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Hardware

PC Cases for High Dust Enviornments? 97

Posted by Cliff from the keeping-the-dustballs-out dept.
Ummagumma asks: "My computers have recently been relegated to the basement by decree of the fiancee. Problem is, the basement is carpeted (with a really old carpet), and I have two cats, which generate alot of 'fuzz'. I have had to disassemble my PC to clean the fans and heatsinks out several times now. I am looking for a case that has a built in filter of some kind, even a simple one, that wont blow the bank balance. I have found the Antec SLK3700AMB, but cannot verify that is has a filter, though I have been told it may have. I figure at least a few of you are in a similar situation, so what are you using to prevent dust and fuzz from getting into your cases? My only requirements are: At least mid-sized (full size atx board), room for 4 5.25" drives, minimum 300W powersupply, a front and rear 120mm case fan (or mountings), with a filter at least on the intake." Some of the aluminum cases from Lian Li (and I can't remember the exact model numbers) have simple filter in their front mounted fans. What other case manufacturers have such features?
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PC Cases for High Dust Enviornments? More

PC Cases for High Dust Enviornments?

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  • Cheap filters... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by (H)elix1 ( 231155 ) <slashdot.helix@nOSPaM.gmail.com> on Saturday April 19, 2003 @10:44PM (#5767080) Homepage Journal
    A nylon stocking will go a long way in keeping cat hair out of your chassis. It won't block everything, but on the plus side airflow is not too bad. Don't forget to filter your power supply if it set to suck rather than blow outside air.
    • Here [216.239.57.100]
      You can go there to view a few items for sale. Two of those items are cases with filtered fans.

      Also you could check out Here [google.com]

    • Re:Cheap filters... (Score:2, Informative)

      by alue ( 253363 )
      A good filter will do the job, but consider the drawbacks:
      1. filters must be replaced regularly;
      2. they increase air flow turbulence and therefore noise; and
      3. dust builds up inside your case anyway.

      Dust builds up with any airflow, so the end-all solution is to put together a system that has no airflow, meaning no fans at all.

      This article's [hardcoreware.net] a good start. Here are some guidelines:

      • Remove all your case fans.
      • Use awesome passive cooling heatsinks on both the CPU and video card.
      • Use a case that's built with materi
      • * Take your power supply out of the case. Consider the Apple Cube: the power supply is external, so the unit doesn't contribute to the system temperature.

        Make sure that your power supply is designed for this. The Cube had lower power requirements because of its use of a PowerPC processor, a power and heat conscious design for a motherboard, and very limited expandability. Most switching power supplies for desktop/tower computers will have either limited power capacity or shortened life if operated with
      • Here's a fanless power supply [siliconacoustics.com].

  • I have a similar problem.. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by _hAZE_ ( 20054 ) on Saturday April 19, 2003 @10:46PM (#5767088)
    I work for a scrap metal recycling company, with offices and recycling facilities throughout the midwest United States. As you could imagine, the dust is absolutely horrible, and what's worse is that it has a high metallic content (little bits of metal on a motherboard == sparks, burn-outs, shorts, etc). I have yet to find a good solution, other than someone mentioning puting coffee filters near any air vents on the case (which I haven't tried yet).

    To be honest, I don't really care if it's a do-it-yourself solution or if there's a company out there that sells "filtered" PCs that aren't outrageously priced (most "hardened" PCs are WAY out of the price range).

    We're currently using standard Compaq and IBM business-class Intel workstations and servers, but find that dust and heat can still cause problems. The Compaq PCs come with an on-site warranty, and I pay a little extra for the IBM on-site warranty, but I feel that there should be a better solution then having them constantly out to replace hardware that fails due to dust.
    • The cheapest and most effective solution I've found to high-dust environments is to use some panty hose. It's as effective as the over-priced 'dust filters' sold, easily replaced, and doesn't restrict flow too much. Just take some pantyhose and strech it over the outlet side of the fan and secure with rubber bands. When it needs replacing, don't vacuum, just cut a new piece off and put it on.

