which case

[cd_rom]

Ok, i just order few fans and other bits from Scan:

-> Coolermaster Aluminum CD/DVD/DVDRW
-> 120mm Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E Silent F
-> 120mm Sharkoon Sys. Fan Midrange 12
-> 120mm Silverstone FN122 Black Fan
-> Silverstone PP04 Cable Extension Kit
-> Zalman ZM-MFC1 Plus Black Multi Fan
-> 140 Sharkoon System Fan Series 140x

I want to replace my white dvd-cdrom white bezel with the black one to match my case because i love it lol.

I want to try out Scythe S-Flex to see what the fuss about hehe.

Sharkoon andn Silverstone fans are recommended so i will see how these fans compete against nzxt fans.

Try to hide the 4 pin molex under the motherboard so i have to resort to the extention kit.

Since i have 6 fans so i guess having a fan controller is like a no-brainer so i picked the zalman fan controller like you recommended.

Stuff will come next week so i willl keep you posted then!

oh lol, if you had put link on 120mm Sharkoon 1000 LED "Golf Ball" i would have bought it, i like those LED, they are pretty! Just found out about it on today-only page grrrrrrrrr....

[Pob255]

Doh, but if you want to change an order, phone them up tomorrow morning, I've actually phoned scan about 10min after ordering to change an item and add one on, and they were happy to help.
EDIT: I did mention the sharkoon golfball fans, just didn't link them as I have no direct experience of them, a friend of mine used them to replace the tricool fans in her antec p182 case & a 2000rpm one on her Thermaltake ultra 120 extreme cooler, she love them, but i've never heard them or had one to compair the air output with other fans.

Quick note on the zalman fan controller, it connects to 6 fans via cables aprox 20cm long, ending in 3pin connectors, the first 2 also have a 2nd cable that you can plug into a fan header on the motherboard so you can monitor the fan speed.
It also requires 1 molex connector for power. (just to let you know)

One other thing to note is LED fans, the led's are powered by the voltage, so reduceing there speed by a fan controller also reduces the brightness, not by a great amount but you do see it as you adjust the fan.

Nice idea on trying out different fans

I've found front fans are always louder for the asic reason that they are closer to you and in a direct line.
e.g. I've got a sharkoon 120mm power fan at the back of my case and an Akasa 120mm blue LED fan at the front, when side by side turned down to min on the zalman fan controller the Akasa is more quiet, but it the case the Akasa is louder (only when both are set to min, turn it up to max and that sharkoon power fan drowns everything out)
That said it does sound like the square grill on your front fan housings are adding to the sound, depending on how thick that steel is you can probably cut out the square grill with a decent pair of wire cutters (or drimmel but only if you have one, don't go and buy one just for this) given that there's a detachable filter and mesh front panel it will not effect the look of the case any

You could also consider cutting out the rear fan grill aswell and replaceing it with one of these
http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=221413
lol the listing says "no image available" but it's there on the list page


not like I'm trying to encourage to mod your case

[cd_rom]

lol, thanks for the head up on fan controller and fans.

I composed a list of to- do with the case since last nite! Here is what on the list:

-> Take out the fan on side panel window, since the window isnt held securely on the side panel so i thought why not take the fan out, then not only reduce the vibration but also clear the sight to look into the case ( Wires around the fan is killing the pretty sight). A stone kills two birds!

-> Take out the rear fan, and replace with this side panel fan cause it has blue led!

-> , cutting out the 2 metal/stell grills at the front panel, lot of turbulance from them.

I dont have a dremel, i need to check out my buddy's shed see what he got for cutting those steel out, they are quite thick!

Maybe put some blutack between the 2 140mm fans up top to reduce the vibration. Im thinking about fan suspension like you described!

I think im gonna phone them up this morning to change it and because my ordered has been delalyed!

Nah, i like this modding stuff, it's fun. I will mod this case until i have what i want out of it. It's a nice case though!

[Pob255]

Well if you're open to modding . . .

You might want to have a go at removing the side window and making it more secure.
I'd suggest glueing it down
(bolts would probably be better, but it that perspex is very thin then it might be too weak and easy to crack when trying to drill holes in it)
For preference I'd use "UHU All Purpose Adhesive" it's clear, drys soft, easy to use and easy to remove from smooth surfaces.
Make sure it's the solvent version, the non-solvent version is just PVA glue in a tube.
Still use the clips, the glue is not so much to hold it in but to keep it from being lose.

[Webby]

Yeah, probably best to remove the grills in front of or behind the fans dont worry about the grills Pob linked to for the front fans but might be a good idea to have one on the back so that you don't put your finger in it when plugging in cables etc.

For the top fans try some of these to isolate them from the case, http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=487037 In fact you can use them on all your fans that attach with screws, the Sharkoon golfballs come with them if I remember correctly.

To do the metal cutting a Dremel really is the best tool but as Pob says don't go out and buy one just for that at ~£50 it makes cutting out a few grills a bit expensive, although I guess you could probably get a cheaper one, something like this available from Maplin http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=223458 not going to be as good as a Dremel but would get the work done. Oh and remember to wear eye protection (goggles or glasses, will be the best couple of quid you ever spend if it stops you getting a shard of hot metal in the eye!) when using any power tools.

