Tell jcap to post his desk, and post yours too! [JCAP POST YOUR DESK]

[Cortexian]

An intake fan under your HDD cage would be a great mod to that case, the cable management is a great improvement and should free up some airflow.

If you want to fix a couple more things, do the following:

1. All the cables painted red, you should feed towards the motherboard and under your expansion slot cards (green arrow).
2. Feed your PCI-E graphics card power cable (painted purple) behind the motherboard tray and then out of it and straight to the card (light blue line).
3. Untangle your 6/8pin motherboard power cable (orange) and feed it straight across to the connector (blue arrow).

[Varmint260]

1. All the cables painted red, you should feed towards the motherboard and under your expansion slot cards (green arrow).
2. Feed your PCI-E graphics card power cable (painted purple) behind the motherboard tray and then out of it and straight to the card (light blue line).
3. Untangle your 6/8pin motherboard power cable (orange) and feed it straight across to the connector (blue arrow).

1.) I think I can do that; you mean they'll run over top of the motherboard just behind the end of the PCI slots?

2.) I can't really feed anything behind the motherboard tray. The gap between the tray and the case wall is around 2mm and the tray runs right up to the drive bays; no way to feed it around there. That and the wires in this PSU are really stiff; some of the reason why my wiring is that way is because I don't want to/can't bend them very far.

3.) The 4-pin motherboard cable? Only reason it goes around that far is because it is really long... I might be able to route it around the rest of the wiring so it doesn't run directly underneath the PSU's fan. Good idea.

Also, my only gripe about my "modular" power supply is that the 4-pin and 8-pin motherboard power cables are not modular. I can't imagine there are a lot of motherboards that require both a 4-pin and an 8-pin at the same time so there's always one extra motherboard power cable attached. Currently all my extra cable length is sitting in the second (empty) optical drive bay.

Anyways, here's a picture of the front of the case; you can see the hard drive cage.

I'm not a huge fan (no pun intended) of the Aspire logo on the front, but could I have a suggestion or two?

1.) Where exactly should make the hole (to make it look like it was meant to be there) given the design of the case?

2.) What size of fan is best?

3.) What tools should I use that are precise enough for this? My mechanical experience relies more on wrenches and screwdrivers than cutting holes in plastic; my power tools at the moment are a jigsaw (unlikely methinks) and a portable drill driver, 3/8" chuck.

[Rook]

Also, my only gripe about my "modular" power supply is that the 4-pin and 8-pin motherboard power cables are not modular. I can't imagine there are a lot of motherboards that require both a 4-pin and an 8-pin at the same time so there's always one extra motherboard power cable attached. Currently all my extra cable length is sitting in the second (empty) optical drive bay.

There is no mobo that would take both, a 4 pin is just sitting there from my modular psu as well.

[Cortexian]

1.) I think I can do that; you mean they'll run over top of the motherboard just behind the end of the PCI slots?

Yes, do that!

2.) I can't really feed anything behind the motherboard tray. The gap between the tray and the case wall is around 2mm and the tray runs right up to the drive bays; no way to feed it around there. That and the wires in this PSU are really stiff; some of the reason why my wiring is that way is because I don't want to/can't bend them very far.

Sorry, I meant route it down and behind your optical drive/HDD cage and then out along the HDD cage bottom.

It looks like you're pressed for space under the HDD cage so you might be forced to go with an 80mm fan. I prefer 120mm fans since they can move more air at a lower sound level, so if you could cut a gap into your HDD cage near the front of the case to allow a 120mm fan to fit, go for that route.

[Varmint260]

Sorry, I meant route it down and behind your optical drive/HDD cage and then out along the HDD cage bottom.

By behind the drive bay/HDD cage you mean on the same side the motherboard's mounted on, or the side facing the camera?

It looks like you're pressed for space under the HDD cage so you might be forced to go with an 80mm fan. I prefer 120mm fans since they can move more air at a lower sound level, so if you could cut a gap into your HDD cage near the front of the case to allow a 120mm fan to fit, go for that route.

I don't have a problem with cutting the metal cage under the bay; I'm more concerned with what to do about the plastic front of the case, right in front of where I can put the fan; should I cut a fan-sized opening in it or maybe just try for a bunch of smaller holes that I can put a nice mesh in?

There is no mobo that would take both, a 4 pin is just sitting there from my modular psu as well.

Ah, you have the same PSU, don't you? I don't know a lot about PSUs, but Newegg had a deal on this one and so I thought I could save without buying a cheap PSU.


EDIT: I just measured the distance between the bottom of the hard drive cage and the bottom of the case; about 9 1/2cm. How are 92mm fans in general? I measured the case fan at the back of the computer and it's 92mm. Doesn't move a lot of air but I can't hear it either.

[Cortexian]

By behind the drive bay/HDD cage you mean on the same side the motherboard's mounted on, or the side facing the camera?

The motherboard side, in the picture I can see some cables behind the HDD cage, so route the PCI-E cable back there and then out the bay (towards the camera) and across to the card.

I don't have a problem with cutting the metal cage under the bay; I'm more concerned with what to do about the plastic front of the case, right in front of where I can put the fan; should I cut a fan-sized opening in it or maybe just try for a bunch of smaller holes that I can put a nice mesh in?

You could always use a small drill bit and just throw in a bunch of holes in a mesh pattern, if you want airflow I'd look at buying some fine wire mesh from somewhere and making a larger hole.

Ex: Cut square hole, use mesh to cover said hole so it doesn't just look like a hole... It's really up to you on you you want this to look.

EDIT: I just measured the distance between the bottom of the hard drive cage and the bottom of the case; about 9 1/2cm. How are 92mm fans in general? I measured the case fan at the back of the computer and it's 92mm. Doesn't move a lot of air but I can't hear it either.

Depends on the quality of the fan, get something nice like a Delta and you shouldn't have a problem.

[Rook]

Ah, you have the same PSU, don't you? I don't know a lot about PSUs, but Newegg had a deal on this one and so I thought I could save without buying a cheap PSU.

Ah yes didn't pick up on that before the stickers look a little different, and OZC are supposed to be a good psu brand. Also I've posted this before but it seems easier to throw cables around with a bottom mounted psu. 8/4pin at the top of mobo being an exception.

http://img8.imageshack.us/ifs/6384/img28/1/pic1jz.jpg

[InnerGoat]

had the old computer open to clean it, change fan controllers and remove the bottom fan because it started to scrape the filter

[Timo]

is that lian li

[Cortexian]

No it's a Cooler Master CM690.

@ InnerGoat: Old computer? Isn't that your current computer???