      The thing is, if you're getting shitloads of dust in the computers sufficient to ruin them, imagine what that shit i
    • I know how it is, where I work the dust is very oily, and gets on everything. (All the PCs in the production areas are in filtered, air-conditioned enclosures and even then...) Trying to clean the things is a losing proposition, and usually its easier to just replace them rather than clean and fix.

      And people working in a factory environment are notoriously bad for not giving a damn about changing filters...

    • We purchase custome instake filters made just like your AC filters. Some plastic hooks and it woks great. They hard part is remembering to replace the stuff, the clog up hard and WILL BURN out your machine if you don't stay on top of it. Have you considered enclosing the entire machine in a plexi glass bubble ? Sounds silly but a large, standard air filter could be used then and the only exposed parts could be a sealed KB/mouse combo...

    • If you are in metal recycling plants, you probably have compressed air available. If the compressed air is relatively clean and oil free, you can do like a lot of industrial electronics cabinets do and feed compressed air into the cabinet. This cools the cabinet and also keeps the cabinet at positive pressure to keep other junk out.

      The only place I have used this scheme is in a large factory with automatic hoists, large motors, and other noise sources. In that environment the noise is not noticeable, bu

  • Had to make one (Score:3, Interesting)

    by abulafia ( 7826 ) on Saturday April 19, 2003 @10:50PM (#5767097)
    A wire frame with hooks hanging internally from the trame to hook over the intakes... It works. Cats and smokers make for bad server rooms, but with this (and it doesn't look so bad - an opportunity to be creative), until I need to change it, which is sort of the point) works out reasonably well without outfitting my servers with HEPPA approved air intakes. Get some decent, stiff thin wire (I had some laying around, so I can't specify, but I'm guessing it is about 24 guage, soft) and play with it. Breathing filters are easy to modify to place over it and do not seem to harm airflow.

  • Dryer sheets (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Screaming Lunatic ( 526975 ) on Saturday April 19, 2003 @10:53PM (#5767111) Homepage
    Filters out the dust pretty well. And your computer room won't stank either. (Yes I meant "stank")

  • Buy OEM filters (Score:3, Informative)

    by KevinIsOwn ( 618900 ) <herrkevin@gmai[ ]om ['l.c' in gap]> on Saturday April 19, 2003 @11:04PM (#5767158) Homepage
    Don't limit your case selection based on which have filters in the front! You can always get some filters and pop them in there. This is one of the filters I have used: http://www.directron.com/cr212nd.html [directron.com] -- These filters are great on dust. I have filters on all of the intake fans on my PC and have had nearly no dust in there. Just remember to clean them!!

    Remember one other thing, filters are only half of the equation. To really get rid of dust you need positive airflow. What this means is, you need more air flowing in than you have flowing out. (But not too much, or it will be bad for your cooling) 10-20cfm is a good amount of extra air to have blowing in. This positive airflow creates a bit of pressure in the case which helps push dust out of the case.

    It really is amazing how much filters and a bit of positive airflow can help. Try it and I guarentee as dust free a case as one can get!

    • Re:Buy OEM filters (Score:4, Funny)

      by JohnFluxx ( 413620 ) on Saturday April 19, 2003 @11:59PM (#5767348)
      If you have more air going in that out, won't it fill up with air, making the pressure rise until it explodes?
      • Even if a computer case was airtight it wouldn't explode (air would just leave the outtake holes faster)
        A lot of the air goes out the small gaps in your case (for example, the bottom, top, and sides of the case door) and anywhere on the case that there is a seam. Conversely, if you have negative pressure, air will come in these holes along with a boatload of dust.
        • Except that's not what they said - they said if more air went in than came out. The other reply to my message clarified what they meant. I am however correct in what I say - if more air went in than out, it would explode :P

      • Re:Buy OEM filters (Score:3, Informative)

        by zcat_NZ ( 267672 )
        I think he means have more 'intake' fans than 'extraction' fans.. this results in the case having a slightly higher pressure inside, so any air leaking through unfiltered holes in the case will be going out, rather than sucking dusty air in.

