Anyone used Chilli Pro ATX Al case before?

bchung · Post by **bchung** » Sat Jul 17, 2004 9:28 pm

Has anyone tried this case? Granted not all mobos will fit due to I/O plate. But nothing a dremel won't fix. Note that the base is plastic and the rear plate appears to be thin steel.

Review here with link to e-tailer.

Intro:
Thick as hell anodized solid aluminum construction (except base)
PSU on bottom, upside down motherboard also aligned at bottom rear. Zilch fixed inner framework.

What I like about it:
Its small, but not too small. It has solid anodized aluminum panels. It looks cool. No fixed internal obstructions. The front is sealed. So while there is no air coming in, there is definately no noise from the front. Nice possibilities for heatpipes.

What I am planning on doing:
0. Improve airflow by removing grill on rear fan mount.
1. Turn the PSU fan off or turn it the other way, so the airflow issue goes away.
2. PSU caging has to be modded for more airflow to CPU HS. Perhaps a duct from the bottom of the case since the CPU is so close.
3. HD mounts may actually work silently (due to mass), but there is more than enough space inside for a suspension mount of 2-3 HDs. I imagine 2 brackets made from bent aluminum sheet attached to a panel. The brackets have elastic (or in my case 1/8" solid silicone) cord for suspension.
4. Make an internal baffle and line it with some "ultrasoft" polyurethane foam (feels kind of like memory foam). Probably A-shaped with the outlet being a little behind the DVD/CDRW. I might even lose a PCI slot. *GASP*

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:44 am

It's one of, or maybe the worst PC case I've ever seen. We've discussed it several times (search for "chili" or the like) here at SPCR, and even the few reviews that you can find online are almost all pretty negative.

This is not a case to use for building a "quiet PC". It's got really crappy airflow.

And even from a non-SPCR point of view, it's still a crappy case. It's probably the most user-unfriendly case I've ever seen, plus it costs an arm and a leg.

Here's a couple of other reviews to chew on:

http://www.modsynergy.com/Review%20101.htm

http://www.overclockercafe.com/Reviews/ ... icro-Case/

bchung · Post by **bchung** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 9:01 am

Thanks for the input Ralf. BUT, I'm still went ahead and got it for $64 shipped on fleabay.

Since its got those lovely large thick aluminum sides, I'm toying with:

- Replacing the plastic base with an aluminum one. Make an aluminum wedge to bridge the CPU to the new base, with maybe a small peltier thrown in.
- Moving the mosfets off the PSU HS to either the base or a panel.

Edward Ng · Post by **Edward Ng** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 10:53 am

But...but...

Isn't that, like, the case that comes up 8 times out of 10 when we get silly and start discussing the worst possible case ever?

Oh man...

I bid you good luck!

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Jul 18, 2004 5:17 pm

Edward Ng wrote:But...but...

Isn't that, like, the case that comes up 8 times out of 10 when we get silly and start discussing the worst possible case ever?

Yes, it is.

Mr. Chung is obviously a guy who relishes a challenge!

I wish him luck also.

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Thu Jul 22, 2004 4:52 am

I had the mATX version a few years back....I was running a 1.2GHz T-Bird and a GF2 or GF3 (can't remember) and that case was COOKING. I can't imagine using it with anything today...though the T-Birds ran pretty hot too.

It does have some ventilation holes in the bottom plastic plate, but with the CPU being boxed in by the video card and PSU, everything bakes at the bottom of the case with no way air to flow through it. The CPU ends up saturating the video card as the heat rises from it. It sounds like you guys already know all about it though....

Beautiful sturdy case, horrendous internal design.

Tom

tofutti · Post by **tofutti** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 10:57 am

i have one. yes, it is quite a chore to work with. i've gotten used to it.

i used to have a dual amd in it... back then it was basically a box stuffed solid with computer parts.

now i have a 2500@3200, 9600np. i used to only run a zalman 7000 alcu @5V. currently i'm also running 92mm L1A exhaust (i was paranoid for summer).

mods:
- stamped fan grill cut out
- perforated the hell out of the bottom (plastic) panel
- put some 2 inch feet on the bottom
- removed fan from psu (seasonic ss 400W)
- cut a 92mm hole on psu casing (zalman hsf kinda intakes air across the psu heatsink)
- nibbled pci slots to get vid cards/sound cards/mobo to fit

it works. im happy.

next test will be when i throw a next gen vid card into it (likely a 6800GT)

bchung · Post by **bchung** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:30 pm

tofutti wrote:i have one. yes, it is quite a chore to work with. i've
gotten used to it.

