Air Cooling

**clocker** · 01-25-2004, 03:49 PM

DWk,
The only reason the side panel won't fit is that my test PSU is sitting next to Sprocket and the wires are going in which makes it kinda hard for the panel to slide on. This problem (?) goes away when the real PSU is in place.

Jaiq,
I have such a website. This is it.

Just getting moving here. First mug'o coffee.
Pics in a bit.

**bigdawgfoxx** · 01-25-2004, 03:53 PM

waiting patiently...also wanting to know info bout my monitor choice! clocker go look please..i need an opinion between samsung and viewsonic..

**tesco** · 01-25-2004, 03:59 PM

Originally posted by clocker@25 January 2004 - 10:49
Jaiq,
I have such a website. This is it.

i thought the This is it was a website link lol, i went to click it but nothing happened.

I was just wondering, after you have done all this testing and stuff are you going to build your own case or buy that one you said you liked and mod it?

**clocker** · 01-25-2004, 04:00 PM

I'll be glad to look Dawg, but really, the only test that matters is how they look to you.
I am always amazed when I go someplace like Circuit City where there will be a wall of monitors, just how obviously superior some of the models are. It doesn't seem fair to even compare some of them.

What looks good to Consumer Reports or PC World may not be your favorite.
Is there any way you can get a live viewing of your choices?

Now I'll go read your thread....

**DWk** · 01-25-2004, 04:06 PM

Originally posted by clocker@25 January 2004 - 08:49
DWk,
The only reason the side panel won't fit is that my test PSU is sitting next to Sprocket and the wires are going in which makes it kinda hard for the panel to slide on. This problem (?) goes away when the real PSU is in place.

Oh ok. I misunderstood that. So where are the power cables going? On the other side panel?

**bigdawgfoxx** · 01-25-2004, 04:09 PM

Originally posted by clocker@25 January 2004 - 10:00
I'll be glad to look Dawg, but really, the only test that matters is how they look to you.
I am always amazed when I go someplace like Circuit City where there will be a wall of monitors, just how obviously superior some of the models are. It doesn't seem fair to even compare some of them.

What looks good to Consumer Reports or PC World may not be your favorite.
Is there any way you can get a live viewing of your choices?

Now I'll go read your thread....

Yah..I think I might drop by best buy and have a look at some of theirs when my parents go to get a new car..i think there getting it today lol

**clocker** · 01-25-2004, 09:40 PM

Ok, here we go.
Pics first...

First, a bit of a caveat. When I first saw the pictures I was surprised to see what looked like major drips and flaws in some areas. I looked carefully, and with the naked eye under normal daylight I couldn't find them. The camera has a much more critical eye than I do.

Outside of the fact that it is black, there are only minor detail differences between these shots and the earlier ones.
With one major exception....the Muffins fans are gone.
When I earlier described the sound as being like a wind in a cavern, I thought that was the air rushing through the fans.
No such luck.
It was the sound of my whole case vibrating.
I discovered this when I placed a pencil on the case roof and then watched, amazed and dismayed, as it rolled right off.
Tried it again.
Rolled right off.
Then I discovered that I could vary the sound by placing my palm flat on the sheetmetal in various places.
Not good.

These fans, being aluminum instead of plastic, are fairly heavy. The Xaser case is made from the thinnest possible sheet aluminum...one step above foil, really, and is not extensively braced or ribbed.
Even though the fans don't seem to be out of balance, they do seem to generate enough low frequency vibration to set the case to rattling like a tympany. I had the fans mounted using rubber grommets, so that won't help.
I'm not sure what to do at this point.
I have two 120mm 12volt fans that I can use from earlier experiments. I can get more, obviously.
The trick is, if I'm going to use standard case fans I need to build that into my PSU wiring harness. The Muffin fans, being 115v were completely independant of the PSU so I didn't have to worry about them.
Now I may have to.

I'm trying to come up with some alternative mounting methods for the big Muffins, but if I can't come up with a much better result I don't see how I can use them in this project.
They may end up decorating my workbench, possibly they could be used to create a forced air induction from my window to my PC.

Sprocket is temporarily cobbled back together so I needn't make any decisions right away, but I'd really love to get this solved so I can move forward to the fun, cosmetic stuff.