My Design of silent Computer Case (Wood) -Link Repaired-

Enclosures and acoustic damping to help quiet them.

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Ham-Solo
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My Design of silent Computer Case (Wood) -Link Repaired-

Post by Ham-Solo » Wed May 26, 2004 4:10 am

I would like to show and search for opinions for my design which inspired by one of home-brew muffler design...
All post apriciated :?:
Image

Note: there can be problems viewing the image due to server please visit back in a few minutes or click the link below
http://www.geocities.com/tigintore/

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Wed May 26, 2004 2:08 pm

The picture is not working though the link is healthy looking still waiting for posts.
The project's main target is to build stable, silent and good looking case, construction material is 18mm mdf.

chylld
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Post by chylld » Wed May 26, 2004 3:37 pm

welcome to SPCR!

nice drawing.. what's the thing at the bottom though? (the section under the main case)

PhilgB
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Post by PhilgB » Wed May 26, 2004 3:42 pm

Is the arrow looking thing the direction of airflow? If it is, it would be better the other way. Also, since you are building it from scratch, you should consider designing air channels. That way you could probably cut one of the fans.

How will you be cooling the CPU and how much heat will it dissipate? Right now it looks like the airflow is going around the cpu.

Do you plan on suspending your drives? If you do, you would want to airflow to pass across them before going through the rest of your case.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 1:43 am

Well let me explain how it works,
The bottom channel works as a intake muffler silences the fan intake fan which flows to the mainboard. The pipes works as a silencer to keep the noise in the case. The triangular shape is not a arrow to sign the air flow but to direct fresh air to cpu-agp slot and to the hard drives.
Upper section is to take the heated air through the psu and air holes, and let it off the case...
Suspending the drives is not considered because of the insulation of wood it self...
Hope it is clear enough to answer your consernes...
Note: edited the pic to view the air flow.

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 2:31 am

Have you considered a seperate intake channel for the PSU?

Heh, have you seen this: MikeC's external PSU PC

You might do well to make a counter current heatsink (see main SPCR page) and exhaust your CPU heat out before the air gets to the PSU. That way they can both run quietly.

Also, an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer may be worth looking into. Though the current version probably won't be compatible with a PCI Express Graphics card.

Hightech 9800pro w/silencer are prob. still sold at newegg if you don't want to take the risk of breaking a voided warranty graph card.

Lifecycle
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Post by Lifecycle » Thu May 27, 2004 2:46 am

I am wondering how effective the central "V" deflector will be because it seems to me that if air is flowing from bottom to top then air will simply be directed straight up (across the "V") rather than the V actually pushing air out to either side, as intended. That is, it will act more like an aircraft wing in that air flows over and around it, rather than the air being pushed out effectively at near right angles (which is what you want), particularly if the pressure across the "V" is even (or worse, negative).

It's an interesting and novel concept though but I think some testing would be needed to assess its effectiveness as it may need high (positive) airflow to work, which would counter the noise gains from the muffler. I think the location of the PSU (fan) is mainly the issue here, I think. If you look at the Nexus Breeze case, which has airflow in a similar fashion, still has the PSU positioned in the traditional location, so the airflow is upwards and towards the top back of the case (from the same viewpoint as your diagram), that is, air is directed to the CPU area.

I do, like the idea of your muffler though. This looks like a nice, logical move, and should be great for lowering the noise levels.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 7:28 am

lifecycle & trip
Thank you for your advices, V part needs some work as you have said, the aim is to direct the cool air where it should go will it work that is a question...
Upper side and the PSU needs some work, I'm thinking of opening it up and relase from the PSU case for better air ventilation...
Taking out will make greater noise than it's current status and contradicts the aim of the project... I am searching for a fanless, ZALMAN VGA cooler.
And recently I have an idea of adding a Hdd fan for better cooling, air vents reshaping in order to cycle cool air...

SpyderCat
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Post by SpyderCat » Thu May 27, 2004 9:12 am

Ham-Solo,

Once you're building in wood, get some nice veneers too, and make a beautiful wooden box.
You'll probably need real wood for the corners.

And show pictures when you're done! :P

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Thu May 27, 2004 10:16 am

interesting concepts, Ham-Solo, especially the idea of burying the fans in the case, but with a number of issues that need rethinking:

1) All the hot air in the system goes through the PSU. No way you can keep the PSU fan running slow with this setup. Not if you want that PSU to last.

