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COOL?

h

Nice mod, but wouldn't it have been easier to use a 70mm fan since that is what the original is?

Juat wondering. Also, how do you remove the original fan?

THEY DONT MAKE 70MM STLEATH FANS!

Ok, well look at this fan:

http://www.directron.com/ec7015m12ca.html

I know it's a little louder, but not too bad. Would it be easier to install?

How loud do you think the original fan is at 7v?

As well, how do you remove the origianl fan please?

Thanks.

bump

still there?

To remove stock fan:

You will need to crack open your xbox. Then remove your HDD and DVD drive. If you don't know how to do this read the tutorials.

Rear fan has two clips that secure it to the metal casing. Then there are two lower clips that hold the fan in place. You just need to pop one side of the lower clip and then lift one side of the fan up. As you do this you may need to use your screw driver to push the top locking clip - out so you can lift the fan up and then out.

Just take your time and you'll figure it out. Having a good light makes it easier to see the clips and housing.

Why did I go with the 80 mm - well I wanted a silent fan with good CFM's. Vantec doesn't make a 70 mm and truth is you can easily fit the 80 mm in the stock footprint. The bottom locking clips need to be removed so that the case fan will sit right down on the case floor.

Yes, I could of special ordered a 70 mm but my computer parts place is just around the corner and really the whole mod took me less than an hour. 45 mins max. Now that I know how to do it - I could probably mod it in less than 20 mins. But I took my time and enjoyed the tinkering.

I tried to look up the specs on the stock fan - but couldn't find anything really close. I can tell you the Vantec Stealth is noticeably much quieter than the stock.

Cool, thanks lot for that info. It's a big help to me.

Also, what is your opinion on the fan I listed above. Do you think it's alright, or should I just go with the one you used? I know your opinion will be biosed now that you already have a Vantec, but an honest opinion would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Doode:

I took a look at your link - Evercool 70 mm. It spins faster and is 8 dBA's louder and has a slight edge in CFM's - Would be a good choice as well.

I can only speak to my experience and the Vantec Stealth 80 mm was the right choice for me. I looked at it this way.

1. My local parts guy had it in stock
2. I have a Dremel
3. It spins slower
4. It clears 27 CFM's which was noticeably more than the stock fan
5. It's really quiet 21 dBA
6. It comes with a 3-4 molex pin power through adaptor
7. It was really cheap

Honestly, I couldn't tell you the difference 8 dBA's would make. But I was really surprised by how quiet the Vantec Stealth is. There's another quiet case fan also available but I couldn't find it at my local parts store. So availability played a large role in my selection.

Ultimately, it's your decision. The Vantec Stealth was the right choice for me.

bump - added pictures.

looks very nice This is the fan that I used....41 DB so it was kinda loud...I got a rheostat and chrome knob...I would of got this but since it has to sit inside your system its kinda hard to work out...good job tho man

Thanks Senates - yeah could have gone with the 70 mm. But I took size and silence with the vantec. The 80 mm wasn't that difficult to install. That pyramid system is very COOL pardon the pun. Too bad it has to be installed inside. Looks good tho.

Hey with the 70 mm did you leave the bottom fan clips in or did you remove them?

I removed em...I had to cut into the harddrive tray tho..that pyramid would look cool on the jewel, too bad it has to be inside

Hey Senates did you do any other fan mods?

What temps have you been getting?

Thanks

PS: Any pics?

I think the 80mm fan is not worth it. If you look at the fan view from the outside of the xbox you will see that almost 1/4 of the fan is being blocked by the case. It probally generates more noise allowing air to be forced into the blockage caused by the case. I would stick with the 70mm since thats what the case was designed for or use and 80mm and hack out the back of the case.

I have 2 rheostats, but im going to move one of them to the front of the xbox to controll my fan...the other fan mod I have is marts side mod

outside view

&

inside view

that's nice, man

well its not as nice as I wanted....the part I dont like about it is all the wires inside....I got wires for LEDS, side fan, exhast fan, power splitter....all that. Buts its nice when it gets put together...Marts side mod blows air in on the power supply, and sucks it out the back. martialxbox dude (the guy who thought of this) left his box on for 2 months and it didnt overheat....so its pretty nice

So as far as fans go:

U R running with an upgraded exhaust fan and the marts side mod?

