thermaltake lanbox - intel x-18m with corsair h50?

[carmatic]

i've been thinking of using a thermaltake lanbox in my next build... the only drive in the system will be an x-18m, so all the drive caddies can be taken out...

the reason for the ssd and the corsair h50 was to keep things as quiet as possible, because a spinning hard disk would make noise, the corsair h50 means i have one less fan in my computer, and its also using a 120mm fan which should be quieter than a fan thats usually used for cooling cpu's or mounting in an SFF case

but that brings me to a problem, the lanbox doesnt mount 120mm fans...
here's a picture i knocked up

a note about the colours...
blue: this picture was taken in 2007, so the video card that they were using was a 8800gtx, but i am using a radeon 5870 and the blue area is to represent how much larger my card is
red: pretty obvious, there is no hard disk so there will be space for the video card and for the fan and radiator
green: proposed location of the fan and radiator, and
cyan: H5O tubing

2 things are worrying me right now, the first is obviously what do i have to do to get a 120mm fan mounted onto the case at the location normally used for optical drives and stuff...
the second is if the h5o tubing is long enough to stretch from the cpu socket to that location...

[RejZoR]

This will help regarding dimensions (especially tubes):
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/...4&postcount=47

For longer gfx cards you just have to cut away the 3,5 inch floppy bay or remove the entire optical bay as you did there. It would be a lot easier if you replace the clear acrylic side panel with another one and cut a hole in there. A lot easier to fabricate, you won't have any tube length problems and if you ever change your mind, you can always place the original clear panel back. Not sure how they are mounted as i have the same case, but with solid metal sides (Lite version).
In general, it's a real challenge to stuff powerful hardware in it. I'm using Thermalright AXP-140 on my Core i7 920 and does the job pretty well, considering it's a hot quad core. No silence from it as the high quality Noiseblocker fan is mounted there and set to very low RPM. Anyway, doing your mod through side panel would be the best option.
The easiest, least problematic, easy to fabricate and you don't thrash entire case because of it.

[carmatic]

i have seen one person do it with the radiator on the side panel , he had to get a panel lasercut for him and he measured it wrong so it wouldnt fit , but luckily the guy who lasercut for him gave him another one for free

if only i could get in touch with this guy, since he already has the measurements done and it would be a direct fit for what im trying to do... in the pics he showed, those panels he used were really frosty looking compared to the panels with came with the case

::edit:: actually i almost forgot to add... this will be used in somewhat 'hostile' environments, mainly exposed to airborne moisture i.e. mist... so i have to plan for the cooling, or more specifically the airflow...seal off all the cooling vents , leave only one 120mm opening, put a filter or something in front of the 120mm radiator fan to trap the water droplets, and run the fan really fast to shift air faster than the PSU and video card exhausts combined, and keep a positive air pressure in the case and stop air seeping in from the seams and stuff

[xxrabid93]

I think the person you want is Gone Cruising. His official site is lazerwerx.com. He does very nice work. And yes, he has already done a window mod for the TT lanbox for an h50. Here is the page you want: http://lazerwerx.com/pcmodding.html.

[Gone Cruising]

Thanks xxrabid93!!!

This is the gentleman that had me make the window first. http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=203794

He did have to cut a bit of metal off to make the H50 fit. You can contact him to see what he had to do, very nice person!!!

The pic's he took were a little reflective, but I know for sure it's clear cast acrylic and no frost. If I may be of assistance to you, you know where to find me. It would be my pleasure!

Thank You,

Kirk

[carmatic]

well i suppose i have some good news...
the hunch i had was somewhat correct, the drive bays at the front are very closely related in height to a 120mm fan:


the only thing in front of the fan is that thin strip dividing the 2 drive bays, and of course the front 'face'... but unsurprisingly there is no way to keep the fan there

thermaltake could have made it an option to remove all the optical drives for an internal watercooling system based on a 120mm radiator, if they added a few more holes and some bars:


red=holes
green=bars

but they didnt, so its up to me to somehow fit the fan and h50 radiator in that location... i really think that it would have been a good design , even tho you will lose your dvd/bluray drives to your watercooling system, you will still have your hard disks so it is still a complete computer, plus you get better airflow and space for the pump and reservoir with the optical drive caddies gone...
the hard disk caddy will still block cards as big as the radeon 5870 from being installed, but that's another story

i am thinking of drilling holes myself but im worried about the aluminum dust shorting everything out, maybe if i use a low rpm or something i will get twisty strips of aluminum rather than a fine dust

