- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Location
- Niagara, ON
Part 1: The fan hole
Disclaimer (as i was told it would be a good idea): This is only for metal cases, unless you are brave enough to try it on a acrylic case go ahead, but dont blame me.
Disclaimer: this is a dumbed down version for n00bs and anyone that just looks at the site and never posts.
Needed tools:
Case panel
Hammer
"Punch"
Any size fan and grill
Tin Snips
1/8 inch drill bit and a really large bit
Battery powered drill
A metal file
Other stuff usually need for the fan installation
You may be able to use a hole saw, i used the tins snips and i think it turned out ok, another option wold be the dremel, but make sure that you know how to use one.
1. First measure out where the fan will go, some places it wont fit so make sure before you start it will fit and if you are using just a grill makesure that the screws will be able to go all the way through.
2. then scratch or draw a stencil of the fan's or grill's circle and the inside of that you will never see again.
3. Get a drill bit that Looks like any drill bit and is about 1/8 inch. Then size the screw holes space wise and get a punch and a hammer. Now using the hammer, hit the top of the punch creating a little hole to start the bit. Set the bit into the drill and line it up with the little hole (or big one, if you have bad aim or want it to go faster like me) and go all the way through.
4. use the big bit now and make a few big holes all the way through, be careful not to cross the line of where the circle is, i made a big hole in the middle(ill tell you down below why)
5. use the tins snips to cut out the hole, i cut a little bit then cut to the middle (where i put a hole with the big drill bit) so it was easier and so i wouldnt bend the case and repeated this until the hole was a circle
6. use the file to dull the sharp edges
7. Make sure that the screws for the fan and or the grill with fit through the holes by putting them through after, if they do not get a bigger drill bit and repeat the above.
8. Once you know that the screws will fit its jsut like a normal case fan installation. But to make it easier dont plug in the fan first, screw it in and then plug it in, then close up the case.
Now not only will you have a cooler system (usually), but if you get a cool grill and a good led fan the case will look cooler too, and it will seem almost like a stock fan.
BTW-I chose to use a fan and a grill, and any mess-ups that you may have the grill basically will cover it up, and if not use the handymans secret weapon, Duct Tape. i chose to put my fan close to the heatsink and have it blowing in so that you get better airflow. here are some before and after photos, i forgot to take some during the "creation" of the hole (bottom)
Part 2: Creating a Window
Tools:
Case panel
Hammer
"Punch"
Tin Snips or a dremel, (i like t.s. because they dont mess up as bad)
a really large drill bit
Battery powered drill
A metal file
something that you want to have covering the hole that you made ie. window from kit or custom cut, brass mess (i got me some of that and its really helped cool down) or anything that will help from letting hot air in and coolair out.
DISCALIMER: as above this is only been tried on a metal panel, i am not responsible if you mess up your panels, need it be a metal or acrylic!
1. draw the design you have in mind on the panel with whatever utencil you want, i used a pencil becuase it shows up jst enough and its eraseable.
And remember that the bigger the hole the weaker your panel will be.
2. use the big bit now and make a few big holes all the way through, be careful not to cross the line of where the design is, i made a big hole in the middle(ill tell you down below why)
3. use the tins snips to cut out the hole, i cut a little bit then cut to the middle (where i put a hole with the big drill bit) so it was easier and so i wouldnt bend the case and repeated this until the hole was my design
4. use the file to dull the sharp edges
5. finish it off by adding the window, screen or whatever you want to it, i dont know how window kits work but they should come with instructions, and for the screen i took my screen and used magnet to hold it agianst the inside of the panel and i used some duct tape to hold it, made sure you couldnt see the tape through the mesh and if this fails down the road im getting the silicon out and that'll fix it.
and there ya go, a brand new case with your own custom design fan and window.
PS if you are really creative you can spray paint a design on the window or screen or just get a sticker, i tried paint but it wouldnt hold on the brass, but meh.
i recently did this on the top of my case so i could add a 120mm fan and it worked great until 2 of the blades broke off, damn cheapeys!
and now that i have done this, my cpu temps went from a 60ish idle and 70ish full load to a below 40 idle and about 50 full load, the case temps went from 45 to 20-30 (all C)
Disclaimer (as i was told it would be a good idea): This is only for metal cases, unless you are brave enough to try it on a acrylic case go ahead, but dont blame me.
