Case fan mod

[th3ha1og0d]

Howdy!

I was just thinking about adding an intake fan on the left side of my pc because I thought it would be a kind of cool mod idea. Although this case is an HP case you can see the side grate may fit an 80mm or 92mm fan and I thought that the holes would be big enough to intake enough air without restricting it. The only thing I thought that would limit me is that I don't know if the fan screws would be the right distances apart or the right size so that the can could be secured properly.

Just an idea, tell me what ya think!http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6703/computer003rm5.jpg

 

[taylormsj]

Just try it our then . If they arent in the right place drill some holes or use some cable ties

 

[Master Mind]

cable ties lol, very creative

Master Mind

 

[elitehacker]

It looks ok, but its too much work for my liking.

 

[taylormsj]

I doubt their would be much point in adding such a small fan - probs wouldnt notice a difference in temp differences that much

 

[th3ha1og0d]

I'm happy with temperatures now, in fact the single 92mm exhaust fan keeps everything very cool, I was just thinking for the summer when I add a mid range graphics card that I may be able to benefit from the added cooling. Another minor issue is that there are only 2 fan connectors on the motherboard that I can see (cpu, case) and I don't know how I'd be able to power the other fan...

EDIT: Wow, I'm such a noob, I just remembered that there are these cool little things called fan controllers. I'm looking at them on Tiger and these look like they aren't that bad of an investment. So I guess if I wanted to add more fans to my chassis this would be the way to do it.

Here is a fan controller that I am looking at http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=872913&CatId=501

This one looks decent and I read that it includes the extension cable incase your fan wire is not long enough, and I already know that my fan wire probably will not reach to the 5.25 inch drive bay. My motherboard is: Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM3-GL8E) and it has 2 3 pin fan connectors on it (cpu and case fans) and I have a 300 watt power supply (I don't think this takes up much power). Also, the computer is an HP a1630n.

So, do you guys think that this is a good idea and will it work with my system?

 

[Kornowski]

I think fans only use like 4watts each, I doubt there's anything to worry about there.

You can get fan adaptors, 4 pin molex to 3 pin fan, they'll be cheaper, but you can't control the speed of the fan with them, it's just an adaptor.

 

[eric92park]

Mine uses 2 watt? wow I never knew that

 

[th3ha1og0d]

I like the idea of the converter cable but I don't think it would be wise to have the fans running 100% all the time, so I'll go with the fan control unit. Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[chupacabra]

@th3ha1og0d
could you re-edit the image on paint and make it smaller, since it's pretty huge or even better, here i'll edit it and you can remove yours and put my edited one of the one you posted above

http://img514.imageshack.us/img514/6703/computer003rm5.jpg ( just put it between img tags and remove the old one from your attachments

 

[th3ha1og0d]

Thanks for editing it for me, Here are the parts I have picked out for my setup and please tell me if they are a good choice. I also was wondering how I can adjust the fans to act as intake/exhaust and will the fan controller unit work with an external 3.5 inch bay? I know that my HP a1630n has an open 3.5 inch external but no available internal 3.5 inch bays. Also for the rear 92mm fan I am unsure of how long the cables are that are included with the fan control unit and so I do not know if it will reach. That is about it, let me know what you think and be aware that I have a 45 dollar budget which is in Canadian dollars. Hopefully my rear fan will be able to reach and I'm hoping that this is going to work out okay.

P.S. I almost forgot, since I will be cutting a hole in the side of the case (not in the place of my picture, but lower) Will I need a grill or something to cover the fan? Or does it include one? Thanks.

120 mm fan: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1089092&sku=ULT31755

Control Unit: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=674615&sku=V13-1104

 

[Kornowski]

You'll need a fan grill to stop people from putting their fingers in the fan They aren't expensive...

That fan controller does more than one fan speed, are you going to be using it for all your fans, because it'd be an overkill to ue it for just one fan.

 

[th3ha1og0d]

I've finally decided to give it a go and will order the parts that I listed. As for cutting the hole I will not be positioning the fan at the vent that I included a picture of, instead I will position the 120mm intake fan below that where it is solid steel (exactly where all my pci cards are). I've done the measuring and the fan will fit and shouldn't interfere with the cards (currently I have a 56k modem and wifi pci card connected). I have a Jobmate Rotary tool kit that I will be using, and I have no experience with these but I read the instruction manual and apparently I'll have to use little cutting discs to make the full circle.

If anyone has had any experience with using a dremel please let me know as I do not want to screw anything up.