Unusual hardware question: drill bit for case mod?

[spockware]

Hi all,

Looking to open my SageTV case a bit... Any recommendations on a drill bit to use for drilling holes in my case and where to buy the bit? It is a Silverstone aluminum case.

thanks!

[dbfresh23]

Home Depot - and any sheet metal bit should do the trick....

Now - WHY!!?

[spockware]

thanks! why ? oooooverrrr heating and I can't stand to put more fans in!

[aperry]

By putting in holes, you are likely going to increase the noise level of your system by quite a bit...

[Opus4]

... especially while cutting the holes!

- Andy

[Fluffdaddy]

Noise level

With a wife that hates to watch anything without asking what she just saw. Four kids a dog /cat and a fish tank bubbling in the background, I have not heard any HTPC fan noise levels in years

[dbfresh23]

If you have an open slot in back you can just get a slot exaust fan. Another option that may be worth looking at before you cut open the case would be a duct to get the heat from the cpu right out the back.

http://www.1coolpc.com/ockit.htm

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by spockware

thanks! why ? oooooverrrr heating and I can't stand to put more fans in!

And it also may not have the effect you want. Depending on case, cpu and/or vpu cooler, fan routings, etc a system can actually run hotter with the cover completely removed, nevermind a bunch of "random" holes punched in it.

On a previous system I was doing some hardware work so I left the cover off a tower case and the CPU acutually ran 5 degrees hotter with the cover off than with it on. From a quick look, I could see that the case fan was designed to pull air across the CPU cooler and with only passive airflow the cpu temp went up.

Cooling is a tricky thing to mess with that depends on so many factors.

[mayamaniac]

just any drill bit that works on metal. I tried a drill bit that was for wood on metal once, and it would not penetrate the metal sheet. Got the right drill bit for metal and it easily drilled through.

[Menehune]

Yes, any metal bit should work. Look for HSS or high speed steel bits. Don't get "spade" or concrete type bits-they won't work very well in metal. Depending upon the hole size, you could drill a bunch of smaller 3/8" holes, a big "hole cutting bit" which can go up from 1" to 3" in diameter, or drill one 3/8" hole and use a sabre saw to enlarge it to any size or shape you want.

[Wakecrash]

Drilling some small holes might not do much, for my server I used a big hole saw to fit a 120mm fan lower front to suck in and upper back to blow out. The key is to mount fans to keep air circulating through the case.
I used 120mm silenx 9db fans, good air flow and very quite. I recall a 4 1/2 inch hole saw matched up well, but double check that.

[something fishy]

I cut a large rectangular hole in the back half of the cover to my Silverstone case (about 6inches deep and the full width of the case). So all the PCI cards are open the air as is the CPU cooler (a Zalman 7000 fitted with a 92 mm Nexus fan) and the power supply. Everything seems much happier and the box is cooler and significantly quieter (the main noise was the temp controlled PSU fan ramping up as the box temperature rose).

Before I cut the hole my Sage box often had an insulating layer of cat on top of it also (enjoying the toasty heat of hauppauge) amplifying the problem (if damping case resonance). That is no longer the case. Just make sure to carefully vacuum dust out every so often.

I just marked the case (mine was steel, aluminium should be easy), taped over with masking tape and then cut from the middle to the corners with a dremel (black cutting disks).

[GKusnick]

Another thing to consider is that by cutting big holes in your case, you're not just letting air in, you're letting RFI out. All that high-speed switching circuitry generates a fair amount of electrical noise. If this machine is going to be parked next to your A/V gear, you might want to think twice about poking too many holes in it.

[spockware]

Thanks everyone. Great suggestions on all fronts.

My Comcast Moto 6200 HD DVR case is like 90% holes and totally passive. Would be nice to get a Sage Client setup like that! I guess I was hoping I could replicate it by drilling tons of holes in my SilverStone LC01.

The setup would only have a high-end vcard for HD, use onboard audio, and a small HDD - all other heat producing components/cards, etc. would be in the SageTV Server). Any thoughts on a near or totally passive, custom SageTV Client box?

[dbfresh23]

That will be next to impossible, at least in terms of CPU cooling. Even water cooling generally needs a fan blowing on the radiator.

Passive can easily be done on the chipset, psu and video card though. You can even get an internal case for the HDD so quiet that, but would then need to go in a 5.25" int bay.

Next best bet for cpu would be a Zalman 7000CU which makes almost no audible noise.

You could also potentially replace the HDD with a Giga-Byte ram drive and a couple gigs of DDR which would then cause your client storage to make zero noise.