A case challenge

[amdskip]

I am building a system for a custom woodworking shop. They build kitchens and anything else people can come up with. This shop also finishes all the projects with sprayed on polyurathane. This stuff gets everywhere and is cakey like and white. This computer is in the front office showroom area and is still vulnerable to dust and whatever particles are in the air. I am planning on using two 120mm panaflos(one intake and one outtake). I would also like to use a 60mm hard drive fan. I will for sure be using those nice metal filters to help keep the dirt out. I guess it will be a good idea to buy just one rounded ata100 cable and just round the other cables myself(I'm on a budget) I am wondering about the heatsink. This is going to be an Asus A7V board with a 1000 Thunderbird and I was going to use a FOP32 but was wondering if I wouldn't be better off using one of those nifty fan adapters our fellow anandtecher's are selling on the board. This will be a midtower case with a 330W enermax and I was wondering if someone has suggestions for a $30-75 case with super airflow? Anyone have any suggestions at all with this system, feel free to post

Amdskip

 

[mechBgon]

If you want lots of airflow, how about a Lite-On FS020? Have a look at Coolcases.com. The FS020 has positions for two 120mm exhaust fans and one 120mm intake fan, and jfh is a proven guy who has sold cases to the Forum members for a long time. You could request customization too.

For a 1GHz Tbird, the FOP32-1 is a nice heatsink with a high-quality, long-life fan. With the A7V you could also opt for the Alpha PEP66, since it fits the A7V even with a 25mm fan on it.

As far as the dirt/paint issue... if you don't need frequent access to the computer's drives to change diskettes/CD's, how about putting the whole thing in a sealed case and using a heat-exchange system to cool it? I'm envisioning a wood case with a convoluted aluminum duct that runs through it. A fan could pump air through the duct and pick up the heat off the system without actually letting any air into the sealed enclosure that houses the computer. You could have a door on the front to allow access when you do have to change disks. Just a brainstorm.

 

[sitka]

Set both fans to blow in and it will cause positive pressure in the case and keep the dust out except on the filters.

Use a hard drive cooler that mounts on the bottom of the drive and just moves case air across the bottom of the drive, a little performance hit but again you are in better control of the ambient air particulate.

Mount one of the intake 120s in the side panel so it is pointing directly at the cpu/heatsink and then use a taisol with the low profile fan. Scru the adapter.

Don't get the Antec SX case(s) because the door latch would confound the fan placement described above. Pick a very plain case and get the guys in the woodshop to apply some venneer and or picture framing to it a various locations to make it look sylin' and a little crown molding around the top and built up baseboard might look good.

I wouldn't self round ata cables for any box that makes other people money. Don't mess with the fsb speed leave it stock for compatibility and drive integrity

 

[amdskip]

Thanks for the input, anyone else?

 

[Sundog]

I second the LiteOn FS020, it is top rate.

 

[amdskip]

I got my case I use right now from Jim but I'm on a budget now

 

[murdock2525]

I dunno........If I was building a rig for a cabinet shop I would assume they build cabinets and not play games. Why the 1 gig ? If its for business get a desktop case and a slower, cooler, cheaper processor.
A 700 Tbird is waaaay enough. What's with the A7 ? Get something with onboard audio and video. If its dusty why flow all that air ? Put one fan in the back and forget it.
Sounds like your trying to put a rockn'roll Gameboy system where it doesn't belong unless the cabinet guys are nite time gamers at the shop.
If it's just for business give them a nice, reliable, inexpensive rig that takes up as little space as possible. That's what business PC's are all about. I build allot of them(10-15 / month).I use Celerons and Enlight cases with Matsonic or Amptron motherboards,128 ram, a real good fax modem, small 5400 HDD...slap the monitor on top and let'em roll.

 

[FriedRiceBob]

if you want inexpensive and high airflow, look for the Yeong Yang 5402 or 5403. They feature front and back 120mm fans, and in general are a good sturdy case. they can be had for right around 50 from a few places, just search on pricegrabber. although they only come with a 250W ps, you said you were throwing in a 330 anyway, so you can keep the 250 for a backup or something. if you used the global fop32, you'd be fine, but could use a 80mm fan adapter to get same or better cfm at low noise. hope this helps you out.

 

[amdskip]

Thanks so far everyone. The reason they want a faster computer is because this is a custom woodworking shop meaning no two things alike. They use a program to design just about everything that comes through the shop. I don't remember the name but it was like $5000 for it and updates are $1000 with a $500 fee per year just to run the program. They have a 600mhz computer now and they want to go faster. The program renders somewhat so the customers can see the finished look. There is even some sort of key that has to be inserted in the computer(I think a pci card) or else the program won't work.

