Is there an exhaust fan that mounts in a 5.25" external bay?

M

Matt

G

Gene Puhl

Matt said:
Is there a centrifugal exhaust fan that mounts in a 5.25" external bay?

It would blow air out the front through an otherwise unused drive bay.

I found an item having a similar purpose at:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=35-888-104

but apparently it's not too durable.


I would use it with this RaidMax case:

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?style=album

Cold air in through the bottom two fans, warm air out through the PSU
and the top drive bay.
Click to expand...

I have a Just Cooler TT 900. Twin 80 mm fans with a front exhaust, it sits
in the top 5 1/2 bay. I don't know whether they are still available
 
M

Matt

Fitz said:
Air flow around the front drive bays can be restricted by your drives and
cables. I would suggest a drummel tool and cut a fan hole in to top of the
case. Then you could put a good quality, quiet fan in, and still have the
drive bay for another toy.
Click to expand...

Many of the MaxTop cases at newegg.com have holes and fans in the top.
Was going to buy one until my nephew made fun of it for having a hole in
the top. I confess I was afraid I'd spill my coffee into it.
I think I can get better, safer (spill-proof), quieter cooling by
putting a fan in a drive bay. Three five inch bays should be plenty for me.
How do you like that case? - I haven't been able to find any reviews on it.

Fitz
Click to expand...

Haven't bought one yet. It's between that RaidMax and the gMono:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-180-013

Links to reviews of the gMono are found at www.amselectronics.com. Lots
of customer reviews of the various colors of the Raidmax can be found
at newegg.
 
M

Matt

Gene said:
Matt <[email protected]> said: news:[email protected]:


I have a Just Cooler TT 900. Twin 80 mm fans with a front exhaust, it sits
in the top 5 1/2 bay. I don't know whether they are still available
Click to expand...

Aha. That would be this one:

http://www.thetechzone.com/reviews/cooler/justcooler/index.shtml

Thanks. Very similar to what I was thinking.

If I can't find the TT 900 or something similar with a centrifugal fan
(probably even if I can), I'll take the steel housing from a dead CD
drive, cut a hole in the top, and mount a big slow fan or two inside,
hopefully with a speed control. Then I'll seal all the openings in the
box with packing tape, except the fan intake(s) and where the bezel used
to be. I guess I'll just leave the front (the exhaust) wide open unless
I can rig up some kind of grille.

It ought to suck out a lot of hot air, since the intake fans are to be
low in the case and slow so as to reduce turbulence and assist the rise
of heat. So there would be a temperature gradient from bottom to top,
yet the air would move through fast enough so it wouldn't get too hot at
the top.

My design calls for putting the thing in the top drive bay and requires
maybe a half-inch clearance above. The fan intakes would be on top. So
it takes only one bay. That review of the TT 900 says it needs two
bays, but I doubt it.

I wasn't able to find anybody selling the TT 900.

Matt
 
L

Lenny

I have that same case, except in black. Very nice case, minus the stupid 60
mm rear exhaust hole. I used a Dremel to cut a fan hole at the top,
installed a blue LED fan there. Looks great, you should try it, if you're
into the glowing case look. If you like that, then put in blue LED fans at
the side intakes.
 
A

Arthur Hagen

K

Keith Clark

Matt said:
Is there a centrifugal exhaust fan that mounts in a 5.25" external bay?

It would blow air out the front through an otherwise unused drive bay.

I found an item having a similar purpose at:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=35-888-104

but apparently it's not too durable.

I would use it with this RaidMax case:

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?style=album

Cold air in through the bottom two fans, warm air out through the PSU
and the top drive bay.
Click to expand...

You don't want to go that way.

Optimal airflow means sucking air in at the bottom front of the case and
exhausting it at the rear top of the case.

What you're proposing would defeat the whole cooling scheme of the case's
design and would probably result in a hotter case than not putting the fan
in the drive bay.
 
G

Gene Puhl

Found them on Google. $18.

Is it very quiet?
Click to expand...

That's pretty subjective, it's quieter than my Boxed AMD CPU & HS/fan.
My tower is on my right, so I installed it with the fins blowing the air to
to the right, otherwise, it'll mess up your hair :)
 
K

Kurt Bischoff

Keith said:
Matt wrote:




You don't want to go that way.

Optimal airflow means sucking air in at the bottom front of the case and
exhausting it at the rear top of the case.
Click to expand...

I guess you are referring to something like the AMD guides near

http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/SellAMDProducts/0,,30_177_4458_3505^869^4348^1065,00.html

You have accepted a certain good design as a _definition_ of optimal.
Optima are not necessarily unique.
What you're proposing would defeat the whole cooling scheme of the case's
design and would probably result in a hotter case than not putting the fan
in the drive bay.
Click to expand...

Most or many of the cases I've looked at don't seem to have a "whole
cooling scheme". I don't know everything, but as far as I can tell, the
current state of case ventilation design is abysmal. Case designers
seem to be generally more concerned with a snazzy front panel. Or maybe
I have looked mainly at cheap cases that are cheap because they are
badly designed.

In particular, the lower front air intakes are usually obstructed, and
there are often gaping vents above the PCI slots. And many cases have a
front intake below rather than in front of the HD cage, so that the HDs
don't get any air flow over them. Power supplies sometimes don't have a
bottom intake. Please explain how such design elements are consistent
with the optimum of which you speak.

The TT-900 moves 80 CFM.
http://www.axiontech.com/prdt.php?item=6381&PHPSESSID=25e05dab494e96431790ff07fe88ee5f
I guarantee that if you remove the blinds from the bottom two or three
unused PCI slots and put a 120mm exhaust or the JustCooler TT-900 in the
top drive bay, the only hot spot you might have left is in your hard
drive cage due to an obstructed front intake, and that is solved (yes,
suboptimally) by any fan that moves air over the drives, even if it is
just recirculated air.

The above falls under the heading of picking up after somebody's bad or
nonexistent case ventilation design.

But I haven't bought a bad case yet, so I don't have to fix one, and I
am settling on the Antec SLK3700AMB:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=slk3700


because of its 120mm filtered intake in front of the HD cage, because of
its 120mm rear exhaust at CPU level, and because those are the only
openings except for the CPU vents. It conforms to your definition of
optimal, and no drive-bay fan is needed.

Matt
 

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