Restrictive airflow - cutting tempered glass?

[Derrk]

So my case is very air restrictive in the front. I could easily dremel slits on the side of the front panel, where there's plastic. But, my fans would still be almost pressed against the glass of the front panel. I think in theory i could pop the glass off of the front panel without breaking the panel and add mesh, but i don't think that would look so good.

I'm not sure what i should do, but i'm getting tired of taking the front panel off when the computer runs under load for a while. I doubt there's an easy way to cut tempered glass, and I'm not sure what kind of design i would go with anyway if i chose to. Any advice to increase airflow?

[Cereal5]

Put the fans on the back side of the front panel?

[Derrk]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

Put the fans on the back side of the front panel?

I would, but i have a radiator in front with fans on both sides

[amusedschrodinger]

DO NOT CUT INTO THE TEMPERED GLASS.

 

What's your case?

[Cereal5]

Just now, Derrk said:

I would, but i have a radiator in front with fans on both sides

Push/pull is not necessary. At most you see a 2 degree delta over just push or pull. Mount the rad on one side and the fans on the other, so you have an extra width in the front. Or mount both behind.

[Derrk]

Just now, amusedschrodinger said:

DO NOT CUT INTO THE TEMPERED GLASS.

 

What's your case?

i figured not. Its a somewhat obscure case - Meanit 5pm

[Derrk]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

Push/pull is not necessary. At most you see a 2 degree delta over just push or pull. Mount the rad on one side and the fans on the other, so you have an extra width in the front. Or mount both behind.

yea but it's so quiet this way

[Cereal5]

1 minute ago, Derrk said:

yea but it's so quiet this way

If your computer gets hot from not getting air flow then the fans ramp up and get louder. If you have fans that have airflow, it doesn't get hot, and doesn't ramp up. So no... It's not quiet that way... Even if you take the front panel off and it's quieter, you still hear the fans more because there's no front panel to muffle some of the noise. Also, 1-2 degrees makes literally no difference in sound. Like I said... Cause that's all you get from push/pull. If that.

[Derrk]

2 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

Push/pull is not necessary. At most you see a 2 degree delta over just push or pull. Mount the rad on one side and the fans on the other, so you have an extra width in the front. Or mount both behind.

and i have a slight clearance issue. The shroud only allows me to have 2 fans inside pulling, while i have 3 fans on the outside pushing through the rad

[Cereal5]

Just now, Derrk said:

and i have a slight clearance issue. The shroud only allows me to have 2 fans inside pulling, while i have 3 fans on the outside pushing through the rad

Well I have no idea what cooler you have nor do I know what case it's in... So that doesn't really mean anything to me lol

[Derrk]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

Well I have no idea what cooler you have nor do I know what case it's in... So that doesn't really mean anything to me lol

basically I'm just saying that if i went inside the frame of the case, I'd only be able to fit 2 120 fans on a 360mm rad because i don't have enough space.

 

2 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

If your computer gets hot from not getting air flow then the fans ramp up and get louder. If you have fans that have airflow, it doesn't get hot, and doesn't ramp up. So no... It's not quiet that way... Even if you take the front panel off and it's quieter, you still hear the fans more because there's no front panel to muffle some of the noise. Also, 1-2 degrees makes literally no difference in sound. Like I said... Cause that's all you get from push/pull. If that.

and the fans don't really get louder, they're on a fixed curve. my temps stay fine under load, it's just that heat builds up inside my rads, and my room gets really hot. If i take the front panel off, i don't have this issue

[Cereal5]

2 minutes ago, Derrk said:

basically I'm just saying that if i went inside the frame of the case, I'd only be able to fit 2 120 fans on a 360mm rad because i don't have enough space.

I still don't know what case you have, but you can probably top mount it. Depends on the case though.

 

2 minutes ago, Derrk said:

and the fans don't really get louder, they're on a fixed curve. my temps stay fine under load, it's just that heat builds up inside my rads, and my room gets really hot. If i take the front panel off, i don't have this issue

The point still remains, the lack of airflow from the double stacked fans is what is causing the heat. Literally the thing you claim to be keeping it quiet. Remove the problem, and remove the heat. You can always just mod your case. Cut out whatever is blocking the last spot. It's most likely a small piece of unimportant metal.

