You can get the CM 80x80x15 fan at Czone in LYP. I got 2 of them from there. Just be sure that you buy the right 80x80x15 fan.. as there are least 2 other 80x80x15 fans (non-CM) that I saw at Thundermatch (4th floor LYP) which will not fit into the back of the mobo since they have slightly different frame design.

Wow.. this thread has been very active. I posted pics of 3 of my CM casing/rigs in the previous thread but I've made some changes to them and will soon post pics of all 4 of my CM casings once I've finished the cable management and equipment upgrades.

Currently am running:

1. Centurion 590 - main rig: need to add more UV stuff, upgrade fans (bought AC Ryan UV fans), CPU cooler and better cable management (since last pic post, I have upgraded CPU cooler to V10 reducing full load temps by 6-12C but not fully satisfied, trying out a dual fan TRUE Black next)
2. Centurion 590 - folding/torrent rig: need to upgrade 1 fan, add some laser LEDs and better cable management (no change yet since last pic post)
3. Elite 341 - folding rig: need to improve cable management (since last pic post, have upgraded CPU cooler to Zalman 9700NT, relocated HD for better GPU airflow, added an Aeroslot to improved GPU hot air exhaust - reducing GPU full load temps by 5-6C)
4. Stacker STC-101 - server: need to install CPU, mobo, cooler (V10 from casing #1), fans, 10 HDs, etc. (installation in progress, no pics yet)

I may get another CM casing for my NAS rig (unless I buy a cheapo case instead), as I need to house 8-10 HDs and want a case with decent HD cooling (although trying to keep costs low). CPU cooling is not an issue as am using an old X2 3800+ which runs cool with my NT06-Lite cooler.

Looks very sharp (especially the orange theme - just need to paint the casing black, ) far better cable management than anything I could do.

Those are Xigmatek XLF 120mm fans right? How do you find them? Good enough for your needs? I'm thinking of a dual fan (Enermax Magma) setup for my TRUE. Picked those fans since they are 69cfm, reasonably quiet, no LEDs but with UV-reactive (or at least looks nice under UV light) fan blades, since my case is a UV-lit case, hence I don't want non UV lighting. Now the XLF and the Magma appear to have similar specs (CFM & dBA), hence my question.

Neatness is definitely the main thing. Although I think if you can neatly arrange cables, even if visible, it can accentuate the looks, especially if some or all of the cables are UV-reactive and you use UV lights.

Of course improving airflow is also a major goal. For casings without windows, this would be the main objective of cable management.

That's not what I meant.

So basically if the cables are neatly arranged, it should look nice, whether its hidden or visible. And if visible, and some/all of it are UV-reactive, then it should give a nice neat glow under UV lights.

Of course, if you hide your UV-reactive cables, leaving only certain portions exposed (usually the connectors and a bit of cable) then it's kind of a waste of having UV-reactive sleeving when you hide it all. In this case, you should be using UV-reactive connectors and heatshrink instead, as those are the parts that will be visible.

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jun 29 2009, 06:10 PM

Then I guess I'm the 2nd. Just picked one up today. Will be installing the hardware later this evening. Photos to come later... Wow, I'm turning into a CM fanboy.. 5 out of 7 rigs running in CM casings

I wasn't planning on getting the Gladiator 600, actually thought of getting a cheapo casing since this rig is basically a NAS rig that will be loaded with HDs (4 now, another 4 later), and placed in my store room next to my main switch. But I wasn't impressed my the cheap RM100 casings and so I went back to checking out CM casings, and found this for just over RM200. I liked the interior layout, and the fact I could put in 4x 140mm fans. Don't need a window for this rig, and I figured the fans will go a long way to keeping 8 HDs cool in a non-aircon tiny room thats likely to be quite warm in daytime.

I know its overkill but I bought 4x 140mm and 1x 120mm Xigmatek XLFs for this casing. Now all I gotta do is find 140mm air filters to keep dust out.

Yeah I know what you mean. I am using the NT06 sink which is not too high, so it should fit just fine.

The Gladiator 600 can mount:
1x 120mm at the back behind CPU
1x 140mm on top (140mm fan included)
2x 140mm on the side panel
1x 140mm at the bottom front for the HD cage (120mm fan included, but can mount 140mm).

After disassembling the casing, I found that the bundled 120mm fan for the HD cage is actually a LED on/off fan (according to manual, it's blue, I haven't tested) and it is connected to an on/off switch on the front panel next to the power & reset switches. I recall seeing a few LED on/off fans in LYP, so now I will have to go back and look for a 140mm LED on/off, so I can have 4x 140mm fans and not waste the LED on/off switch.

One nice thing about it is that CM provided a dust filter to place underneath the PSU intake fan, so as to keep your PSU internals cleaner.

Haven't finished with the internal wiring as I want to make it neat, which is tough when there will be 9 SATA cables, 1 IDE, all the power/front panel cables, etc. But here are some pics of the work-in-progress. Am taking a break now coz sleepy already.

