Cooler Master Q300L front panel mod.

[ivanrcks95]

So i recently got rid of my old Aerocool case in favour of the CM Q300L, thinking id finally have a decent quality case, with good cable management and cooling, all the things the Aerocool did not have. I should have done more research before getting it, but for 10$ i couldnt complain that apparently the CM panels, despite what they look like, are very restrictive. So i did some research and found that indeed this is the case, and the way most people solved it is by cutting massive (imo ugly) 120mm holes for their fans. Yes, helps, and yes, the dust filters will hide most of it, but i wanted to go with a more tidy route.

 

So i began by taking a pic of my panel, and editing it in photoshop, to get an idea of what i could do. I did a few different designs, but i settled on this one.

 

 

Once i got that sorted, it was time to prepare it for the dremel. Masked everything off, marked out where i wanted the cuts to be made and proceeded to spend nearly 4 hours working on it.

 

After a few more goes with a sander, to get rid of all the excess pieces, and make it all generally smooth, this was the final result. 

In my opinion, slightly better looking than just having two big holes, and it worked too! GPU temps were my biggest worry, those went from 74C under the stock fan curves down to 71C, and with my fan curves, which keeps the system dead silent idle, and a bit jet like under heavy load, the GPU didnt go above 68C. SO win, thinking of maybe doing the same to the rear fan as well and seeing it that helps a bit, but considering the CPU never got above 52C even in the stock panel configuration, im gonna leave that for another time.

[thrasher_565]

On 8/15/2020 at 8:03 AM, ivanrcks95 said:

-snip-

In my opinion, slightly better looking than just having two big holes, and it worked too! GPU temps were my biggest worry, those went from 74C under the stock fan curves down to 71C, and with my fan curves, which keeps the system dead silent idle, and a bit jet like under heavy load, the GPU didnt go above 68C. SO win, thinking of maybe doing the same to the rear fan as well and seeing it that helps a bit, but considering the CPU never got above 52C even in the stock panel configuration, im gonna leave that for another time.

so whats the point? you cut slitly biger holes and then have a fine mesh in front making it worthless but if your happy all that matters.

 

the jet sound probably means the fan is starved for air

[startrek03]

I think it even looks slightly better than the original. The way you did it, preserved the design of the case and increased the functionality of it aswell.

[ivanrcks95]

3 hours ago, thrasher_565 said:

so whats the point? you cut slitly biger holes and then have a fine mesh in front making it worthless but if your happy all that matters.

 

the jet sound probably means the fan is starved for air

Did you read the post in its entirety? 1 - That mesh is the stock case dust filters, the plan was never to get rid of them but to make the cooling better with them on, which if you read the post i succeeded in, without having to cut massive holes in it like most people do with this case. 2 - The jet sound is in reference to the loud GPU (ie the noise of the fans ramping up), it makes the exact same noise under load on the stock fan curve, which doesnt bother me because during gaming i cant hear it, and when its idle, all the fans run at 500rpm with the GPU fans off and i cant hear the system at all, which is what i wanted. The GPU makes the same noise whether its in or out of the case. 

[ivanrcks95]

2 hours ago, startrek03 said:

I think it even looks slightly better than the original. The way you did it, preserved the design of the case and increased the functionality of it aswell.

Thanks! That was my plan, of course if i wanted full airflow mode, id have gone with the cutting two holes route, but my temps werent that bad and just needed to go down a few Cs. After seeing GamerNexus drill the holes bigger and get 3-5C difference, i knew this was the way to go, just putting in more effort into making it look nice hehe.

[thrasher_565]

32 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Did you read the post in its entirety? 1 - That mesh is the stock case dust filters, the plan was never to get rid of them but to make the cooling better with them on, which if you read the post i succeeded in, without having to cut massive holes in it like most people do with this case. 2 - The jet sound is in reference to the loud GPU (ie the noise of the fans ramping up), it makes the exact same noise under load on the stock fan curve, which doesnt bother me because during gaming i cant hear it, and when its idle, all the fans run at 500rpm with the GPU fans off and i cant hear the system at all, which is what i wanted. The GPU makes the same noise whether its in or out of the case. 

just pointing things out if your happy good.

 

imo i would have cut a hole and used a grill and made it the best airflow i could. too each there own.

[smaky]

I like it, it suits the OEM design and with a little twist (rainbow RGB) it could look like jelly beans tumbling down the front. Only this hurting my eyes is that a lot of the holes need to be filed out properly as there is some serious snowmanning going on there, but good work in achieving the goals you set out.

[smaky]

Not your fault, but why did CM design the front panel with holes and the filter with this 3d cube print?...it just doesn't work.

[thrasher_565]

1 hour ago, smaky said:

Not your fault, but why did CM design the front panel with holes and the filter with this 3d cube print?...it just doesn't work.

i think this was a case that was an "mod" it how you like meaning you can mount fans and aio any ware i think. so that's why it has round holes and the not the honeycomb. i could be wrong thow not the first time.

