Passive System with 360mm Case Fan

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 7:42 am

So, this is probably the product of sleep deprivation, but has anyone ever taken a tower or something and made everything in it fanless then put it on its side and cut open the left panel and put like a 360mm exhaust fan on it as the only active cooling? Maybe undervolt it or something, it seems like 126cfm would be a little more than needed since it would also use convection pretty well. Seems like it would be a fun experiment to me.
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8160/ ... g36c15s808

Vicotnik · Post by **Vicotnik** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:05 am

Seems a bit complicated since a normal 120mm fan would do. If you're not a hardcore gamer or overclocker that is.

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 8:44 am

You think a 120mm is sufficient at low speeds? The point is to have a fanless psu, gpu, cpu etc. i wonder if you just took the left panel off if it would work entirely on convection? That would be pretty saucy, though I think your price performance ratio would be very high.

Sylph-DS · Post by **Sylph-DS** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:17 am

A system like that could probably work, but it would need quite a lot of design work. If you just take an ATX motherboard and stick a big fan on top I'm not sure how much of the airflow will actually go into the places you want them to go. It'd be an interesting project.

If you're not trying to be innovative and experimental though, I wouldn't bother trying. Most likely you can get three or four 120mm fans at low speed to be as quiet as a 360mm at 600rpm. Remember, a lot of quiet fans is generally better than a single noisy one.

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:30 am

There is at least one case that comes with a 360mm/36cm fan. This is the XClio Propeller Midi Tower Case. From one of my local hardware dealers this is actually a fairly cheap case costing just Â£35 here in the UK.

There are reviews at
http://www.futurelooks.com/xclio-propel ... se-review/
and
http://www.tweaknews.net/reviews/xclio_ ... uter_case/

Ch0z3n · Post by **Ch0z3n** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:45 am

I wasn't actually going to try it, I can't afford a modular PSU much less a new case and new fans and power tools and what all. It just seemed like fun to theorycraft. My guess is that you would seal up the case nice and tight then put air holes on the right panel and raise it off the ground a bit. The only problem with that is (with my VERY limited knowledge of aerodynamics) I am not sure how much cooling would get to the center of the board.

lodestar · Post by **lodestar** » Fri Oct 03, 2008 9:55 am

The second review includes this comment

"... In this case, bigger is not better, as the Propeller chassis seems to do a rather lackluster job of keeping the CPU and motherboard components cool. I'm a bit puzzled by these results, and ran the tests a couple of times to make sure the outcome was the same. At any rate, the propeller chassis' 360mm fan was very quiet, even at its maximum speed. There seems to be a lot of air coming out of the front and rear of the case, but the huge fan may be creating a dead spot opposite the hub, where the CPU and monitored mobo components are located...."

which suggests that your concern about how much cooling would get to the center of the board is entirely justified. Based on both reviews the conclusion seems to be that despite their mega size 360mm/36cm fans are not effective in cooling current PC motherboards.