Disclaimer: this is a dumbed down version for n00bs and anyone that just looks at the site and never posts.
Needed tools:
Case panel
Hammer
"Punch"
Any size fan and grill
Tin Snips
1/8 inch drill bit and a really large bit
Battery powered drill
A metal file
Other stuff usually need for the fan installation
You may be able to use a hole saw, i used the tins snips and i think it turned out ok, another option wold be the dremel, but make sure that you know how to use one.
1. First measure out where the fan will go, some places it wont fit so make sure before you start it will fit and if you are using just a grill makesure that the screws will be able to go all the way through.
2. then scratch or draw a stencil of the fan's or grill's circle and the inside of that you will never see again.
3. Get a drill bit that Looks like any drill bit and is about 1/8 inch. Then size the screw holes space wise and get a punch and a hammer. Now using the hammer, hit the top of the punch creating a little hole to start the bit. Set the bit into the drill and line it up with the little hole (or big one, if you have bad aim or want it to go faster like me) and go all the way through.
4. use the big bit now and make a few big holes all the way through, be careful not to cross the line of where the circle is, i made a big hole in the middle(ill tell you down below why)
5. use the tins snips to cut out the hole, i cut a little bit then cut to the middle (where i put a hole with the big drill bit) so it was easier and so i wouldnt bend the case and repeated this until the hole was a circle
6. use the file to dull the sharp edges
7. Make sure that the screws for the fan and or the grill with fit through the holes by putting them through after, if they do not get a bigger drill bit and repeat the above.
8. Once you know that the screws will fit its jsut like a normal case fan installation. But to make it easier dont plug in the fan first, screw it in and then plug it in, then close up the case.
Now not only will you have a cooler system (usually), but if you get a cool grill and a good led fan the case will look cooler too, and it will seem almost like a stock fan.
BTW-I chose to use a fan and a grill, and any mess-ups that you may have the grill basically will cover it up, and if not use the handymans secret weapon, Duct Tape. i chose to put my fan close to the heatsink and have it blowing in so that you get better airflow. here are some before and after photos, i forgot to take some during the "creation" of the hole (bottom)
Part 2: Creating a Window
Tools:
Case panel
Hammer
"Punch"
Tin Snips or a dremel, (i like t.s. because they dont mess up as bad)
a really large drill bit
Battery powered drill
A metal file
something that you want to have covering the hole that you made ie. window from kit or custom cut, brass mess (i got me some of that and its really helped cool down) or anything that will help from letting hot air in and coolair out.
DISCALIMER: as above this is only been tried on a metal panel, i am not responsible if you mess up your panels, need it be a metal or acrylic!
1. draw the design you have in mind on the panel with whatever utencil you want, i used a pencil becuase it shows up jst enough and its eraseable.
And remember that the bigger the hole the weaker your panel will be.
2. use the big bit now and make a few big holes all the way through, be careful not to cross the line of where the design is, i made a big hole in the middle(ill tell you down below why)
3. use the tins snips to cut out the hole, i cut a little bit then cut to the middle (where i put a hole with the big drill bit) so it was easier and so i wouldnt bend the case and repeated this until the hole was my design
4. use the file to dull the sharp edges
5. finish it off by adding the window, screen or whatever you want to it, i dont know how window kits work but they should come with instructions, and for the screen i took my screen and used magnet to hold it agianst the inside of the panel and i used some duct tape to hold it, made sure you couldnt see the tape through the mesh and if this fails down the road im getting the silicon out and that'll fix it.
and there ya go, a brand new case with your own custom design fan and window.
PS if you are really creative you can spray paint a design on the window or screen or just get a sticker, i tried paint but it wouldnt hold on the brass, but meh.
i recently did this on the top of my case so i could add a 120mm fan and it worked great until 2 of the blades broke off, damn cheapeys!
and now that i have done this, my cpu temps went from a 60ish idle and 70ish full load to a below 40 idle and about 50 full load, the case temps went from 45 to 20-30 (all C)
