Minimal single-fan case

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:01 am

I am building some low power systems which will be:
mini-ITX motherboard
processor (standard heatsink with fan, mostly off), hard drive
And that's it.

Having two fans in the case seems silly.

Plan is to have: PSU w. 120mm fan with no case fan, or picopsu plus 120mm case fan. (Or would a smaller fan be OK?)

What small case would work best for this?
I have seen some cases that would require cutting metal to put in a 120mm fan which would be ideal but I don't know how to cut metal.

Any ideas?

FlorisNielssen · Post by **FlorisNielssen** » Sat May 17, 2008 11:40 am

You can cut the metal with a Dremel for example.

Don't you need a HDD by the way?

The VIA should easily be cooled with a single fan. Wasn't the power supply fanless (without the fan spinning) up to a wattage of 90W?
So you probably could run it with one fan. And it doesn't have to be a 120mm, 80 would be plenty. Probably a bit less power draw too.

Jipa · Post by **Jipa** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:09 pm

Getting one of these http://images.google.fi/images?client=f ... uvia&gbv=2
is the easiest way to cut holes to metal. I have dremel, jig saw and steel scissors, yet a trusty nibbler is what I always use for cutting round holes to things. Doesn't make noise, doesn't make steel dust that could create short circuits. Shouldn't cost over 10 â‚¬ either.

Cant' tell about the rig, a pico PSU sounds like a good choice, maybe use a Nexus 80 mm as the fan? Sould be pretty much silent when undervolted.

croddie · Post by **croddie** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:13 pm

Hey thanks you two! That's good to know. The dremel is powerful but "nibbling" is something I could trust myself to do.
I may try an Antec Aria (minus the psu) or fusion-type case or else get a smaller one and nibble at it then. Should work well.

AuraAllan · Post by **AuraAllan** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:18 am

Its available @ performance-pcs.com.

Under "Products Details:" its says: "Cuts up to 18-gauge (0.46 max.) soft steel and 1/16" copper, aluminum, plastic or other unhardened material"

18-gauge = ~1,2 mm right?

Bluefront · Post by **Bluefront** » Sun May 18, 2008 2:39 am

There are at least two types of hand nibblers I know about/have. First type....

Very difficult to cut straight lines or accurate holes.

Second type....harder to find. It works much better at either type of cut.

Both types tend to leave marks around the edges of the cuts, but don't warp the metal. I prefer to cut holes/lines with a good Weiss tin-snip. These things can make perfect cuts much easier than a nibbler. Practice first....