Guide: Mounting The Pa160 In A Pc61, Who says this rad is too big?? Options

[Marci]

As we're all aware, the new ThermoChill PA160 rad doesn't conform to previous "standard" dimensions of Built-for-PC Watercooling Radiators. In fact, it's a tad large... HOWEVER... it's size was partially chosen as more or less every case on the market is 160mm wide or more, so either way it should go in one way or another. We decided to demonstrate this by squidging it into a LianLi PC61!!




The PC6x range is one of the nicer compact MidiTower cases... lightweight... not overly expensive, with staggering build quality...



First job, remove the drive cages. The front cage can be removed by undoing the 3x thumbscrews and sliding it out. The bottom drive cage - just drill out the 4x rivets for the tray and out it pops...



Now, on the front panel we have 3x simple cuts. Dremel time. The hole left behind by the removeable HDD Cage is rectangular. Simply follow it's two sides down into the 80mm fan blowholes... and then a single cut across the bottom of the two blowholes to make them into one single hole... cut along the pink lines!



A few minutes of dental-drill noise later...



Now, on the rear of the inner face of the chassis, we unfortunately have some sticky-out items... namely the on/off switch and reser switch, and activity LEDs... this prevents us mounting the PA160 directly onto the case...



But all is not lost... the ThermoChill PA160 mounting kit adds additional mounting points. Combined with an antivibration pump mounting kit, this gives us the standoff we require...



Attach the wings to the sides of the rad, and the antivibe kit to the wings, and then go round the outer edge with the sealing foam provided with the mounting kit. (Note, I did this fairly quickly... it'll look as neat as you choose to make it look...)



Now, to aid mounting, we need some holes. 4mm Drill bit...
From the bottom left mounting hole of the front left 80mm blowhole, measure straight up from the center of the screw hole 149mm, and make a mark, then measure horizontally from this mark 144mm, and make another mark. Drill both these out with a 4mm drill...



Slide the rad into place...



Note the bottom left antivibe mount in the lower left blowhole screwhole, and the lower right mounting point bend to sit on the lip of the righthand blowhole (there isn't enough metal to drill a proper mount here)



Secure with supplied nut and washer... on the bottom right mount, the washer and nut should clamp onto the lip of the blowhole. The radiator is now held in place solidly by 3 corners, and is clamped / resting on the 4th. This is nothing to worry about, and is still a very sturdy mount.

Seal round the edges and any gaps with any leftover sealing foam. Voila! Rad mounted!



Now, you could stop there and call the job done... but the LianLi's front 3.5" blanking panels are attached to the removeable caddy, leaving an unsightly hole...


(Apols for poor pic quality)

There are several options... if you window-modded your case you may have some matching ali left to make a square panel and suspend behind the hole with double-sided tape... or you could cut a square of perforated ali sheet instead...



Personally, I prefer the proper approach. Take the removeable caddy, masking tape around the inner front lip, measure in 12mm (0.5") and draw a line all the way round...



Take your dremel, and cut!



And voila!!



Rad mounted, front blanking plates still attached!





This now leaves you with all 4x 5.25" bays free, for any combination of HDDs (in 5.25" adapters) and CD devices (eg: 2x CD / DVD Drives, 2x HDDs in 3.5 > 5.25 adapters, a Matrix Orbital in front of one HDD, a FanBus in front of the other HDD...

Or, alternately, recycle the bits you have left... the part that you sliced off the removeable HDD cage can be remounted into the bsae of the case with 4x screws, to give you back 3x 3.5" HDD Bays conveniently positioned in an airflow path...



Done n' dusted in just 4 cuts and 6 drill-holes.

[anthonyi]

Very nice guide. What about in the bigger cases such as the PC-7x series...should the rad be front or top mounted or doesn't it matter?

[Marci]

Lower front mounted is the "proper" approach going off coolest air being at the lowest point due to heat rising... and also retains ATX Airflow standards... but in the bigger cases personally I'd top mount in the same way, standoffs not required as no switches in the way etc... as long as wherever it's mounted it can get it's required airflow, doesn't REALLY matter that much...

[Marci]

Note, Mounting Kit will be available separately fairly shortly (next day or two) just waiting for them to arrive in the correct thread size... we're getting antivibe kits in in HDD Screw threadsize, so HDDs can be silently mounted on any flat surface etc, whereas current antivibe kits use the next threadsize up. So the forst wings I had made were for the wrong thread basically... they'll use the same thread as HDD screws so that if you DON'T need the antivibe kit then you can just use HDD / Case / Thumbscrews to mount the rad with.

[Marci]

A pump mounting example....

Dual CSP-MAG...







Still plenty of clearance for SLI setup, doesn't foul mobo, retains 3x 3.5" bays. Alternatively, remove 3x 3.5" bays and use D4 / 1250 / 1048 etc.

[berserk]

I don't know if it was mentioned but I didn't see it so, I'm gonna ask it. Is that fan in pull or push on that rad?

