click to enlarge
Okay. We all want to improve the airflow in our cases and we all want our cases to look good. So, what better way to do both, than install a 120mm blowhole (or an 80mm) with a nice chrome fan grille. To some people the idea of carving a hole in their expensive case seems a little daunting, but if you set up a decent sized work area, have the right tools handy and above all TAKE YOUR TIME, all will be well. I did it to my 5 bay full tower today, and decided to take some pics (please excuse them, they aren't the best quality but at least you can see what is going on), and write a little story explaining how I did it, and how to go about doing it yourself.
(Bear in mind, I am in no way an expert, and neither www.overclockers.com.au, its staff or myself take any responsibility for any damage that may occur)
That said, let's get on with it :
The tools I used in this little endeavour are as follows :
1 x 120mm Panaflo Fan and Grille
1 x pair of pointy nose pliers
1 x NEW paintbrush
1 x Nikko or texta
1 x Phillips head screwdriver
1 x bastard file (flat one side, half moon shape the other)
1 x jigsaw with metal blade
1 x drill with 1 large bit for starter holes, and a small bit
for screwholes.
Marking out the area....
First off, you need to measure the thickness of the fan you are going to use. If you are going to mount it inside the bezel, with no visible screwholes like I did, you want to make sure that there is enough room between the body of the case and the bezel, to fit the fan and grille in. When I measured my fan, it was 40mm without the grille, so I just added 5 mm extra to my overall measurement, and it fit nicely. Now, I suggest finding a nice, large and FLAT place (like a bed) to strip all your hardware out of the case, and lay it out.
That way it is nowhere near your work area, and is in no danger of getting metal filings or anything else in it. Once you have stripped your case, have a look inside it on the front panel and try and visualize where the fan will fit. Take into account speaker positioning, wire placement and any existing fan positions that may be in the way. (I myself lost 2 stock 80mm fan holders by installing this fan, but it was worth it in the long run).
Once you have worked out where you would like it to go, get an old CD or a coaster you made while trying to burn Max Payne :), and place the CD on top of the bezel where the fan is going to go, making sure once again that nothing is in the way inside the case. Then take the nikko or texta and draw around the CD. Perfect, because a CD just happens to be 120mm in diameter! Once you have drawn a circle around the outside edge of the CD, take your drill, and putting the larger bit into it, drill a hole almost touching the inside of the texta cirle. Then, grab your jigsaw (or Dremel if you have one) and slowly start cutting, following the inside of the texta circle. Don't rush it, because the last thing you want, is a nice gash that would be hard to hide on the front of your case. Go extra slow once you have almost completed cutting the circle, and remove the centre piece. Now, get the "bastard" file (yes, that IS it's correct name, not something I named it after stuffing up) and using the half-moon side, slowly file the inside of the hole to remove all the burry parts.
When that is done, screw the grille to the fan and place the fan on the front of the case. You have probably worked out buy now to stand the case on it's back end, in order to have the front of the case facing upwards. :)
With the fan sitting on the case, gently place the bezel over the top, so the grille just slightly protrudes through the hole you made in the bezel. That will give you the exact postion (providing you don't bump it), that the fans screwholes are going to be in. Once you have the bezel on, you can manuveur the fan so that it is as square as humanly possible underneath it. Once that's done, gently remove the bezel making sure that the fan itself isn't moved. Grab your nikko or texta, and poke it through the screwholes in the fan shroud, marking the case under it. After that, remove the fan, and with the smaller drill bit, drill the screwholes.
Now, to make the 120mm hole in the frame. Get the fan grille, insert the four (4) screws into the grille and push them through the screwholes you just made. You should have the front of your case upright, with a fan grille attached by this stage. Take your nikko or texta once again, and angling the tip of it towards the outer edge of the grille, mark around the outside of it. Remove the grille, get your drill with the larger bit once again, and drill a hole almost touching the inside of the line you just marked. After that, slowly cut the hole out with the jigsaw, once again making sure to go slow, and follow the inside of the line. You should end up with something like the folowing picture.
As you can see, mine wasn't aligned all that straight. :)
Ok, you should have your bezel and case, both with nice, neat 120mm holes in them. Time to bolt the fan to the case. Bolt this to the frame as you would any other fan, remembering to look on the side of the fan shroud for which direction the airflow will be going. Once it's bolted to the case frame, put your bezel on over the top, and screw that on. You can also go all out and buy black plastic or rubber tubing, that goes around the edge of the hole, but the hardware stores where I live didn't have any.
Now, grab the paintbrush and throughoughly brush the whole case out, getting all the little metal and plastic shards out of it. All that remains now is replacing your hardware and you're done.
Wasn't that hard, was it. :)
Soon I will be adding a perspex window and 4 x 80mm Sunon's to the side of my tower, so I'll do up another story on that, and hopefully ease a few souls out there wanting to do this also. Then I'll be painting it (with another story no doubt) and adding other little bits and pieces, like a baybus, neons and whatever else I can find. Thanks for reading. Hope it helped in some way.
LoneWolf