55C to 46C...and alot quieter

fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
edited September 2003 in Hardware
long..
I was working on an old pc that i had aquired not getting anywhere...wouldnt post etc...so i got tired of working on it and ask the wife if she wanted to go to home depot. i was in home depot mood because my boy tony was in the lead at dover and i also wanted to get a hole saw.

my new chenming case was looking sweet...but it only came with 80mm fan holes and with folding and muh cpu o/c like it was fried chicken, my diode temp was higher than i liked it...around 55C load.

so it was off to home depot to get me a hole saw and put in 2x 120mm fan holes...they didnt have the size i wanted...114mm...so i got the 108mm and said this would have tah do...

well...it did just fine...i put and fan hole top of the case blowing exhaust out and a side hole blowing on the gpu,cpu, and northbridge... now im still in a little shock..but running the 120's at 9v my diode temp full load is only 46C!...before running all 80mm fan's 12v diode full load was 55C!...

tony didnt win, he took 3rd i think...but im one happy camper with my little adventure...thanks for reading!

fc

Comments

  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    Nothing like reading a good story about hacking up a perfectly good case :D
  • TheBaronTheBaron Austin, TX
    edited September 2003
    can anyone point me to a guide for modding my case? i want to slap a 120 blowhole on the side of my lian-li, and i'd like to do it right the first time. i'd assume you need a dremel, but from which side do you drill to prevent sharp edges or a marred finish, how do i cut a straight path, etc
  • a2jfreaka2jfreak Houston, TX Member
    edited September 2003
    I started on my case mod, but didn't finish yet (don't worry, when I do I'll post pics).
    My edges aren't completely straight, but they're close enough for this. I used tape to get my spacing, so I placed the edge of the tape against the edge of my panel and pressed on it to let it adhere. I did this on all 4 sides of my panel to give me an even border. Then I used a sharpie to go up to the edge of the tape. I did this because as I used the dremel the panel started to heat and some of the tape was melting away so following the tape as a line in some places would have meant I would have had a line that wasn't straight. When I saw it melting I used the sharpie. This way if/when the tape did start to melt, I still had a line to follow that gave me my even border. Going around the locking mechanism to achieve an even border on that was tough. I looked for my compass so I could scribe out an even border around it, but I couldn't find it--probably barried in an old backpack I have used in ages--so I just did the best I could using something that was about an inch thick. Didn't do a perfect job, though, as the tip kinda flared inward towards the locking mechanism, but it gave it a flair (not to be confused with the flare) that I liked so I didn't try to fix it and left it there when I cut it out.

    As for cutting it out. I started off w/ my dremel. But it ate disc after disc after disc. I guess that's what I get for using those el-cheapo discs that come with the dremel that should be used for only cutting notebook paper. Anyway, after using up a handful of those discs I switched to tin snips. Either my hand is outta shape, or the steel that my panel is made out of his really thick. I'm leaning towards the thick because that stuff was difficult to bend if I didn't have a piece of it longer than about 2 inches. Once I got done with the tin snips I went back to the discs to straighten out some areas and then used the stone attachment to sand off the really ruff stuff, and then switched to the sanding attachment to take off the jaggies and edges. The metal had become slightly warped in some places because of the tin snips, so I used a hammer to try to get the edges as close to flat as possible. I then used a sanding block to go around it Now I just need to fix a couple more places with the hammer. Drill a couple holes to use to put screws through to hold the plexiglass, cut the plexi glass, paint, and then put in the plexiglass. I had wanted to finish up last weekend, but stuff came up. Same thing this weekend. Oh well, maybe next weekend I can finish it.

    Sorry if this is wordy and/or doesn't make much sense. It's late. I'm tired.
  • DanGDanG I AM CANADIAN Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    If you want it to look right, you need to get a hole saw. They have some that are just the right size for most fans, just make sure the one you pick up is a bi-metal hole saw. They usually come with the drill bit that you need to get started, and from there, just make sure you've got the other side flat against something you don't mind getting some holes in, like a piece of wood(NOT the dining room table).
    Be sure to mark the screw holes before drilling anything!
    Then just take your dremel with a fine sanding bit and smooth out the edges and then you're done.
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited September 2003
    I've cut several fan holes in case sides for my cases and I've never used a hole saw like FatCat (don't have one ;) ). I used a Dremel and a knockout plug cutter, which is an electrician tool for cutting certain sized holes in metal electrical boxes. After taking a fan grill of the same size of the fan I'm trying to mount and tracing around it to mark my hole used a 1 1/4" knockout cutter to cut several holes in my circle as close to the edge of the marked circle as I could. Then, I took my Dremel and with cutoff wheels, cut the rest of the metal away carefully to finish the hole off. I then took a drill bit and drilled the fan mounting holes around my blow hole. Just work slow and careful so that you don't cut too far with the cutoff wheel or heat and scorch the paint on your case and you should do fine.
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    i used to use a dremel to cut my fan foles...but u go through discs like crazy... using a hole saw this time was quick...like 15 seconds quick..then just sand down the edges so u dont slice a finger.

    i already had a drill...so getting a whole saw was alot cheaper than a dremel...but if u dont have a drill...go with a dremel for $60..

    fc
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited September 2003
    Yeah, that's why I started using the knockout cutter to help remove material on my holes, cut down on cutoff wheel usage a bit. How much did your hole saw end up costing?
  • fatcatfatcat Mizzou Icrontian
    edited September 2003
    muddocktor said
    Yeah, that's why I started using the knockout cutter to help remove material on my holes, cut down on cutoff wheel usage a bit. How much did your hole saw end up costing?

    hole saw = $18
    hole saw connector > drill = $9
    shock of 9C lower diode temps = priceless

    there are some things money cant buy, for everything else u want teh lower temps!

    ;)

    fc
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