Big fan case

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:57 pm

Hi!

What do you think about this case?
http://www.satellite-computer.com/subwe ... model=L590

It's the only (cheap) big fan case available in my country.

Thanks!

mrinsane19 · Post by **mrinsane19** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:12 pm

That side fan is largely unecessary.

Look around on here for commonly recommended cases.. (Antec Solo comes to mind). Any half decent case with a bit of effort put into the cooling solution will outpace that... thing

I should also mention that 220mm is NOT a standard fan size, if it's noisy or breaks, you're stuffed.

FlorisNielssen · Post by **FlorisNielssen** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 12:39 am

mrinsane19 wrote:That side fan is largely unecessary.

Nicely said.

Ofcourse, such a fan is a BIG show-off. And it can run very slow to provide a lot of airflow. But it doesn't say how fast is spins. (The whole site is rather useless, no specifications.)

Why do you want a big-fan-case anyway?
For airflow? There are plenty of other possibilities. (Like, 120mm fan in the back 1/2 92mm in the front. Used in the Antec Solo/P150. Provides plenty of airflow, at least for me, and I have 1 92mm fan (Nexus).)
What do you want to keep cool with it?

The PSU looks rather cheap, no specifications what so ever. Don't take that one anyhow.
For what I can see, the 120mm outtake looks rather restrictive. (You could remove it though.
The intake is very open, so all the noise has an easy way of going to your ears.
There's pretty little data of the insides of the case, but like you said, it is cheap. I advice you to buy a decent case.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:53 am

The problem is that Antec cases cost three, four times more (here in Brazil).
This case costs R$ 150 (U$ 50), and the Antec P180 R$ 600.

I'm not using the PSU that comes with the case, for sure.
I was thinking about using the big fan as the only intake fan, and use a Yate Lonn D12SL-12 as exhaust fan. I would remove the restrictive grill.

As an alternative for the same price, I can buy this one:

http://www.3rsystemusa.com/products/k100.html
http://www.casemall.com.br/produtos_int.php?produto=84 (more pics)

Which one would be more silent?

Thank you!

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:23 am

220mm fans appear to be becoming a standard, just as 92mm and 120mm fans were adopted years ago. There are already replacement fans for sale online. My Antec 900s have 220mm fans, so mainstream cases are beginning to adopt the new larger size.

Something else of note; don't bother with both intake and exhaust fans, that means you are just moving the same air twice. You only need one or the other.

The second case you linked to looks like it has more potential. Depending on your components, you should do nicely with just a 120mm exhaust and the exhaust through the PSU.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:36 am

The 3r System case (the second one) has a more tradicional way of cooling.
I was just wondering if the case with the big side fan is more efficient, i.e., same cooling with less noise.
I forgot to say, the fan is controllable.
http://www.satellite.com.py/imagens/produtos/535g.jpg
I know it's chinese cheap stuff, but can it be any good?

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 10:44 am

I like big fans and their ability to move large amounts of air quietly. The drawback is that you need a hole in your case 220mm in diameter, a hole this big lets a LOT of noise out. Depending on your system components, you might need a lot of air, in which case the 220mm fan might be a good idea. But if you are using cooler components, not having a hole in the side of the case is a better idea.

What components are you using? CPU? GPU? Does the GPU have a fan on it?

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 11:20 am

Asus M2N-4 SLI (no fans)
X2 3600+ Windsor
XFX 7600GS (Passive)
Seagate 160GB IDE
1GB DDR2 Kingston
Sunbeam Silent Whisper cooler (under brazilian brand)
Rosewill RD600N-2DB-SL-BK PSU (under brazilian brand)
LG DVD-RW

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 12:13 pm

That system is nowhere close to needing a large fan. Stick a Scythe Ninja on the CPU and put a single low-speed fan on the back of the case and you are set with plenty of headroom.

Of course, since your components are making little noise (only the HDD), you could choose the case with the large fan if you wanted. There isn't much noise to escape. If possible, get that hard drive isolated somehow. It should be the noisiest thing in there (with the PSU being a close second).

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:06 pm

mrinsane19 wrote:That side fan is largely unecessary.

