is this going to work? - upgrading case and cooling for more hard drives

[grepcomputers]

I want to buy a new computer case - cause I want an aluminium one. But cooling is really going to become an issue this time around...

This is the case I would like to get. It looks like it will *really* work for me. :
Cooler Master Model# ATC-201-SX / ATC-201C-SX2
can be found on newegg for $125

Here is what I want to put into the case:
P4 1.6A @ 2.1 (133/533FSB) - 1.5V - on an ASUS P4S533
ATI Radeon 9500pro - 315/315(630) core/mem
*4x* western digital ATA100 7200rpm hard drives
Pioneer DVD
Plextor Plexwriter
all expansion slots full - one will be a 2 port usb2 card
2x usb ports on the mobo plus 2x on the case plugged into the mobo connector for the extra 2 usb ports
min 2x 80mm fans, maybe 3x, and maybe maybe 4x

Now, I am planning to run this all off an enermax 431W 2x fan PS. I've been told this will work...but should I go for an Antec TRUE480 480W ps? I mean, is 431W going to be enough power? Plus, I'm going to need a fair number of splitters to get enougn connections for the various devices.

In fact, I'm thinking of getting this:
http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com/62/405.htm?728
for the fans to cut down on the number of connectors I need. would the 5.25" bay one be better?

The case is nice because it will have 2x 80mm fans blowing over the 4x hdds, so they shouldn't get *too* hot. Of course, I'm going to want to be using quiet panaflo's to keep the noise level reasonable.

And a random question:
For my P4...I think it is using the stock intel fan/hs. What would be a better one to get less noise?

So...main question:
is this case going to work for me? I want a cool, quiet case (well, as quiet as one can get with 4x 7200rpm hdds). is there another good case for less money? but this one just has so many features that I like...
front USB ports
4x internal 3.5" bays
slide out mobo tray

and, secondary:
is the PS going to be enough power?

PS - I prolly wouldn't use the top blowhole on the case as I usually have stuff on top of the case...my cooling is done front to back, no side or top or bottom.

thanks!
...grep

 

[x-kid]

well the enermax should be fine but if you can afford it, it would be bad idea to get the 480

 

[grepcomputers]

The Antec TruePower PS comes later, when I save up a bit more money (again).
Then maybe I can get the 550W version

As long as the enermax works...and if it doesn't, I guess I can always buy the TRUE480.

Any other case suggestions?

cheers...
...grep

 

[EeyoreX]

I like the case you picked, nice looking and it seems to fit your needs well. I think the Enermax should be just fine, quality over quantity. A 550 watt is serious overkill.

\Dan

 

[0roo0roo]

it would be best ot install a fan on the blowhole because you want to balance the intakes with the exhaust. fans suck at fighting back pressure. you want o try to balance the fans to have as little back pressure as possible. esp if you want to lower the fan rpm for silence. it would be one thing if you had two exhaust fans in the back, but it apparently doesn't, so the front to back cooling idea doesn't really work. your two exhausts are blow hole and psu. i have 3 nxp201 controllers, all my cases have atleast 3 fans

not to mention coolermaster cases seem to have fan grates that would inhibit airflow quite a bit

the chenming dragon/antec cases etc are better at this. they have dual front intakes and dual rear exhausts. and a side fan to boot 3 intakes, 3 exhaust, pretty sweet. i have one of those too buy quiet harddrives, with all fans on low, thats all you'll hear.

zalman makes quiet cpu coolers.

 

[grepcomputers]

Interesting about balancing the fans.
Does the PS fan (well, fans) not count?

I was actually thinking of editing the filter they put in front of the two front fans to improve air flow...

cheers...
...grep

 

[Slammy1]

That's my case! I love it. Quiet and cool, plus it's easy to use and has the removable tray. I have a True 480 in mine, but I've always been a big fan of Enermax. My old 350W Enermax ran my 9700Pro, 2.4 o/c to 3.2, 4 HDs, and 2 opticals with very low voltage fluctuation.

