Im curious about this case. It seems to be a really nice quiet case. I was thinking that if you used 1 exhaust fan then you wouldnt really need to use an intake fan to cool the hardrive, would you? The way I see it, if you were to block the side intake (which in my opinon is stupid and the weakest feature of this case), then the only real inlet would be in the bottom front right in front of the hardrive. Would this work to cool the harddrive or would an 80mm fan blowing on the hardrive be required? Also if looks like with a little modding a 120mm fan would fit in the back pretty nicely once the side intake bracket is removed. I would also like to know how sturdy the case is and any other strengths or weaknesses that this case has. Maybe mikec or someone else could help me out with my questions.

Hello:

I've got two of these cases coming on Monday and I'll try out a 120mm fan on the back -- I'll be surprised if they fit in that space, but maybe...

I think that a 120 might fit, I know it will be really really close if it does.

Hello:

Here's a picture of a 120x25mm sitting just below the rear exhaust grill, and as you can see on the right side, there is about 3/8" too small a space to fit a 120mm fan. You also can just make out the really quiet fan inside the Fortron/Source PS and how small it's hub is, especially compared to the fan I'm using as a test fit.

[edit: removed busted link]

The second picture shows the revised design of the hard drive cages with the "fingers" for the regular mounting points and the new wide 'V' shaped slots for the rubber isolation grommets. BTW, I found some grommets to fit these at a local place called "You-Do-It Electronics" -- kewl store! The grommets are: Philmore 3/16"x5/16" No. 10-047 (made in Taiwan) and they are a little too thick, but they fit in and you need #6x32x 1/2" long mounting screws and I also used 1/8" "fender washers" which are just very large flat washers. These helped some with a whiney WD 40GB but they are not as effective against lower frequency vibes -- one of my old Maxtors (1.2GB and probably before 5400RPM drives) has a hum-type vibration and the grommets are hardly any better than the "fingers".

Thanks to dgouldin for hosting the pics -- I gotta figure out how to get Verizon to work for me! [edit] I'm try out hosting these on my Verizon "site" -- their site building tools are way too canned!

Arggg, I really wanted to see what your saying. Does anyone have webspace so neil can post these pics?

Neil: Email the pics to dgouldin@sbcglobal.net and I'll put them on my webserver tonight. I don't have a static ip, but I don't reboot my machine very often so you'll at least have a few days to check them out. I'm getting a router soon ... at the point in time my ip should pretty much be static (unless I have to restart the router for some reason). When that happens I'll create an account on my ftp server for anybody who wants to post pics to the webserver. Hopefully that'll make it more convenient for people to show off their ideas on here ...

OK for now the pics are here:

http://66.141.186.74/spcr/

Under /NeilBlanchard

I have an ftp up for anybody who wants files hosted on that website.

66.141.186.74
Login: spcr
Pass: silentpc

(I believe both are case sensitive.)

I've set the limit at 10gb so you all should have plenty of room. Don't abuse it or it will go away. Also, please make subdirectories so that stuff doesn't get chaotic.

My ip address will change any time I reboot my computer until I get a router (which will be soon), so I'll post updated IP addresses in the forum when it does change. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause, but this solution is better than nothing. Hopefully it will improve with time and ideas from you guys.

Hi Neil,

I've seen the pictures.
You can make a foam ( or wooden ) insert that fills the recessed space so you have a good surface to mount your fan.
It will look somewhat odd when viewed from the back, but so do I

Han.

Hello Han:



Yes, I suppose that you could! You would definitely have to dispense with the expansion card clip, though.

I also checked to see if a 120mm fits in the front -- a 25mm thick one does! And you would definitely need to "warm up" the nippers, though this would be pretty easy since the existing grill is way oversized and it looks like the holes would line up with the fan's mounting screws/isolation posts...

Yea spyder figured out my plan, I had intended to fill the recess with mouse pad rubber to fill the hole anyways. I was just curious to see it there was enough room between the mobo i/o panel and the side of the case(for a 120mm fan).
Whats really retarded is why they make cases with the back all curvy like that to begin with. If they would just make the back flat then you could cut out the space and put a 120mm fan in if you wanted to.
Anyways is someone going to see if it will fit width wise, or if someone actually cuts the hole out and puts in a 120 id love to see pictures.
Oh and neil, are you going to use the power supply as your only exhaust and just leave the back hole open to duct cool air in.

A 120mm fan would just fit if you modify (ie bend) the support for the case lock hasp. (It's the step-down that is visible in the upper left part of the first photo.) They give you a hasp that you screw into place if you want to put a padlock on the case, but if you don't use it, then you could bend the support up a bit to give clearance for a 120mm fan. If you use the blocking, then that will also sidestep this issue.

The fan slips in easily, but it just touches the bottom of the reccess (just above the I/O panel) and the top lip. It would probably be possible if you are somewhat skilled with metal nippers to remove about 3/8"-1/2" from the recessed rectangular bit just below the PS an fit in a 120mm fan w/o resorting to blocking. This would likely leave one corner of the fan's frame exposed on the back, however.

I bought enough 18CFM/18dBA NMB fans to be able to put in the exhaust, intake and either the side intake or the HS -- at $2.20 each, why not?! I'm probably going to be stressing the HS, so I'll need a cool case, but I'll hopefully see how it works later today -- after UPS delivers my long-awaited box from SVC!! It has taken 7 weekdays, when they are supposed to come in 3-5 days! Grrrr.

Well thanks for measuring that out for me. I wasnt sure if one would fit, I knew it would be pretty tight if it would fit. I look forward to seeing pictures of your finished system if the UPS guy ever shows up for you good luck