Look around on here for commonly recommended cases.. (Antec Solo comes to mind). Any half decent case with a bit of effort put into the cooling solution will outpace that... thing

I should also mention that 220mm is NOT a standard fan size, if it's noisy or breaks, you're stuffed.

Wrong..

and wrong....

There have been quite a few threads on these big fans-which are 220 mm,blade diameter...250 mm counting the trim bezel and are the typical 800 rpm (basic speed) 13 blade unit used in cases by Enermax,Xclio,Aerocool,A-Plus and some others.

It will run at LESS THAN 4v.....LESS THAN 300 rpm....so while it can quietly move a lot of air at 800 rpm....at 400 rpm and less thes are THE hot new thing...so hot the individual fans are typically out of stock at those dealers who have them.

For your $$ you can go with an expensive case that lacks efficient airflow and takes 3 120's at 1000 rpm to cool like this big fan can at 600 rpm. Such a case can have some internal damping to hide some of the fan noise. I'd rather just not HAVE noises I have to try to block.

These big fans and eSATA are the biggest advances in silent computing in the last 2 years

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:23 pm

lucas82 wrote:Asus M2N-4 SLI (no fans)
X2 3600+ Windsor
XFX 7600GS (Passive)
Seagate 160GB IDE
1GB DDR2 Kingston
Sunbeam Silent Whisper cooler (under brazilian brand)
Rosewill RD600N-2DB-SL-BK PSU (under brazilian brand)
LG DVD-RW

You should try getting a Brisbane rather than a Windsor...cooler running.

Big fans do well with passive vid cards as they pump air over everything.

These days...a lot of things are really " cheap Chinese stuff" but if somebody insists on some quality control...then it's like anything else. about 95% of the 220/250 mm fans appear to be from the same source,and there's a model with blue LEDs and the same with no LEDS both are translucent plastic,13 blades.

Felger has found a 7 blade version-possibly from another maker?
These Fans...US dollars are $20-22 alone..if you can find one. The cheapest cases are a little under $50 with a 250mm

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 7:57 pm

I think i will buy this case whit the big fan. When i do, i will post pictures and my impression about the silence of the system.
The price is very good because it's imported directly from China. The very good cases from USA are way more expensive.
I can't change the processor right now, but I will in the future.

The only thing bothering me is my CPU cooler, since it will not get air from the side fan, because it is "tower style", if I made myself clear.
Maybe this way of cooling would benefit of a cooler like TT Big Typhoon.
Can the stock cooler, that blows wind towards the motherboard, be better than the heatpipe tower cooler i already have (passive cooling)?

PS: Sorry for my poor English. Please correct the wrong writing, so I can improve it.

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 8:55 pm

The tower heatsink will still be better than the stock cooler. More surface area, heatpipes, other good stuff. There will be enough airflow.

Without getting too picky (mother was an English teacher), the only thing wrong is "wrong writing".

Alternatives:

"bad grammar"
"writing errors"
"poor word selection"

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:53 pm

Thank you, ddrueding1!
The most difficult for me about your language is the syntax, since the web browser auto correct the spelling. But I'm practicing!

And I'll keep the tower cooler, as it performs well even without the fan and little airflow.

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 9:58 pm

I've learned Spanish and a little German, now I'm working on Russian...I know how hard it can be

...web browser auto corrects the spelling.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 8:37 am

I always forget the "s".

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 10:24 am

ronrem wrote:For your $$ you can go with an expensive case that lacks efficient airflow and takes 3 120's at 1000 rpm to cool like this big fan can at 600 rpm. Such a case can have some internal damping to hide some of the fan noise. I'd rather just not HAVE noises I have to try to block.

I have to agree. I have a P182 and a very high end system (QX6700 Quad Core, 8800 Ultra) I am trying to cool quietly. The OPs system is not nearly as hot but I still don't think the P182 is worth the money at all.

ronrem is right. Rather than trying to cool a case with poor airflow like the P180, you are better off getting a case with excellent airflow and running the fans at very low speed. If your components don't make any noise there is no need to dampen the sound.

