Anyone able to cut a 120mm blowhole for me ?

Flaccus

So I just bought one of these for my Akasa Mirage.

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2010/43731vf1.jpg
Hope to get those quad core temps down. Not a serious piece of watercooling kit but pretty decent for what it does. Black Ice 120mm Radiator with a Papst (Alphacool labelled) fan, a Laing DDC Pump, 3/8ths tubing and an Alphacool NexXxos XP block, all stuck together in one neat package.

Anyway fitting this means the rear fan will have to deal with cooling the cpu but also removing hot air from the rest of the case. I have it setup with a front 800rpm Noctua fan cooling the drives, and another of the same fan cooling the gpu area. I am thinking if I mount another fan on the top of the case in a blowhole this would take some of the stress off the watercooling kit and let it get on with cooling the cpu.

So if anyone out there is handy doing a 120mm blowhole please let me know. I can post you the top panel of the case, and there is a free Tuniq Tower in it for ya

hopeful

It's an easy enough job...why not take a crack yourself?
All you need is a lend of a jigsaw with a new blade and then a small file to tidy up after.

I've done quite a few so could certainly do it but I'm aways up in Dublin.

Flaccus

Cause I am pure shnit at diy stuff like that. I always balls it up.

I should have a spare Akasa top panel knocking around....have to look through my gallery of cases
Maybe I could post it up to ya along with enough for return postage in same box ?? what you reckon ?? will mark out where I want it cut too.

hopeful

Flaccus wrote:

Cause I am pure shnit at diy stuff like that. I always balls it up.

I should have a spare Akasa top panel knocking around....have to look through my gallery of cases
Maybe I could post it up to ya along with enough for return postage in same box ?? what you reckon ?? will mark out where I want it cut too.

I'd be happy to oblige.
Cover the top surface with masking tape and mark carefully how you want the hole to look, including screw holes. I'll cut and finish the edges and drill any screw holes to fit standard fan screws. I assume you will be fitting an external fan grill to cover it?
Drop me a PM and we take it from there.

Flaccus

Cheers mate. Much appreciated.

thanks

hopeful

Flaccus wrote:

Cheers mate. Much appreciated.

thanks

You won't be saying that when I've made a balls of your expensive case

Anti

oh do take pics. id have a laugh at this

hopeful

Here's one I did earlier...




Only kidding Nabbed pic from Bit-Tech disaster mods forum

Flaccus

I hope so.

I know where you live now

Flaccus

One question though - for those familiar with the akasa mirage/eclipse case (sold enough of them to ye on adverts

The normal cooling for this case is one intake and one outtake, and this case is generally considered unbeatable for cooling (something to do with the extra width helping the airflow stream). Then there is the additional sidepanel just to cool the hot spot on the gpu's. I have my case setup like that.

Unfortunately because my psu has no 120mm fan (just a forward facing fan, no bottom 120mm fan) it does not help with the cooling. So the rear fan has to handle removing all the heat. This is why I am going ahead with the blowhole mod. But due to the length of the psu cage, the blowhole/fan would not be positioned directly over the cpu area or video card area. It would be positioned on the outside edge of the motherboard, nearer to the 5.25" bays in fact. And the top panel is actually about 4" from the top edge of the mobo tray. Just wondering how effective it would be in cooling.

To give you an idea :

Here is the topspace. Ignore the cables between the psu housing and the dvdrw. My setup has proper cable management and this is completely unblocked.
http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/570/topspacebigkn6.jpg

And this. Ignore the drive bay hanging off the psu area. Mine is removed.
http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/9223/sidebigij8.jpg

Would a blowhole fan do any good at all ?


thanks

Flaccus

double post. sorry.

Anti

I dont see why not. There iwll obviously be a heat build up in that area. So removing it should lower ambient temps.

hopeful

Heat will always rise and find the easiest way out so any blowhole in the top of a case will make a difference.

Chosen

I've come to a point that I need to cut the top of my Antec P160, to fit a 240mm rad. I have a few questions though:

1) Which rad to use? I currently have a single 120mm rad, fitted on the back fan (under the PSU, beside the CPU area) and it's not enough. It's fine for keeping a C2D to around 3.5-3.7GHz, but it was definitely not good enough to keep my QX6700 cool & stable over 3.3GHz, or a C2D over 3.8GHz.
I'm trying to decide between the Black Ice GT Stealth II, the Black Ice Xtreme II and the Black Ice Pro II radiators. Which one would be better, overall. Because tbh, I cannot see any differences, besides the price and the fact that the first one is thinner than the other two. Also, is there another rad that you would recommend?