[cd_rom]

lol, i done the 2 fans grill at the front panel without dremel! Well, im feeling pretty good! I went to the shed to see what availabe since i know that we dont have dremel then i saw a hammer and a rusted old erm jitsel/gisel? lol i dont know what it's called so i used them to break the mesh. I used sand paper, but my buddy said it was not sandpaper, i can't remember what it called to smooth the edge where i cut it.

The damn camera was out of battery so i couldn't take any pics and i coudln't find the charger (not my camera ). I spent good 30mins or so to smooth them! They looked good at the end. I am happy about them.

I will try to get the side panel glue.

Thanks for the feedback as usual!

[Webby]

Chisel was the word you were looking for and the sand paper was probably wet and dry or emery paper.

Glad you got them sorted We wait for pictures

[Pob255]

Chisel was the word you were looking for and the sand paper was probably wet and dry or emery paper. or glass paper they are all basically the same, you can use sand paper to file down and smooth mild steel, but the resaults are a bit rough

Glad you got them sorted We wait for pictures

Indeed and we must have pic's

I did mean the fan grill only on the rear fan as the front fans have a fliter and the case front in the way of fingures

Webby look back at my giant posts and you'll see my answer to thoes rubber plugs, which instead of costing £5 per fan, costs roughtly £3 (+£3 if you need to buy a cigarette lighter and some m6 silicon washer) for 9 fans

[cd_rom]

here we go, pics on two front grills




Still waiting on my fans and controllers to come. Should be here tomorrow!

I also will try to cut out the rear grill, not with chisel (thx Webby!) and hammer this time i dont think lol

[cd_rom]

I found this on accessories page on scan website, it seems pretty good. What do you think?

http://www.scan.co.uk/Product.aspx?WebProductId=800110

[Pob255]

Very nice find for £7
That'll get added to my next scan order

[Webby]

Yeah seems to have everything you will need if you decide to go down the rubber mount rather than elastic bands as Pob suggested, just make sure that the fans you buy are open cornered (see the illustration at the bottom of the page to see what I mean by open and closed corners, http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=410) the long mounts in the kit will work on closed corner fans (3 fans worth) then medium will work on open corner (2 fans worth) then short I'm not entirely sure what they are for!

[cd_rom]

Fans and controller come today! w00t lol. I was so excited so i spent all afternoon to install and reroute the wires.

I was able to route the 4pins from psu under the m/b and added the extention to the top so no wire snake up the m/b any more hehe.

I quite like the sharkoon led golfball, it came with rubber damper and it runs pretty quiet too. Woo, now i see what the fuss about with scythe-flex, it seems like really classy compare to other fans. The box was all wrap up and smell erm like it got straight out from the manufacturer lol. Heavier compare to other fans, shift alot of air but i dont think it is that quiet even though it runs ~ 1200rpm.

But that's what fan controller for, I really love that zalman, it's just nice! The comp runs reasonably quiet now, but not enough light lol. I am pondering between install the CC tube or get 2 more golfball fans because that is the only fan that has led in my case right now. I hate the wires come with CC tube, they are a mess!

Also looking forward to replace my hard drive, it is noisier than my fan when i turn down the voltage fromthe fan controller. Two 140mm fans at top make noticable noise and vibrations when i turn the voltage up. I probably will get the kit i posted above for some rubber grommers with the hard drive and replace the only nzxt fan left, 140mm on top panel!

Other than that, it's alll good!

I found this on chilledpc: http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=912

I may get it for the 140mm fan on top panel. Chilledpc has some nice led accessories as well!

[Pob255]

I have found a protential problem with the zalman fan controller (very sorry I didn't know about ti when I sudgested it)
its only 7W per channel (0.58A) ie per fan, while this normally is not a problem as almost all 120mm fans are around 0.15a to 0.3a
However the non-led yate loon 140mm fans are 6w / 0.5a (D14SL-12) or 8.4w / 0.7a (D14ML-12) depending on speed
What seems really strange is that all the yate loon D14SL-12 LED fans are listed as 3.6w / 0.3a
And god forbid that any manufactor would list important info like the watts/amps needed on there web site

[cd_rom]

Ah, thanks for that Pob! It's not your fault ;-).

I think if i mount the fan under instead of on top of the top panel, it may just work out right for me because they get few cm clearance from the fan grills and with some anti-vibration grommets, they should be fine.

yup, you are right about cutting holes in the motherboard tray. I need to cut few holes, will start knocking on the neightbours's doors to borrow dremel lol.

[Webby]

If you plan on cutting holes in things and then putting cables through them you may want to consider getting some blow hole trim, its beading to stop sharp edges cutting things and as an added bonus covers up small scratches/mistakes in the cutting Anyway link to some at chilled PC http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/prod...roducts_id=242

You can see it in use in my case below, its the black stuff surrounding the holes where the cables pass through the motherboard tray