New
#1
Got a New Case!
I've been lusting after the Corsair Obsidian 650D case for some time now. I just hated to spend the time and money to mod it and move the innards of my present ring into it plus I really didn't have room although I recently worked out how to make room for it without knocking out any walls. I noticed late last week that Fry's had the 650D for the same price Amazon was selling it and for much less than NewEgg. I've learned that when Fry's is cheaper than Amazon or NewEgg, they are probably getting ready to discontinue it so, last Friday, I hauled my ample asset down to Fry's and got the last one they had other than the display model (which was in rather tough condition). I wanted to get the case locally instead of ordering it so, if there was any shipping damage (not to mention there is a lower likelihood of damage on a case bought locally), I went have to ship it back. That evening, I got online and order a right side panel (the one without the window since I don't like windows and I'm going to put a couple of fans in the left panel), a couple of HDD cages, three HDD trays, a 350D front panel connector assembly (so I can steal the USB 3.0 connector, cable, and header to replace the outmoded pass-through arrangement on the 650D), and some rubber feet to replace the original plastic ones.
I'm going to install a third HDD cage in the case but I also want to move the original two cages to the right of the case so both the floor mounted cages are the same distance from the side of the case (yes, I'm that anal). I also want to lower the two original HDD cages so the bottom two HHDs in the bottom cage are on the same level as the top two HDDs in the third cage. While part of my reason for that is appearance, the main reason is to allow air to pass through the front cage to the HHDs in the third cage. I don't need much to keep the HDDs cool but I will need some getting through from the front fan (I'm not worried about getting air to the bottom tray in the third cage since I will put my SSD there). Since I don't want six HDDs secured into the case with only four tiny screws in a plastic base, I also need to secure the top of the two front cages to the 5.25" cage. I also want to be able to remove the cages to get at the front fan in case I need to change back to a 20-25mm thick fan (more on that in a moment). I figured the easiest way to do that would be to cut the bottom off another HDD cage (the reason I ordered two) and mount it under the 5.25" cage using spacers to compensate for lowering the two front cages.
I had originally planned on replacing the front fan with a couple of 120mm fans but it was starting to look like a lot of work so I now plan on removing the front grill and replacing the stock 200mm fan with a modified CM Megaflow; it moves more air anyway. By mounting the front flange on the outside of the case front instead of on the inside, it will clear the HDD cages. I want to keep the cages removable so, if something goes wrong with the Megaflow or it just doesn't work out, I can go back to the original fan or another 20-25mm fan.
I'm wanting to put a total of six Xigmatek XAF-F1452 140mm Case Fans in the case—two on top, two on the left case side panel, and one on the rear of the case— and, possibly, a seventh one on the CPU cooler (I'm going to move the innards of the present rig to the new case). The Xigmateks have great air flow but only fair static pressure so they may not work well with my Gemini II S524 cooler, in which case I'll have to put the Gelid that is there now back on it. One reason I chose this fan (other than I like the appearance) is it can be mounted on either 120mm or 140mm fan mounting holes. That will allow me to mount one on the rear fan position. Being 140mm in diameter, it will cover the top and bottom rows of holes in the grill that is not covered by the stock 120mm fan (I need to seal as many air dust leaks as possible since dust is a huge problem where I live). I want 140mm fans since they are quieter than 120mm fans at the same CFM since they can run slower but can still get cranked up should I need more cooling during high usage periods. I also wanted all the fans to be the same (other than the front one; I'm staying with 200mm since it will require less surgery) and I wanted a 140mm at the back.
I need to put filters on the side fans but it's impossible to get the kind of filters I wanted in 140mm. However, there are some so called 140mm fan filters being sold that have mounting holes that are only 111mm apart instead of the normal 125mm for a 140mm fan. 111mm is too large for 120mm fan mounting holes—those are 105mm apart—but the Xigmatek fans have little ears that can be added to allow them to fit on 140mm fan mounting holes. Those ears have enough room on them to, hopefully, allow slotting the holes enough to let them fit on the 111mm spacing. They were cheap enough that I went ahead and ordered three of them (one for a spare) to see if they will work. If not, I can always use the readily available 120mm fan filters. I won't cut any holes in the side panel until I know which filter is going to work for me.
I haven't decided what to do about the top fans. That stupid mesh has got to go. It looks ok but I might as well dump dirt through it. The Koolance fan shroud would be the quick and dirty way to deal with it—just cutaway the grill and the side of the well it's in—but I don't really want or need that extra height (I won't be going underwater). The wells the screws go into are also little dust traps. I've though about putting a plate on top of the grill and riveting it in—that would look best—but getting an exact fit would be a bit...ah...challenging. I don't want to any filling there with Bondo or body solder since I want to avoid repainting the top (other than the plate); getting an exact color and texture match to the rest of the case would be pretty much impossible and I don't to repaint the entire case if at all possible (I'm not worried about the back and bottom since no one will see them so getting a close match to the existing paint is close enough). Another option would be to put a 1/4" aluminum plate on top of the case after cutting away the grill area. I could fasten that with screws coming up from below into tapped holes in the bottom of the plate. Again, I'm open to suggestions
I'm also going to cut off the center tab at the bottom of the case that helps to align the case side fore and aft since it's in the way of removing the bottom HDD tray (again, what was Corsair thinking when they designed that!?) I may also have to trim a bit off the remaining tab closest to the front of the case; time will tell. I don't think I will have to trim the case flange itself; again, time will tell.
Right now, I'm mostly at the planning stage, trying to work out what I want to do and how to do it. The back and bottom of the case is lousy with air dust leaks (what were the designers thinking?) so I need to work out how to seal those up without looking dorky (I'm open to suggestions). I'm thinking about soldering plates on the inside of the holes on the back, then filling the hole with Bondo or body solder (solder is less likely to crack or fall off but is harder to work). The bottom I'm less worried about. The worst of the leaks are around the third cage so I may just mount it permanently and use some kind of caulk to seal the holes (please don't suggest silicone); the sound deadening foam I'm going to put in will hide that. I can cut off the tab on the side of the bottom of cage and bend over the two on the front of the bottom of the cage so they won't protrude from the bottom.
Well, I've rattled on long enough for now. Due to my age and health, it is going to take me a few months to get this case modded, working on it a little at a time. I really love this case but Corsair could have made it so much better with a little attention to little details, such as the position and height of the HDD cages, the unnecessary holes, keeping the outmoded pass-through USB 3.0 front panel cables (especially since they have the part to fix it), etc.