Wooden case episode 3 out of ?

niels007 · Post by **niels007** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:13 am

After seeing the (not too bright) light I did some quick 3D modelling to see how it would en up looking like.

A very compact (300x200x600mm) case and I decided to copy the commercially used CPU cooling 'tunnel'. The heatsink being a Sonic Tower (by our beloved TT) with a Nexus fan sandwhiched between the towers. One catch is that on Socket A mainboards it needs some custom parts to be mounted this way, it would aim 'up' by default. It might also collide with the NB. Lets hope it doesnt! (I am also scared by the tower)

Not drawn is the duct from the lower 120mm fan to the GPU and out of the back, Silencer style. The bottom chamber is for the PSU and harddisk(s), with a hole in the bottom for air intake to provide some airflow over the drives, which shouldn't produce enough heat to ramp up any PSU surely!

So what's the catch? There might be multiple..
- custom 90deg mounting of the heatsink
- PSU cable routing has to go above the AGP slot for the power connector (NF7-s)
- dust in the harddisk chamber
- potential mainboard heat doesn't get out with use of two tunnels

I could make a hole at the bottom / rear of the CPU tunnel allowing case heat to get into the tunnel where it will be blown out, not affecting CPU cooling as the air already passed through it...

Any thoughts?

Niels

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 9:09 am

Definitely look at some other CPU heat sink, which won't require modification to operate in the desired orientation (like the Scythe Heatlane Zen).

Your cabling issues might be less problematic if you flip the motherboard section upside-down BTX style.

PS · Post by PS » Fri Jun 10, 2005 12:02 pm

neils,

the two fans in the front would be somthing that I personally would try to avoid. Perhaps you could design it as a desktop system (like a HTPC), and then you could at least move the fan openings to the bottom of the case....

that's my 2 cents.

-PS

IsaacKuo · Post by **IsaacKuo** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 1:05 pm

How about a layout something like this:

Code: Select all

           ________
          |    CDROM
          |========|
          :        |
exhaust-> :  CPU  /|
          |______/ |
          : GPU /  |
exhaust-> :    / H |
          |====  D |
exhaust-> :PSU   D |
          |        |
          |::::::::| <-bottom/side intakes

The diagonal line is a partial wall with two fans--one aimed at the CPU and the other aimed at the GPU. This wall doesn't go fully to the far side, providing a slot for the motherboard to fit in. Airflow goes up from the bottom intake and gets blown out the rear by the two fans and the PSU.

niels007 · Post by **niels007** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 11:12 am

Thanks for the comments!

PS: Yes point taken.. Thing is though with a minimal size case its pretty tough! With the cpu fan being sandwiched between the two towers of the heatsink there is quite a bit of distance to the front of the case. I might be able to bring the GPU fan inside a bit more as well, Isaac tech drawing style

I have two side panel mounted fans now, and at around 500RPM, Nexus fans are pretty dead silent anyway so I'm not too worried. Saving space is more important to me, living in 12 square meters.

Isaac: yes that would be a logical step, flipping the mainboard. I have a heavy heatsink hanging from my graphics card, so gravity makes sense and cable routing will be easier..

Your drawing would work but the case might get deeper than 300mm. It would be better from a direct noise path from fans perspective for sure though..