Well I have this old Koolance case. I dont think they even make cases anymore. I came to find out this it is in face a modded Lian-Li.
http://koolance.com/pc3-426bk-liquid-cooling-system-black
I didnt know much about Lian-Li cases when I bought this one for $40 2 years ago. I liked it because it had a top mount rad and temp display with pump and res built in. Obviously now the pump probably cannot handle a whole loop but possibly good for a single item like cpu or gpu.
So first I decided to take out the rad and keep the fans, digital fan controller w/temp display as either an exhaust or intake.
One thing I always didnt like about the case is that it had an 80mm fan at the rear.
So I decided to see if a 120 would fit and it does perfectly. First I drill the holes, then mounted the fan on the outside of the case to use as a pattern. I then used a scroll saw to cut out the hole.
While shopping for my new rig I kept noticing that cases have cutouts behind the sockets and even more expensive cases have cutouts behind the ram. For two reasons; one for ease of installation of coolers that use backplates and two the vrms, for both the cpu and dimms, have input controllers on the rear of the board. I saw most mid-high end cases cutout for just around the socket, higher end cases ie level 10 cutout all the way to the dimm input controllers so I followed suit.
Started with rough pattern didnt care too much about messing up with marker because it is only seen by me once in a blue moon.
Drill holes big enough to get scroll saw blade in. I also cut from the back as the metal arms from the saw scratch the aluminum. *Hint start in weakest point: middle.*
I also saw that most cases have cable management to help with air flow and looks. I couldnt get my scroll saw near the top so I decided to leave it as is. Pretty much any other tool wont leave nice cut lines and not really worth the outcome of it all. Either way I managed to save a few bucks as well as have a nice case with pretty nice features.
Edited by drnilly007 - 8/20/12 at 10:46pm
http://koolance.com/pc3-426bk-liquid-cooling-system-black
I didnt know much about Lian-Li cases when I bought this one for $40 2 years ago. I liked it because it had a top mount rad and temp display with pump and res built in. Obviously now the pump probably cannot handle a whole loop but possibly good for a single item like cpu or gpu.
So first I decided to take out the rad and keep the fans, digital fan controller w/temp display as either an exhaust or intake.
One thing I always didnt like about the case is that it had an 80mm fan at the rear.
So I decided to see if a 120 would fit and it does perfectly. First I drill the holes, then mounted the fan on the outside of the case to use as a pattern. I then used a scroll saw to cut out the hole.
While shopping for my new rig I kept noticing that cases have cutouts behind the sockets and even more expensive cases have cutouts behind the ram. For two reasons; one for ease of installation of coolers that use backplates and two the vrms, for both the cpu and dimms, have input controllers on the rear of the board. I saw most mid-high end cases cutout for just around the socket, higher end cases ie level 10 cutout all the way to the dimm input controllers so I followed suit.
Started with rough pattern didnt care too much about messing up with marker because it is only seen by me once in a blue moon.
Drill holes big enough to get scroll saw blade in. I also cut from the back as the metal arms from the saw scratch the aluminum. *Hint start in weakest point: middle.*
I also saw that most cases have cable management to help with air flow and looks. I couldnt get my scroll saw near the top so I decided to leave it as is. Pretty much any other tool wont leave nice cut lines and not really worth the outcome of it all. Either way I managed to save a few bucks as well as have a nice case with pretty nice features.
Edited by drnilly007 - 8/20/12 at 10:46pm
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