        On a related note; a friend of mine wrapped his entire computer in a towel to reduce noise. It doesn't appear to be cause any heat problems (he's had it that way for more than a year now) and I guess it probably reduces dust too..
  • Just look at these filters
    for 120mm fans [yahoo.com] and for 80mm fans. [yahoo.com]
  • If your machines have been banished to the basement, its only fair that the cats be banished FROM the basement. That should help the cat hair problem. (BTW, the fact that your stuff must be put in the dungeon doesn't seem quite fair to me, but I don't know the situation...)

    I run a small HEPA filtering unit in my office, which helps with the dust. I don't have cats, so I don't have that problem.

    You might also check out an Ionic Breeze from the Sharper Image. Supposedly it is supposed to pull stuff out
    • Every review of that device that I have seen states that it doesn't work, or at the very least works far poorer than similar devices, so I would avoid that one.

      Chris
      • My roommate has one, and it seems to work pretty well, when it's clean... If you havn't seem them, they don't have filters, they just accumulate crap on a set of metal plates. If you have a lot of dust, smoke, or pet hair, get ready to clean the bastard every day.... Not worth the price tag, but it does work fairly well.
    • I have 3 machines in my room with an ionic breeze quadra from the sharperimage. The effect is perfect if not set too high. This thing is too powerful and runs at low.... on high i can smell the ozone building in ~30 seconds.

  • Filters should be externally accessible. Duh!!! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Futurepower(R) ( 558542 ) on Saturday April 19, 2003 @11:19PM (#5767209) Homepage

    My experience is that case manufacturers lack imagination. I've never seen a well-designed case, although some are better than others.

    I did a search of more than 40 case manufacturers (several years ago) and the only one I was able to find that has cases with externally accessible filters is Macase [macase.com]. My experience is that the Macase power supplies have an extremely high failure rate, but they sell cases without power supplies.

    It's great to be able to clean the filter without taking the chassis apart. Duh!! to the other manufacturers.

    The Macase filters are good enough to reduce the dust by 95%. They are washable. It's necessary that the intake fan, behind the filter, has a higher airflow than the exhaust fan, inside the power supply. That way there is always positive air pressure, and air that has been filtered flows out of the leaks.

    I don't know if Macase sells to the public. I've only bought wholesale from them.
    • The filter on my Lian Li PC-68 is fairly easy to access too. All you need to do is to remove the front, and open the air filter. No unscrewing required. It's a very nicely designed case too. Everything is easy to take apart, and stuff inside is very comfortable. It costs quite a lot though.

    • Buy Antec cases then... (Score:3, Informative)

      by sheldon ( 2322 )
      I have three of the Antec Performance II series cases(SX835II and SX1040BII) and they all have air filters on the front of the case which can be accessed without taking the case apart.

      You just have to lift the case up, and they slide out from the bottom. They definately make a tremendous difference with keeping dust out of the case. I have two fans on the front pulling air in, two on the rear blowing out.

      I don't know if the SLK3700AMB mentioned in this article has one. I have an SLK2600AMB and it does
      • I have a SX1040B, and between the filter and "positive pressure" airflow in the case, it stays remarkably clean... A smart way to accomplish positive pressure is to use "smart fans", (you know, the ones that self-regulate thier speed) for exhaust, and standard fans for intake. That way, the intake fans are always pushing X amount of air, and the exhaust fans are pulling just enough to keep the case cool.. Works great, easy to do,...

  • Another option... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by baka_boy ( 171146 ) <<lennon> <at> <day-reynolds.com>> on Saturday April 19, 2003 @11:23PM (#5767229) Homepage
    I have an OpenBrick (http://openbrick.org), which works very nicely as a thin client box connecting to faster/noisier machines located elsewhere in the house; obviously, laptops work well for this, too, and since the bulk of the processing is offloaded to the server, even a fairly old machine works well, so long as it can run X and/or a VNC client.

    With wireless cards thrown into the mix, you can just stuff the bigger machines into the attic, a closet, etc., and then set up your thin client workstations wherever you like, without fear of noise and space consumption making them a nuisance.

