'Black ice' case and fans
 

I have a Q for all you great modders out there.

I have the same case as Kevin in the Black Ice cooling project here on procooling.com and I'm in the process of adding fans.

I came up with this (crazy) idea that perhaps I could mount a few fans in the bottom of the case, pulling air into the case. I realize that there is not asmuch free air underneath the case as there is on the sides. And possible the temperature of that air is slightly higher than the air surronding the case on its sides but anyways.....

I really like the idea of having a case that looks un-modded but isnt... a wolf in sheeps clothing.

Is there anyone that have even tried this stunt before? Not necessary with this case.

Either its a great idea or a crappy one... I am leaning towards the latter but you never know, maybe some of you guys have tried it and it worked like a charm.

:D

It's not crazy at all, I was thinking of mounting my rad(s) that way.

The problem, as the experts would tell you, is that the front fan also cools the mobo, as it directs air towards the back, and not straight up. The fix is a couple of ducted fans on the side, but then we're back to a modded look...

a ComBo perhaps?
 

Maybe I could use a combination of bottom placed fans and a fan in the front .... ?

I'll do some thinking and hopefully come up with a solution I like ;)

I've seen that sort of thing being done before - the rock project on procooling has 2 fans on the bottom of the case.

The only possible problem is the fans can possibly take up some pci slots. I personally don't like side fans either - I have thought about this before

Most of the experts don't have intake fans at all. Well referring to Dell, Gateway, IBM, the guys that have engineers designing the case's cooling. So I wouldn't sweat it too much; your CPU will be a good bit cooler than theirs :)

i would put filters on any fans placed at the bottom of my case since they would probably suck in more dust bunnies than all your other case fans put together...

Actually, I was planning on cutting some nice large holes in the bottom of my Antec case and sticking a modded Black Ice II down there. I figure that the coolest air is nearest to the floor and thus if I use two 120mm fans sucking this cooler air through a modded Black Ice II, that should provide some extra cooling and allow for much better case temps.

I will loose 2 PCI slots in doing this mod however since my exsisting radiator doesnt do a very good job of keeping my CPU cool enough, I feel that it is worth it. Teh modded Black Ice II will be in addition to my other rad, which is at the top of my case blowing air out.

As soon as I get stable with my finances and living accomidations, I will probably continue with the mod.

So, I dont think your idea is all that crazy. However both of us will need to keep an eye on the dust inside our cases.

floor facing bottom inlets will provide the coolest air possible out of the available air (unless you have a central heating register under your PC or something similar;). the mobo airflow consideration is important. if i was to add the noise of another fan, i'd want to make darned sure that it's flow is optimally configured to cool to it's maximum capabilities. i'd probably use a small diverter on the bottom fans inside the case to turn the air towards the mobo instead of allowing all that cold air to bypass the hot stuff & exit through the PSU. as long as PCI aren't unecessarily blocked, y-not?

jtroutma, what kind of radiator are you currently using? did you make a shroud? it is possible that bad airflow could be the problem. regardless, the BIX should do a good job all by itself as long as proper airflow is maintained. you could probably replace the old one with the BIX. the single rad will reduce your risk of leaks, leave room for other mods, & won't require cutting up the case any further.

BTW, i was thinking it would be a cool idea (no pun intended) to make use of bottom inlets & locate the PC on top of a household central air-conditioning register. if it was sealed well to the register, it wmightn't require fans & the very cold, dry, & dust-free air would make the whole case downright frigid. of course, care would have to be taken that the PC doesn't burn up during the winter or while the AC is not running:)

My current radiator is a AquaCoil (yes I know very bad) however it is already there and hard modded into the case. Yea i could possibly replace it with a BIX. At the immediate moment I cant think of a really good reason why not to other than it is more money.

The other thing was that I had this plan on taking one of those Black Ice II radiators (the dual 120mm ones) and modifying it to a 2 pass, 1/2" inlet with dual 3/8" outlets and two 120mm quiet fans pulling air from below my case inside and then being forced out the top by one large 120mm fan through the AquaCoil.

As for leaks, I am not too conserned becuase even though the Black Ice II would be modded, it would be siting at the bottom of my case anyways.

One last thing, I want the BI2 on the floor of the case because it will be where the water will run the slowest in my whole setup. There for, it will allow extra time in the radiator to release the heat.

This is my thought process.

i also have the case and notices that there is just enough room between the pci slots and the sutch closer to the top and the wall(where the little holes are) for 2 or 3 40mm fans(this is of course only if you dont mind 9000rpm 40mm fans buzzing in your case)

I think it's a great idea to have fans at the bottom, but you will hear the air moving unless you raise your comp or sumthin, moving air isnt as bad as high pitch humming but, it still is extra noise.