2) Never mind if it is made of wood -- the HDD vibrations will still make
the entire case resonate through conduction. Vibration is incredibly insidious -- goes everywhere. And 7200 rpm 3.5" HDDs have enough 120Hz vibration to pass through very dense and heavy materials. Guaranteed, unless you use a whole tree. :lol:

3) Agreed that the upper and low fans facing each other direct in the main chamber will encourage the airflow to take the shortest path and bypass the rest.

hofffam
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Post by hofffam » Thu May 27, 2004 10:32 am

Ham-solo,

How are you going to mount the motherboard? Directly to a wood side panel? How will you handle the ATX connector panel?

I have always been told (I don't know by who!) that grounding was important.

One idea for the motherboard is to buy a motherboard tray for those cases that have removable motherboard trays. You'll have a metal panel that way.

Also - have you considered the EMI aspect of a wood case? Wood provides no shielding for EMI and it is very likely that your computer will interfere with nearby AM radios.

I am considering building a wood case also and have considered adding thin sheet metal to the side panels.

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 11:38 am

One solution to your problem might be to blow an exhaust fan upwards towards the PSU exhaust from the CPU. How does that sound?

GenghiS_KhaN
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Post by GenghiS_KhaN » Thu May 27, 2004 11:57 am

i remade your case as i think it would be easier and better for airflow and temps.
First the original
then mine
What do you guys think?

Image

MikeC
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Post by MikeC » Thu May 27, 2004 2:08 pm

Better, but that's a lot of fans and a lot of wasted space. When someone builds one, I'll put my ghetto external PSU system against it for noise AND temps. I know where my $ would go. ;)

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 3:04 pm

Well a lot of things said lol :)
thanks for the start...
I redesign the psu and put it back to the original place with a few changes (opening the case and giving it more air with a bigger and a silent fan)hoping that cooling the psu with the most air as can.
I changed the bottom and made it thinner and gave it to upper channel.
I will use it with only one hdd though I have further plans for a raid 1 system
I will use my old case's mainboard attachment for the wood case.
Lastly,
I didn't give a thought about radio waves and EMI... Is it a big stake?
Image

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 3:09 pm

From the original design, what do you think about this:

Move the bottom intake fan as far to the right as is possible (to retain the muffler or indirect intake vent) Orient the HDDs above this, perhaps vertically suspended so that air flows up them. Glue a few RAM sinks to their sides if possible for better cooling. You may not even need the intake fan.

Cut an intake for the PSU as GenghiS_KhaN demonstrated. Move the PSU closer to it but leave a little space for a muffler or just a foam coated hole. Place a fan behind the PSU but run it as low as is necessary.

Place a fan by the CPU blowing into the PSU's exhaust channel behind the PSU fan. There should be space between this and the end of the exhaust tunnel for an indirect noise path.

For EMI, Mike used a wire mesh screen cover in his PC in a Breadbox

I still highly recommend the counter current heatsink and the VGA cooler I showed you (unless you want a better graphics card than the 9800pro). People seem to be very pleased with the cooler. Remember, the heat released from the fanless Zalman cooler is released into the case and must be exhausted by the case fan. Most of the heat from the Arctic Cooling cooler is directly exhausted. Remember, 2 undervolted fans produce less noise than 1 pushing the same amount of air.

I want you to work hard on this now - so you can dethrone Mike!

EDIT: actually, try and find a mobo with the CPU towards the back and side of the mobo. duct this out into the PSU exhaust using the counter current heatsink model and place a second and third fan behind this. Rather than have them on the side of the PSU, place them on the side of the exhaust but next to the CPU exhaust. Run them at very low speed. If you're running a high powered CPU, run 2 80mm for CPU exhaust at very low speed and three 80mm for PSU exhaust tunnel. Block any other holes.

Just some rambling thoughts :)
Last edited by Trip on Thu May 27, 2004 3:46 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 3:43 pm

@Trip
Is it somethig like this?
Image

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 3:48 pm

Nearly, take away the intake fan for the PSU. Unless you use the counter current heatsink, move the PSU exhaust fan closer to the PSU. Actually, you'll be using a standard PSU right? Just use the fan that comes with the PSU.

The final exhaust hole (between PSU tunnel and outside) should be relatively large and unrestricted.

