Need a good dust-free case.

[ZoSo]

I'm going to be building a new system soon and I want to get another case.
The environment is kind of dusty so I need something that can keep the dust from getting in yet have adequate air flow.
I have a P160 now and had to modify it so that the only air coming in was directly through the filter. Without doing so, it would draw air from all of the vent holes around the front bezel, which would end up very dusty.
I would like it to also be aluminum.

Thanks

 

[JBDan]

http://www.acoustiproducts.com/en/acousticase.asp This is the closest thing I have seen to a dust free "stock" case thats not totally over the top. It is steel & case airflow would be reduced w/ the included filters. However, small areas around the bezel, 5.25" / 3.25", & any other little holes allow dust in. You could tape (duct or aluminum hvac tape) all the possible areas/holes from the inside of ANY case and make it relatively "dust free." You could also by a hvac filter, cut it, and retro fit it to your liking.

 

[0roo0roo]

no such thing. any filters that allow free enough flow for case fans to work are basically capturing onlylarge dust particles. you will always need to clean inside your case. the more air you pass through it, the more dust. there are no hepa filter cases. you can try to make one with fans in series to shove air through, and caulk all other means of air leaks, or use blowers to force air through hepa filters. but its a major construction project. getting a room air filter would be easier(not ionic breeze).

or get a zalman fanless case. or passive water cool to cut down fan usage.

 

[ZoSo]

Thanks JBDan

Oroo Oroo, I understand there's no such thing, but there are cases that minimize it more then others, and that's what I'm looking for.
If I have to modify some that's OK, it wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Skott]

The dust filter they use is better than many I have seen. Looked like some kind of foam. Most filters are just metal screening or paper material. Whatever one uses its best to clean it weekly at the least.

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Here you go ZoSo. For the ultimate is decent quantities of clean air. Not only for the rig but for you to breath. I'm really quite suprised that the silence freaks don't run with this solution. A year ago i saw a similare set-up that used a small three speed blower type fan that was 110V

I set-up my sister's build with two 92x25 fans as intake, on a fan controller. They were mounted on the side panel and a K&N(#25-3900) foam filter 6x11" was used. This is a pre-cleaner foam and not the most free flowing. The fans draw .2A each and should put-out a combined 94cfm. Guesstament, at best the two fans output dropped 30% but this filtering medium did quiet them down very well. At 7V there is no real difference in output with or without the foam in place. An aluminum frame was made to hold the filter.

On my current never ending project, home AC filter material will be cut to size and used.
A 1/2" screen will go between the filter's frame and the 120 fan. This servers a second purpose of holding the filter away from the area surrounding the face of the fan, thus gaining filtering surface area.

I find it hard not to be direct about my personal experiance with filtering comp air.
For a serious filtering medium use only 38mm thick fans as they will draw more mm of H2O. and deliver the same cfm with less dB than 25mm fans.
Test your choice of filter with one of your present fans to see what i mean about needing a stronger fan and how the filter will pull it down. Pantyhose and metal screen fan guards are not real filters!

Galvanized

 

[Operandi]

The Lian Li PC-6070 and V1100 use a fan filter on the intakes and are very tightly sealed off elsewhere. I'm using the 6070 right now for my machine and dust build up is very minimal, almost non-existent. I have very little air flow and I clean the filter every two weeks or so, with more air flow the filter would build up dust faster.

 

[Ken90630]

Depending on the components you have, you might be able to run without any intake fans at all. :Q

I know this doesn't get talked about a lot 'round here, but the irrefutable fact is that there are gazillions of computers all over the world that run just fine with no intake fans. (And not just Cerelon rigs.) Now, would it be a good idea to run an overclocked, cutting edge P4 rig, with a high end vid card or SCSI HD, for example, that way? Perhaps not, but the truth is that most rigs will likely run just fine.

Front intake of "cool" air (which it seldom is) is vastly overrated IMHO. And I've read a number of test reports over the last couple of years in which the author/reviewer comments that front intake fans only impacted temps slightly, if at all. Side intake fans near the CPU can have a bit more effect, but then the dust intake is also heading right towards the CPU and heatsink. If you have an efficient exhaust scheme in your case, and a truly high quality CPU heatsink & fan, simply exiting the hot air out quickly will enable most computers to run just fine. The computer will not melt, it will not explode, it will not crash or BSOD, you will not be contributing to global warming, and the world will keep turning.

For anyone who wants to challenge me on this, simply think about how many people report their temps plummeting simply by taking a side panel off. Doing so does NOT pull more air into the case, does it? It increases hot air evacuation, and WHAM -- down go the temps. :thumbsup:

GY's broken link to what I assume was a room air purifier (?) is an idea I highly recommend. I use an air purifier in my office and it really makes a difference in the amount of dust circulating around. Less ambient dust means less dust that can find its way into your computer in the first place (duh! ).

With your dusty environment, I'd concentrate on getting a reasonably airtight case and creating a really efficient exhaust system. And like JBDan said, you can make any case virtually dust free by sealing off areas/holes with tape or silicone sealer or something. I really like Cooler Master WaveMaster and Praetorian cases, even though they are not perfect in all areas. I'm mentioning them 'cuz you said you like aluminum cases. I also like Antec's new P-150 even though it's not the most fancy looking case out there.

Interesting user name, BTW. You a Zep fan?

 

[GalvanizedYankee]

Text..Sorry the link was farbured.

overclockers.com/tips1092/ For a non-mobil comp in a hostile enviroment i think this is really slick, as it is so inexpensive and easy to do. This filtered intake could be remotly located.
I saw a short article were this set-up was located in the crawl space of the house for very cool air, plus quiet.

It was late for me when i posted the bad link. It was a day of disccovery for me.Cutting, bending,folding,curving and soldering brass shim stock to make small shrouds was fun/easy to do. For an OCed P4 as reffered to above.


Galvanized

 

[ZoSo]

Thanks for the input everyone.

This is what I'm down to, as far as which one:
Lian Li PC-6070
Cooler Master Praetorian 730
Thermaltake Kandalf VA9000
Antec P150, even though it's steel, and kind of tight inside, it has some really nice features.

If anyone here has one of the above cases, please leave me some feedback on them.

Thanks again,