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Case cutting mod for better cooling
Author: Dennis Garcia
Published: Wednesday, June 28, 2000
Conclusion
With the components installed and case reassembled you can see how mild this case mod really was. From the outside
you can barely make out the exhaust fan and there no indication of the intake except for the vents the Mfg. provided.
I choose not to add a fan to the upper section for two reasons. One the lower fans can be controlled via the motherboard
and when the computer goes to sleep the fans turn off. Second with my HDD coolers located in the upper section I felt the
the air movement they produced was all that was needed for this section of the case.
I bought the case based on its looks and what features it provided and overall I am happy with the ending result. I did however notice one problem while testing this mod. Even though the fan filter did a great job of capturing the animal hair and dust from entering the case the filter is quite restrictive for this application. It seems that since I have two 80mm fans pulling heated air from the back of the case the intake fan cannot provide enough airflow for them. Hence the majority of airflow bypasses the powersupply and exits via the fan below. By removing the filter screen airflow was improved.
Removing the filter screen is only a temp fix if airflow is to be improved a larger fan will need to be installed and the vents will need to be enlarged. By doing so airflow would be improved and the fan filter could remain in place.
I bought the case based on its looks and what features it provided and overall I am happy with the ending result. I did however notice one problem while testing this mod. Even though the fan filter did a great job of capturing the animal hair and dust from entering the case the filter is quite restrictive for this application. It seems that since I have two 80mm fans pulling heated air from the back of the case the intake fan cannot provide enough airflow for them. Hence the majority of airflow bypasses the powersupply and exits via the fan below. By removing the filter screen airflow was improved.
Removing the filter screen is only a temp fix if airflow is to be improved a larger fan will need to be installed and the vents will need to be enlarged. By doing so airflow would be improved and the fan filter could remain in place.