 

[0roo0roo]

Originally posted by: McGrep
Interesting about balancing the fans.
Does the PS fan (well, fans) not count?

I was actually thinking of editing the filter they put in front of the two front fans to improve air flow...

cheers...
...grep

yes, the ps fan counts in terms of air pressure.


http://www.dansdata.com/hx45fan.htm dan is the man read the strip on the side, its still relavant for cooling.

A fan will deliver its maximum airflow when it's hanging in space - the so-called "free air" situation. It will deliver its minimum airflow - zero - when it's blowing into a sealed box. In the sealed box situation, all the fan can do is move a bit of air into the box, increasing the air pressure inside, and keep it there. These two kinds of fan behaviour are governed by the two fan performance statistics - pressure and airflow

All computer fans are roughly the same shape, so their pressure and airflow statistics are roughly proportional to their size and thickness. Different kinds of air moving apparatus have different pressure to flow ratios - a "blower", for instance, which uses an enclosed impeller to push air out of a port, has a higher pressure rating but lower airflow than a fan of equal power. A hair dryer is a good example of a blower. It's also possible to buy small 12 volt blowers which can be used in computer applications, mounted inside the case to direct a well-aimed stream of air at something that needs cooling, like a CPU.

A computer case is neither a free air nor a sealed box situation. A really well ventilated case looks to the fan pretty much like the free air situation; the more tightly buttoned up and packed with cables the case is, the more like a sealed box it behaves. The lousy mounting locations of many case fans don't really make a lot of difference to the behaviour of the box, but they reduce the effectiveness of the fan; a poorly mounted fan behaves like a less powerful one.

Arranging fans physically in parallel - next to each other, blowing in the same direction - gives twice the airflow, but only in the free air situation. The closer the thing they're blowing into is to a sealed box - the higher the "system resistance" - the smaller the parallel fan improvement becomes. Any number of identical parallel fans blowing into a sealed box will do no more than a single fan.

Arranging fans in series - stacked on top of each other, so one blows straight into the other - gives the opposite situation. There's no improvement in free-air performance, but double the pressure increase in a sealed box, and better and better performance compared to parallel fans as the system resistance gets higher and higher. Incidentally, this means that those goofy monster processor heatsinks with layered low-profile fans are a waste of money, since fans strapped onto a heatsink are very nearly in the free-air situation, and putting two layers of them there does close to nothing to the airflow.

So series fans can pump more air into a box with poor through-flow, but parallel fans will do better in a box with high through-flow. When you arrange one fan blowing into a computer and another sucking out, you're basically making a poorly sealed serial fan arrangement. The PC box leaks all over the place, so not all of the air the blowing fan puts into it exits through the sucking fan, but the arrangement is much more like serial fans than like parallel ones. This is good; it keeps the airflow up even in the card-and-cable-packed mess that is many PCs.

The exact fan arrangement to use therefore varies with the box, if you?re going for maximum efficiency. The easy way around the problem is simply to go for overkill, mount much more powerful fans than you need, and have done with it. That's certainly what I settled on. As long as the fans aren't blowing components out of the back of the computer, the problem is solved. The problems with this solution are that big fans are more expensive, computer power supplies can be overtaxed by multiple fans (a problem you can solve by using a mains powered fan), and big fans make more noise than many users will tolerate.

12 volt fans with a three-pin connector plug into the special three-pin headers on recent motherboards and can thus report their rotation speed - if the speed drops, an alarm can sound. Some fans have the three pin plug but only two wires; they'll run from a motherboard fan connection, but won't report their speed.

In the near future, we should be seeing PCs with efficient ducted cooling built in. Ducts allow the cooling air to go where it's needed, and some fanatical overclockers already use duct arrangements of varying degrees of gimcrackness to keep their sweating and terrified components cool.

 

[0roo0roo]

in one of his other articles he tests his cooling setup using a smoke blower i wish i had one of those to see airflow.