As you know, heat is always an enemy to computers, especially when they're always using 100 per cent of their processing power, and have three hard drives in them. The amount of heat that a dual computer can put off is rather impressive as I learned from having two of them in my room. I took awhile to think of an idea that will work to keep some heat away from the one dual system trapped under my desk which has little to no ventilation.
A while back I had ordered 10 80mm case fans from an EBay auction and had a few of them left over, and decided that it would be time to break out the Dremel and get to cutting some wood. Err, rather cardboard that looks like wood.
I have your average desk, you know, the kind with the fake backs that look like wood, but are really cardboard. I punched out the large punch-out that is used for running wires to be used as the mounting point of two 80mm fans. After punching it out, it was off to the workbench with the punched out piece of cardboard.
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http://www.gotthegeek.com/comptour/thumb/tn_workstation.jpg">I used a long screw driver to mark the holes for the screws to support the fans on the cutout. After everything was marked, it was time to use the modder's favourite tool - The Dremel. I used a drill bit to make screwing the screws in a whole lot easier and then secured the fans to the cardboard before cutting the holes for the air to flow through.
http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/cutpanel.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_cutpanel.jpg">After the fans were mounted, I switched to a diamond cutting bit to cut through the tough cardboard. Just remember when doing this to wear some kind of eye protection and to also avoid cutting the fan, especially the wires.
One you have got the fans mounted, and the blow holes done, you want to put the cardboard back. This is rather easy. I simply used tan tape that you most likely use for mailing large packages; I chose tan because it blended well with the brownish back of the desk.
http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/completed_back.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_completed_back.jpg"> http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/completed_insider.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_completed_insider.jpg">Great. Now you've got the fans ready to go. Now you're left with one problem: "How do I power these damn things?". This is where having an extra power supply will come in handy. You'll notice with ATX power supply units they must be connected to a motherboard for them to turn on. There's a simple way to bypass this, all you need is a piece of a paper clip to connect the only green wire to any black (ground) wire on the main connector that you connect to the motherboard. You obviously might want to do this while the power supply is off, you may run the risk of shock if it's on. Once you have the two wires bridged as in the picture above, you're ready to hook everything up and get it running.
http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/power_supply.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_power_supply.jpg" TARGET="BLANK"> http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/mobo_connector.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_mobo_connector.jpg"> http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/mobo_connector2.jpg" TARGET="BLANK">http://www.gotthegeek.com/mods/mod3/thumb/tn_mobo_connector2.jpg">Simply hook up the fans, plug in the power supply and flip the switch on the power supply and the fans should now begin to turn.
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