    All of this breaks down as soon as you want to run a recent game of any sort, of course, but that's what the console systems in the living room are for.
  • This is the method we used in our server room at an old job, until we got a proper Cooling/filter system.

    We just went to the hardware store and got some flebible filter material, and put it in front of the air intake fan. First it was on flat, but found it to gum-up too quickly, and not allow enough air through. Then we made a little baggie like thing out of it, (by folding it over, and taping the sides).

    Worked well enough for our needs, and kept a LOT of dust/other crap out of the case. Plus, it was
  • This cut down on my cat hair significantly.
    • My thoughts exactly. I use it to filter bird dander / dust. Also, get a good high-power HEPA vacuum cleaner and use it on that carpet. Make sure it's one that filters the exhaust from the motor (HEPA bags on regular cleaners won't work for this reason).

  • Didn't look real hard, did ya? (Score:3, Informative)

    by Cyno01 ( 573917 ) <Cyno01@hotmail.com> on Sunday April 20, 2003 @12:06AM (#5767363) Homepage
    Why dont you try some fan [xoxide.com] filters [frozencpu.com].

  • Encase your case ! (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Lupulack ( 3988 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @12:14AM (#5767381)
    At my place of work there's a *lot* of sawdust blowing around , gathering in corners, piling on objects. After having several computers give up and die the foreman came up with an interesting idea :

    build a plexiglass case around the PC itself with several industrial fans and filters of the sort used in large electrical enclosures.


    Easily replaced without issue , filters are easily changed and they're a standard type to everything else around there. Plus you don't ever have to cut your case up.

    • I personally saw a machine shop do this. I hadn't even considered that metal dust would be such a problem in such an environment.

      They made their own case enclosures out of sheet metal with fans and filters. I think they even had a little sealed door for the cd-rom drive.

      -Pete

  • Don't put your case on the floor (Score:3, Insightful)

    by KurdtX ( 207196 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @12:18AM (#5767393)

    Well, if you're worried about keeping dust out of your case, keep it off the floor. Don't put it on your desk, either. I use a small table or 2x4s to keep my cases above ground-level... there's not too much dirt in mid-air. For me, it's cut the dust down to an unnoticeable level.

    • I agree. I have my Antec SLK3700AMB, the case in question, mounted on top of a sturdy work boot box just so it doesn't vacuum my rug for me. I love this case and it has all your requirements, including a washable air filter. Simplely looking on Antec's website [antec-inc.com] at the drawing [antec-inc.com] or manual [antec-inc.com] will tell you that, even if it just window screening.

      I usually clean the filter every 2 or 3 weeks and blow out the fans every 2 months. I once cleaned out the vaccum in front of my computer when it was on. Good thing f

      • Of course vacuuming the basement would help cut down on the dust just a litle bit.
        I agree start in the far corner at the ceiling after the ceiling is done, do the walls, then the floor. Steam clean the floor and add a little fabric softener to the mixture and it'll help keep down any static. After that he my find that the exotic filtration is un-necessary and the nylon trick described above is more than enough.
  • Replace all fans with water-cooling equivalents, then you don't have any fans to worry about (no moving parts, either).

    If dust is still a problem after that, make the cases air-tight (seal all holes), then no dust can get in.

  • Another GF? (Score:5, Funny)

    by DiSKiLLeR ( 17651 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @12:41AM (#5767445) Homepage Journal
    How about you find another GF?

    No one needs a GF/Finace that forces you to put your computers in the basement. Thats just not on.

    You certainly don't want to marry and spend the rest of your life with someone that doesn't accept your geekiness and need for computers.

    My gf lets me have my own "geek pad" in her house. Its where all my geeky stuff is, and i spend alot of time there, even tho my geekyness does spread into the house.

    I often use my laptop (powerbook! :) in the bedroom or lounge room, and we also have a network cable coming into the lounge room for the xbox, AP (so its more central in the middle of the house) and to her sons bedroom where a PC is.

    So even tho most of my stuff is in the geekpad, i still have stuff spreading out through the house.

    The best thing is, she accepts me the way she is.

