First Case Mod,also Seeking Airflow Advice

[Zerstoren]

Hello!
First post here, please let me know if I need to improve my post or if I jumped the gun by starting off with a mod post and asking for help. I did spend a bit of time lurking, reading the rules, searching for information - and I already found a lot of answers, so I need to send a general thank you to the people and the site!

If I'm doing this right, I'll use this post to track my "build" - I put it in quotes because I'm terribly unmechanical. I've built my last few computers without problems, but never went with my own case before. Anything I make from wood is extremely ugly.

There's really only one possibly serious issue left I want to ask about, and that's airflow - what do you think of the following setup, based on your experiences?

So here's the old (20 years?) Ikea File cabinet that we weren't really using:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Ikea1.jpg

So I popped the bottom drawer out, and thought: Heck, those rails are perfect for a platform I can slide back and forth:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Ikea2.jpg

Because of the rails and because I'm getting a thermalright 120 as my cpu cooler I was going to have it laid out horizontally. My potential problem is fresh air.

A picture of the bottom:

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Ikea3.jpg

I want the (large) air intake for the entire case to be on the bottom, near the front, and I want to filter it. The wheels are coming off and I'm making ~6" legs for it. The space inside is 12" high, 15" wide, and 24" deep.

What follows is my best artwork (sorry):

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Ikea5.jpg

I'm planning on putting the front door back on (sans drawer) and have it look completely normal, except for the power button.

What I'm afraid of hearing is: the fresh air is going to come in, flow under the motherboard, and then up the back and out, leaving somewhat staler air flowing over the motherboard.

So what do you think? What I like is the flexibility of space, and if things don't work out horizontally I can go vertical without much problem.

Thanks!

****
Here's a larger, gratuitous image with one of our dogs wondering what the heck I'm doing:
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Ikea4.jpg

[Spawn-Inc]

so if i understand your going to use the drawer as a movable mobo tray. then mount some fan(s) under it, or in front? its times like this i wish i knew how to use sketchup, but i will go with paint for now.


here is a link to the picture. make sure you tell it to go full size to see it properly (http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2733494670100511463UtDlVJ)

[Zerstoren]

Whoa, thanks, I wasn't expecting anyone else to do actual work for me!

The existing top two drawers won't be used in any way; actually my plan is to keep them as actual working drawers. I'm going to treat the space below as the computer case and arrange everything down there. The front fan is going to be mounted vertically in front of the motherboard, to blow air across and towards the back of the case.

This is going to take shape over the next week - I'll see if I can't make a better diagram or set of pictures to better illustrate. I figure at worst some people will learn how not to arrange things.

EDIT: Ah, sorry I was tired and forgot to comment on your drawings - that's about right for the arrangement, except the one fan in front is going to be vertical. I need to work out the mb dimensions again, but I expect there to be a gap in the front and the back, depending on how I arrange things, but not much gap across.

[Spawn-Inc]

is it a standard ATX mobo?

[Zerstoren]

Yes, an ATX board - EVGA 122-CK-NF68-A1

Sketchup is a cool program, here's what I whipped up this afternoon (waaay better than my drawing):

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Case1.jpg

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z262/Zerstoren_album/Case2.jpg

Everything is properly to scale (I hope). The hole in the bottom is the filtered air intake; the size is flexible and might actually be a set of strips or holes if there's a concern that making a giant hole will degrade the strength too much. The rectangle in the middle is the motherboard (obviously). The big box on top is the drawer space I plan to keep, and you can see there's just a tiny bit of space behind it.

I'm going to get to making the exhaust hole next, because I'm confident of that, then maybe I'll get to making a frame for holding the motherboard.

[Spawn-Inc]

ya that top exhaust fan should work out good since heat rises. as for cutting the circle or rectangle i don't think it will have any real serious effect on strength. i have a 100 pound TV on a homemade stand i made. it looks like this,

______
_|__|_

with no support anywhere. and aside from a little side-to-side movement its sturdy. that fan blowing acrosse the mobo sounds good too. and with the thermalright 120 (extreme maybe?) should be plenty cooled. and since the whole case is wood will help reduce noise. have you decided on fans yet? i've read/heard panaflows are good. i'm going with 3 for a rad i plan on getting down the road, here's a link (http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=49&products_id=477).


+rep for the whole design/idea too

[lukeisthecoolest]

this mod has alot of potential and could double as storage!

[doesi87]

What are you going to do about the cables? It would be great is the moving tray won't be infected by any cables. Maybe you could use extensions from your cards/mobo to the rear/side of the tray with some extra length to let the tray slide out. That would be really nice.

[Redundant]

I made a SketchUp model myself of your filing cabinet.
I think it came out pretty good. :up:
http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4310/filingcabpcxw2.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=filingcabpcxw2.jpg)
If you notice, I added a separator between the PC area and the drawer area. I also cut a hole for the exhaust fan and wires.

In the front, instead of cutting one big hole (as I did to save time), I suggest using a router and making several slots for the air. It actually would turn out quite nice and won't ruin the appearance. 8)

[xRyokenx]

Pretty creative idea you've got here. For airflow all you really need is the air to be pushed/pulled in one general direction. Your nickname isn't all that great for creating, but hopefully you won't be actually destroying anything, lol. Corny jokes aside, I'ma be watching this.