Hello,
I've been lurking the forum for a while, figured it was time I posted something that might be useful to someone.
This build started in June when I purchased an NSK3480 with plans to lightly modify for silence. I reused most of my hardware and only needed to purchase CPU/MOBO/RAM/COOLER.
Here is the hardware
Intel Core i5 760
Asus P7H55D-M EVO
4x2GB G.Skill Ripjaw
Seasonic X750
ATI 5870 1GB + Twin Turbo Pro cooler
Asus Xonar DX PCI-E 1x
OCZ Vertex 120G
AcoustiPack Deluxe kit
2xScythe SY1225SL12M
Fanmate 2
Design Goals:
-1x120mm intake fan (not 100% sure if required)
-1x120mm exhaust
-Sound dampening material
-Cable management
Picture
Case Modifications:
I started by modeling the front of the case. The main reason I did this was to reduce guesswork. It was easy enough to model the separate layers of the front panel to allow proper alignment of the 120mm fan with the airflow path. The first time I disassembled the front panel it was easy to see where the fan needed to go. The plastic layer closest to the case already had a hole which was 117mm wide! Perfect for a 120mm fan (I'm sure the engineer wanted a 120mm fan but Antec PR wanted 2x92mm lol). Height-wise I located the fan so the cutting would align with the pre-punched fan grill squares. Hopefully it would make the task easier.
Here is what the modeling looked like from "inside" the case
This view is from the front. The "transparent" piece is the first black plastic layer. The one which dictated the location of the fan.
This is more for future reference. The location of the hole I cut.
The following is from the Antec NSK3480 Manual, I just wanted to show the plastic I had to cutout from the Stock case. (red rectangle)
I then proceeded to cutting out the front with a my jigsaw, cutting 1.5" holes with a hole-saw+drill then testing the front out.
This is what it looked like. (you can see I applied some acoustic foam to the inside of the front. Because of the way the panel is layered this did not do anything to the airflow except fill up some empty space. And the foam is directly in front of the fan. Hopefully it helps out and does not create too much turbulence)
I transferred the first plastic layer to better illustrate why I chose this fan location. It's a fairly direct airflow pattern.
Inside the front with the holes drilled out.
Backside to show hole locations. I Copied Krick's (
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=51264) hole locations, they were perfect.
First test fit of mobo with videocard and fans.
Backside with Grommets
Now a month later I finally received my Thermalright HR-02. I was able to finalize the build. Here are the results.
As it stands I'm running everything stock. With the fanmate2 at it's lowest speed setting and ambient temperature of 24c my i5 760 barely touches 60 degrees after 15 minutes of prime95. The main reason I wanted an intake fan was for the videocard but after some testing temperatures stay very low so I might try it without the front fan at some point.