How do you plug up unused fan grills?

Elcs · Post by **Elcs** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:07 am

My CM Centurion 590 is pretty much set up as Id like it to be and I am trying to apply the finishing touches.

I have heard that closing off all of the unused grill holes can help ever so slightly with noise and heat.

How do you do it? Simple duct tape to cover the holes? Some sort of sheath?

Please impart your wisdom and experiences.

One question I do have that I cannot find an answer to:

The CM590 has a small 80mm x 15mm fan spot behind the motherboard tray. Is it worth sticking anything in there and if I am keeping my PC silent, would a slim 80mm fan actually move any worthwhile air at a silent noise level?

FartingBob · Post by **FartingBob** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 8:41 am

Depends how much you care about how your PC looks inside.
Duct taope for the small vents, some stiff card for larger one. As long as the holes are fully blocked up it doesnt really matter what you use. Of course you could make it look much prettier, but it wont impove airflow one bit over good old duct tape.

bonestonne · Post by **bonestonne** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:12 am

avoid duct tape itself, you'll have a nasty clean up job if you ever want it gone.

packing tape (the clear stuff) or the wide masking tape are idea, they leave minimal to no residue. gaffer's tape is also a good choice, but it's much more expensive than most other tapes (so not usually the best choice).

on my cooler master elite 330 (i wanted a centurion though) i used clear packing tape and its fine, i've used it on other cases too, and as long as you fold over an edge (to make a pull tab of sorts) it'll come off without a problem.

nici · Post by **nici** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 11:28 am

If you want it to look nice and be sure it sticks, use aluminium tape. Major PITA to remove it though. But as already mentioned, pretty much any tape or cardboard / sheets of wahtever work.

Elcs · Post by **Elcs** » Sat Aug 30, 2008 10:43 pm

bonestonne wrote:avoid duct tape itself, you'll have a nasty clean up job if you ever want it gone.

I read the first reply, cracked out my duct tape and Ive done almost all of it.

The only benefit so far is a reduction in GPU idle temp by about 3C.

I still have the rear panel to do plus the fan spot at the back to cover.