[Derrk]

1 minute ago, Cereal5 said:

I still don't know what case you have, but you can probably top mount it. Depends on the case though.

 

The point still remains, the lack of airflow from the double stacked fans is what is causing the heat. Literally the thing you claim to be keeping it quiet. Remove the problem, and remove the heat. You can always just mod your case. Cut out whatever is blocking the last spot. It's most likely a small piece of unimportant metal.

Sorry, it's a meanit 5pm. Not a very common case. I have another 360 rad at the top. Everything still stays quiet, but I'm mostly just trying to figure out how to mod the case. Most likely I'll try to replace the glass with mesh. Not entirely sure if the frame is strong enough to withstand me popping the glass out though

[Cereal5]

6 minutes ago, Derrk said:

Sorry, it's a meanit 5pm. Not a very common case. I have another 360 rad at the top. Everything still stays quiet, but I'm mostly just trying to figure out how to mod the case. Most likely I'll try to replace the glass with mesh. Not entirely sure if the frame is strong enough to withstand me popping the glass out though

It should be fine as long as you're careful about picking it up. Case manufacturers are never clear about clearance with two 260mm rads. The website does say that it recommends a max thickness of 55mm rad in the front and 30mm in the top. This is likely with no pull fans on the front rad, just push. Could you fit a low profile fan in that spot?

[Derrk]

3 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

It should be fine as long as you're careful about picking it up. Case manufacturers are never clear about clearance with two 260mm rads. The website does say that it recommends a max thickness of 55mm rad in the front and 30mm in the top. This is likely with no pull fans on the front rad, just push. Could you fit a low profile fan in that spot?

I probably could, but slim fans tend to have poor static pressure. I'm using EKWB's SE rad on the top and PE rad in the front (about 28mm & 38mm respectively). I appreciate the input, but i mostly just want to modify the front panel to allow more air. Even with fans farther away from the glass, the airflow is still very restrictive

[Cereal5]

2 minutes ago, Derrk said:

I probably could, but slim fans tend to have poor static pressure. I'm using EKWB's SE rad on the top and PE rad in the front (about 28mm & 38mm respectively). I appreciate the input, but i mostly just want to modify the front panel to allow more air. Even with fans farther away from the glass, the airflow is still very restrictive

Gotcha. Cutting tempered glass is pretty hard cause if you do it wrong it'll just shatter lol. Have you thought about putting two fans on the interior and leaving the one fan on the exterior? This would still give you all 3 fans, but would increase your airflow quite a bit because 2/3rds of the rad will have free flowing air

[Derrk]

3 minutes ago, Cereal5 said:

Gotcha. Cutting tempered glass is pretty hard cause if you do it wrong it'll just shatter lol. Have you thought about putting two fans on the interior and leaving the one fan on the exterior? This would still give you all 3 fans, but would increase your airflow quite a bit because 2/3rds of the rad will have free flowing air

that's an interesting idea. i probably wouldn't have any fans at all touching the bottom of the rad though. the power supply shroud prevents me from putting a pull fan there, and most of the free flowing air in this front panel comes in through the bottom, so i wouldn't want to block that with a fan in this scenario. Still, very interesting 

[Cereal5]

3 minutes ago, Derrk said:

that's an interesting idea. i probably wouldn't have any fans at all touching the bottom of the rad though. the power supply shroud prevents me from putting a pull fan there, and most of the free flowing air in this front panel comes in through the bottom, so i wouldn't want to block that with a fan in this scenario. Still, very interesting 

Ew, PSU shroud. Anyways, hope you figure something out, and hope I was of some use lol. You could also do the low profile in the top in push. Still better than a starving normal fan most likely. Just a thought (especially if you already have a pull fan)

[Derrk]

Just now, Cereal5 said:

Ew, PSU shroud. Anyways, hope you figure something out, and hope I was of some use lol. You could also do the low profile in the top in push. Still better than a starving normal fan most likely. Just a thought (especially if you already have a pull fan)

thank you sir for all the advice, should come in useful