Project 850
The InWin 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 RAM, tape back up, more hard drives, etc., I can do it without any problems.
Big case run cooler than small case. Less heat build
up. However, like everything else, there were still room for improvements. Proper airflow
through 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 into a case
with no thoughts as to how they will get the air out. In one minute, Project 850 will pump
240 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 850 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 120 cubic foot of air per minute, A LOT
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.
The side of the case holds a 4.75 inch "blow
hole" fan. At first this fan was set to take air out. However I later flipped it to
bring air in. I did this because the fan on the Alpha P3125 blew air down onto the
heatsink. So if I had the blow hole blowing out, it creates a vacuum. By having the blow
hole blow in, both the Alpha fans and the 4.75" fan are blowing in the same
direction. No more vacuums. A finger guard was placed in front of the blow hole fan to
protect little kids (or big kids) from sticking their fingers inside.
Next Page: Hard Drive Cooling
[Page 1] [Page
2] [Page 3] [Page 4] [Page 5] [Page 6] [Page
7] [Home]
Talk about it at The Tech Zone Forums
|