It's running a E7400 so I decided to use the stock HSF that came with my Q9550 (main difference is the copper base for the Q9550, and pure alu for E7400; and what appears to be a more powerful fan for the Q9550). Have installed 3x140mm Xigmatek XLF fans (one is up top, and can't be seen in the photos), 1x120mm Xigmatek XLF and retained the 120mm CM blue LED on/off fan in the front as I couldn't find a 140mm fan with on/off LED. Eventually there will be 8 HDs in there. Currently there are 5 in there, so you can see what 4.32TB looks like (4x1TB WD Caviar Green, 1x320GB Seagate). Another 3 HDs will go into the 3-in-2 hot-swap HD cage (when 2TB HDs come down in price, 3 of them will go in there).

In the background of one of the pics, is one of my CM590 casings, currently housing my Q9550, V10, GTX275 and 6TB of storage.

Ok.. time to zzzzzz

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jul 6 2009, 01:30 AM


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Oh yeah.. in my drowsy state.. forgot to mention its the Gladiator.

Here ya go, pics of the 140mm fan. The bluish glow you see is from the blue LED fans of my other rig (to the left of the pic). I deliberately included the CM 90cfm Green LED fan so you can compare brightness.


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I have 5 units of the blue 90cfm fans in one of my rigs and they have been running 24/7 for 2 months non-stop and so far all the LEDs are doing fine

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jul 6 2009, 09:36 PM

Well, I'm hoping all the fans will help keep the temps down, and that the tiny Intel HSF is enough to keep the CPU cool. I don't want to have to spend more $$ on another aftermarket cooler for the CPU.

As for the casing, it's quite nice, though a little tighter than the CM590. A nice touch is the inclusion of a dust filter for insertion between the PSU intake fan and the casing PSU intake holes, so the air entering the PSU from the bottom is filtered. Another nice touch is the buttom to switch on the LED light on the front intake fan. I was hoping for a white LED on/off 140mm fan to match my Xigmateks but the only on/off LED fans I found where CM fans like the one that came in the casing (blue LED) and Enermax 120mm white LED fans which have their own switch which I wasn't sure if they would work without modification with the casing switch. So now all my LEDs are white except for the HD cage intake fan which is blue.

I also like all the little slots you can use to zip-tie cables, and the screwless HD cage is great.

One thing I didn't like though is the screwless slot cover plastic thing. It is flimsier than the one on the 590, and break easily. I broke one just trying to unclip it. The ones in the 590 unclips easier, and are sturdier. The area underneath the MB tray doesn't seem very roomy, and I think it's tighter than the space on the 590, so closing that side panel could be a bit of a challenge for cable managers.

Here are pics of my cable management (front and back). I managed to route a couple cables underneath the mobo, including the 4-pin ATX power cord. There are many cables due to the 9 SATA data cables, 8 SATA power cables, and the usual front panel cords. Luckily I have onboard GPU so that helps cut down on a couple of cables. I don't plan on having a optical drive, so except for a simple fan controller which I will install later, this is essentially the completed cable arrangement. Didn't put as much effort into this one as some of my other rigs, but then this is a simple NAS rig without a window, and running monitor-less in my store-room, where hardly anyone will see it.


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Did you mean the Evercool Red Scorpion 140mm fan? Where did you get it? I read a review on the fan and it seems to be around 50cfm and quiet. I'm wondering if the blades are UV reactive. I'm current using CM 140mm fans (the all black ones) on my 590 casing (UV theme), and am looking for UV reactive 140mm fans (the Xigmateks have white LEDs which unfortunately are too bright for my theme).

I'm trying to have different themes for my rigs. This one is a white LED theme (yeah I know the CM blue LED on/off doesn't quite fit, but it's only there until I can find a white LED on/off 140mm fan). My two 590 casings are all UV and all blue LED respectively. Aerocool Baydream case is blue and green. My Elite 341 casing is a rojak mess of whatever I had left theme (blue-green-white-purple) while my HTPC casing is a no-lights theme (although the CPU cooler has a blue LED).

Finally - completed exterior pics of my Gladiator casing (interior pics posted earlier). Made a few minor changes to previously posted info - changed from 2x PCI SATA cards to 2x PCIe x1 SATA cards as Win 7 could not seem to find drivers or detect the HDs. The PCIe x1 cards were plug & play, no software installs needed. Some Japanese brand (bought in Sim Lim Sq, Singapore), dunno what brand but it's SATA2, supports NCQ and has 2 SATA ports per card. Installed a card in the x1 slot and the other card in the x16 slot (in case you don't know, smaller PCIe cards can be installed in larger PCIe slots (ie x1 cards can go into x4 and x16 slots). Swapped out the stock CM blue LED on/off fan (not enough airflow), and put in a 140mm Xigmatek XLF. So now I have 4x 140mm Xigmatek XLF, 1x 120mm Xigmatek XLF, and I may add a 80mm LED fan in the 2 empty drive bays.

With a 140mm fan blowing right on to the HSF, full load temps remain the same as side panel open (56-58C, E7400@3.5GHz, using Q9550 stock HSF). The onboard GPU at 65C under normal usage. I might have to jury rig a 60mm fan to blow right onto the GPU HSF to cool it down further. Top most mounted HD in the interior rack running at 34C (temp probe stuck onto the HD). Rig currently running 6 HDs totaling 5.32TB storage (1x320GB Seagate 7200.10; 5x1TB WD Caviar Green).

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jul 11 2009, 09:56 AM


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Thanks all. All 140mm's except for the rear exhaust which is 120mm. I usually prefer to put in the biggest fan the casing can support, so when I saw the Gladiator can support 4x140 and 1x120, I immediately bought the biggest fans I can fit and figured I'd do the full Xigmatek XLF theme. I've since added a low-profile 60mm Evercool fan to the onboard GPU (Nvidia 9300) which is notorious for overheating. Cooled it down from 65C to 51C. Attached is a pic. I used 8 zip-ties to hold it in place. I decided not to add a 80mm Xigmatek in the drive bays, as currently my CFMin > CFMout (3x140mm vs 1x140mm + 1x120mm), so adding another intake fan probably won't make much of a difference.

Note this rig does not have any optical drives as it's a NAS rig and will go in my store room where my main household switch is located (I have 3 gigabit switches in total for my home network, ) and I will access it remotely. Currently running 6 HDs with room for 2 more, out of which 3 will be in hot-swap bays for future expansion.


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I've updated my main rig (CM590 case) since last pic post so here it is again.

Changes:
CPU HSF: Zalman CNPS9700NT -> CM V10 (dropped temps by about 10C) -> TRUE Black dual Enermax Magma fans (dropped temps by a further 2-3C).
HDD: 2x 1.5TB Seagate + 2x 1TB WD Green -> 4x 1.5TB Seagate
Fans:
Rear fan: 120mm Enermax Magma -> 120mm AC Ryan UV Red (higher CFM than Enermax Magma)
Side fan: 120mm Panaflo 103cfm -> 120mm AC Ryan UV Blue (calculating CFMin vs CFMout, it seems my CFMin was way higher, so I figured I can reduce it without affecting things).
UnderCPU fan: 80mm CM low profile -> UV reactive (Green) HiperFlow 80mm low profile
Lights: added 2x UV Laser LEDs
Others: Changed SATA cables to UV reactive (4x) and short (2x), changed some PCI slot covers to aeroslots.




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Those are the UV Laser LEDs. Each block holds 3 UV LEDs.

The V10 is a good cooler. But it's big (much harder to install), expensive and the TRUE is slightly better and easier to manage (personal experience). I think in my case (CM590) the fact that the V10 partially blocks the two 140mm top exhaust fans may be an issue. Also I think the heat generated by my Q9550 may be a bit on the high side for the V10 (not sure, it's just my uninformed 2sen). I plan to use my V10 for my Q8200 which should generate less heat and maybe be more suitable for the V10, and it's in a much roomier case (Stacker).

One way that would probably improve the V10 (and the TRUE) is to install a "tunnel" from the exhaust of the V10/TRUE direct to the rear exhaust fan, so all air from the heatsink goes straight to the exhaust fan.

Yes. No need to hurry.. after the 1st try, you will probably get new ideas on how to improve it. It's usually a never-ending cycle of improvement.

Thank you I've added 2x 1TB HDs over the weekend - one Seagate to replace a dead HD in my RAID-5 NAS, and one WD Green for my DVico box. My dead Seagate is still under manufacturer warranty so I am RMA'ing it to get a new one The rear exhaust fan looks very bright because of the 4 UV LEDs in it and the UV reactive material of the fan itself. Plus pic was taken in the dark, so it all looks very bright. Under normal lights, it does look quite bright but not as bright as in that pic.

For the V10 - TRUE is better and cheaper. But V10 does look good. Now I wonder if I can replace the Red LED fans with Blue or Green ones. Anyone know if the fans are the same as the "90cfm" fans?

Could be. My Zalman 9700NT/LED works great with C2Ds, keeping them very cool, but the additional heat of the C2Q was too much for it. Moving to V10 dropped my full load temps by about 10C.

This post has been edited by Traveler: Jul 13 2009, 10:10 AM

Haha.. I have 7 rigs (desktop) spread over 3 rooms (home office - 4 , guest room - 2, living room - 1). I've posted individual pics of both 590s, Gladiator and Elite 341, but not together. The Stacker will post another time as I'm still busy putting stuff in and taking stuff out of it. For full photos, will do it someday once I have cleaned up my working areas - now very messy. Besides, I still need to get 3-4 monitors go with my ideal setup. Will only post the working area pic once it's complete. Long time planning, finally executing it.