some part of it outside the case or build a "dome" from filter material or metal mesh on top of your sidepanel and install the fan there, and not inside the case.... just my ideas.
I was thinking of maybe inverting the motor, so it runs backwards. Maybe turn the fan blades through 180 degrees too. That way, it could inside the computer. I guess finding the right fan is the key. Mounting could be fun, that's all I`ll say. Still, with a Zalman CPU cooler it could mean you only need that one fan and no others in the entire case. As for E.M., it should not be a problem. If required, you could use a 12V in-car fan or encase the motor on a metal box to reduce emissions. MoJo http://world3.net http://amimpc.world3.net
i saw a pic of a custom case that was made out of pvc pipe. it had a box fan motor/blade assembly built into it. ive also been thinking of doing something like that, ive got a motor from a 12v car radiator fan and a cool looking transparent blue blade assembly from an old fan that went kaput. i would think it would have to be domed out, unless you had something like a YY cube case.
Another option would be to have the fan blades mounted just inside the case, and have a gas powered motor somwhere else and just use a chain to drive the fan blades... problem solved!