2) Is there any other locations on the case that I could mount the dual rad? I can only think of the top panel (after a small "surgery" ofcourse) and my only requirement is that everything stays inside the case.

3) I am quite positive that I don't have the required tools or the skill to cut the necessary openings for the rad on the top. I only have a drill/electric screwdriver, which I can basically use to remove the rivets that hold the top panel attached on the chassis. I don't have any other tools to cut the aluminum panel, nor the needed tool to re-attach it on the chassis with rivets. Anyone available for some help?

The rest of the kit consists of this CPU block and this pump, no res :eek: and Tygon tubes.

hopeful

Just my two cents...

The top panel is the only place for a 240mm rad in a P160.
Tools you wil need are simple and could be borrowed (or bought for a few coins). You will need a jigsaw with a suitable blade for the metal you are cutting and a set of smal files for finishing. A dremel is another option but TBH is not the best device for cutting large openings. The biggest thing you will need is time as to get a good result you will spend a lot of time after the initial cut filing the edges to get them smooth and neat.
To reattach the panel you can buy a manual rivet gun for about €10-15 and a couple of packs of rivets for a fiver.

There are small differences in the rads you mentioned and if you read the spec sheet for each you will find out what....I'm at work and all those sites are blocked here

Chosen

hopeful wrote:

Just my two cents...

The top panel is the only place for a 240mm rad in a P160.
Tools you wil need are simple and could be borrowed (or bought for a few coins). You will need a jigsaw with a suitable blade for the metal you are cutting and a set of smal files for finishing. A dremel is another option but TBH is not the best device for cutting large openings. The biggest thing you will need is time as to get a good result you will spend a lot of time after the initial cut filing the edges to get them smooth and neat.
To reattach the panel you can buy a manual rivet gun for about €10-15 and a couple of packs of rivets for a fiver.

There are small differences in the rads you mentioned and if you read the spec sheet for each you will find out what....I'm at work and all those sites are blocked here

Thanks for the advice(s), it seems that there's no way back for my P160
I could still need some help with the cutting process though, I don't feel confident enough to do it myself. I could definitely give it a try if it was the side panel, as I can propably buy a new one if I really screw it up. But it's the top panel and I am a bit hesitant
So, any help here, would be appreciated.

Off topic: funny thing is that in my office, the online shops are not blocked, but boards.ie is! I have to use a 2nd pc, not connected on the main network, in order to post here...

Flaccus

So do I
We have a dsl line for testing which I can get on now and again.

hopeful

If you are nervous about the cutting why not get a sheet of steel and do a test cut or two...thats what I do if I'm doing an unfanilier shape or using a new bit of equuipment.
Trust me on this...If I can do it then anyone can! Take that leap of faith and chop the heck out of that P160

Chosen

You convinced me, now all I need is to borrow the equipment from someone

Fanboy

Use a jig saw? For a round hole????? Thats way too much hassle.

I used something similar to this : http://www.directron.com/t019.html

You can get them in McQuillans/Atlantic/Woodies. Attach it to the drill and bobs ur aunty, perfect circle. Takes 3mins!

unklerosco

I've used a 120mm hole saw for cutting holes in alu n believe me it was a bloody pain to use... I found a jigsaw much easier. For the hole saw u really need a drill press n its more suited to thicker metals i think...

Cuddlesworth

unklerosco wrote:

I've used a 120mm hole saw for cutting holes in alu n believe me it was a bloody pain to use... I found a jigsaw much easier. For the hole saw u really need a drill press n its more suited to thicker metals i think...

Hole saw, drill press and a piece of wood underneath for rigidity. Never tried it on a case though.

hopeful

unklerosco wrote:

I've used a 120mm hole saw for cutting holes in alu n believe me it was a bloody pain to use... I found a jigsaw much easier. For the hole saw u really need a drill press n its more suited to thicker metals i think...

I had similar experiences using a holesaw on aluinium and plexi....I get better results with my minicraft jigsaw and plenty of hand finishing.