anyone here ever cut out a large square out of the mobo tray in their case right behind where the cpu is? seems like this would make heavy HSF or h2o blocks swaps a breeze

i have a new case coming and i was thinking about doing this so that future h2o or HSF swaps wont require removing the entire system, just remove the back panel of the case to access the screws/nuts from behind..........

i even thought about cutting an 80mm hole in the back panel and finding a low profile 80mm fan and mounting it to the back panel right onto the mobo where the cpu socket is........

ideas...ideas...me ponders

Some cases that I"ve worked with actually have a hole right behind where the usual placement for the cpu socket is. Doesn't help much for boards with funky cpu socket positions, though. (like my K8N Neo)

wow...that's actually a pretty good idea! too bad all my machines use the clip on heatsinks

Just having a gaping hole would look weird, a slim low-profile fan would make it look better, I dont think it would help performance or temp that much, maybe a degree or two

edit: bah, nevermind.

getting any kind of air flow behind the motherboard should help some, you would think.

well, originally what i was talking about was cutting a large square hole in the metal tray that the motherboard mounts to, because my TDX block has to be bolted onto the motherboard. otherwise you would have to take out your whole system to get to the back of the motherboard, but venting the back side panel with a fan was an afterthought

yeah, when i had the aquarius 2 kit i had to take out the mobo because of its screws, and bracket, so now i have a koolance block that doesnt requre any screws and i can leave the cpu bracket in,

There's no reason NOT to do something like that. As long as you aren't removing structural support from the MOBO panel, why not go for it?

You could even add an intake fan to the sidepanel behind it and make it more purposeful that way.

But if you went for Peltier or Phasechange, you'd have to insulate the entire area against condensation....

If you do get a kind of wave on the tray afterwards cause of the modified structure just screw on a piece of mesh and make holes where you need them
Mesh tray would look cool

Yeah, I cut a hole for my northbridge and my cpu, and I didn't get any structural integrity issues.

Mesh tray sounds cool. Hey Kobalt since you got mesh on ure drive bays y not make ure case theme mesh. Just a thought.

A realy cheep way of doing it would be takeing a 120mm hole saw and drilling out the piece. Then just add a 120mm fan grill to cover it up. One of those laser cut designs would be nice.

Somebody here did this a while back. Can't remember who it was, but he cut out a hole behind the CPU and added a fan. A forum search might turn up the post.

Loll i'm getting lots of ideas from here and this is a good one, not too much but the right amount would be kinda nice, and i have that case i dont know what to do with

I did that, but I think some others did too. Didn't do anything for temps as exhaust or intake.

me bro did it bout 3months back,,,, and then windowed it aswell,added 2 small fans {40mm i thk} dropped his cpu by 3-5c .so it wasnt such a big drop but it looks good.

Here is what I did today to make my CPU and northbridge easily accessable on the new case:
[attachmentid=12000]

I don't think I'll add any fans though, doesn't seem neccisarry.

Nice, i might try that for when i get my DD setup....

ot: !!! that rad must be a foot tall lol.

where do you put all your drives?

i'm still torn, i dont know weather or not to mount the pump, and all in the case or outside.......

I have an external cdrw/dvd and the hard drives go in the 5 1/4. Its a hassle to work around, but I think it'll be worth it in the end. I want this case to be LAN-able, and having everything inside is well worth it in that regard.

Honestly, I don't know what to recommend. A quality rad attached to the top of the case might perform better, but I like the look of this, and its somewhat unique. :shrug: