Can I just drill holes in a case for ventilation?

D

drjones

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I've got a couple PCs in my home office that I use for various purposes; backup, Untangle, etc.

One of them consistently gives me high temperature alerts via CrystalDisk.

The case is pretty well sealed & doesn't have a lot of ventilation - can I just drill some holes in it? Any reason not to do this?

I already added another case fan, it doesn't have anywhere to put yet another fan.

Obviously I don't care how it looks since it's under a desk. And I obviously WILL shut the unit down first & be careful to not, say, drill through the mobo. :D

Thanks
 
PBComputer said:
I would give it a go if it's personal, if I was doing it for a customer I would be wary. I can't think of too many issues.
Click to expand...


Yep, my personal box. I just want to drill some holes in the removable side panel, nearest the hard drives.

Think I'll tackle it this weekend.
 
It depends. Airflow is the key. Ideally, the case fans should pull fresh air in through the vents (prefferably through a filter), move the air across the drives in the bays, and exhaust the warm air out of the back. If you fans are not rotating the correct direction, or your intake and/or exhaust areas are resticted, you may have problems. Some cases are poorly laid out though, and proper ventilation may not be easily obtained. Also, don't forget to consider that the drive in question may be faulty as well, and actually is overheating due to a defect.
 
Go hog wild - drill holes and mount a few fans on the OUTSIDE of the case! With LED's! And then post pictures here.

That would be much more interesting than what I do with my own computers - just open them up and throw away the side panels.
 
mraikes said:
Go hog wild - drill holes and mount a few fans on the OUTSIDE of the case! With LED's! And then post pictures here.

That would be much more interesting than what I do with my own computers - just open them up and throw away the side panels.
Click to expand...

I used to leave mine open as well, but got irritated by the extra noise (especially if there are multiple computers in the room). Dust collection inside the case also becomes a problem with open cases.
 
MichaelBits said:
Err umm....

If it's hidden under a desk, why not just remove the side panel and leave it off? :)
Click to expand...


Good idea & I would......BUT....my freakin' kitten LOVES to stick his nose RIGHT in the spinning CPU fan! :eek:

He hasn't hurt himself or any of my computers.....YET....but I don't like to tempt fate. Haha....is that the craziest thing you've heard?

What a weirdo...

In fact I USED to have the side panels off 2x boxes in here, until I discovered this strange little habit of his. Haha...:D
 
SilverLeaf said:
It depends. Airflow is the key. Ideally, the case fans should pull fresh air in through the vents (prefferably through a filter), move the air across the drives in the bays, and exhaust the warm air out of the back. If you fans are not rotating the correct direction, or your intake and/or exhaust areas are resticted, you may have problems. Some cases are poorly laid out though, and proper ventilation may not be easily obtained. Also, don't forget to consider that the drive in question may be faulty as well, and actually is overheating due to a defect.
Click to expand...


This is a good point, however again; the PC in question is an Acer (prob 4-ish years old) and it just doesn't have much ventilation to begin with; I don't think it has any openings in the front of the case at all.....it's pretty sealed up.
 
drjones said:
Yep, my personal box. I just want to drill some holes in the removable side panel, nearest the hard drives.

Think I'll tackle it this weekend.
Click to expand...

I would buy a big fan and trace around it on the panel and cut it out. Of course allowing for screw holes. Then install a big fan. Put a grill over the front of it made of something like thin foam packaging or something fabric wise to catch the dust.

coffee
 
drjones said:
Good idea & I would......BUT....my freakin' kitten LOVES to stick his nose RIGHT in the spinning CPU fan! :eek:

He hasn't hurt himself or any of my computers.....YET....but I don't like to tempt fate. Haha....is that the craziest thing you've heard?

What a weirdo...

In fact I USED to have the side panels off 2x boxes in here, until I discovered this strange little habit of his. Haha...:D
Click to expand...

Cats! Cat hair can cause all kinds of issues with cooling. Have you tried removing the fan and inspecting for buildup yet?
 
"Can I just drill holes in a case for ventilation? "
Click to expand...

Like they say in prison "A hole is a hole". So why would just drilling a hole not work ? I have machines in the shop here with combinations of plain open chassis, cutouts made with custome fitted fans and even PCI slot fans. So I think whatever it takes to cool the box is fine. :p
 
I would also put in a screen or filter of some kind if you are planning on just drilling holes since you have pets though. xD
 
As previously mentioned, balanced airflow is the key to better cooling. Increasing intake fan size/speed needs to be balanced with an equal or slightly larger fan size/speed on the exit to increase airlfow across the components. Likewise, drilling holes or removing covers just stops the airflow across the motherboard by allowing the cooler air to escape before doing its job. If you increase fan size make sure you also increase the hole in the casing to match. Putting a big fan in front of a small opening will completely mess up airflow.
 
bl4ckj4ck777 said:
Cats! Cat hair can cause all kinds of issues with cooling. Have you tried removing the fan and inspecting for buildup yet?
Click to expand...


I blew it all out thoroughly a few months ago when I put this box together. I just took it down & took the side off to check where I wanted to drill holes, blew it out a little more.

It's really not that bad in there at all - still quite clean.

I actually tried to start drilling holes, but I clearly don't have the proper bits - need to go buy a few, which will also come in handy to destroy some old hard disks I've had lingering around too long.
 
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