Cut out rear fan grille on Centurion 5?

Writer · Post by **Writer** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 4:51 pm

I'm in the middle of modding my Centurion 5, and have been trying to decide if I need to cut the rear fan grille out.

I've always done this with my cases as a matter of course, but the rear grille on the C5 is (a) pretty open honeycomb and (b) a "raised" design that looks like it would end up in a pretty messy hole (and be difficult to cut around cleanly).

Does anyone with have any firsthand experience with how much noise this grille adds?

Here are a couple close-ups of the grille:

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 5:26 pm

I believe it's not a matter of noise from the grill itself. I found out that when I cut my P180 the airflow was a bit better, and I could lower the fan voltage even more.

Post by **Rusty075** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:05 pm

I cut the grill out of my Cent.V (the one used in the review), and found that it made essentially zero difference in the noise. With a higher airflow fan it might have an impact though.

Writer · Post by **Writer** » Mon Jan 16, 2006 6:08 pm

Thanks guys! Looks like I'm leaving it in then.

vine-au · Post by **vine-au** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 3:57 am

I cut the front grille out from my P180 and it definately reduced noise - and incresed airflow dramatically. grab that dremmel and cut!

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Tue Jan 17, 2006 4:56 am

Now I'm jealous! I'll cut them right away and mine will be less restricted than yours!

Edit: I cut them and all temps are down 1 degree with same fan settings. CPU and M/B on the upper chamber, 2 HDDs down. No perceivable difference in noise, but I could only hear it with my head 30cm from it before.

Writer · Post by **Writer** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:50 pm

Hmmm...how did you cut it to make it look clean? (Does the P180 have a similarly "bulbous" grille?)

Any thoughts on how I should cut it? I'm thinking I could leave some of the hexagons near the screw holes (easier to get clean than cutting around the whole thing?).

Actually -- I have a 120mm bimetal hole saw...I wonder if I could clamp a piece of wood inside the case, behind the grille, and cut it out nice and round that way? Hmmm.

JimX · Post by **JimX** » Thu Jan 19, 2006 12:20 am

Yeah, the Antec is the same. I cut it with a wire cutter. It doesn't look very good, but I didn't want to remove everything from the case, to file or Dremel it.

Jim

vine-au · Post by **vine-au** » Fri Jan 20, 2006 8:52 pm

Writer wrote:Hmmm...how did you cut it to make it look clean? (Does the P180 have a similarly "bulbous" grille?)

Any thoughts on how I should cut it? I'm thinking I could leave some of the hexagons near the screw holes (easier to get clean than cutting around the whole thing?).

Actually -- I have a 120mm bimetal hole saw...I wonder if I could clamp a piece of wood inside the case, behind the grille, and cut it out nice and round that way? Hmmm.

Check my post here down near the end. I didnt have to make it too clean because the closed door hides any discrepancies.