    BTW: I have the geekpad because i wanted it, not because i was forced into it like you were forced into your basement.

    D.
    • +1 funny? come on mods, that's not funny, it might even be appropriate advice in some situations. On the other hand, he may have a work style where being in the basement and not subjecting others to his geek pad is is best for all too or maybe he just move in and there are space constraints or kids involved.
  • My Lian-Li PC-68 has a filter covering the front intake fans, it does a nice job with dust and cat hair. But, you can avoid needing a whole new case, SVC [svc.com] has fan filters [svc.com] for very little money at all, they can be made to work with almost any setup. Much cheaper than buying a new case.

  • Several steps to take.. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Myself ( 57572 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @01:48AM (#5767661) Journal
    First, make sure your case has positive pressure with respect to the outside. All your filtered fans should face in, such that any leakage is in the out direction. This is very important because otherwise, your removable media drives will act as filters, trapping the dust from the air that gets sucked in through them.

    In my case, the power supply fan is the only exhaust fan. All the other fans in the case face in, and all are equipped with filters. They flow less because of the filters, but they keep up with the power supply fan, so the case is ever so slightly pressurized.

    Secondly, hardware stores abound with cheap filter material. There's this great open-cell foam filter that you're supposed to wrap around your air conditioner's condenser coil to keep cottonwood fluff out. I usually just blast the thing out with the garden hose... but the filter medium is ideal for trapping large dust, and since it's intended to wrap an entire condenser, you get about 20 square feet for just a couple bucks.

    There are also these little 4"x12" filters designed to be slipped behind your HVAC system's registers. Don't do that -- your forced air furnace was designed for a particular flow rate, and impeding it will cause problems. The filters, on the other hand, are just what your computer needs. They're denser material, and they work well as a second stage filter, behind the foam described above.

    Ironically, about the only material at the hardware store that doesn't work very well as a computer air filter, is furnace air filter media. It's too thick for convenient mounting, and it's hard to work with.

    Thirdly, the case you pick is important. Try a large tower "server" case, they usually have plenty of room for mounting extra fans, and they're better designed with respect to airflow. Filters will drastically reduce the effectiveness of each fan, so plan for at least double your usual number of fans. (Invest in some quiet ones with the fluid bearings.)

    A friend recently gave me an unused computer that just happened to be built in the world's coolest case. The little fan mounting trays have plenty of space to tuck filter material inside, and everything just clips into place, no tools needed. It's a SupermicrO tower. I've been inside a lot of computer cases, and this one is by far the best-designed I've ever seen. (I have no relationship to Supermicro, I'm just impressed by their product.)

    I'm going to echo the sentiment of another poster who said to elevate the machine. Get it off the floor, although I don't see a problem with setting it on a table. Just make double-sure that it's not sucking air in through openings near the bottom. I've seen lots of office desktops turn into little stationary vacuum cleaners, neatly inhaling every shred of dust that falls near them.

    Good luck!
    • Thanks for the advice, this is exactly what I was looking for. It never occured to me to either buy 120mm filters, or use some home-store materials.

      i already have my PC off the floor - the computer desk I bough (for cheap money, too, was a great deal), has an elevated spot for the PC. The problem I have now, is my case is too small for my PC - I had to remove the power supply just to fit the CPU cooling fan - hence the dust problems, as my case has to be open, with the PSU sitting on top. Ugly, but its wor
  • As long as the CPU isn't producing insane amounts of heat, just turn the fan in the PSU around so it sucks air instead of blowing it, and whack a plastic scouring pad (available in the dishwashing things at your nearest supermarket for a small fraction of a dollar each in bulk packs) across your new air intake. You might have to use scissors to shape the scourer aound mains plugs, switches et al, but that's easy. Feed it through the washing machine every so often - with a low-lint load - or just hand-wash it with dishwashing detergent.

    If you have a motherous great room-heater for a CPU, you can add a case fan with a similar filter, or bolt another "pusher" fan over the PSU fan intake on standoffs (to allow room for dropping the scourer in between the fans).

