Unusual Cooling Solution

[2canSAM]

I am revisiting building a HTPC and was thinking about cooling. The unit will be housed in an audio tower like THIS ONE
The Legs on unit are quite a bit taller so I have about 18" between the floor and the bottom of the cabinet. Also Mine does not have the Door on the upper portion but does on the lower portion. What I was thinking was mounting my power supply on the bottom of the Audio Tower and the PC with no case, just the frame from a case in the compartment at the bottom. I would then have 2 x 120mm Fans pulling air in from a hole in the tower itself and the other blowing air out of the tower. Here is a link to my idea. No making fun of my paint drawing. Any thoughts on this?

Audio Rack Idea


MOD EDIT: Moved to Cases & Cooling

 

[MarcVenice]

This is probably best asked on the cases & cooling forum. I suppose it will work, but I wouldn't really have suggestions on what would be better.

 

[Zap]

What are the other specs of the system? If you don't already have the parts, take care in choosing parts that use little power, and thus can run passively. Consider putting a filter over the intake fan.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: Zap
What are the other specs of the system? If you don't already have the parts, take care in choosing parts that use little power, and thus can run passively. Consider putting a filter over the intake fan.

zap when did you become a mod..

ahhhh.... hiding....

 

[BonzaiDuck]

The vacuum-cleaner "fans-on-case-bottom" idea has been around for a while. It has a lot of advantages, among them, low noise, and if the unit is at least two inches off the floor, unrestricted airflow. If you're going to filter it, consider using that blue-fiberglass el-cheapo air-conditioner filter material you can buy at Home Depot for $0.80 per panel. My guess is that you'd use half that, or $0.40 worth.

Anyway, that's what I did with my latest case-mod and two 140mm fans.

WHOOPS!! Sorry, but I thought you were going to put the intake fans in the bottom. Just looked at your Paint drawing. Well . . . . . see whether my idea floats your boat.

 

[ChefJoe]

Should work although I would suggest just hacking up the cheapest ATX case you can get a hold of (new or used) tp hack up for parts (you'll probably want a frame for any drives and possibly some way to mount and de-mount the power supply).

Otherwise, your plan looks like a normal wind-tunnel fan configuration.

 

[2canSAM]

Thanks guys. Setup right now Idles at 44C and Loads @53-57C so I think I have some OK temps to work with. System Specs are Pentium D @ 3.0Ghz, Not over clocked 2GB Dual Channel, 7600GS, Seagate Sata Drive and ASUS Sata DVD burner, all on an ASUS P5LD2 Deluxe board. I will surely have the filters and grill on the fans, Pets and Kids running around. BonzaiDuck. I am having trouble seeing your Fans on the bottom config, can you point me to an image or explanation please?