This post has been edited by berserk: Jun 7 2005, 08:39 AM

[Marci]

Fan is pulling air in thru front of case.

[berserk]

And isn't that putting hot air inside the case. Is that ok?

I am asking this because I have a PA160 which I am mounting on the bottom of my Stacker and I am still undecided if I should have it pulling fresh air from the bottom or push hot air to the bottom?

[Marci]

Proper watercooling methodology means coldest air into rad. Watercooling methodology also says fans and rad work best with fan pulling thru rad. To achieve the "proper" install, the above is the only way, and the way in which the PA160 was designed to work, and the way in which ALL rads should perform at their best...

Other fans within the case are all venting air out... or you could duct the Rad Fan straight out so that it's warm air isn't hanging round within the case.

Which matters more to you - your ambient temps, or the temps of the items your cooling with the waterkit? I'd personally say the stuff cooled by the waterkit gets priority or one wouldn't have a waterkit on it...

[berserk]

Yeap totally agree. So pulling will be my setup too.

[berserk]

Marci ,I have a XinRuilian 120mm Fan 0.18A, and was thinking of using it with the PA160. Specs are a bit better then the suggested Papst fan and I really like this fan because it is really silent. Do you think it is good?

I've seen the PA160 page on the Thermochill site and there is a Xinlirium fan mentioned but I don't know if it's the one I have, thanks.

This post has been edited by berserk: Jun 7 2005, 09:25 AM

[Marci]

It is the one you have, yes...

Test results and fan comparisons and summaries are all covered in the thread at overclockers.com.au (registration required) over HERE

Here's Cathar's summary....

The Papst 4312L is basically much like an undervolted Panaflo L1A, both in terms of noise and air-flow. Given a rheobus I would say that the Panaflo was the preferable fan to have, only because it is more powerful and therefore gives more choice when/if the user needs extra cooling. If the Panaflo is slowed down to the equivalent air-flow of the Papst 4312L, then the noise levels are near identical. They both make a similar motor bearing ticking noise, with the Panaflo being slighly lower pitched and therefore arguably more preferable.

The Noiseblocker is a nice looking fan, and very quiet, but in many respect it relates to the Tricod in much the same way as the Papst relates to the Panaflo. Both the Noiseblocker and the Tricod have a very faint motor tick, and very low volume axle whine. The Noiseblocker is quieter though, but it is also weaker at 12V. Stick the Tricod on a hheobus and run it at 10V, and it is as close to an exact match for noise, speed, and air-flow as the Noiseblocker as it gets. The Noiseblocker behaves in every respect much like a marginally slowed down Tricod. Aside from the Noiseblocker's appearance, the Tricod is the better fan to have if only 'cos it offers more flow at 12V, otherwise stick the Tricod on a rheobus and it will match the Noiseblocker. I would choose the Noiseblocker over the Tricod if I weren't using a Rheobus though and wanted the very quiet operation of the Noiseblocker at 12v where performance of a Tricod at 7v in comparison would otherwise be lacking.

The XinRuiLian is the odd fan out here. It is noisier than the Tricod (which is in turn noisier than the Noiseblocker). It pushes less air than the Tricods, and only fractionally more than the Noiseblocker. We're still talking about very quiet operation though, but if we use a Rheobus then both the Tricod and the Noiseblocker trounce it for performance vs noise. The XinRuiLian does hold up well though at extremely low voltages, just pipping the other two quietness champs for performance, but it still has a motor tick that is louder than the other two when also run at 5v (very, very quiet though it has to be said).

Thank Marci for sending these fans my way. It's been a pleasure experiencing some of the more exotic fans from the other side of the world, which rarely make their way down to this brown land except through direct buyer importing, although I am pleased to say that we here in Australia do have just as good fans to choose from locally, even if our range of choice is rather restricted by the small size of the Australian market.

Will now, finally, get to sticking some fans onto the BA and giving that a go with 2xL1A's for a direct comparison against the PA160.1 with a single L1A.

[berserk]

Great. Now I just need the ThermoChill PA160 "Wings" Mounting Kit.

[Marci]

Got a few of the original prototypes left... will enable em on the store temporarily for you...

[berserk]

Will the Antivibration Pump Mounting Kit, fit the ThermoChill PA160 "Wings" Mounting Kit?

[Marci]

Comes with it as part of the kit.... u get the 2 wings, antivibe kit, strips of self-adhesive neoprene (if I can find any!), and self tappers to mount wings to rad.

[berserk]

Ordered, thanks.

[bj85531]

Hi Marci...

Nice guide, I'm going to be getting myself a PA160 rad and a second C-Systems pump for my setup and will follow your guide for fitting the rad.

A question tho... I have a Lian Li PC 6099 case although I have taken the acrylic door off it.. Should I drill a load of holes in the front facia or a large slot and fill with perforated aluminium sheet to allow for the air flow through the rad?

Any thoughts from yourself or anyone else greatly appreciated...