aznkorean

I'm planning to crossfire by the end of summer and right now, with my 8800GTS, I'm not getting very good air flow to it. I was wondering how I could mod my thermaltake side panel. I know there's one on newegg: Side Panel with 25cm Fan. But, it seems like it would disrupt air flow, and I only need exhaust(intake?) in the GPU area where most of the heat is collecting. I think a 80mm would be enough.

I have no idea how to approach this, and if there's already a guide or thread out there just direct me to it!



Here's some pictures of my case right now:

repo_man

Perhaps a PCI slot cooler?

Otherwise, a fan mod in a window is not very hard to do. With the proper tools you'd be more than capable of doing it.

I have seen guys just zip tie an 80mm fan against the back PCI slots as well, if you'd like to try a temporary mount first, just to see how it would effect temps.

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onexero

http://www.xoxide.com/sunbeam-wherever-pci-rack.html

No worries of screwing a fan to the side of your computer.

grunion

You'll never crossfire that card.

Anyway, don't you have a 120mm in the lower drive bays?

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aznkorean

Yeah, I'm planning to get 2 x 4850s. And yes, I do have a 120mm in the lower front for intake.

aznkorean

Okay, I have decided not to get a PCI slot fan. It would just blow the hot air around by GPUs. I want to make a hole in my side panel, right next to where my GPUs will be so I can add an intake fan. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might be able to cut through the hard plastic/metal? And how to do it carefully so I don't screw up?

Also, I might open up the unused PCI slot covers (which would create openings to the back of the case) and attach a fan back there for exhaust.

Syrillian

It looks like it might be difficult with that spar that runs horizontally through the area that you need to install the fan in the optimal space.

The two options that I see are to have the intake just above the spar which may mis-align the airflow with the GPU coollers.

-or-

Rivet the spar to the panel outside the perimeter of the circle on each side of the intended break, and then cut both the spar and the window.

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aznkorean

Uh, sorry, could you explain that in a more simple way?

Syrillian

Please bear in mind that I do not have a similar case to make a judgment on, but it looks like the fan hole would need to eclipse the lower solid portion of the case panel.

Cutting that piece way jeopardize the rigidity of the panel. One work-around could be to rivet (or perhaps better yet, bolt) the panel to the window so that when the portion to be removed is gone, the panel will not lose much rigidity.

The red dots represent the mouting points of the rivets or the bolts, and the circle is the 120mm fan-hole. This will only work if the clear panel is one piece.



If you do consider doing this, please consider the aesthetics and the possible loss of rigidity in the panel, although imho neither will take a notable hit.

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aznkorean

Uh, the clear panel isn't 1 piece. It's seperated by the metal. Anyways, what do I use to cut out the plastic so I don't leave cracks and such.