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May 21, 2006
Radiobot/Gatekeeper gets a Fanlift
Silverstone SST-FM82's.
This weekend I embarked on s'more surgery for Gatekeeper (My front face to the internet & Radiobot machine). The Imetus behind the change was the failing exhaust fan in the back. It's been spinning for a few years and starting to make noise. Considering the machines position (at my upper right) any noise from this machine is too much. I also wanted more control over fan speed and more ooomph for those hot days in the summer ahead.
Normally I use the Thermaltake Smart Fan II's. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835999111
These are really great fans for the price. Highly adjustable with FULL speed, Manual or thermal control. It comes with mounting hardware and even a grill.
It moves alot of air too! My only beef is the whine. At high speed they have the classic fan whine, at low speed they have a bit of a grrrrrrr.
A lil research turned up The Silverstone SST-FM82
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999345
I wasn't actually looking for a new fan for this case. I was looking for a fan for my new SI-9XV XEON heatsink.
So after some research I realized the SST-FM82 was an ideal candidate for Gatekeeper. Wide Blade excursion (90MM) in an 80MM mounting. WOW, I could push more air or the same air with less noise. This version also had a 3.5" mounting for control! A lil further research around the net showed this to be a perfect fan if you have the extra room.
I created a Pictorial of Installation process for this particular case.
Woke up early sunday morning and decided.. I'm going drilling!
I modded the front of the computer case to house the two fan controls rather then use up a 3.5" drive bay. Hey. you just never know when you'll need'em.
Overall performance of these fans is excellent.
The speed adjustment is smooth.
They move alot of air and at 2500 RPMS, they are silent.
This installation brought about an interesting learning experience.
I figured I would turn up the exhaust fan a lil more until I just barely heard it.
The prior exhaust fan was at 2200RPMS and this was around 2600 RPMS.
So front and back fans were spinning around 2500 RPMS.
This seemed to make the motherboard temperature go up.
I couldn't believe it my once 38c temps are now 40c. WTF!
I turned up the volume, but the noise was just unacceptable.
So I started adjusting all day to find that the system stayed cooler when the exhaust fan was lower then the intake fan.
Meanwhile I had always been under the impression negative or equal pressure was best.
After all said and done the system worked best with 1800RPM exhaust and 2400 RPM intake.
CPU temps are now a cool 34c&35c and system temp is 38c.
Not too shabby.
My next mod is a Thermaltake Ducting Mod. which will supposedly get more air into the center core of the heatsink where it really matters.
Hercules also need this piece of plastic to help cool off the motherboard at strategic parts. Seems air blows over the mobo, but really past it. In my case, I want to mount it on one of the intake vents and aim the fan directly at the motherboard. We'll see what the future brings.
Posted by Me on May 21, 2006 06:00 PM
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Comments
For the record, I am using these 92MM fans for Intake and Exhaust. There is PLENTY of open air grill for intake and even extra room for pulling more air if needed. The problem with temperature was having both fans running at the same speed. This created a direct path of air from intake to exhaust without any overflow to other components. Remember, the power supply also has a 120MM fan running at 740RPM's. Once I lowered the exhaust fan. the other components got brushed upon by air overflow and subsequently cooled down.
Also, Look here for card readers. Maybe one will suffice for your needs.
<a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=koutech+card+reader&Submit=ENE&Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0">http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=koutech+card+reader&Submit=ENE&Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0</a>
Nice!!! That is one monster of a fan! It's almost a shame that it couldn't really be used as effectively as an intake fan, as the increased air speed on the output end could have some interesting effect if blowing directly across the CPU heatsink. 'Course the opening on the intake side would have to have more holes drilled to take advantage of the increased fan circumference. Still, that would indeed be superb as an exhaust fan at lower speeds. NICE.
I also have to say that I love the layout of your various gadgets up front. The combo floppy/multi-card reader is an interesting addition, and oh how I wish I had audio and USB ports up front in my tower. That would be so much more convenient, and I could unplug and stow away the USB cables (thus reducing my gf's whining about the cables) rather than having to leave them out since they're plugged into the back. Way cool.