which case

[cd_rom]

Thanks all for feedback! I was immensedly overwhelm and sorry about the blurry pics , i had to read the manual online to find out how to stop the flash so i could take pics in the dark lol

@Brewster: i wish i could just storm out and buy a fan controller and let it solve my fan problem but i will be kicking myself very hard if i couldn't even get my fan to connect to it and/or the fans stil making noticable amount of noise!

@Webby: all fans come with this cas have 4 pin molex male and female and 3 pins connector to connec to the motherboard. I will take another pic to show it clearly

@Pob225

Quick question, is the side window held on by screws?

if you meant my side panel window then yes, it is held by 2 screws but i dont need to use screw driver because they have little handle at the end so i can use my hand to hold and rotate them which is pretty handy i think.

There was a html link on "http://forum.***********.net/showpost.php?p=4241&postcount=1", as you can see, i can't really click on it but i guess it bit-tech.net. Was it about fan mod? Because the host server wasn't available ( freeserve! quite old, used to be wannado but orange now right?)

I have all day today so i spend more time with those fans...I determine to get this case quiet so yes, I dont mind to spend more money (but dont wanna break my bank! ), time and effort.

Yes, i was trying to route the 20pins connection from psu to the motherboard but it was rather stretchy and couldn't reach it, i tried this with both holes (next to the motherboard) but i can only connect it when route it directly like the pic shows.

[Webby]

Well if the fans have 3pin connectors as well you are in luck A fan controller will potentially solve any fan noise issues you may have without needing to buy more fans.

If I may suggest you plug some into the motherboard headers (assuming you are not doing so already) and check in the BIOS (or use a program like speedfan, Everest or Hardware Monitor) to check how fast the fans are actually spinning, because if they are spinning at 1200rpm and too noisy then new fans might be in order but if they are noisy but spinning at 2000rpm it could be easily solved with a fan controller (or even using the motherboard fan headers if they are controllable, and you have enough.

As to PSU routing the problem seems to be that you have to travel the width of the case as the PSU is upside down (not that you installed it wrong, just that they normally are the other way up) does it rest on the bottom of the case or could you potentially turn it over without totally eliminating airflow to the fan? For the 4pin connector you might try and run it to the back of the case and then up over the back fan rather than round the graphics card. Or you could always buy some extension cables http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=656145 or http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=557926 and http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=557927

Finally I think Pob was asking how the fan connects to the window rather than how the panel connects to the case. I would guess screws or possibly split pins.

[cd_rom]

ah, thanks for the links Webby about cable extensions and yes, i will plug the 3pin fan connection to the motherboard to monitor the rpm.

Pob was right about my ECS motherboard, i can't control the fan speed via speedfan.

And the fan connects or held to the side panel window by 4 screws. I guess another pic (not blurry ) can show this.

I will try to turn the spu upside down to see if it helps with the 4pins molex and the main cable else i may have to buy extensions for them. But the fan attached to the psu will face the bottom of the case and no air will get out that way and this is the only fan and way for the air to get in/out of the psu.

[Webby]

Yeah, try turning it over but if the is no way for the fan to draw air (ie it sits on the floor of the case) then don't try it the PSU will overheat and Die

You could always cut a blow hole (will in this case an intake) under the PSU so the fan could draw air in from outside the case but buying some extensions would certainly be easier

Talking of extension cables the Akasa ones are longer (and sleeved) which may be of benefit as you could hid the connections behind the motherboard tray and still have plenty of cable to get to the connector (especially the 4pin).

[Pob255]

What I ment by my question is "How is the window held onto the side panel?"
It it by some screws around the edge of the window that go through the window and screw into the side panel?
Or is it held in by rivits?
Or glue?

I did ask before, to check that window to make sure it's not lose and rattleing
If it is then it depends on how it's held in to how it can be tightened up.

I'm actaully starting to like this case and considering getting one myself.

PS Just google jumpstart a psu to find one of many guides
or here's another link http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/guide...start-psu.html

[Webby]

What I ment by my question is "How is the window held onto the side panel?"
It it by some screws around the edge of the window that go through the window and screw into the side panel?
Or is it held in by rivits?
Or glue?

I did ask before, to check that window to make sure it's not lose and rattleing
If it is then it depends on how it's held in to how it can be tightened up.

I'm actaully starting to like this case and considering getting one myself.

PS Just google jumpstart a psu to find one of many guides
or here's another link http://www.clunk.org.uk/forums/guide...start-psu.html

My mistake

Yeah it certainly does seem to be pretty good, think if I had one the would be a vent in the bottom for the PSU (oh and I would need to find somewhere to mount my Rads

[Pob255]

You mean cut a hole in the bottom for a psu vent? (as in the cm690) if so then I fully agree
For a place to put a rad, there's thoes two 140mm fans in the top of the case, looks like a great spot to me

I had another look at a couple of reviews of this case, one of them did mention the window is a bit flimsy as the purspex is a bit thin. also mentioned the motherboard cable length problem.
Looking at the pictures seems like there's a bit of a gap between the psu and motherboard, annoying becuase it could of been so eaisly fixed at the design stage.

I think it is crying out for a couple of simple mods.
-hole cut in the base for psu
-cut away grills on the front fans (they are still behind the mesh front and filters)
-cut a couple of additional holes in the motherboard tray for better cable routing
-replace/reinforce the window.

[cd_rom]

Ok, so i had another attemp at the cable management! I think I have have improved it this time. I managedto get the main power connection to the motherboard, but i have to twist it pretty hard to get it "point" to the socket then push it in.



Another shot at the side window panel from the outside:


After that, i tried to get 4 pin molex connector up the top, so i unscrewed the motherboard and routed it underneath but was short so i couldn't do that.