So I basically I've been going through the list of mods I listed in OP.

0. I didn't actually remove the grill, I covered it with some 1/16" aluminum sheet. Cut a slot at the top of the rear panel and put a VERY slow "slot exhaust cooler". Slowly wafting the hot air out of the case.

1/2. I took apart the PSU completely. Moved the MOSFETS to the side panel of the case. Made a small 1/16" sheet aluminum casing for the PSU. Cut 2 slots with neoprene ducts to cool the remaining live MOSFET and coils in the PSU. Put a slow slot cooler on that also. Exhaust is going upwards and fresh air is ducted from the rear of the case. The PSU is located next to the hard drive bracket, as it is smaller than the HS assembly.

1/2. I ducted the original PSU intake to a NCU-1000 with a 5V 80mm panaflow. Was a bit of a hassle, since I'm running an XP1800. Nothing a mill couldn't fix.

3. Attached 1/2" x 3" x 7" bars of aluminum (was too lazy to fin them) to the hard drives. Placed all of that on 8 layers of 1/4" ultrasoft sorbothane.

4. Haven't seen the need for this yet.

5. Got a Arctic silencer VGA rev 3 for my FX 5600. Again, nothing a mill coulnd't fix.

That comes out to 51C CPU, 41C HD, 41C case after an overnight run of Sandra. The best part: I can't hear anything, the whooshing of the central air is louder.

I'm satisfied now, but if I feel movtivated, I might still baffle the inside and try some heatpipes from the CPU to the case. Also one thing that nags me is the bottom panel of plastic, have wanted to make an aluminum one since the beginning. If I do that, I'd make a direct duct from the base of the case to the Zen and maybe even the PSU.

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:05 am

bchung: PICS!

After submitting my last post I started to think of ways to optimize that case...and remembered that I have a 200W Shuttle PS laying around. Not that I would use it, but the size of Shuttle's XPC PSUs could work well up high in that case. If I only still had mine - also have a mATX board and Tualatin laying around.

Tom

bchung · Post by **bchung** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 11:15 am

TMonte wrote:bchung: PICS!

After submitting my last post I started to think of ways to optimize that case...and remembered that I have a 200W Shuttle PS laying around. Not that I would use it, but the size of Shuttle's XPC PSUs could work well up high in that case. If I only still had mine - also have a mATX board and Tualatin laying around.

Tom

Working on the pics, my F100 is being very weird. I just don't understand how there are not more people using the NCu-1000 for cpu cooling. Its a very nice design and with a low voltage 80mm fan can work wonders.

Before I had the NCU-1000 ducting, arctic silencer and PSU ports, I just had a 120mm @5V enermax on the HS. I still had the PSU port un-covered, with a total of 2 fans, 1 on the HS and stock whinemaster on the FX 5600. Idled at 44C, peaked at 53C, overnight burn on Sandra.

It is a very nice heatsink. Doubly nice when the mounting is forced to fit on a gigabyte 7VRX mobo in the chilli case which almost touches the HS when you put the panel on.

tay · Post by **tay** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 12:05 pm

*bump* for some pics. I love the aesthetics, but how did you get your motherboard to fit

with the stamped thingy in there.

bchung · Post by **bchung** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 3:29 pm

tay wrote:*bump* for some pics. I love the aesthetics, but how did you get your motherboard to fit with the stamped thingy in there.

If you mean the back panel, it is removable. The whole case can be taken apart into panels. Makes working on the pieces very easy. Since it is all screws, its not for frequently changing/swapping components. On the flip side, it is sturdy as hell and does not rattle.

On top of which it nice thermal characteristic and a sleek, slim body. All in all, I believe I have found the case I will use for a VERY long time.

TMonte · Post by **TMonte** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 1:14 am

PICS!!!