[carmatic]

and oh, the thing about keeping the mist out... there is a gap between the 'face' of the case and the chassis proper, and it opens directly to the bottom... the case comes with a fan and an air filter (the fan is at the bottom of the pic and you could see the black coloured foam through the holes), but the air filter is in the 'face' and the fan is in the chassis, so that gap is between the air filter and the fan, and air could just flow past the filter

im planning on blocking that opening at the bottom and that empty 3.5" space on the left side and any other gaps and ventilation holes with duct tape, and replacing the foam with something absorbent yet 'breathable' ...

[carmatic]

Thanks xxrabid93!!!

This is the gentleman that had me make the window first. http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=203794

He did have to cut a bit of metal off to make the H50 fit. You can contact him to see what he had to do, very nice person!!!

The pic's he took were a little reflective, but I know for sure it's clear cast acrylic and no frost. If I may be of assistance to you, you know where to find me. It would be my pleasure!

Thank You,

Kirk

ahh yes that's the one... that black powdercoating makes that case looks damned fine sexy...

if by 'had to cut a bit of metal off' you meant cutting out the bottom of the optical drive tray, well thats not going to be a problem because there wont be an optical drive tray

im evaluating wether i should seal off the 'face' of the case then do exactly what 'teng247' did, so that the airflow is side-to-back ... that way, i have a tried and true method which wouldnt require any machine shop work on my part...

but then again, im in the UK and you are in the US , so altho it would be nice to work with you, and be able to try out a translucent or fluorescent window, i dont think the shipping charges and waiting times would be very nice...

[carmatic]

so does anyone know anything about putting extra screw holes in aluminum computer cases?

[k.3nny]

Dril the hole, get ur tapping device and go whith the flow?

just do it.

Nice build.

[carmatic]

Dril the hole, get ur tapping device and go whith the flow?

just do it.

Nice build.

i need to know, when im drilling aluminum should i set it fast or set it slow?

[carmatic]

the drill bit says maximum 3000rpm, but the minimum speed on my rotary tool is 9250rpm ... but thats not something alot of WD40 cant deal with




lookie what we have here...



my case is now officially watercooled, baby



so yeah the tubes are definitely long enough



a closer look at the metalwork


still gonna need to find something to cover the exposed areas around the fan so that i can have linear airflow through the case...

[Lu(ky]

I was going to suggest putting the Corsair rad facing downwards still leaving the front 2 x 5.25 area's to be used. Like pictured below..You can also still use the other corner HD mount area and use your 5870 card. But I am not sure if the Corsair rad needs to be in place a certain way in order for it to work properly ? It should fit at that bottom of the case having air blowing up into the case through the rad. Of course if you do this you would need to add better taller case feet to lift up the case for better air flow for that fan. I am able to do this with a Magicool Extreme Slim Profile 2X120mm Radiator with no problems.

[carmatic]

temps while idling in bios... cpu 35 degrees, northbridge 50 degrees, pwm 47 degrees, southbridge 32 degrees

[carmatic]

I was going to suggest putting the Corsair rad facing downwards still leaving the front 2 x 5.25 area's to be used. Like pictured below..You can also still use the other corner HD mount area and use your 5870 card. But I am not sure if the Corsair rad needs to be in place a certain way in order for it to work properly ? It should fit at that bottom of the case having air blowing up into the case through the rad. Of course if you do this you would need to add better taller case feet to lift up the case for better air flow for that fan. I am able to do this with a Magicool Extreme Slim Profile 2X120mm Radiator with no problems.

that would involve cutting out a significant part of the case, while my method merely involves drilling 6 holes around already existing openings, and i also get to keep my 80mm fan for extra airflow.... if i keep all the drive caddies, i could actually sell my case on since it still has everything it came with, but now it also has the option of replacing the optical drive caddy for a 120mm fan