The edit to my previous post was truly a ramble. I forgot that the PSU you'll be using would have its own fan. :)

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 3:56 pm

This does makes sense...
What did you mean by "side of the psu"?
current place is to the rear and the exhaust fan.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 3:58 pm

I got it, that was just a mess about realtime posting and a bit confusing thanks for the support...
I'll revise the plan as so...
Last edited by Ham-Solo on Thu May 27, 2004 4:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 4:00 pm

I meant closer to the PSU itself as opposed to closer to the final exhaust. I forgot that the PSU would have its own fan though so just use the PSU's fan and the fan exhausting by the CPU. If you include the case intake fan, you'll have three fans total.

In my ramble I had mentioned that using more fans to push the same air is quieter. If you run a high powered system, you may consider this.

If it's still unclear what I'm proposing, feel free to just ask again and I'll be more thorough.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 4:07 pm

Do you think the fan between the cpu and exhaust hole is unnessary?

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 4:12 pm

No, you'll need that. Oh, I mean 4 fans total including the fan in the PSU and the fan on the CPU. doh!

After you get this worked out, listen to some suggestions from some others.

What do you think of this: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article144-page1.html

There are a lot of ideas floating around in here 8)
Last edited by Trip on Thu May 27, 2004 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 4:14 pm

I'm using a thermaltake 420W PSU with an additional fan at the bottom. A quiet 12cm fan should be the only thing I'll hear..

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 4:23 pm

I had looked it before and liked it very much..
that can be added to this case but main problem was exhaust and it looks as it's solved.
the problem of this design is giving hot air to the case it self...
I will use this case with my 2500 barton overclocked to 3000 so cooling is necessary.
Last edited by Ham-Solo on Thu May 27, 2004 4:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 4:27 pm

One of these?

Oh, well I missed that. I wouldn't use it to pull any air from the CPU. Rather, let the PSU cool itself. Be sure to try the PSU flipped upside down so that the fan is facing upwards. This way air is blowing down on the heatsink inside the PSU. It may help or it may hurt to have it run upside down.

If you're advocating exhausting the warmed case air through the PSU itself, then you should be aware that this will heat the PSU and cause its fan to run faster in order to cool itself.

For the setup I suggested, an 80mm PSU may work a little easier. You'll want to seal off part of the PSU tunnel so that warm air isn't pulled into the PSU from the CPU... Seal between the exhaust of the PSU and the intake of the PSU in the tunnel. JUst put up a barrier just above the exhaust of the PSU.

Actually, another setup for a 12cm PSU woudl be: have the PSU exhaust out where we currently have an intake for the PSU and keep the CPU exhaust the same, perhaps slant the CPU's exhaust fan a little towards the left exhaust.
Last edited by Trip on Thu May 27, 2004 4:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 4:33 pm

something like this...
http://www.thermaltake.com/purepower/w00089.htm
Well if that is the situation then the psu fan will act as a secondary exhaust... Which is not very healty as you have pointed out.
original solution looks better...

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 4:44 pm

Oh, well that should be fine with the previous plan. Be sure to check out the recommended section of SPCR and particularly the Enermax PSU review. It's a similarly designed PSU.

Make sure the PSU doesn't pull in any hot air though. Seal off whatever you need to so that the PSU pulls fresh air through that intake fan.

I think you'd still prefer a single fanned 80mm PSU but you could make a 2 fan PSU work by sealing something off in that tunnel. The "seal" wouldn't need to be airtight - a piece of cardboard would suffice.

Anyway, I'm out, time to eat, study, and sleep. Good luck!

EDIT: you may find this thread interesting: http://forums.silentpcreview.com/viewtopic.php?t=8450
Last edited by Trip on Thu May 27, 2004 4:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Ham-Solo
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Post by Ham-Solo » Thu May 27, 2004 4:47 pm

I think you miss that the psu takes cool air from outside, and gives to the exhaust. Altering and changing the psu exhaust will just make things harder... slanting the cpu fan seem reasonable...
thanks for the posts and thoughts a quality case is on the way...
it will take time about a month to put it in the material. thanks for your help again I'll be looking forward to all posts...
Last edited by Ham-Solo on Thu May 27, 2004 4:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Trip
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Post by Trip » Thu May 27, 2004 4:51 pm

Oh no, don't change anything inside the PSU but use a piece of wood or something to seperate in the PSU tunnel the exhaust from the intake so that the only way for air to flow is from the right side, through the PSU, and out the other side. You don't want it flowing from the PSU and back into the PSU. See what I mean?

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