    For a multi-stage filter, get some pantyhose and flywire (aka "flyscreen", "termi-mesh" would also do, and at a pinch some coarse shadecloth) and one of those little wire baskets people use for holding garlic, potpourri, nuts and such. If you position it right, you can use a loop of wire attached to a case bolt as a hinge on one side of the basket and as a catch on the other. Stretch the pantyhose over the outside of the basket, and the flywire outside that. You will need two fans to push enough air through this arrangement.

    If you have multiple computers to filter, I suggest making a single large filter assembly with a brace of fans feeding a distribution pipe, and holes on the side of that with spongy sealing tape around them to butt the PSU intakes of your boxes against (fans reversed in those, of course). An unemployed evapourative aircon picked up off the kerb during a council cleanup day and used absolutely dry can be a great start to a large filter assembly.

    It helps to be able to monitor the health of all of your fans, and have a computer squeak at you if it all goes horribly wrong, which monitoring can be done optically or with a magnet on the hub not on a blade tip (think balance).
  • I smoke. My wife USED to smoke, and we have a plethora of cats.

    Several PCs in the house, and you can imagine the ickyness that gets in there.

    Tried fan filters, there fine and well for a single PC, or a couple, but at times I've had a half dozen + machines running in here, and cleaning all those filters is almost as bad as blowing out the case without filters.

    I went out and bought a high quality HEPA Air Cleaner [sears.com] and haven't had a problem since. My bitchbox, a lowly celeron 366 which I use to test new card
    • Can you/do you leave it on all the time? Does it help with dust accumulating on furniture?
      • Yes, I leave it on all the time. I used to use an air cleaner much like this one [sears.com]. With it on, it sounded something like a box fan set at a medium speed.
        It used about 200watts of electricity, and I ended up changing the filter every month or so, at a cost of 30-45$ to me. It worked great, but it was somewhat expensive in the maint. department.

        I kept seeing ads on TV about the SharperImage Ionic Breeze [sharperimage.com]. I get their catalog, and in one was a testimonial from a user who had one running when the attack on the
        • I would like to know more about the ozone issue with these. Is it just another paranoid reaction, like like standing to close to a microwave will give you cancer, or cell phones, etc. I've found some cheap ones desgined for small rooms that I've considered.
    • i think that you should have linked to this, your site did. dusty pc [geocities.com]
      • Wow, I should have taken pictures of the PCs we serviced that were 1 floor below a fire. Not as bad as this, but I remember one in particular had a water line at the bottom of the case with ash residue. Amazingly this PC and all the others worked great, lots of cleaning though but they smelled like a bonfire no matter how clean we got them.

  • Antec SX1040BII is 4x80mm fans is okay (Score:3, Insightful)

    by embobo ( 1520 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @06:01AM (#5768112) Homepage

    The Antec SX1040BII [antec-inc.com] definitely has a filter for the intake fans, as indicated in the link and because I have one. It doesn't meet your requirements because it has 4x80mm fans, not 2x120mm. The one I got has a good Antec Truepower 400W power supply. It was $80 at CompUSA (I needed a case fast).

    I would suspect that since there is not explicit mention of a filter on Antec's page for the SLK3700AMB [antec-inc.com] that it doesn't have a filter.

    You may want to head over to the Case and Cooling Fetish forum at Ars Technica [arstechnica.com] and search for filter-related posts. Some members there know their stuff. The two tips I gleaned were:

    • Have positive pressure in the case, i.e., more suck than blow. Otherwise, air will be sucked in through the cracks in the case, not the filters.
    • Used fabric softener sheets make good filters. Others in the forum have found cheap filter material at Home Depot.
  • --the small engine parts display area in hardware stores has a variety of throw away paper air filters designed for lawnmowers, etc. These are folded accordion style so you get a large surface area in a smaller square inch area, should work perfect for this purpose. Check them out,probably a size that would fit. Pull the fan inside the case, get slightly longer mounting screws, insert the filter in front of the fan, screw it back on holding the filter in place. Maybe go one step up in fan size to compensate
  • I have a LianLi PC60B modified case, and it came standard with a pretty nice front fan filter, works rather well. Also you can purcase filters for most fan types (80mm, 120mm, and i think even 60mm) from sites like xoxide.com [xoxide.com].>br>
    i think the PC 70 series from Lian Li also has the fan :)

  • Case within a box... (Score:3, Interesting)

    by wowbagger ( 69688 ) on Sunday April 20, 2003 @09:10AM (#5768373) Homepage Journal
    What I would do is build a box that the computer goes inside of.

