stacking desktops m, cooling them, and also fan sizes

[jameshanley39]

I want to stack some desktops one on top of another. But these
thermally advantaged ones have hholes on the top and so don't look ilke
they can be stacked. do you agree? I am happy runnung AMD Athlon XP
3000+ and less. So, I don't need a thermally advantaged chassis anyway.
So, i'll look for older ones.


I am concerned abotu airflow in desktops. MAny use thigns like 2 60mm
fans at the back and one at the front. Or, 1 80mm fan at the front
and nothing at the back.
What fan configuration should i look for for a desktop to be well
ventilated? It seems impossible to find an 80mm back and front.
Infact. I'm in the uk so it's a nightmare finding a reasonably priced
(less than £45) case . Also, considering that I want to buy about 10
of them - seting up a mega network.

I have 2 dsektops each with 2 60mm fans at the back and one at the
front, but the space for the 60mm fan at the front is too small, the
fan seems too wide. Do 60mm fans come in different widths?

I@m thinking of getting a 5.25" bay with a fan in there. But this is
getting more and more expensive.

If only I could find a decently ventilated desktop case, buy one for
about £30. And get a discount buying 10.

any suggestions?!

 

[kony]

I want to stack some desktops one on top of another. But these
thermally advantaged ones have hholes on the top and so don't look ilke
they can be stacked. do you agree?

Not yet, because you have not supplied details of these
specific desktop chassis. However, there is no thermally
advantaged case with "hole on top". No case needs intake or
exhaust on the top, only on the front and rear. Beyond
"need", some devices (like gaming video cards) may benefit
from a side-panel fan, but that is not necessary and a
side-fan doesn't even need external air intake, can be
entirely enclosed in the case, only recirculating internal
air that is moved past it by front and rear intake and
exhaust.

What fan configuration should i look for for a desktop to be well
ventilated? It seems impossible to find an 80mm back and front.
Infact. I'm in the uk so it's a nightmare finding a reasonably priced
(less than £45) case . Also, considering that I want to buy about 10
of them - seting up a mega network.

Case should have a mostly-unobstructed PSU fan exhaust and
at least one (again, mostly unobstructed) rear exhaust fan
under the PSU, on the rear case wall. Next it needs (at a
minimum) a large intake area on both the chassis metal panel
and the front (usually plastic) bezel. In situations where
there are several or atypically-hot-running HDDs, a front
intake pusher fan may help too.

If you want 10 systems, you might consider rackmounts
instead.

I have 2 dsektops each with 2 60mm fans at the back and one at the
front, but the space for the 60mm fan at the front is too small, the
fan seems too wide. Do 60mm fans come in different widths?

Choose cases that do not depend on 60mm fans. 60 or smaller
diameter should only be used when the entire case height is
too shallow for 80mm or larger (like in racks). 60mm (as
well as others) do come in different widths typically 10,
15, 20, 25 mm. Larger diameter fans may come in even
thicker variations, including 32, 38 mm. Choose the
thickest fan the space allows, and 10mm thickness is never a
good idea as the bearings won't last nearly as long plus
they don't move nearly as much air.

I@m thinking of getting a 5.25" bay with a fan in there. But this is
getting more and more expensive.

If only I could find a decently ventilated desktop case, buy one for
about £30. And get a discount buying 10.

any suggestions?!

Well sure, it's not going to be any cheaper to build 10 good
boxes than 10 x 1 good box except for the volume discount
during purchase. If you buy a junk case that's not suitable
for 1 system, it's no better for 10.

Top-fans/slots in a case are no substitute for 80+mm thick
fans on rear (and front as needed). Bay fans are no
substitute either, they are so small that the additional
cooling is of little benefit except for a device VERY near
that fan's exhaust... and even then, same device might be as
well off in a lower bay behind a front intake fan (for
HDDs).