What temps are you getting?

How's the noise?

Any pointers on the martial side mod?

Sorry for all the questions...

The thing is I dont have any temps, since I dont have my chip installed quite yet. Im waiting to get another case in the mail

The exhast fan is really the onlything that causes noise...thats why I got rheostats

QUOTE (trob @ Jul 7 2003, 01:17 AM)

I think the 80mm fan is not worth it. If you look at the fan view from the outside of the xbox you will see that almost 1/4 of the fan is being blocked by the case. It probally generates more noise allowing air to be forced into the blockage caused by the case. I would stick with the 70mm since thats what the case was designed for or use and 80mm and hack out the back of the case.

Hey trob - thanks for your note - unfortunately when I did the mod I was trying to accomplish two things - cool it and keep it quiet. The Vantec was the only solution but unfortunately didn't come in an 70 mm.

So I compromised. I haven't made any hacks to the metal case. You could be right about needing to cut the case - I won't be cutting the plastic case tho - wanna keep it stealth.

My next stage - I was considering either the HDD Case fan or the Marts mod. Again I might just stop here if it means I have to go to a louder series of fans.

Oh well ...

Yes, I just thought I would suggest that. I do want to thank you for modding effort and suppling us with some pics. Also I would just like to point out that the accoustic measurements on most fans are done in dBls. The readings are done at zero presure on both sides of the fan. If you have a blockage on either side the accoustic output will be louder due to blocked airflow. Also if you try to add too many fans removing air from inside the box to outside of it, you will have an increase in noise due to the air being pulled into the xbox vents.

I also did the Vantec 80mm mod about a month ago. But now that I look at it, Trob brings up some very good points.

QUOTE (RX3 @ Jul 7 2003, 08:49 AM)

I also did the Vantec 80mm mod about a month ago. But now that I look at it, Trob brings up some very good points.

RX3 - Did you make any other adjustments? Like cutting the metal case?

What temps are you getting?

Any other fans you've added?

Any pics?

Thanks

QUOTE (halo9054 @ Jul 7 2003, 03:24 AM)

So I compromised. I haven't made any hacks to the metal case.

You should remove the metal grill if you havent done that already (should remove some of the noise)

I removed the metal grill from my Xbox and it helped with noise and improved airflow a little. Just get the old snips out.

I just ordered the Vantec 80mm myself, but I am going to be doing some modding to the case so that I get optimal airflow and dont create any bottlenecks. I have started to prep the area and cut the metal grill. Next I will start to trim the rear of the case so everything flows, and sounds well. As soon as I complete this all, I will post some pics.

QUOTE (TykSak @ Jul 7 2003, 10:39 PM)

QUOTE (halo9054 @ Jul 7 2003, 03:24 AM) So I compromised.  I haven't made any hacks to the metal case. You should remove the metal grill if you havent done that already (should remove some of the noise)

Tyksak: Did you complete remove the metal case?

If so how did you then secure the fan?

Got a shot/pic that could give me any ideas?

Thanks

Three questions...
What's the best fan to get to replace it, concerning sound and ease of replacement?
Is that evercool fan louder than the stock fan?

About the 12v stock fan mod, does that wear out your xbox fan?

QUOTE (halo9054 @ Jul 7 2003, 10:16 PM)

QUOTE (RX3 @ Jul 7 2003, 08:49 AM) I also did the Vantec 80mm mod about a month ago. But now that I look at it, Trob brings up some very good points. RX3 - Did you make any other adjustments? Like cutting the metal case? What temps are you getting? Any other fans you've added? Any pics? Thanks

