should i be worried about these temps? >> rotary tooling

[thatbox]

ive got a 1600+ cooled with a thermaltake volcano 9, one antec 80m intake, one generic 80mm exhaust. my psu has an intake right above my volcano and an exhaust in the back (its a 230 watt truepower). this is all in a 25$ case that is steel and ugly as all get out. its only got one fan slot left - another intake in the front. ive got a mess of ide and power cables all over the place. i idle at 51C and hit 55C at load. my MB temps are also high -- about 45C. first off, is that bad? im pretty sure those temps are very high. secondly, what cheap things can i do to get them down? round cables? would replacing my two fans with good models be better? should i add that second intake fan?

 

[NYHoustonman]

That MB temp is terrible...Get some case fans (1 intake, 1 exhaust is a good starting point). And get the cables under control. Round cables are worse in my experience, as with regular ones you can sort of fold them and put them out of the way. Maybe better fans, or something...

 

[Corporate Thug]

CPU temps are high, but not dangerous. MB temps are too high, get a new case with better circulation

 

[thatbox]

would a second intake help?

 

[0roo0roo]

the more the merrier. assuming your vent holse aren't dinky. if they are you need to cut away.

heck, justcut more fan holes into your case, its easy.

i did, and works like a charm. irun 5 case fans at low rpm using a speed controller. noise kills brain cells you know.


clean up your case, buy some zipties.

 

[thatbox]

I dont have a dremel or anything that i could use... is there any easy or cheap tool i can get to make fan places?

 

[0roo0roo]

rtx black and decker dremil like tools are only about 25 bux at home depot. that or you can just get a hole bit for a normal drill. just look up blowhole tutorials or case fan hole cutting etc. its not hard really. you generally just buy some car door protector edging to line the hole to cover up the cut.

 

[thatbox]

does the $25 solution cut/drill through steel well enough though? if so, ill visit home depot tomorrow.

the cheapest rotary tool at home depot is this 40 buck sucker: Black&Decker Rotary Tool
does that come with everything id need?

well, you guys are the case modders and stuff (ive never done it). i may as well go in for the long haul here. whats the best rotary tool kit for newbs?

 

[0roo0roo]

hmm i got my rtx for 25 dollars. there are different ones, mostly the ones that cost more come with more different bits. your link seems to be the rtx-4, i think i have rtx 1, less accessories. online probably has less selection then store.


rotary is nice in that you can engrave, cut many things like windows and grills, slice groves into worn screws etc. its definetly a multi tool. the badis that it is slow if cutting large areas like windows. steel of course is the hardest, plastic easiest, aluminum is in between. to make a circle cut you gotta make a series of straight cuts, like a complex polygon. it also comes with sanding bits and stuff for grinding down rough edges.

the more elegant solution is to get a normal corded drill, and buy a round hole bit. that cuts a circle right away. you buy a 80mm bit for 80mm fan etc. pretty simple. but you can only cut holes

there are tutorials on the web for each, thats how i got started, i had no clue at all before

eitherw ay, both tools are useful to have around for a variety of uses. i didn't get a hole drill bit thing cuz i'm cheap. the rotary worked ok enough for me takes a 10-15 min per hole is my guess. you get better as you go along. cutting off grills is easy. and you get get a small drill bit for the rotary tool for making the screw holes.

oh yea, you can also search for fan templates on google. just search for "80mm fan template" orwhatever. you can print em out. those are more dremil friendly since the hole is more of a square with rounded corners then a circle. thats how i do it. dremils are good at straight lines. the corners take a few more angled cuts.

 

[0roo0roo]

http://modtown.co.uk/mt/article2.php?id=blowhole

a tutorial with the hole saw. page probably has other various mods. has clean edges, sorta. i just use car door edge protector strips to hide the dremil rouger cut. on my other plastic case i didn't care at all and just left it rough, a fan hole is a fan hole

 

[0roo0roo]

another one with dremil http://www.digital-explosion.co.uk/index.php?articleID=19

i suggest cutting rounded square though, easier, the templates out there are that way anyhow.

another guide http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/showthread/t-46553.html

jigsaw http://www.subzeropc.com/article/blowhole.htm

http://www.gibtek.co.uk/hardware/dragonblowhole.php


http://www.gideontech.com/reviews/pcgrills/

 

[0roo0roo]

http://killinc.com/howto1.html

http://www.modthebox.com/blowhole.shtml

templates http://www.modding.net/downloads.asp

 

[thatbox]

Great, thanks a lot man. Anybody have suggestions on rotary tools? Is this black and decker a good one, or do i need X or Y?

 

[0roo0roo]

black and decker is enough.

 

[Jeff7]

Can you post any pics of the case? It might give us a better idea of what can be done to it.
If you go with a Dremel or something similar, some popular options are a blowhole on top to exhaust hot air, or a fan hole on the side panel, over the expansion cards, acting as an intake.
If I'm reading this all right, you've got a total of 2 exhaust fans (generic and PSU fan), and 1 intake (80mm). Your thought for another intake fan would probably be a good idea, to help equalize the airflow. Something else that helps with airflow is to cut out the stamped excuses for fan grilles that are a part of the case, and replace them with wire fan grills, which usually go for a dollar each. Their round chrome wires are less restrictive to airflow; the ones that the case manufacturers have cut out in the case are usually pretty lousy.

 

[0roo0roo]

yup, you cann fill the front and side with intakes,and top and back with exhaust

 

[thatbox]

Here are pics, if it helps: Pics [may take up to 50 seconds over 56k, sorry]
How about if i added another intake fan to the front, and then cut a in the side panel right above the CPU fan, and then made a tube between the two so that my 1600+ could draw all its air straight from outside the case? I know other guys have done this with fans there, but how would just the hole do?

Edit: The inside pics are from before I got my Truepower, which has some of its cables wrapped.

 

[0roo0roo]

as many holes as you want man more the merrier, atleast within reason, and with fan speed control. ah i see your rear case fan mount is a joke like many generic cases are. tiny pin holes kill fan output and add noise. slice that baby right out. should probably just slice all the way through the front of that front intake fan. doubt its getting much air through a plastic shield

zip tie your cables. fold your ide cables out of the way. i did that with my case.