 

[jameshanley39]

Not yet, because you have not supplied details of these
specific desktop chassis. However, there is no thermally
advantaged case with "hole on top". No case needs intake or
exhaust on the top, only on the front and rear. Beyond
"need", some devices (like gaming video cards) may benefit
from a side-panel fan, but that is not necessary and a
side-fan doesn't even need external air intake, can be
entirely enclosed in the case, only recirculating internal
air that is moved past it by front and rear intake and
exhaust.



Case should have a mostly-unobstructed PSU fan exhaust and
at least one (again, mostly unobstructed) rear exhaust fan
under the PSU, on the rear case wall. Next it needs (at a
minimum) a large intake area on both the chassis metal panel
and the front (usually plastic) bezel. In situations where
there are several or atypically-hot-running HDDs, a front
intake pusher fan may help too.

If you want 10 systems, you might consider rackmounts
instead.



Choose cases that do not depend on 60mm fans. 60 or smaller
diameter should only be used when the entire case height is
too shallow for 80mm or larger (like in racks). 60mm (as
well as others) do come in different widths typically 10,
15, 20, 25 mm. Larger diameter fans may come in even
thicker variations, including 32, 38 mm. Choose the
thickest fan the space allows, and 10mm thickness is never a
good idea as the bearings won't last nearly as long plus
they don't move nearly as much air.



Well sure, it's not going to be any cheaper to build 10 good
boxes than 10 x 1 good box except for the volume discount
during purchase. If you buy a junk case that's not suitable
for 1 system, it's no better for 10.

Top-fans/slots in a case are no substitute for 80+mm thick
fans on rear (and front as needed). Bay fans are no
substitute either, they are so small that the additional
cooling is of little benefit except for a device VERY near
that fan's exhaust... and even then, same device might be as
well off in a lower bay behind a front intake fan (for
HDDs).

Here is the TAC that can't be
stackedhttp://www.specialtech.co.uk/spshop/customer/product.php?productid=1134&cat=0&page=
or http://tinyurl.com/brq9y if you prefer!

If it were a tower the holes would be on the side. And they're not
intended to be a substutute for a fan. In a TAC, more air is exhausted
than taken in, so a vacuum is created in the case which sucks air in
through the holes. holes are above the vid card. (though I wonit have
a powerful vid card)

I am thining against the desktop approach. Towards putting towers in a
bookcase.

I've already got 3 towers and a good deal on towers. £30 for them
individually (make is chenbro). And they are toolless towers. Contrast
with 2 diff Towers I bought previous to that, at dif times from diff
places - diff makes(Antec and Chieftc) - cost me £70 ! So this is a
really good deal. And this chenbro case is better.


My alternatives
Anything involving my towers are good 'cos I have many of them. I have
a great deal on an amazing tower. And terrible deals on desktops.


* A bookcase Towers verical or horizontal holding towers
Would brace 2 bookcases together for depth.
Towers vertical is a bit better 'cos they werwe meant to be that way.
Also the towers wouldn't potentially have to be identical either. since
i'm not stacking them.


Rejected alternatives follow-
* Stacking Desktops
expensive. I don't have desktops to stack and the 2 i have are badly
ventilated. Certainly not as well ventilated as a tower. Actually,
Thanks to your info, I may be able to get a thinner 60mm fan at the
front(thuinner than my 24mm). Adn then will I have good ventilation?
I have a good deal on towers though.

* Stacking Towers vertically
Scares me. vibations over a small surface area going down the stack.
would have to prevent them toppling over.

* Stacking Towers sideways
HDDs and CD Drives will be operating sideways - doesn't seem ideal to
me, but they can do it.
There are bumbs on the side of my case, I may have to remove them,
perhaps hammer and chisel - may go wrong. I could put thick rubber
strips on so thick that they asre thicker than the bumps.

* Rack + Rackmountable Servers (fitting the ATX spec)
expensive. i'm in the uk.

 

[Bob]

No case needs intake or exhaust on the top, only on the front and rear.

Tower cases have air holes on the side - that's the equivalent of the
top panel of a desktop.

Several times people have commented that cases with inward-blowing
fans have problems with exhausting all that air. Therefore the more
air vents the better if they are properly located.

