blow holes for dummies

This is not my idea, I read it in Maximum PC February 2001. Get a hole cutter from hardware store and make sure it has a pilot bit.
1. first off proceed at your own risk. If it is not your computer ( parents) ask first!!!
2. If you are cutting anywhere else but the removable side panels, remove everything from case including the power supply. You don't want all the metal bits on your new motherboard
3.Determine where you want to have the fan mounted. ( good idea to have blowing @ cpu)
Draw square to determine the fan's intended location. Mark from one corner to the other to locate the center.
4.Secure side panel or case to keep it bouncing around, you don't want scuff marks all over your case from slipping. I used 3 1/8 for 80mm hole. Cut a circle into the center of the square.
5. Use dremmel tool to clean up rough edges. Position a fan over the hole and mark where the screws will be mounted. Drill holes for screws.
6. Mount the fan and the guard on the panel/case. Make sure the wiring is long enough that the side panel can be opened and closed. Connect the wiring to power supply connector inside the case.
633 Celeron @1055, Abit bx-133, 256 pc 133 @ cas 2-2-3, ATI radeon 64 mb DDR

1. RE: blow holes for dummies
lbyard Feb-27-01 04:31 PM
In response to message 0

And they are very difficult to find when they drop into an expansion board slot. I was stuck (pun?) for days on a very small piece of a gum wrapper that dropped into a slot on a UNIX box some time ago. Larry

2. RE: blow holes for dummies
diletante Feb-28-01 03:12 PM
In response to message 1

Thinking about this makes me cringe, but I have a suggestion anyway. By mounting a fan to directly blow on the CPU, you could certainly get some serious cooling, but all the crud the fan blows in will end up on the CPU and heat sink. Over time, the setup could betray you. Your CPU fan could fail, and the crud on your heat sink could reduce its efficiency. The dirt could also start to degrade the electrical contacts (slots & sockets) and isolation on the motherboard. If you want better cooling it might be better to maximize the heat sinking at the CPU (add a super cooler) and direct any inflow from extra case fans toward dead space in the chassis.
Rob

3. RE: blow holes for dummies
deerslayer Feb-28-01 06:35 PM
In response to message 2

This is true. I have a globalwin fop32 on it which is a good high performance cooler. Grill guards with filters help too. Good balance of intake and exhaust is important as well.
Adding the fans got me from 38-40C idle to 26-29c idle.

633 Celeron @1055, Abit bx-133, 256 pc 133 @ cas 2-2-3, ATI radeon 64 mb DDR