{"id":16,"date":"2005-07-08T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2005-07-08T15:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/clay.blogdns.net\/?page_id=16"},"modified":"2020-03-22T00:39:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-22T04:39:50","slug":"case-modding-101","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/articles\/case-modding-101\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Modding 101"},"content":{"rendered":"
I wrote this article back in 2005 when the Athlon XP was current. It’s very outdated, but some of the basic concepts still apply. I’ve left it here as a historical artifact in the hopes that someone finds the information useful…<\/em><\/h6>\n

?<\/p>\n

The Patient<\/strong>
My wife’s machine: Athlon 2500+, Asus A7V8X-X, 768M Crucial PC-2700, WD-80G SE, all inside a generic white-box case. (SuperCase 7C225-034) All in all a pretty decent machine, but in need of modification.<\/p>\n

\"Case<\/a><\/center>\n

I had an extra set of duct modding components, an HDD freezer, and some extra fans left over from a few other projects. However it would take more than that to tame this case and prepare the system for serious performance. The duct mod is nearly identical to the one I installed in my other system.<\/p>\n

\"Duct<\/a><\/center>\n

The combination of a low RPM stealth fan, and the all aluminum retail heatsink meant I wouldn’t be getting extreme performance out of this mod. However, I expected more than I got out of it. Initially the freshly modded HSF stabilized at 52?C. This was better than the retail HSF by itself which used to run close to 60?C, but not good enough. (if you want to overclock your machine, you should try to keep your heat below 50?C.)<\/p>\n

\"Heatsink\"<\/a><\/center>\n

It was fairly warm, but I knew the HSF should’ve been performing better. The power supply in this case was listed as being on the AMD list, but I noticed that it didn’t have the extra fan required by AMD. This causes heat in this case to pool in a dead space at the top, which kept the air hot and worked against the HSF. This type of problem is common to a lot of case designs. The solution is a simple mod called a blowhole.
I used a pencil to mark where the PSU ends, and removed the top panel of the case. I positioned an 80mm fan where the hole would be, and traced it on the underside. I marked both the screw-hole locations and traced the interior. I then drilled the holes and cut out the center with a reciprocating saw. A little sanding, some silver fan screws and a grille combined to make a decent looking finish.<\/p>\n

\"removing<\/a> \"remove<\/a> \"Measure<\/a><\/center>
\"Test<\/a> \"Installation<\/a> \"The<\/a><\/center>\n

The blowhole worked like a charm. With the hot air exhausting from the top of the case, the duct mod kept the CPU at a cool 48?C. It even stayed there with the room being fairly warm. While this doesn’t bring us to a place ripe for serious overclocking, a little may be possible. We’ll soon see!<\/p>\n

?<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I wrote this article back in 2005 when the Athlon XP was current. It’s very outdated, but some of the basic concepts still apply. I’ve left it here as a historical artifact in the hopes that someone finds the information … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":31,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"sidebar-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":736,"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16\/revisions\/736"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/31"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claymccauley.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}