Killer Cases #3

Corsair 600T

NZXT H2

Bitfenix Survivor

Computer Case fans.

Computer Fans

Xigmatek 120mm XLF series fan.

The usual computer case end-users have under their table have a 120mm fan at the back, slots for a 80mm fan at the side and a funky plastic front cover. Thankfully most people have moved onto better cases with better fan compatibilities.

For people who hang around in computer forums notably Overclock.net, fans are a crucial part to a computer especially if it's running precious powerful hardware which need to be protected from overheating.

When I say 'fan' in a computer, people usually think about that thing on the 'motherboard chip'. That is the CPU heatsink and it's not entirely a fan. A case fan attaches onto the case with screws or other methods such as the special rubber isolation mounts which are popular nowadays with fan production companies.



Good things about a fan?

Fans are only there to provide airflow to the hardware inside the computer for the various heatsinks in the computer, such as the CPU heatsink, the usually passive heatsinks on the northbridge, southbridge and Mosfets (the black cube like components which usually are on the left side of the CPU socket and sometimes on the top),
The Heatsinks NEED air to move through the metal fins which dissipate heat through MOVING air.
The Fans displayed are Enermax Apollishes, some look for dazzling looks on their fans.

Is it worthit?

Unlike junk-food, too much of it is NEVER bad; that's if you're an overclocker trying to reach a record-breaker on an i7 980x CPU.

Fans are not always a MUST for a computer, but it is recommended to have atleast ONE fan at the back of your case to extract hot air which may mingle inside your computer case.The guy who built the computer shown on the right truly is crazy, no computer doesn't need that many fans. The average computer case fan costs $12, it can get as low as $3 and can reach $50 if you wish to have all the features a fan can haven such as LED lighting, silence, looks and amount of air the fan pushes.



What to look for when you buy one?

Computer case fans can be bought in most computer stores and vary in price. Most consumers should look for mainly 2 things, NOISE and PRICE. Most people just want a working computer which doesn't make too much noise and  doesn't empty a wallet.

The specifications of a fan can be seen on the company's website or on the packaging of the fan, but these are not always reliable, many statements have been proven wrong such as Coolermaster's claims of 'silence' in some of their fans.

You should also look at compatibility, the common case fan is a 120mm fan, others can be 140mm, 80mm and can get as big as 400mm. You should measure the 'fan holes' in your case which can be distinguished by a circular or square like grille with 4 circular holes on each corner. Use a ruler and measure the distance between 2 holes (not diagonally) and you should round that number off to 40mm, 60mm, 80mm, 92mm, 120mm, 140mm or higher fans which aren't in most computer cases.

If you still are not sure about noise and compatibility and miscellaneous points about case fans you should check out forums such as Overclock.net, the link to it is on the left. They should guide you to which fans are best to buy.

The DarkC0der Parts #3

Well I'll just give you guys a closer look at the case I will modding, maybe this will buy time while I do some minor modding.

There you go, now have fun vomitting at the look of this case.

Stay tuned for more.

The DarkC0d3r parts #2

I snapped up a quick video after breakfast today, the weather has gone worse (the introduction to Winter always sucks) so the lighting is a little gloomy but with my room light it should be okay.

This is just about the fan noise of the Coolermaster Fans I got, it shows the noise and whatever.

They aren't SUPER silent but I have to admit they are silent. The motor noise is a little annoying but nothing when it's installed in the case.

It pushes quite some air, did the tissue test and it did better than the 'L' yateloons I bought for the CM Storm Spectre. Though it makes a little more noise. And when I say 'Little' I mean it.

If you guys don't know the tissues test is when I blue tack a square of tissue onto a 120mm fan I'm testing, 2 blobs on each corner and turning it on, the Yate Loon 'L' (low speed) fans are my benchmark which blow the tissue to a 36 degree angle, if you know what i mean.

So that's it for this update, I'm posting something else up soon.

The DarkC0d3r parts #1

Hey Guys, haven't done anything for 3 weeks due to a nice long vacation in China.

This is just a small update with many pictures (I take loads of pictures for small things, so bear with me).

Well I'll just say I bought 6x 120mm Coolermaster fans from China at a price of $3 each, they're silent and push air, what else do you need?

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves

Here's the set.

 I hope so.

 Coolermaster included black painted screws, a nice change from the boring silver ones.

 4 pin molex, nothing special.

Tested it out and it's pretty silent.









Okay I'm over with the fan stuff.
I also bought a Sapphire 5770 vapor-x, which is the blue PCB edition which is shorter and non-reference design, which is exactly what I DIDN'T want, now my waterblock doesn't fit on.

So for now I'll just run it with its Vapor-X cooler.

 Here's the box.

 With all its features blah blah.

 Came with driver CDs, cables. and wtf... alien pr0n.

 The Graphics card in its anti-static bubble wrap pouch.

The card, looks sweet to me.

The only major changes with this revision are the PCB colour, number of holes and the changed RAM or voltage regulator blocks, apparently they are called 'Diamond something' and are meant to run faster.

I'll get this silver piece of metal pitch black in no time.

.....

 Like right now. Painted matte black spray paint.

 Installed, looks way better than before.

Well I guess this ends my update. I promise to get a shot at the garage and take out the case to do some planning and if I can I'll do some set-up modelling.

Well stay tuned for more people.

The DarkC0d3r preparations #3

I'm going to use a older and scrappier case for this mod, I think mods aren't really exciting without being crappy.

Remember the 'painting station' I used for my CM Storm Spectre worklog a while ago? That was a generic case I had, and now I'm going to give it a re-birth (=

Looks pretty SHIT yes?

Yes, the bottom is colored a glossy red because I painted case fans on it before (haha...)

To clarify some information I'm going to measure its dimensions.

LENGTH: 44.5cm

WIDTH: 20.4cm

HEIGHT: 43cm

So it's (LXWXH) 44.5x 20x 43, this isn't too bad for a crap generic case.

The stuff that comes with it is the top panel (I screwed the rivets out, as I said it was supposed to be a PAINTING STATION) and a single sidepanel, I lost the other one LOL.

Both parts installed:

It looks pretty sweet to me, though it will look like a PIECE OF CRAP to you guys. i'll make it much better.

Another EXCELLENT point about this

case is that it can support 2 80mm fans

at the back of the case, proof to the left.

Now it's time to get ONTO THE POINT

Starting with the WINDTUNNEL.

Here is that 90degree cardboard beam I was talking about.

Not perfectly 90degrees but it'll work sweetly, I'll screw them together (=

Time for some manly work.

Sawing it to shape.

Done!

Installed! (The good thing about cardboard, it's nice

and comfy when squashed into a tight bit)

So that's pretty much it!

I'm expecting heaps for this mod, especially without the PSU on the bottom to obstruct the windtunnel.

I'm going to have to pack away the stuff now, I'm leaving overseas this moment.

So, see ya LATERS.