System build 2013: Case optimization (Part 1)

I've been running a bit of a backlog once again, as the computer building has officially started- more often than not I find myself making tweaks as opposed to writing about them. As I'm putting this together, the system is bootable and the OS is installed, though there is no video card yet and no attempt at cable management has been made. I'll have to back up for a moment to detail how I got to where I am now, and that leads me to the initial run of case optimizations.

Make no mistake- the 650D is a great case, but for the system I've designed it's slightly sub-optimal for a few (somewhat) easily remedied reasons. Most of note, the front 200mm fan is too shallow and a bit noisy, and its proximity to the hard drive cages makes it necessary to modify the case to fit a deeper fan that moves much more air. Hearing excellent reviews about the Cooler Master Megaflow 200mm fan and the relative ease with which it can be modded to fit the 650D led me to snag a plain old black, non-LED version to hack to bits. I suppose I'm officially a case modder now, then?

The modified setup involved cutting the 650D's front grate out, and removing the rear tabs of the Megaflow so that the fan fit through the front of the case and secured into the existing mounting points, which would (hopefully!) leave enough room for the drive cages to be mounted as well. The fan was easy enough, as I'm vaguely familiar with working on and shaping ABS plastic. Using a file almost feels like cheating, it shapes the material so easily.



Since it's not going to be showing in the final product, I didn't really have to worry about making it "pretty," just dimensionally correct. Finishing such a surface is a notorious pain in the butt anyways. On to the case. The front grate had to be removed such that the fan could slip down into it and meet up with the existing mounting points. This was much more involved, and required hearing protection, dust masks, a lot of patience, and a helping hand from my friend Emily, who tag teamed on the Dremel with me to get it done.



After finishing the cutting and sanding, I took the case to the edge of the garage and blasted it down with an air compressor- this was not a simple "canned air" job, since those steel shavings get absolutely, positively everywhere. And now, the finished assembly:



The margin between the fan and drive cage is very close, but it still clears- success! It doesn't really show well in pictures, but it's about a 1mm margin, so no buzzing fan rattling on a drive cage!

Aside from this major mod, everything else was just a matter of picking which fans went where, making sure that it would ultimately be a positive pressure setup, and coming up with a general game plan for cable routing, though this will come later after hooking all the hardware up and making sure it was ready to roll.

More coming soon!