 

[kony]

Tower cases have air holes on the side - that's the equivalent of the
top panel of a desktop.

Generally, no, the typical case has front and rear air
intake and exahaust. While some (many) may have tiny little
holes or slits, these are not but a mere trickle of air and
cannot begin to make a large difference in component
cooling. There are also some cases with the side-mount fans
of course, but that is not so useful if one doesn't need
more airflow to a (gaming) video card.

Several times people have commented that cases with inward-blowing
fans have problems with exhausting all that air.

Insufficient info to know what they meant, but in general
that's untrue. The same setup tried, tested, and
recommended by both Intel and AMD still works fine- Front
lower-to-mid intake and rear mid-to-higher exhaust. These
are both important because of where the drive racks, CPU,
motherboard power regulation and northbridges typically are
located. AFTER these important air passageways are in place
further flow from intake can be beneficial so long as it
doesn't decrease intake past the HDD rack too much.

Therefore the more
air vents the better if they are properly located.

No, air vents all over the place are worse than no holes at
all because it robs the HDD bay of air. If there is no
pusher fan in front of the drive rack then the vast majority
of intake should be through opening(s) directly in front of
the drive rack, with fewer other holes/gaps/etc being
better.

 

[Bob]

Generally, no, the typical case has front and rear air
intake and exhaust.

I should have said *some* tower cases have air holes on the side.

While some (many) may have tiny little
holes or slits, these are not but a mere trickle of air and
cannot begin to make a large difference in component
cooling. There are also some cases with the side-mount fans
of course, but that is not so useful if one doesn't need
more airflow to a (gaming) video card.

My case has both a side mount fan and air holes. The air hole section
is about 100mm x 100mm in size,

Insufficient info to know what they meant, but in general
that's untrue. The same setup tried, tested, and
recommended by both Intel and AMD still works fine- Front
lower-to-mid intake and rear mid-to-higher exhaust. These
are both important because of where the drive racks, CPU,
motherboard power regulation and northbridges typically are
located. AFTER these important air passageways are in place
further flow from intake can be beneficial so long as it
doesn't decrease intake past the HDD rack too much.

I suppose I should have mentioned that I do not agree with those
people, for the reasons you have given. There are plenty of air holes
where the front and rear fans mount.

No, air vents all over the place are worse than no holes at
all because it robs the HDD bay of air. If there is no
pusher fan in front of the drive rack then the vast majority
of intake should be through opening(s) directly in front of
the drive rack, with fewer other holes/gaps/etc being
better.

I suppose I should have mentioned that I do not agree with those
people, for the reasons you have given.

 

[kony]

My case has both a side mount fan and air holes. The air hole section
is about 100mm x 100mm in size,

It shouldn't need the holes then. The thing about holes is
they can only help if the case had insufficient front intake
area, otherwise there is the same limitation, how much air
the fans themselves can move.

I suppose I should have mentioned that I do not agree with those
people, for the reasons you have given. There are plenty of air holes
where the front and rear fans mount.

The main problem is the HDD rack. If a fan is placed in
front of that rack to push air past it, suddenly further
case cooling varations matter a lot less. It's still
usually necessary to have sufficient exahust at mid-top
rear, but with the HDD rack fan there is no longer such a
concern about postitive or negative case pressurization.

On a side note, if you want the best implementation of a
filtered system, it's almost necessary to have a front
pusher fan as the strongest fan in the system. Otherwise it
takes elaborate meaures to seal up every tiny nook and
cranny else completely reverse the bottom-front flow
direction such that a side pusher fan's exahust flows out
the top rear AND the bottom front. That can work, great if
implemented properly, but must be done on a case-by-case
basis and checked... not something a case manufacturer or
OEM would like to consider.

I suppose I should have mentioned that I do not agree with those
people, for the reasons you have given.

There have been more and more unique cases in recent years,
I suppose it's possible some people are drawing conclusions
based on their rather atypical case designs.