[ivanrcks95]

10 hours ago, smaky said:

I like it, it suits the OEM design and with a little twist (rainbow RGB) it could look like jelly beans tumbling down the front. Only this hurting my eyes is that a lot of the holes need to be filed out properly as there is some serious snowmanning going on there, but good work in achieving the goals you set out.

Snowmanning? And yeah i agree, i need a few more dremel bits to properly fill them out, but with the filter on its hardly noticeable

 

[ivanrcks95]

10 hours ago, smaky said:

Not your fault, but why did CM design the front panel with holes and the filter with this 3d cube print?...it just doesn't work.

Exactly, youd think the holes are a good airflow design but clearly theyre not, having the same cube design (which i considered doing as well) would have suited the look and given better airflow

 

[startrek03]

Btw, how many how many cutting disk did you have to use?

[ivanrcks95]

2 hours ago, startrek03 said:

Btw, how many how many cutting disk did you have to use?

About 5 in total, but they were cheaper discs, im sure 2/3 pricier discs would have worked as well.

[TVwazhere]

As someone who has modded a Q300L, Not bad.

[ivanrcks95]

47 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

As someone who has modded a Q300L, Not bad.

Nice! Yeah, i wasnt the biggest fan of that look, although i am curious whether you tested thermals before and after, significant jump or a smaller improvement like with mine?

[TVwazhere]

5 minutes ago, ivanrcks95 said:

Nice! Yeah, i wasnt the biggest fan of that look, although i am curious whether you tested thermals before and after, significant jump or a smaller improvement like with mine?

We did not text thermals before/After. In fact, for an R5 2600 and RX570, I doubt I'd have seen much difference. But the CPU and GPU both never past 70ºC

[ivanrcks95]

5 minutes ago, TVwazhere said:

We did not text thermals before/After. In fact, for an R5 2600 and RX570, I doubt I'd have seen much difference. But the CPU and GPU both never past 70ºC

Ah nice, ill check it out, yeah for me only the GPU was the issue, 1660 Super OC from Gigabyte, so it helped a lot in that department, the 2600 for me didnt really see a difference being that the cooler it has is pretty good on its own.

[maestro0428]

Modded that case myself.  I went the big hole cutout route.  Not in the front though.  I cut two 120mm in the floor and rear, a 140mm in the top.  Much, much quiter than the little holes punched in the case at the factory.

[ivanrcks95]

18 hours ago, maestro0428 said:

Modded that case myself.  I went the big hole cutout route.  Not in the front though.  I cut two 120mm in the floor and rear, a 140mm in the top.  Much, much quiter than the little holes punched in the case at the factory.

I guess you went the bottom route because you have the Q500L right? Where the PSU is mounted on the front?

[maestro0428]

Yes, its the ATX version with the psu in front.  Same case on the outside and the principles are the same.  I also added taller feet to increase the air flow.

[ivanrcks95]

13 hours ago, maestro0428 said:

Yes, its the ATX version with the psu in front.  Same case on the outside and the principles are the same.  I also added taller feet to increase the air flow.

Yeah, except i have the PSU mounting fixed on the bottom, cant move it. Hence why i went with the front panel, im actually gonna do the same thing you did anyway now, got a set of 140mm fans for the front and a rtx2070 now, so need more cooling, printed out a template and got myself a can of black paint to try and make it look as factory as possible, will put the updates here when done.

[maestro0428]

Work in progress still, but heres where Im at.  Ive got Noctua fans on the way to replace the Corsair fans and red zip ties, etc.

[ivanrcks95]

8 minutes ago, maestro0428 said:

Work in progress still, but heres where Im at.  Ive got Noctua fans on the way to replace the Corsair fans and red zip ties, etc.

Very nice! Mine is a non rgb build thats mostly black, so ordered a set of Arctic P14s, have heard great things about them, will see how they are, meant to arrive on the weekend, where did you get the feet from btw? I currently have just some rubber pads to raise it up, but rather get proper feet soon 

[maestro0428]

Black is beautiful and thats the theme for my next build.  Artic fans are great value for the money.  I have used them in two builds and they work very well.  Im just on a Noctua kick as of late and tend to buy higher end fans.  I took the feet of off a Silverstone FT03 but if you are looking for cool feet, there is none other than Mnpctech.  Bill Owen lives and manufacturers his parts in the midwest USA and they are high quality billet aluminum. If you just want black rubber ones that are taller, google rubber feet and you should find what you need.

 

Post some pics of your build!

[ivanrcks95]

26 minutes ago, maestro0428 said:

Black is beautiful and thats the theme for my next build.  Artic fans are great value for the money.  I have used them in two builds and they work very well.  Im just on a Noctua kick as of late and tend to buy higher end fans.  I took the feet of off a Silverstone FT03 but if you are looking for cool feet, there is none other than Mnpctech.  Bill Owen lives and manufacturers his parts in the midwest USA and they are high quality billet aluminum. If you just want black rubber ones that are taller, google rubber feet and you should find what you need.

 

Post some pics of your build!

Its funny you ask, i just recently did some "advertisement" style photoshop edits with it haha.