    Make a box that is about 4x3x3 feet out of good looking wood (dimensions subject to change based upon what you will be putting into it). Use metal cabinet hinges to attach the door, so that the system closes fairly tightly. Cover the inside with copper flashing, like what is used for roofing. At the corners, leave a tab of copper from both sides, then fold the tabs over each other so you end up with several layers of copper from each side. This gives you a good Faraday cage, reducing EMI.

    Next, cut holes for wires and ventilation. I would put an outlet strip on the inside so you run 1 power line in, then plug the computer and what ever else lives in the box in to that power strip. Connect the ground on the power strip to the copper shield.

    On the ventilation holes: use LARGE slow fans - a couple of 12 inch fans would be best. Put the fans on the INSIDE of the box, mounted on rubber pads (e.g. rubber washers), blowing inward. Leave a couple of holes for air to escape - the best pattern is for the fans to be low, and the escape holes to be high. Put either chicken wire or metallic window screen (preferred, as it helps keep hair out) over the holes to maintain the EMI shielding (the wire goes between the fan and the inside of the box. On the OUTSIDE of the intake holes (the ones with the fans) put a furnace air filter. The idea here is LOTS of surface area to filter, to reduce the restriction of the airflow.

    Now, on the inside, glue foam - plain old "foam rubber" works, but acoustic foam (the kind cut with ribs on it) is best. On the bottom, put in another board mounted on either rubber pieces or a slab of foam. This isolates the computer from the case and absorbes the noise inside the box.

    You now have a box that is very quite, both electrically and acousically, and keeps the dust and pet hair out. (do remember to check the filter once a month.)

    With such a system, you may even be able to move the machines back toward the living area (if you make the box out of a good looking wood and do a good job of it, and either paint or stain it so it looks like furnature, not a piece of junk.)
    • I was going to something like that at work, plaster and pumice dust, I used an old cabinet for the box. I discovered that just being inside the box kept the dust down to tolerable levels and my printer fitted inside the drawer pretty well and the keyboard sets on top of the drawer. The monitor sits on top with 2, 2 inch holes for cable on the top. The faraday cage might be a little extreme for most applications.
      • Well, I cannot say for you, of course, but I am an amateur radio operator, and I get pretty disgusted watching my radio go from S10 (no signal being recieved) to S9+4 (equivalent to a transmitter 2 miles away) whenever I use my Firewire interface.

        AND that is using the best, double shielded cables I can.

        Thankfully, I can rmmod the ohci1394 driver when I am done and shut it up.

        (hmmmmm. rmmod troll - nope, didn't work).
        • didn't realise it was that bad, never got my liecense and my HW101 hasn't worked in years. If the firewire is putting out that much RF makes you wonder what kind of data can be picked up and from how far away.
          • I don't think the RFI is data related - rather I think it is clock related, as the hash starts the second the driver is loaded.

            It may very well be like the old TRS-80 Model 1 - it was SO noisy that you couldn't eavesdrop on the screen via Van Eck monitoring - the main system hashed it out!

            But you can see why I've been planning a little project for a while now to shield the system...
  • I have found the Antec SLK3700AMB, but cannot verify that is has a filter, though I have been told it may have. Yes, I have that case, and it has a good filter.

  • Easy (Score:1)

    by smaugy ( 50134 )

    Aaah such an easy question.

    It'll be cold in a basement, right? So...