 

[Sluggo]

If they are doing CAD work, dont short them on the vid card, or they will hunt you down like a wounded animal.

If there is polyurethane in the air, you need to do everything you can to reduce contamination inside the case. Maybe consider dismantling a painters mask, and using the filters from that in some kind of easily changeable set-up. They sell replacement filters way cheap, and the people would probably love your ingenuity, since they more than likely have lots of painters mask filters laying around

 

[BA]

If they need a CD, I'd dig up an older caddy plextor, those things are invincible.

 

[amdskip]

No painters masks, this is a professional custom wood shop and they use the $$ ones. The program is CAD I know for a fact is a program just for cabinets. Anyone else? BTW this has to be a midtower case and can be a maximum of 9" wide.

 

[mechBgon]

I've got it!!! Get an Inwin Q500 full-tower case, and seal up all the holes in it with aluminum ducting tape. Use a sheetmetal blade in an electric jigsaw to cut a blowhole for a 120mm fan on the side panel and a blowhole for an 80mm fan on the top panel. Go to an automotive wrecking yard, hunt down the top cap from the air-cleaner assembly of a GM V8 engine (look for a Chevy Impala or Caprice Classic, or equivalent car).

Now drill a 1/4" hole close to the edge of the blowhole on the side panel. Find a bolt long enough to hold the appropriate size of Fram automotive air filter to the side of the case with the air-cleaner cap you got. Since all the vent holes are sealed, all the air going into the case will be pulled through the air filter by the 120mm fan. Restriction should not be a problem, since those filters can handle hundreds of CFM. You can change the air filter every month or two for about $4.

With a Panaflo L1A 120mm fan, you would have about 65 cfm entering the case from the side, and if you put an L1A on the top as an exhaust blowhole, the exhaust fans should be slightly less powerful than the intake fan, resulting in a tendency for air to come out any small holes you missed, keeping paint and dust out. If the side blowhole is centered at the level of the AGP card, it will cool both the cards and the CPU. The Panaflo L1A models are low-rpm fans that most people find tolerable for overall noise levels. You can find them at Teamawe and CaseEtc among others. If noise is not an issue, there are much more-powerful 120mm fans you could use in place of the Panaflo.

 

[mechBgon]

Just for the heck of it, here are two pics to illustrate the air-filter idea. They're hosted on Tripod, so you will have to click a follow-through link to view them.

Pic of my S500 and the air cleaner off my car
Air cleaner on side panel, covering the blowhole

You might consider an S500 as a good alternative to the Q500 (the taller case in the pics is my old Q600, which is a Q500 with an alternate bezel style). The S500 is less expensive and you could simply put the 80mm exhaust fan in the provided spot on the rear panel, and cut a blowhole on the side for the intake as I did. The Enlight 7237 is another good one, very similar to the S500 in overall features. The material is a bit lighter. You can pick up the Enlight without a power supply if you want to pick your own power supply. Russ happens to carry the 7273 with the Enermax 330W "whisper" power supply at CompuCheap, look under Components>Misc. For an S500, Directron.com might be a good place because they'll let you substitute power supplies. Hope that is a help.

 

[Jhhnn]

If I worked in a custom cabinet shop, I'd make a custom computer cabinet, with a nice door to hide the drives, plenty of room to work, and use a 3M filtrete furnace filter in a nice slide-out tray in a plenum to a couple of 120mm L1a Panaflos- really easy airflow, might have to change the filter every 3 months or so because of the large surface area.

And the vid card? Probably do the Quadro hack on a GF2, or maybe the boss would spring for a quadro. Unless the existing system is one specially built for 3D rendering, (be careful here) in which case you just want to upgrade the processor and the case. Some of the specially built 3D rendering workstations will mercilessly b-tch-slap anything you can build at a reasonable price....

 

[amdskip]

They have a 600 petium something right now and they want this. I figure I will just cut a blow hole in the side and this will cut down on the dust intake and I will be using an enermax 330 because this computer never gets shut down.

 

[Jalapeno]

mechBgon,

YOU are a genious! How do you come up with all those suggestions so quickly?

 

[mechBgon]

Jalepeno, I drink lots of coffee!

 

[Jalapeno]

DO NOT overdose...!

 

[mechBgon]

No, of course not. I am down to less than 20 cups per day now. And the Cheetah icon is purely a coincidence.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Try using pantyhose as a filter to trap the moist dust and some finer particles, have all fans blowing in, and make sure the filter is checked regularly.

 

[Dan]

One of my first thoughts was to suggest a PC built into a keyboard. (They are recommended for use in warehouses and other areas where dust is an issue.) However, while searching for a link I ran across The Woodcraft Computer Keyboard. It might be a budget-buster but it seems like an ideal fit for your customer.

 

[amdskip]

I will have to show em that one.