Cooling on the cheap !!!!!!!!!!!!

Abarbarian

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Overheating problem ! Don't waste your money on a new case , modify your old one very cheaply . As we are all well aware manufacturers and their university trained design staff have all got their heads way up in the clouds (in yorkshire we'd say something else but this is a family friendly site) . Hovering so high in the rarefied atmosphere these poor mindless folk have forgoten the basics of life . ;)

Even our ancestors the cave man knew that HEAT RISES so bearing this in mind heres a simple way of cooling your case .
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You'll need a overheating case , this will show the greatest temp difference , but any case will do .
A piece of card .
A pencil.
A small sheet of scrap steel , I used some old stainless I had which proved rather difficult to shape , so thinner is better .
A pop riviter . Cheap ones are only £4.99 and they come with rivets .
A electric jig saw .
A file or a grinding stone for a electric drill.
A electric drill and a drill bit . Same size bit will do for the fan mounting holes and the rivets .
A 120cm fan . I used this one,:thumb:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/120mmfans/coolink_120_r

But if I was to repeat the experiment I'd use this one as it shifts twice the amount of air and it looks realy funky .:thumb::thumb:

http://www.quietpc.com/gb-en-gbp/products/120mmfans/za-120-golffan-clear

I would recomend a fan controller to use with the fan . The Coolink I used was very quiet indeed .

If you follow the pics you'll see what I did and the semi-finished job . I was going to put a grill on the extension but its not realy needed unless you have small kids or pets .

The work took about 2 hours and that included stripping the case and re-fitting the internals . So why did it take me 2 days , well I take long tea and smoke breaks . :p

The work is pretty Blue Peter really . Decide where to position the fan , not too close to the back of the case as the psu will impede air flow . Mark out , cut and drill and file rough edges . Make a card copy of the cover , cut , bend , put plaster on finger
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, you should file before bending , drill , rivet .
Fit fan , as you can see the fan is fitted to the outside of the case so make sure its pointing in the right direction . Do not use a smoking cigarett to see which way the fan blows as you may inadvertantly touch the fan blades with the lighted cigarett and you will get a room full of red hot embers
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this can have quite serious after effects . Washout the case and dry . Re-fit the internals . Polish the extension with Solvo Auto Sol , you can miss out this stage , but it made the stainless shine realy well .

And there you have it , a nice cool case at a total cost of under £15 .

How did it perform you ask . Very well indeed , temps dropped by around 7 to 8 degrees C at full speed . Thats pretty cool in my book .

:D
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Those of you with sharp eyes will have noticed the DIY HDD hanger made for a astoundingly cheap price of 46p . It worked and it was quiet too as I used some old grommets for sound insulation .
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It's comforting to know that their are some real nutters out there, apart from me.:nod:
Care-in-the-community has a lot to answer too!:p
 
I know its awful really , folk would rather spend mega bucks when a bit of effort and thinking will do the job .
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LOL im sure it does the job very well. Altho I think i would prefer to have a proper grill over the top instead of a mass off metal ? ;)
 
That is quite possibly the worst modification I've ever seen in my life..... :lol:

Oh, ok, no, it's great, very professional, super :thumb:

No, really, I mean it.... :eek:

Ohmigawd, I'm off again, I got the giggles...... :lol:

I have an 80mm hole cutter which attaches to a drill. I'm sure 120mm hole cutters are available as well, a little cutting oil, slow speed = nice neat hole :)

Congratulations Sir, you are now the proud recipient of a PC Review reward:

The Bah Humbug It Works and It Doesn't Matter What It Looks Like Trophy

is hereby officially awarded to:

Abarbarian June 2007.

Congratulations :)
 
TriplexDread said:
LOL im sure it does the job very well. Altho I think i would prefer to have a proper grill over the top instead of a mass off metal ? ;)

Not much forward thinking TD , what happens if you spill some coffee ect on the grill :eek: See with a cover no such problems . You have to think these mods through thoroughly mate :thumb:
 
Then u dont put a cup of liquid ontop!!!

lol many other cases have vents in the top of case aswell mate ;)

Anyway I would see my bum if someone left stains ontop of my £2000 computer
 
Thanks for the award flops its been a while since I won anything and an award from such emminent hi tech folks as yourselves is just top hole old chap .:o
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I would have used a hole cutter but did not have one to hand and buying one would have defeated the object of the exercise . No dangerous edges were left on the hole as the fan fitted over the the top of them on the outside of the case leaving a neat and atractive finish .:)

The case is surplus to requirements now ,and I would, although loth to let go of my award winner , sell for a modest fee .
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well done nice going, yes there are nutters out there who prefer to spend 'mega bucks' as u say doing it, i prefer to go with quality of building rather then components, and you know you have done a good mod if a lot of blood and sweat went into it.
 
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