    1. Get one of those Cubic/Procase cases - I have a Cubid 2677R.
    2. Stick an Epia 5000 fanless motherboard in it. Only 533MHz, but it'll do fine.
    3. Whack a good firewire card in it.
    4. Buy as many external firewire hard drive enclosures as you need, either disable the fan inside the units or buy ones that don't have a fan :)
    5. Drop everything into a nice big plastic bag, maybe one of those big survival bag things, or maybe separate bags to stop heat
  • 1. go to hardware store, buy 3M ac/heat/ventilation filter

    2. go home, remove side of case

    3. duct tape filter to side of case

    4. set fans to blow "out" rather than in. you'll notice your case temp drop considerably.

    works well for me. you can usually scrape the crap off the filter, as filter itself is good for about a million cubic feet of air. so you only need to buy a new filter every 3 years or so.

    oh yeah

    5. ???
    6. profit/karma!!
  • Just don't put up with it. The computer don't like to be in the cellar, so don't keep it there. I do have a simple solution for you though - get a cheap, non-working fridge. Drill a few holes for the cables and you're set. No dust, no cat hairs. It's not pretty, but you could tell everyone it's an extreme case modding project.
    • just spray down the Mobo with WD-40, about $9 a gallon at Lowes so you don't get any condensation that would have better geek-appeal. People would think your over-clocked to the max cause your keeping the machine in a working fridge!
    • > get a cheap, non-working fridge. Drill a few
      > holes for the cables and you're set. No dust, no
      > cat hairs.

      And no way for the heat to get out. Refrigerators are _insulated_.

      Build an oversized, airtight aluminum case. Bolt large heatsinks on the inside and outside of one side opposite each other so that they are in intimate thermal contact via the case wall. Install fans on the inside to blow the air inside the case across the inside heatsink, and install fans on the outside to blow outside ar
  • Has anyone thought of... putting more development effort into making cases that are functional, not necessarily purty with neon lights?

    An airtight case (2 layer case with vacuum between layers) could
    * reduce noise
    * stop dust problems

    A humidifier could control the moisture levels (stop corrosion).

    An air/gas compressor could keep the internals a constant temperature (even whilst over clocking).

    And with the right choice of material, the system could be fire proof to a certain temperature and water proof in
  • Yup, those nylon mesh things with the charcoal foam. Stick them over the intake fan, and it will get covered in shite fairly quickly. You'd be amazed what your PC hoovers up.
    Keep it clean otherwise it will overheat. A suitably ingenious geek will come up with a thing that automatically wipes the crap off the filter when the case temperature rises beyond a limit.
  • Was just reading the linked article before I refreshed /. and now there's this question on the Ask Slashdot list: might be too late for you, but this mod's quick, easy, cheap, and works well: filter [overclockers.com]
    Best part about it: you can use whatever case you want: just mod it quickly, and it's just how you want it. No compromising to meet case manufacturers' spec lists.
  • A bit off-topic, but here goes: I seem to have a hard time to find proper 'extended ATX' cases.

    I got some Lavita ATX [yahoo.com] cases which were advertised as Extended ATX, but I had to cut a hefty 10cm corner off the 5.25 bay to make the motherboard fit (it's okay, it's for a cluster).

    On second attempt I got a Antec PlusView [thinkgeek.com] but the beast is huge !

    Question: what are the smallest/lighest Extended ATX cases around ?

  • Most of your cases have this annoying little problem of all sorts of holes where crud can get in. Also, most cases seem to have fans that blow outward. This, of course, means it's drawing air -- and crud -- in thru all those little holes.

    What you want to do is get case fans that suck air into the case (have enough to counteract the outward-blowing PS fan) to create a positive pressure inside the case. Filter the air going to the case intake fan.

    You could probably use some dryer hose and/or duct tape to dr
  • Don't we all want our very own Dust Puppy [userfriendly.org]? ;)
  • With the advent of computers in restaurant area they have cases that are designed to go into area with high amount of particle in the air. Think flour,etc.
    You may have to do a search for that if you are not in big city with decent side stores.
  • clean all the incoming air with an electronic air cleaner. large scale electronic air cleaners that are built into a/c ductwork have been around for years.
  • DirtBag.biz [dirtbag.biz] may be just the thing you're looking for.

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