Parts for Full ATX Case mod

thingiverse

Models created for a full ATX case retrofit for custom loop liquid cooling and complete filtration for all air intakes. As a base I used an old Supermicro full ATX case (750-A02 frame), but it shouldn't matter what you're using since this requires major cutting, drilling and tapping which I won't go into detail about - just wanted to provide all my models incase it gives someone a leg up on their own build. # Main Concepts ## Air Turbulence Buffers The intake fans on the front (bottom intake and radiator fans) have turbulence buffers to allow pressure to equalize and air flow to orient to the fans pull resulting in less noise ## Filters All air intakes designed to accommodate 20mm accordion style HVAC filters. Chose this for two reasons * I'll always have a store of furnace filters that I use for my house * The accordion style increases surface area which is a constraint for the case ## Case Segregation of Concerns ### Bottom Half for Equipment The bottom of the case is for all the normal stuff * motherboard * expansion cards * drives A 200mm intake fan provides cooling and creates a slight positive pressure. The positive pressure insures only filtered air is coming into the case. Air flows in and up primarily though will also flow out through cracks and hole in the case. ### Top Half for Heat Exchange Top half is heat exchange and exhaust. The power supply and radiator exhaust into this section. Two 200mm fans on each side of the case (left and right) create a slight negative pressure to aid in airflow from the lower section and insure heated air never travels in the wrong direction. Because of this cracks and holes in the top half of the case are sealed (within reason). ## Power Supply The power supply has been mounted so the intake faces the back of the computer. In most computers it is mounted to pull from the top of bottom of the case. Bottom couldn't be done with this style of case, top I don't like because you can no longer place stuff on top of the case. Because the top section is dedicated to heat exchange and exhaust, pulling air from the back was a good solution. It did required adding a Switch and C14 power socket since the ones on the power supply would no longer be accessible when the case is assembled (< $10) # Additional Notes I ended up putting the reservoir and pump in the top half of the case since it aligned more to the defined segregations as well as allowed me support very large video cards. The Radiator I wanted to mount vertically because of operational efficiencies and better drainage for maintenance. I added a 200mm fan template to make it easier to mark things when modding your case. Created these to bend the tubing for the custom loop because I wanted larger radius turns (the resistance of the flow is inversely proportional to the fourth power of the radius): https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4729555 And yes, Radiatinator is a reference to "Phineas and Ferb"