Airflow... is this the best way?

Basically, the plan is to have two cases attached to each other to create a computer box of fun! The airflow plan is as follows: cold air is brought in by four 120mm fans (two on opposite sides of the case) and flows across the mobo/video cards (yes, Crossfire )/other hardware and then the hot air is expelled out through a 220mm or similar sized fan on top (think Antec big boy)

Here is a diagram:



[For all the modelers out there, this was created in blender 3d and rendered with the ambient occlusion option ]

That's probably the best config, intake on the bottom and exhaust on the top. You may want more than just one 220mm on top if you're having 4x120mm fans as intake. Otherwise, air will be pushing out of every crack and crevasse in your case.

I'm curious, how are you planning to attach the cases? Will you be cutting out most of the sides which touch, leaving enough edge to bolt them together?

I will do it very similar to the Fold-n-Smooth cube by Jolly-Swagman: A hinge on attaching two of the edges together.

I hadn't seen that project before. Very cool idea.

Keep us posted with your progress, I'm looking forward to it.

What happens if you offset the two sets of 120mm fans so that they create a 'vortex' of sorts? A mini-tornado must either be a good idea, or a really bad one.

A vortex that spins the same direction that the top fan is spinning! That sounds amazing!

Someone else, tell me if this would be a bad idea.

pinkles said:

A vortex that spins the same direction that the top fan is spinning! That sounds amazing!

Someone else, tell me if this would be a bad idea.

Click to expand...

I am not very experienced, but, I would think it would depend on the speed(cfn) of the fans that create the "vortex"

This looks like a great idea for a case, if you don't mind for my first case it would be great to use this as a base idea. (Of course adding my own uniqueness to it)



It looks like there is a slant in the middle, not completely opened?

Why not add a second bottom-mounted Big Boy?

For the vortex idea... the center of the vortex would have a slower flow of air than the surrounding area, either good or bad just depends on where the hot stuff is.

Dont be scared to look at what these guys have done for inspiration.

http://www.mountainmods.com/index.php

Nothing wrong with the base concept but it will need more fans or some directed flow to avoid hot spots which in turn can have negative effects on the entire build.

One thing I would do is direct that air around the case or what will probably happen is a cool central ares and everything else will cook.


You will have dead zones in all four upper corners and along the sides of upper compartment.

You will have eddies all in the bottom of the case as well.

You need directed air.

Interesting, where could I place some fans to eliminate the dead zones? Also, what affect to eddies have on cooling?

I'd put a 220/230MM fan on top with four 120's in the corners surrounding it. Then put another 230 on the bottom as intake.

pinkles said:

Interesting, where could I place some fans to eliminate the dead zones? Also, what affect to eddies have on cooling?

Click to expand...

Move the lower fans closer to the corners and install V louver plates.
Similar to the ones in the top of this:



I made mine but I am sure you can buy some or have some made for a decent price. As to the top corners, all you really need are some small fans to push the air out.

Well the vortex idea sounds good in theory, but it would really have no benefit. Swirling the air would really do nothing but just swirl the air. Not to put you down or anything, but there a number of flaws that need to be addressed.

Number one thing to keep in mind is that when you are designing a case you really need to know where your components are going first. You can't really just make a cool case with some fans on it and slap in your junk wherever. This is a very symmetrical design, and motherboard components are usually arranged in ways that are best benefited by asymmetrical airflow. For instance, the CPU heatsink is on a plane that is perpendicular to the plane that heatsink of the GPU's or on. Therefor linear airflow across one plane is not going to do much to the other. Therefore, you need to create some sort of airflow 'stream' by using directed airflow by placing fans in certain ways or by using dividers. This is why you see similarities in the way cases are designed.

If you really would like to keep this design I would suggest laying out all your parts first, and then decide where airflow should be directed to keep everything cool, you can do a number of things to manipulate the way air moves across things. You can using dividers such as cut and fitted pieces of acrylic. For example you can span a divider across the mobo to separate airflow between the pci slots and the upper portion of the mobo. You can also use ducting to directly move a fan's airflow right to a heatsink or area, which you can get really creative with. Or you can try your hand at a water cooling setup.

You also need to make room for other things that can severly hinder air movement in a case, such as HDD's, the PSU, and ODD's. They tend to be bulky and large and not much can be done with them other then moving them to the corners like in most cases. Or you can get creative and do stuff like remove the PSU from it's housing and place it in a place where it can be incorporated into the airflow scheme.

Hope this has helped a little bit. I am basically saying that you need to account for a lot of things, and that usually a symmetrical design is not very suitable for this application. Good luck!

Well the vortex idea sounds good in theory, but it would really have no benefit. Swirling the air would really do nothing but just swirl the air.

Click to expand...

Ah, well I guess that makes less work for me

You also need to make room for other things that can severly hinder air movement in a case, such as HDD's, the PSU, and ODD's. They tend to be bulky and large and not much can be done with them other then moving them to the corners like in most cases. Or you can get creative and do stuff like remove the PSU from it's housing and place it in a place where it can be incorporated into the airflow scheme.

Click to expand...

I was planning to incorporate the essential components in the bottom half and the non-essential components in the top half. (non-essential = everything except motherboard or video card)

I'd put a 220/230MM fan on top with four 120's in the corners surrounding it. Then put another 230 on the bottom as intake.

Click to expand...

Would the 220/230 go under the motherboard?

like

_______________________________
__________MOtherboard___________


^^^ ^^^ Airflow ^^^ ^^^
_______________________________
______________Fan______________









Edit: Finished some plans....

Would the 220/230 go under the motherboard?

Click to expand...

Yeah.

An exhaust fan behind the MB is a great idea. I personally don't have that setup but I have MB rear ducting and run a slight positive pressure.

tw1ztid said:

I am not very experienced, but, I would think it would depend on the speed(cfn) of the fans that create the "vortex"

This looks like a great idea for a case, if you don't mind for my first case it would be great to use this as a base idea. (Of course adding my own uniqueness to it)



It looks like there is a slant in the middle, not completely opened?

Click to expand...

Vortex cooling takes very high pressure air to be of any use...sorry but sounds really cool though.

Wow!This Moutainmod Case kicks ***!!