My quick and simple PSU duct (plus clean wiring!)

Show off your quiet rig.

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Zyzzyx
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My quick and simple PSU duct (plus clean wiring!)

Post by Zyzzyx » Sun Aug 08, 2004 11:28 pm

Been messing about with this secondary system since I got it up and going recently. Its a 2100 running stable (72 hours of Prime95 stable) at 2.0ghz. With the CPU fan at 7v, it tops out at 60C under load. I had been looking at where the stock Evercase PSU (Sparkle!) did have its intake, right above the CPU. I had already removed the grill there for better airflow, but I've been curious to try a PSU air channel. So, time to bust out the snips, the melamine foam, and have some fun. In the midst of it all, I spent some time and really did the wiring up right.

Unfortunately it didn't really make much difference with my setup. Using rough measurements (the back of my hand) the case exhaust fan temps went up a little bit, and the PSU exhaust temps went down only a wee bit. This is probably because the Sparkle psu is a bit inefficient and runs hot.

I have played with having the CPU fan ducted from the side panel (Pringles cans make GREAT 80mm ducts), and that drops the CPU temps about 5C, but doesn't change the case or HD temps. And it provides direct dust injection onto the SLK-800. I can deal with the (full load) temps I get now: 60C cpu, 39C HD, 37C case. That's with the CPU fan at 7v, the other three Panaflos are hard wired to 5v.

Start off with the completed setup of the new layout, with PSU air duct and wiring installed. The CPU fan was still on vacation somewhere; and the sound card is still on loan, thus the orphaned sound cable down there. I'd like to think this is on par with some of the cleaner layouts and rigs that I've seen posted here. (in layout, I know the cutting and the duct have plenty of room for improvement)
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Now, the steps to get there:

First was to pull the PSU innards so I could cut open the front side of the case. It was originally a bottom intake/rear fan.
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I'm treating this Sparkle PSU as expendable, but its actually doing quite well with a 5v Panaflo, if running a bit hot. Being expendable (and hidden by the duct) I'm not to concerned with accuracy. Cut away!
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Finished duct hole, about the size of the 80mm fan on the backside.
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What to do with the existing hole on the bottom though? Packing tape. I've found it to be a very handy tool in the computer.
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Then it was time to get the wiring set. The excess bundle was going to go up beside the duct, not having any other place for it. (in an Evercase 4252) Also ran a couple power lines behind the m/b. I already had the sound and the front panel wires there from the previous install. Again, use of packing tape to hold stuff in place. Fold over a release tab on one end, comes right off in the future when you want it to.
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Sometimes you really have to get into your work. Here I am checking out the wiring coming off the front panel.
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The front view into the PSU, before the (slightly cheesy) duct was made.
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With the duct. (darn glue didn't hold on the foam)
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Closer look at my cablegami.
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Ralf Hutter
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Post by Ralf Hutter » Mon Aug 09, 2004 5:13 am

Very nice!

DryFire
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Post by DryFire » Mon Aug 09, 2004 6:07 am

i like it, very clean

DavidSteiner
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Post by DavidSteiner » Tue Aug 10, 2004 7:50 am

Way to duct the psu! But why didn't the psu temps improve? I'd expect it to get cooler, since the cpu air isn't getting in.

Cabling is neat, never knew IDE cables can be bent that way.

Zyzzyx
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Post by Zyzzyx » Tue Aug 10, 2004 8:17 am

DavidSteiner wrote:Way to duct the psu! But why didn't the psu temps improve? I'd expect it to get cooler, since the cpu air isn't getting in.
They did improve, but not much. And not nearly as much as I expected. I would expect a good, efficient PSU like the Seasonic to run much cooler than this Sparkle.
Cabling is neat, never knew IDE cables can be bent that way.
Welcome to the world of cablegami.

greeef
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Post by greeef » Tue Aug 10, 2004 1:26 pm

looks good man, shows that a silent rig can be had without too much hassle.

Just wanted to say with modern OSs, that sound cable absolutely isnt needed, only goes to make things more confusing nowadays.

griff

Wilhelm-Tell
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Post by Wilhelm-Tell » Mon Aug 23, 2004 12:22 pm

very smart, kudos to you :)

RaNDoMMAI
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Post by RaNDoMMAI » Mon Aug 23, 2004 4:46 pm

loving the cleanness man, i just cant do it myself for some reason

~RaNDoM

Zyzzyx
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Post by Zyzzyx » Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:10 pm

RaNDoMMAI wrote:loving the cleanness man, i just cant do it myself for some reason
I can understand that. Thing is, now I can't NOT clean up the wiring in a system. Maybe not to that level, but even if its just peeking into a friend's old Compaq or something, I'll move the cables and wiring around a bit to better locations.

The other fun part of it is opening the case back up sometime and getting a "WHOAH!!!" from myself. Always good.

Wilhelm-Tell
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Post by Wilhelm-Tell » Tue Aug 24, 2004 1:26 pm


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