Drilling Holes For Airflow

[Alltheshots]

I picked my case poorly, airflow is terrible and I should have seen that before buying it. Other than airflow it's fine (holds the parts which is bare minimum) and looks ok. I have 6 120mm fans in the case, 3 front intake, 2 top exhaust and 1 rear exhaust. The problem is only the front bottom fan has any sort of air getting to it as the other 2 are behind solid perspex. 

 

My CPU (Ryzen 5 3600) was idling at around 50degC on the stock cooler which I've managed to drop by about 6-7 degrees by adjusting the power curve on the case fans and setting them to use the CPU temp as reference but the fan noise is a little annoying.

 

The case is a Corsair Carbide Spec-Delta, Does anyone know if I can get a replacement front case panel from somewhere? I've had a quick look but cant really see anything. Failing a front panel replacement I think I might just drill holes in the existing one. I did think about reversing the fans and making the top and back intake with the front being exhaust but I'm not sure that would make much of a difference, if the case cant get cool air in the front then it wont get hot air out either.

 

So in short, can I buy a replacement front panel from somewhere, do I get the drill out or get a new case?

 

Thanks in advance

 

[chen57]

maybe remove the front and use fan grills ?

[Alltheshots]

1 hour ago, chen57 said:

maybe remove the front and use fan grills ?

Fan grills never even crossed my mind, Excellent idea! 

 

Now I might just cut big holes in the front panel and mount fan grills to it. Id like to keep some sort of front there as there are cables being hidden behind.

 

[Lokep]

Hey man, what'd you do? I also bought this case and am regretting it now ffs should've read reviews first, airflow is garbage

[Alltheshots]

15 minutes ago, Lokep said:

Hey man, what'd you do? I also bought this case and am regretting it now ffs should've read reviews first, airflow is garbage

I drilled some holes in the case because I couldn't find a replacement but that made little difference (more holes might have helped). I then bought an 240mm aio to fit in the top but that didn't fit properly due to the height of my ram and even if ram height wasn't an issue it would still have been a very tight fit. So I've ended up buying a new case (arrives today) which should have plenty space and hopefully better airflow.

[Lokep]

Ah shit, why not put the aio at the front? What are you going to do with that case now btw?

[Alltheshots]

11 minutes ago, Lokep said:

Ah shit, why not put the aio at the front? What are you going to do with that case now btw?

Didnt make sense to me putting it up front because of the lack of air coming onto the case. It will now be a replacement for my better half's pc as her existing case has even less airflow than the delta. 

[Lokep]

Ah right ok, I'm also considering getting a different case, but I don't have an aio so I don't really see the need for it, and I'm worried that my dad will be disappointed in me for wasting money (I'm 16).

[phyrealarm]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWCQAWN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

If you're using 3 fans, remove the front cover and mount this to the fans. You'll need to adjust the fans so they're not directly touching, but it doesn't look bad and it fits pretty well.