Here's a CM Cavalier I just did. All those ppl using CM Cavalier n C5 will know that the case has a silly 80mm front intake fan. The rear exhaust is a nice 120mm fan but y in the world CM put a 80mm fan at the front is a mystery. Anyway here's how I modded the case to fit a 120mm fan in front.


This is how the standard side window looks like.





This is the puny 80mm front intake.






1st thing I did was to drill out the rivets holding the HDD cage to the chassis n remove the HDD cage. Like this.





Next up, put a 120mm fan on the front n mark it out.








Then mask it up to protect from scratches while cutting.

Test fitting the fan to make sure the mounting screw holes line up properly n the gap for the floppy drive is just perfect. I went for a really tight tolerance cut n put the fan right up to the bottom of the floppy drive so that there's no ugly gap between the fan n floppy drive.







Now it's time to cut the HDD cage to allow the 120mm fan to sit inside the cage.
HDD cage cut n ready to be slotted back in. C the gap in the HDD cage at the front? That's the part I cut out.





This is how the stock HDD cage looks like. It's a straight edge at the front so the 120mm fan cannot fit inside it.





The modified HDD cage slots back in perfectly with the 120mm fan in place.






More updates 2moro. Gonna tidur. Very, very tired after modding whole day.

Then u'll need to get a finer blade with more teeth per inch.




I don't destroy casings.
I make them better n at the same time look like they came from the factory like that. The fit n finish of my custom HDD cage with the fan installed there looks like a stock casing without mods. That's what I always aim for, to make it look like it came from the factory like that. Anyway there's no space in front of the Cavalier to install a fan on the outside of the case. There's a lot of electronics at the front. U'll understand y later when I post more pix of the front panel. This problem of not having space for a 120mm fan in front or behind the HDD cage is a unique problem that the Coolermaster Cavalier n C5 cases share.

This post has been edited by ianho: Jul 8 2006, 01:34 PM

Wah! I go take a rest for 2 days, come back n c all this fighting in here. What in the world is this world coming to. Case mods oso must fight ar? I command everybody to go take a chill pill! NOW!
No more fighting nonsense or I'll just delete all the garbage OK? Let's all b adults n discuss things nicely. This forum is for sharing n learning, not to show who is smarter or more clever.

Westley, to answer ure question about funtionality of the case. I have retained not just the original looks but also the functionality. The HDD quicklock mechanism does work. I haf retained all the locks there for a reason. If they dont work I wud haf just removed all the quicklock thingys.

All I haf to do is shave off about an inch from the end of the quicklock tabs n they can start sliding on the rails to lock the HDD again. However I didn't do that coz using 2 screws on the HDD is not a big issue n also my advice was to retain the original plastic locks in case there is a need to sell the case later on n the new buyer may not appreciate cut off plastic locks. I haf retained 100% functionality of the case n mechanism + improved the intake by leaps n bounds n maintained the resale value of the case too.

Ya man. Coz u haf the exact same problem with ure C5. Now u can do a big mama 120mm fan too.

Here's the updates.


Well, here's a pic of y it's so hard to implement a 120mm fan on the front of this case. There's a big soundmeter at the front panel n lotsa circuitry behind it. This is y a 120mm fan doesnt fit in front of the chassis. Look closely n u'll also c a plate with holes at the bottom. That restricts a lot of the intake.






In this pic u can c I've cut out the perforated section to make a big rectangular hole for more effective intake of air.





N this is how it looks like when the whole panel is installed back onto the chassis.
N that's the 120mm fan mod completed.




Now it's on to the side window. As u all know the optional window is really, really tiny. So I did a big window for it.


This is the standard optional window.






all masked up n cut.





N here's how it looks like on the case. It's a pity my digicam doesn't do macro shots. I wanted to show u guys how clean the cut on the window is but the pix turned out all blurry n out of focus coz I don't haf macro mode. The window edge is perfectly straight n even polished to a mirror shine. The metal edges r actually shining like a mirror.




N that's it for this Cavalier mod.

So much time to write looooooong story. Post a pix of ure complete rig lar.

Wah! Very nice man the last pic. The new black sleeved wires at the HDD there looks a whole lot nicer now.

All finished or active worklogs bumped to avoid deletion.