I can't turn the psu upside down either because it wont fit in. I even tried to take out the metal rack that i screwed the psu into it to hold it but when i turned it upside down, the screw holes wont align. The pic will probably explain it better than i do , you can see that there is a thing at the bottom of the case stop me move the psu down further.



Ah, i know what you mean about the side panel and the window now! Here is my answer:



so no, they dont use screws or rivet or split wire lol, they are like thin metal clip then bend it to hold into the window.

Talking about origami , i though i may show you this hehe, it's been sitting on my bookshelf collecting dusk for years!



Not sure if it's my psu but the fan at the rear sort of like stop then start then spin fast then stop again...

[Pob255]

Much better on the cabling in the first pic it's pritty damb good

which fans have you got pluged into what?

EDIT: you don't want to move the psu down thurver as that's going to shorten the lead going to the motherboard.
the reason for fliping the psu over in this situation is so that the motherboard cable is coming out of the motherboard tray side which should give you a little slack to play with.

[cd_rom]

I plugged the rear fan into the motherboard 3 pins header to check for rpm and it was acting like i said in above post.

So i changed different fans to different headers ( m/b got 3 headers - cpu, system fan x 2) and im a little surprise, as you can see that i got a amd stock heat sink and when i connect it to different header, it spins slower!

The 120mm fan spins at ~1200rpm.

I got a akasa cooler for my cpu, i will probably install that later as it comes with a single fan controller.

The fans are working normal now.

[Webby]

Hmm, so have you found which fan is the noisy one yet? I'm putting my money on the Window one!

The cables look good in the top pic very neat and as Pob said the reason for flipping the PSU would have been to get the fixed cables closer to the motherboard, as you have managed to make them reach now that is a mute point

If the run the fans in free air (on a table or in your hand, watch out for the blades!) do they make much noise? Also try connecting the same fan to the motherboard and then power it from a molex and compare the airflow (subjectively) if the airflow seams significatly different then the motherboard headers are controlling the fan speed and 1200rpm is not the maximum they will spin at (I would expect 1200rom fans to be almost silent, not quite but almost).

[cd_rom]

Not to be funny but i notice my hard drive making noisy like disk spinning ...

HOw about me, try to record the noise?

I see we posted at the same time Webby! I have tried 2 fans, rear and side window but 4 fans, 2 at top and 2 at the front cause i need to open the top panel lol and i dont know how to do it yet...

I got work at 6pm so i cant test, i will do it tomorrow.

Oh when i tested the side panel window fan, i notice it made noisy like "clicking", it's hard to explain, it's something like when you dip a piece of (writing) paper into the fan when it's spinning.

[cd_rom]

Good day!

Ok, here is my report on fan testing.

I tested all the fans in free air i.e. holding them my hand and what i have found out that all 120mm fans behave all the same, there is no bad one i.e. one being noisier than the other and the same holds true for the 140mm fans up top. However, all 120mm fans all making the noise i described in above post, i guess it comes from the mechanism of the fan?!. All the fans come with case are sleeve bearing type.

Now come to m/b headers. I found out that 2/3 headers on the m/b are actually working, the third one is either not supposed to report the rpm or faulty. When i connected the amd default heat sink to case cooling header, it sped up! I checked from speedfan, it was about 900<rpm<1000 and it made incredible amount of noise, it was the lousest fan so i switched back to cpu header and it now is running slower and dont make much noise. System cooling header is the stable. This let me to the conclusion that different header has a fixed value of rpm (or voltage)!

The 2 x 140mm fans at the top panel while shifting alot of air, they do make noise too, i say loud noise and when having both of them running at the same time, it gets pretty noisy. Their rpm is about 1050< rpm<1150.

I compared 2 120mm fans, 1 used header in m/b and 1 used 4 pin molex from psu. Well, the fan used m/b header rpm at 880<rpm<910 and the fan used 4 pin ran even slower! How did i know this? I did what you said lol, put my finger into the blade and i wouldnt' do it again even though i used celetape to cover my finger tip. And i also watched the lighting too, the slower spin blade deflected the light further out while fast spinning blade sort of like going throught the light without carrying it out.

<trivia!>
I was rather amused by all this experiments so i tried to work out the speed of the 120mm fan running at 900 rpm and after few calculations (assuming the radius = 60mm), i got the speed at 5.6ms^-1.
<end of trivia!>

So now, i think i need to get a fan controller and replace 140mm fan at top, just one because running those 2 fans at the same time is a bit excessivel. Maybe try out a 120mm fan from the links you suggested.

Im also seriously considering replace my hard driver! (Possibley m/b and a new cpu (amd 3800x2)atm).

Stripping the top panel was a pain in the a**!

[cd_rom]

I guess, this will be second part of my report!

I re-attached two fan cages for the two 120mm fan at the front panel and i notice they make more noise, the reason seem obvious to me that the air got shift through and collides with the cage or turbulance lol.

No Webby, the side panel fan wasn't the noisiest! Just so you know that you lost your bet

[Webby]

If your in the market for 140mm fans the, Sharkoon System Fan 900rpm or the Akasa AK-195BL,
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=756698 and http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=876305

You might also consider the Yate Loon D14SL-12 http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=488

If you are considering reducing the number of fans remember that it is always better to pull more air out of the case than it is to push air in. I would probably fit 2x 140mm fans and the rear 120mm and then probably have a single 120mm on the front as an intake or 2 intake but at ~1000rpm.

Oh and for case fans the Scythe Slipstreams are very good, not so good on heatsinks but fine for moving air around in cases.

[cd_rom]

Thanks Webby! I will look into ordering those fans.