Project 620: Case Cooling 101
 The In Win Q500 ATX case is a tower case measuring a full 24 inches high. It
has lots of room for expansion so if I get the itch to add stuff like DVD, tape back up,
more hard drives, etc., I can do it without any problems.
Big case also run cooler than small case. Less heat
build up. However, there was still room for improvements. Proper airflow though a case is
the key to having a nice cool running system. Having a big case helps, but a small case
with good airflow will out perform a big case with bad or no airflow.
Setting up good airflow requires you to work out how
air gets in and out of your case. Many people just concentrate on getting air in to a case
with no thoughts as to how they will get the air out. In one minute, Project 620 will pump
216 cubic feet of air in to the case. If you don't work out a way to move that air out,
you end up heating up the case because of pressure build up. Remember high school physics?
What happens when you compress air? It's heats up!
Basically, Project 620 uses a 2 stage air circulation
system. The first system draws cool air in from the lower front and blows it out the back.
The second draws air in from the side "blow hole" and exhausts it out the power
supply and another exhaust fan.
The In Win came with a mount at the front of the case
for a 3" intake fan. The first thing I did was toss it in the trash. In its place I
put a 4.75" high power Sunon fan from AMK Services. This fan moves 108 cubic foot of air per minute, ALLOT
more than what a 3" case fan can do.
The fan draws its air from the bottom front of the
case. The lower face of the case had 3 rows of small holes to let air in. The holes were
spaced about half inch apart. I removed the face and drilled the holes bigger using a 5/32
drill bit. I also added another hole between each hole and drilled 2 more rows of holes.
 
Then I took a 1/4" drill bit and drilled some
holes 6 inches up the sides and all along the bottom of the case face. This really freed
up the air flowing into the case. The 4.75" fan is mounted on a metal grill with a
lot of small holes. Again, taking the 1/4" drill bit, I drilled those out too.
Next Page: Case Cooling 201
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