hmm...well the cable mess I can sort out easily for very cheap, same with the intake fan, cutting off the grill on the PSU fan would be more difficult, its not so much a grill as much as fairly thick bars.

btw, while I can't check the CPU temperature , it does tell me the motherboard temperature is 29C after a couple of hours of gaming, whether that's indicative of anything Im not sure (not the CPU as such , but just general temperature in the system)

mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

So, how much air circulation does a 120mm fan lose from having a grill in front of it?...

http://www.silverstonetek.com/techtalk_cont.p … chessis&area=en

Grills not only are nocive for airflow, the restriction and turbulence they generate can also produce nasty aerodynamic noise, as this video (which also demonstrates the grill extermination technique) shows: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1zhfYHUIIY#t=1154

No quarter must be shown to grills.

. .

Darkman wrote:

... it does tell me the motherboard temperature is 29C after a couple of hours of gaming ...

What's the ambient temp in the room the comp is in?

Im guessing about 20C or so , maybe a bit more keeping in mind that its a small room , where sometimes another computer (the modern one) is also running.

this is the fan on my PSU

Im thinking of cutting out most of the rings there if I can find a cutting tool thats actually good enough , though I may not be able to find one

Just use a Dremel/rotary tool with a cutting wheel 😀

Case modders best friend.

Darkman wrote:

Im guessing about 20C or so , maybe a bit more ...

Then you have less than Δ10C on the mobo sensor. That's quite decent case ventilation.

The fan grill in your PSU is a piece of cake to extirpate, raised type with only 4 attach points. Just four cuts with the pliers and it will be gone all in one piece.

Remember to unplug from the wall for extra safety and be careful not do damage the fan.

TELVM, do you think adding a thin wire grille would interfere too much with airflow?

Just i'm forever putting my hand near the back of the case whilst its running. I know it wont injure me, but I get real jumpy when Im clipped by a fan 🤣

Not only do the grilles keep your fingers out. They also keep EMI in.

Am I the only one who thinks all of this goes a bit too far for just messing with old hardware? Unless someone is going for a world record for overclocking an old processor... 😀

Forevermore wrote:

TELVM, do you think adding a thin wire grille would interfere too much with airflow? ...

If there must be a grill, the least airflow damaging grill design is raised concentric thin wire circles.

. .

good point, though one has to wonder why would someone stick his fingers into the PSU, especially if its working, other than maybe small children I guess.

for now, I will do the easiest thing and sort out the cable mess , it got on my nerves that I actually had to dig through the cables to reach one the RAM modules (found an extra 128Mb PC133 stick lying around, so I figured I would put it to use), I would rather mod the case as little as possible, besides I don't think I even have a a good enough cutting tool around here anyways.