Got a New Case!

Well, I did get some work done today. I decided to just relocate the stock feet instead of replacing with the rubber feet I had planned on using since one of the rubber feet wouldn't fit (the PSU filter slide rail was in the way) and because they were shorter than I would have liked with a bottom filter. There is one foot at the front and another one at the back and each foot goes from one side of the case to the other. The feet are held in with a plastic dowel on each side of the foot that keys into a locating hole and is secured with a single 6-32 screw into a tapped hole in the case on each side of the case. I needed to relocate the feet because they were too far apart to fit on the nightstand my present computer sets on. I had to lay out new holes, then drill and deburr them. I'll have to get some slightly longer screws and some 6-32 nuts to secure the feet to the case. Again, no pictures because there is nothing exciting about a bunch of holes. I still need to drill out the old dowel holes so I can put in the 3/8" hole plugs I ordered. At least I'm not cramping tonight.

I'm debating on if I want to cut out the grill under the PSU or not.

From post # 51

I'm debating on if I want to cut out the grill under the PSU or not.

Normally a power supply fan doesn't run fast or often enough to worry about the grill. If it was my case I would leave it alone.
Taking strength out of the bottom of the case where all the weight is might not be helpful. It might allow the bottom of the case to get a twist and the side panels wouldn't fit properly.
Of course I don't have the case in front of me so these are just my thoughts.

ZaLiTH said:

Hehe... It sounds almost like you're remaking the entire case here Jeannie. ...

Yup, I'm pretty much remaking the entire case; it just won't look much different. The main changes are to seal up the multitude of air dust leaks without looking too rinkydink.

ZaLiTH said:

...Early on in this thread you mentioned wanting to remove the bottom drive cage spacer and add a third cage, but I didn't see much more after that. Are you still planning to do that or did I miss something somewhere..?...

I am (kinda sorta) and you didn't; I just haven't gotten that far yet. I'm going to shorten (not remove) the bottom HDD cage base roughly 1/4" so the level of the bottom two HDD trays will match the level of the top two HDD trays in the third cage to make it easier for air from the front fan to get to the top two HDDs in the third cage (the SSD will be in the bottom tray and won't need as much air). I'm also going to move the front two HDD cages forward a bit so they line up with the third cage (why on Earth couldn't Corsair have done any of this in the designing stage?).

ZaLiTH said:

...Owning a 600T myself, it's really interesting reading about all the similarities between this and the 650D... My first thought looking at the 650's interior was "hmmm... that looks virtually identical to mine".

It's pretty much identical. The front, bottom, and back metal panels are identical. The top metal panel is different. The 650D also has a different plastic panel on the front (although the front air filter is the same, same as the bottom PSU filter) and no added bottom, back or top plastic panels. Since the bottom plastic panel of the 600T served as the feet, the 650D has different feet added. The difference in the metal top panel is the 650D's is deeper, has a built-in fan grill, and has a built-in hot swap bay, one of the major things that attracted me to this case; some others include the ability to have space for 9 HDDs, easy to clean filters, and the ability to get a solid left side panel (the left and right side panels are interchangeable so I bought a second right side panel to replace the left side one).

A lot of the parts I've ordered for this case aren't listed under the 650D at Corsair's or at Performance PC's website; I had to order the equivalent 600T parts.

I did do a bit of work on the case yesterday; I removed the top hot swap bay and sealed up some leaks on it (the thing was a sieve). Here are some before shots:

This is one of the two tabs that have to be bent up to remove the bay.



A couple more before shots:





I had originally planned on sealing the leaks with pieces of thin black plastic glued onto the sides but I was afraid I would get glue into the little tracks so I used some aluminum tape I had knocking about instead. It's crude but it did the job and won't show unless one works hard to find it.







I have a paint pen on the way that should do wonders to kill all that shine. There is still going to be a bit of a gap on the sides when I eventually put the bay back in but the acoustic foam I'm going to add will seal that up nicely.

Layback Bear said:

From post # 51

I'm debating on if I want to cut out the grill under the PSU or not.

Normally a power supply fan doesn't run fast or often enough to worry about the grill. If it was my case I would leave it alone.
Taking strength out of the bottom of the case where all the weight is might not be helpful. It might allow the bottom of the case to get a twist and the side panels wouldn't fit properly.
Of course I don't have the case in front of me so these are just my thoughts.

ZaLiTH said:

Some PSU fans don't even run until the temp gets higher.. Seasonic Platinums, for example, only turn on the fan at 25 degrees Celsius.

Thanks for the thoughts, guys! I'm leaning the same way myself. Because of the filter and the rails it rides in, the hole would be small enough to not be likely to weaken the case any but why take chances if it isn't really necessary. Besides, there just isn't any way to keep a hole like that from looking all raggitty.

From what I've read, the Seasonics actually determine when to turn on the fan by the amount of load (70%) on them. In my house, 25°C would have them running constantly much of the year; it's 27°C where I and the computer are in my house right now.

I'll be glad when all the pollen and dust stirring wind we have been having goes away. My allergies and sinuses are driving me nutz! It's supposed to let up by tomorrow so, hopefully, I'll be able to run a few errands, including picking up a bunch of the stuff I ordered.

I've decided to just cut away the mesh on the top of the case and cover the hole with a Koolance radiator shroud. This is an example of how it would look:



Besides simplifying things dramatically, it will give me a bit more room between the top of my CPU cooler and the top fans (it was going to be a bit snug up there otherwise).

What power supply are you going to be using?
If you have posted that information I can't find it.

I haven't decided yet. I have a semi-modular spare early Corsair HX750w (the one that was made by Seasonic) knocking about but the CPU power and 24pin cables are not modular. I would want to shorten the 24 pin cable and lengthen the CPU power cable and sleeve them both (the stock sleeves are a transparent joke) but that would void the warranty (it still has at least five years on it). A warranty replacement wouldn't be the original Seasonic, either (the reason I bought the spare since I otherwise would have had to remake my cables if the other HX750w that is in my present rig should go belly up).

I am leaning strongly towards the fully modular Corsair AX760, also made by Seasonic. That one has a hybrid mode that can be switched out if desired. Hybrid mode is the one that keeps the PSU fan turned off until a certain load level is reached. Being fully modular, it would be easy to slip it out of the case and slip in a replacement without having to redo any of my cabling. While, technically (per Corsair), using non-Corsair cables voids the warranty (according to federal law, it doesn't unless it actually is the cause of failure), all one has to send in is the PSU itself for warranty repair/replacement. It's also 3/4" shorter than the HX750w which would give me a welcome extra 3/4" between the PSU and the third HDD cage.

A similar PSU, the Corsair AX760i, is made by another manufacturer who is supposed to also be good but costs more and has extra bells and whistles that require a separate module (which is included) and a USB 2.0 header connection, all of which I don't see as really needed for me and don't want to have to mess with. It also runs the fan full blast for around 10 seconds then reducing the speed when booting up. I've seen complaints equating the full speed fan noise to that of a hair dryer. While I only reboot only once a week, I still would find that annoying.

I use a AX860i but I don't think I would buy another (i) unless it was required for the system.
I got the (i) version to use the Corsair Link which is a ball of wax.
Remove it and no problems without it.

The (i) and non (i) use different parts and methods to get the same job done. What I have found that when tested the results are so close that their really enough difference to mount to anything.
Using your system it would be very hard to get to a 75% load on either the AX750 or AX860. I have to use test programs to get a load that high.
Under normal use the fan doesn't even come on. The power supply is 4C above ambient temp. So I really don't believe you will have a temp problem or noise fan/air flow problem.