Lian Li V1000 Case and Fanless PSU?

gavinm · Post by **gavinm** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:44 am

I am a nwbie about to build my first quiet PC and I am considering buying one of the new Lian Li V-series cases with the separate cooling zones for the PSU and HDDs, and I have a couple of questions...

As the PSU sits in its own compartment, I am wondering whether I could get away with a fanless PSU. As the PSU compartment is at the bottom of the case and has a hole (smallish) leading upwards into the main case compartment for all the PSU cables to feed through, I am not sure how feasible this would be... (it seems to me that the majority of heat will go upwards rather than rearwards if given the choice). What do you reckon?

Similarly, there is a separate compartment at the bottom of the case for the HDDs in which I am planning to have two Samsung Spinpoint HDDs. Would it be possible to get away with no case fan in this section and just rely on convection (this compatment of the case would seem to be well ventilated, with a very open mesh covering most of it)? Or would the Samsung drives kick out enough heat to necessitate a cooling fan? (Or perhaps Zalman heatpipe coolers?)

Thanks,

Gav.

Sardaan · Post by **Sardaan** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:09 am

I think a fanless PSU would work fine, as for the case fans you might need to experiment a little.

ChucuSCAD · Post by **ChucuSCAD** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:31 am

I currently have one Samsung Spinpoint drive in the HD compartment of my PC-V2000 mounted thusly with a Zalman Drive Cooler:

The drive is held up from the bottem of the case with 4 of the rubber isolators that come with the Zalman kit and givin stability with the bungee cords.

Currently I do not have a case fan blowing in the front of the case and I am getting temps from ~25°c - ~35°c from idle to load.

Also it is worth pointing out that the holes in the bottem of the case do line up with the holes on the side of the HD, however they do require a touch of drilling out to get the screws to fit through them.

chucuSCAD

gavinm · Post by **gavinm** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:42 am

Thanks, chucuSCAD

Does the Zalman HDD cooler work equally well in this orientation? I was under the impression that heatpipe coolers needed to be mounted horizontally to work properly... But that is just what I've read - it seems to be working ok for you!

I presume that you have mounted it like this because it is not possible to mount the Zalman HDD cooler in 3.5" bays. Is it designed to be mounted in a 5.25" bay instead? (or does it always need some sort of custom installation?)

Gav.

Post by **Rusty075** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:45 am

I think a fanless PSU may work better in one of these than in a normal case...but it still won't be easy. Read the stickies at the top of the PSU forum for some background on issues with fanless PSU's.

One mod I would plan on is to block off the openings out of the PSU compartment and into the rest of the case as completely as possible. You'll have to feed the cables through, obviously, but other than that I'd strive to seal those openings completely, to force the heated air to rise out the back of the case, and not into the motherboard area.

gavinm · Post by **gavinm** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:21 am

Thanks Rusty - that seems like sound advice.

In fact I was already wondering whether some rubber sheet, cut to allow the cables through, might help seal off the PSU compartment.

Not sure where I could buy such materials though - any ideas?

ChucuSCAD · Post by **ChucuSCAD** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 11:51 am

gavinm,

Seems to be working just fine for me. It would probably work better if it was horizontal, but alas there is no room down there.

If you are mounting the Zalman traditionally in a 5.25 it requires no modifications at all.

As for the material that you seek try www.mcmaster.com They sell all sorts of rubber sheets, the cords I use for bungee suspension, insulations, tapes, forklifts, screwdrivers. My CC owes half its balence to these fine folks.

chucuSCAD

gavinm · Post by **gavinm** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 2:51 pm

Much obliged, ChucuSCAD.

If I go ahead and purchase an Lian Li V1000, I would be very tempted to drill out the rivets and remove the HDD cages. However, this seems a bit extreme on a brand new case as expensive as the this one - what do you reckon the outcome would be of fitting my drives in the standard cages and running them with no Zalman heatpipe coolers and no fan? Would they just fry, or might there be enough natural airflow in the HDD compartment to keep them cool enough?

As for the material that you seek try www.mcmaster.com They sell all sorts of rubber sheets, the cords I use for bungee suspension, insulations, tapes, forklifts, screwdrivers. My CC owes half its balence to these fine folks.

I can see myself following in your footsteps here - I think I'm already becomming a bit obsessed with the idea of a silent PC...

Gav.

ChucuSCAD · Post by **ChucuSCAD** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:07 pm

I was running a maxtor drive mounted in a normal sense in that area and it ran just fine. If you are truely worried about cooking the drive just mod the 120MM that comes with to run at 5V or replace it with a panaflo, noiseblocker, or whatever your prefered flavor.

I mounted it this way simply to cram the Zalman on.

As for blowing the rivits out it is extream... but nothing that couldn't be fixed with a few nuts and bolts.

The only real mod that I want to do is cut out the 120MM exhaust,.... I just can't bring myself to cut it though.

Yes mcmaster is a fun place to shop.

chucuSCAD

edanuff · Post by **edanuff** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 5:51 pm

I recently switched to this case and decided to go ahead and mount the HD using the supplied drive rails. I don't think the drive is really running any noisier that way. I'm using a Sunbeam Rheobus to dial down the front fans and I'm seeing a typical HD temp in MBM of 31c.