I have my HTPC in a Realan E-i7 case. The case is great and I'm in the process of upgrading it (see here), but the thermals need some work.
See here for an overview of my airflow problem.
As you can tell by looking at the layout and case lid, the vent holes are not in an ideal location for supplying fresh air to the CPU cooler. I ran some tests yesterday using Prime95 and found with the lid removed temperatures on the CPU drop 5 degrees with the CPU fan spinning slower. While this isn't a huge deal now, I plan on upgrading to a Ryzen 2400g CPU, which will have a higher TDP than my current Intel i3 chip. Along with that, I may upgrade the CPU cooler to something taller or with a more substantial fan, that will put the fan even closer to the case lid.
Therefore, I would like to determine a good method for adding extra vents to the case lid.
My first thought is to simply drill holes in typical hole pattern. Because the case lid is anodized aluminum it should be easy enough to drill through, but I'm a little concerned with making a clean hole that won't totally destroy the aesthetics of the case. I think the following would be a good work flow;
1) With the exterior of the lid facing up, screw the lid into a wooden board
2) Cover the lid in masking tape/painters tape
3) Using a straight edge, mark out a hole pattern. I plan on centering the hole pattern for aesthetics even though it may not line up exactly with my existing CPU cooler (or a future AMD motherboard)
4) Using a center punch, make indents on each marked hole
5) Using a drill, drill each hole
I believe this is the best way to get consistently spaced holes and minimize the chance of a drill bit marking up the exterior of the case. However, I have 3 questions for you pros:
1) Is this a reasonable work flow?
2) What is an appropriate hole size and hole spacing?
3) Am I better off drilling a pilot hole and then enlarging with a second drill operation, or drilling the final size hole in one go around?
See here for an overview of my airflow problem.
As you can tell by looking at the layout and case lid, the vent holes are not in an ideal location for supplying fresh air to the CPU cooler. I ran some tests yesterday using Prime95 and found with the lid removed temperatures on the CPU drop 5 degrees with the CPU fan spinning slower. While this isn't a huge deal now, I plan on upgrading to a Ryzen 2400g CPU, which will have a higher TDP than my current Intel i3 chip. Along with that, I may upgrade the CPU cooler to something taller or with a more substantial fan, that will put the fan even closer to the case lid.
Therefore, I would like to determine a good method for adding extra vents to the case lid.
My first thought is to simply drill holes in typical hole pattern. Because the case lid is anodized aluminum it should be easy enough to drill through, but I'm a little concerned with making a clean hole that won't totally destroy the aesthetics of the case. I think the following would be a good work flow;
1) With the exterior of the lid facing up, screw the lid into a wooden board
2) Cover the lid in masking tape/painters tape
3) Using a straight edge, mark out a hole pattern. I plan on centering the hole pattern for aesthetics even though it may not line up exactly with my existing CPU cooler (or a future AMD motherboard)
4) Using a center punch, make indents on each marked hole
5) Using a drill, drill each hole
I believe this is the best way to get consistently spaced holes and minimize the chance of a drill bit marking up the exterior of the case. However, I have 3 questions for you pros:
1) Is this a reasonable work flow?
2) What is an appropriate hole size and hole spacing?
3) Am I better off drilling a pilot hole and then enlarging with a second drill operation, or drilling the final size hole in one go around?
