Homemade case

[Toastedlightly]

Here is a VERY rough design. What do you guys think on the airflow issues? (all components can be changed around, but I would like to not have to buy new fans.

This is a side view. The base will be a piece of wood (type TBD), the edges are plexiglass w/ aluminum support when needed. I just want to know what you think about airflow

Also, there will be a direct ducting of air from the outside to the CPU heatsink (not shown). Please post opinions and thoughts.

 

[ku]

Put the back fan on exhaust. You always want more exhaust than intake if equivelent airflow is not possible. Also, don't count the powersupply as a real exhaust as it gives off heat as well, so just consider the fans on the power supply as if they didn't exist.

 

[Toastedlightly]

but is is good to have exaust fans low? (this is going to be mounted on a wall, the way you see it).

 

[SneakyStuff]

The BEST cooling is to have fewer intake fans, and more exhaust fans, negative airflow sucks air out really fast, resulting in great cooling.

 

[Toastedlightly]

alright... think it would be a good situation to have the fan below the PS sucking out and leave the other the way they are?

 

[SneakyStuff]

yea that's good, a really interesting case IMO, would be one suspended above ground, that blew air in through the bottom, and out through the top. Like have 2 intake fans on the bottom of the case, one under all the pci cards, and one mid-way, and a 120mm on top. That'd be so sweet No front fans, no rear fans. Anyone know of that being done before?

 

[Degrador]

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff
The BEST cooling is to have fewer intake fans, and more exhaust fans, negative airflow sucks air out really fast, resulting in great cooling.

I'd have to disagree with that.

In order for the air to be sucked out really fast, it has to come from somewhere (ie, intake), and as a result of unbalanced air pressure, your fans will operate at a lower efficiency, and also due to negative air pressure, they'll be less transfer between your heatsink and the air.

None of this helps add up to the "BEST cooling".

Imho, you'd be a hell of a lot better off with balanced airflow - as close as possible to having intake cfm = outtake cfm.

 

[Toastedlightly]

Hmm.. The fans now are 80mm. Would it be advisable to change them for some low RPM ~60 CFM fans?

 

[akira34]

Put the rear (venting) fan up higher than either front intake fan. Otherwise, the air will go right to it and not do much other than put dust onto your hardware. Are you putting the AGP/PCI cards on the bottom of the case (that's what your "illustration" is showing)... NOT a smart idea, at all. I also doubt that the drawing is to any kind of scale at all. You'll want to have an accurate drawing before you even think of starting to build the case. Figure out EVERY detail of the build before starting or you'll only end up wasting materials and time. In the end, it would have been cheaper to just find a case you could live with and maybe mod it up a little. Also, what's the reason for your material selection??? Personally, if I was to make a custom case, I'd do it with all aluminum, build in areas to house liquid cooling hardware as well as as many drives as I'd ever think of using. While you can [easily] find cases like that, I'd end up putting a different finish on it, or have a completely different face on it. Again, it would [probably] be cheaper, easier, and less time consuming to just get an aluminum case and alter it to suite my desires...

 

[Degrador]

Akira, perhaps you should read the entire thread before commenting? He wants to mount the case on a wall, so in fact it's a very good airflow design; air coming in from sides at bottom and blowing air out up higher. You have your main hot components getting all the fresh air (CPU, HDs, vid card and northbridge), with their heat rising up to where it'll be exhausted.

Edit: Also, as for the material, one of the main reasons he'd make it wood is because you can't buy a wooden case. What's the point in making your own case if you can get one off the shelf? If he'd wanted aluminium, it's possible he would've just bought a case. Another reason for making his own case is due to the peculiar design of it. Cases aren't designed to be mounted on a wall, his is. Having the pci / agp cards facing the bottom would be interesting if the case was mounted on a wall behind the monitor - you could still have all the cables hidden, and with the sides and front being plexi, you could see all your components while you're at it. Most cases with windows have them on the sides, which with a normal case can't be seen when facing the front.

 

[alexXx]

Originally posted by: akira34
Put the rear (venting) fan up higher than either front intake fan. Otherwise, the air will go right to it and not do much other than put dust onto your hardware. Are you putting the AGP/PCI cards on the bottom of the case (that's what your "illustration" is showing)... NOT a smart idea, at all. I also doubt that the drawing is to any kind of scale at all. You'll want to have an accurate drawing before you even think of starting to build the case. Figure out EVERY detail of the build before starting or you'll only end up wasting materials and time. In the end, it would have been cheaper to just find a case you could live with and maybe mod it up a little. Also, what's the reason for your material selection??? Personally, if I was to make a custom case, I'd do it with all aluminum, build in areas to house liquid cooling hardware as well as as many drives as I'd ever think of using. While you can [easily] find cases like that, I'd end up putting a different finish on it, or have a completely different face on it. Again, it would [probably] be cheaper, easier, and less time consuming to just get an aluminum case and alter it to suite my desires...

your mentality is totally wrong. The person wants to create their own case from the ground up. Anyone can buy a case and add an intake fan to it and say they modded it, but, very few people can say that they have(or even have the skill) made their own case. I can see that you are all talk since you think it would be possible for you to make a case from the ground up out of aluminum and have it not suck.
I also dislike your mentality about case configuration. The atx configuration is badly flawed but this flaw is lessened with his design because it is mounted on the wall and have more possibilities.

ALso, check out my case in the works here. It is all steel and i'm sure people like yourself will question my configuration too, but it is simply because you are uneducated and do not think out of the box

 

[Blain]

Looks like a pretty standard, cookie cutter design.
If you want a good design for air flow, look at the Apple Cube. Don't fight "convection", work with it.