I have a very open server case. There is a plastic door, thin with large gaps for air, between the suspended HDDs and two 120mm Yate Loons running at 5V. I can't hear them from 1m. The P182 has the same HDDs but soft mounted, and fans which need to run at at least 8-9V or the system overheats. I can hear them both.

I will probably move to an Antec Nine Hundred, although I have looked at other big fan cases. The Nine Hundred has the advantage of having many 5.25" bays for suspending HDDs in, which the Xclio cases do not. I'll eat my hat if it's any louder than the P182.

To the OP, the case you linked to looks like it has no front intake fans which is a bit of a shame. Are Xclio cases available in Brazil? They do 22/35cm fan cases with front and rear 120mm fan mounts. I have heard the fans running in a quiet room, at low RPMs they shift a lot of air and are silent.

EDIT: Take a look at the iCute S901: http://www.casepower.com.tw/english/S901.html

Should be cheap and airflow looks to be good.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 12:13 pm

The iCute S901 and the Xclio look very nice, but unfortunetly they are not available here.
But I don't think there is need for (or of?) a front intake fan, since the side fan alreay has good airflow. Am I right or the combination of bove fans is better?

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 1:04 pm

You want some airflow to go over your hard drive. Not having front intake can cause the air around the HDD to stagnate.

MoJo · Post by **MoJo** » Thu Oct 04, 2007 2:02 pm

ddrueding1 is right, you really need a HDD fan.

You ideally want all of your fans sucking air in or all of them blowing air out. So, if the side panel fan blows in, it would be better to have a front intake fan than a rear exhuast fan. Also, often it's better to have two fans running at 5V than a single fan running at 12V. That's why I like the Nine Hundred.

lucas82 · Post by **lucas82** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:11 pm

And how about this case?
http://www.3rsystemusa.com/products/r540li.html
Can it be silent? At least the PSU does not get hot air from the processor.
And there is one 120mm fan on top of it.

ddrueding1 · Post by **ddrueding1** » Fri Oct 05, 2007 10:41 pm

lucas82 wrote:And how about this case?
http://www.3rsystemusa.com/products/r540li.html
Can it be silent? At least the PSU does not get hot air from the processor.
And there is one 120mm fan on top of it.

I actually like that quite a bit. Nice website, with lots of pictures, too. You will need to replace the fan, and some damping material would be a good idea, but I like the looks of that case.

I would likely block off the vent above the CPU, so the air comes in the VGA vent and flows past the CPU on it's way out. Otherwise the air will enter near the top and exit without cooling anything.

If you aren't going to me moving the machine much, I'd recomend suspending the HDD over the CPU HSF (near the now-covered vent) so it gets some cooling as well.

ronrem · Post by **ronrem** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:18 pm

lucas82 wrote:The iCute S901 and the Xclio look very nice, but unfortunetly they are not available here.
But I don't think there is need for (or of?) a front intake fan, since the side fan alreay has good airflow. Am I right or the combination of bove fans is better?

Not a fan of front fans. A big fan's secondary plus is it does pump in air over a rather broad area so the Vid card and HDD get some benefit. You can tweak airflow paths with deflectors or by planning where the air will exit.

Yes---a large tabletop type Heatsink-Big Typhoon and Aerocool Dominator being examples-should do well with a side fan. For a tower,Ducting to an exit -whether there's an exhaust fan or just a hole can help create the air flow path.

I'd mention too....where you put the computer can be relevant. As has been noted---the big hole on one side will allow soundwaves out. You would not put this on the desk and to the right. That's closest to the ears. On the floor and to the left would mean MUCH less sound you hear.

I've also considered "encasing" one of these basic Big-Fan cases,a wood box with louvered side so sond gets deflected to the rear but airflow is not restricted. In such a thing I'd also leave a gap at the top so I could have air exit top holes cut in the metal case-but into a chamber in the wood shell that opens only to the rear. The wood housing could even be partly lined with carpet or foam. In a fancy setup----there could also be a seperate chamber for a fanless PSU. Such a housing need not be directly attached to the original case-thogh that's possible. It would mean the Puter takes up some extra space. However---it's not a difficult mod to do.

I sort of imagine in Brazil everyone has a pile of nice Rosewood and Mahogany to do such projects