My fan mod is very similiar to yours. The difference is I actually cut the tabs where you have the cable ties. And I didn't cut all the way to the warning label so the plastic fits against the fan where that label is. Other than that, it's like yours. I held it in place with 1 screw and some black silicone sealant/glue stuff.
Temperature comparisons are tricky cause some of us might have different enviroments. My box is in an enclosed entertainment center all the way around. I leave the door open when my box is on. My room temperature is 75 F.
After 1 hr play in that enviroment, I'm getting:

MB - 111 F
CPU - 130 F

If I took it out of the entertainment center, I bet I could shave off 2-5 degrees F.

trob bring up excellent points.

i'm a big fan of cutting things and that includes both the metal and the plastic in the back to optimize airflow. also, cutting the metall grill on the sides and putting cut up pieces of air conditioning filters (or dryer sheets) is an easy one i did. no one sees the back of the case any ways. it's a temp solution though until i get some time to make my case... end of the month or beginning of august hopefully. if i don't get it done then it won't happen until december. realizing i've gone off topic, i'll digress.

i've looked at the specs for the vantec stealth and i'm jsut not a big fan of it. no pun intended. 27 CFM's seems too weak for me. But I do live in Florida. I'd prefer something with 39 CFM and 32 db. usually the fans are cheaper than the vantec stealth too. if it's cool enough where you live (or you keep the AC low) then a V stealth isn't a bad option at all.

despite the fact that i would have done things a little different here and there, you've accomplished 2 things. quieter than stock. looks clean. good job, man. very pro looking.

Halo9054, Im borrowing your image.

Here is a few minor cosmetic alterations I would make to the xbox case.



If you wanted to clear out the whole fan area that would provide even better performance but I am recommending this to keep the case looking almost new. If you do a complete cutout, I would do this and install a jazzy looking fan grill.

trob - that's killer. thanks for giving me a good guide. i know that must have taken you some time to put all those illustrations on - so thank you very much.

Never thought about using a jazzy looking fan grill. That one you picked looks really cool.

OH Boy now you've really got me thinking.

I might do this in stages and see if there are changes to my temps.

Thanks again for all your trouble.

RX3: I got the same temps as you and have the same environment as you do - cabinet door is left open when playing etc.

One additional think I did was to tape off the fan from pulling air across the top of the HDD case and out the back. So like the original HDD case it pulls air from the bottom only.

I got another 7 degrees F cooler on the CPU and a bit more on the MB.

I saw trob excellent suggestions and I'm gonna do some more snipping to see if that changes any thing.

Not sure if I'll go all the way and completely cut everything out - but I gotta tell ya trob's jaxxy case fan grill looks very good indeed!

l8r
h

Just to let you know, I have not tried the grill thing, Im not sure how easy it is to get the grill mounted evenly against the case. I am at work right now so I cant look. You may have to do some specialized dremeling where the ear flap things rest against the case. By that I mean you may have to dremel down on the plastic case but not all the way thru. Anyways I have not seen any pics of anyone tring this but I think it is possible. Good luck and let us know what you do and how it works out.

trob - where did you find the fan grill?

Just thought it was very cool.

thanks

h

Go to www dot xoxide dot com. They have some cool fan guards and gear.

halo. update your first post when you do some more cutting, with step-by-step instructions, ok? thanks man!

Will do for sure. Just thinking about what should be removed...

Anyone got any threads about how to take apart your xbox. I mean completely remove the mb and the power supply and then the metal case.

Please reply with thread if you can thanks.

Need to do some more reading before I start cutting.

thanks

For anyone looking to do something similar to this mod, here is a pic of the inside of my xbox case showing what I removed before I installed my 80mm fan (Vantec as well). All I used was some small wire cutters to remove the metal sheilding. I will post more pics if anyone needs them.


(Picture of what was cut out)


(Picture of rear of case with new fan installed. This shows the amount of clearance and there is no blockage from the case.)

You can see on the bottom of the case where the fan mounts I used some 3M double sided tape to help hlod the fan in place. On the top I used zip ties to hold as well. Hope this helps you all out.

Nice and clean man. I just pulled my xbx apart tonight and took pics for the whole job. I'll post some time tomorrow.

In addition I also did a clean of the CPU and GPU heatsink. Basically cleaned the bubble gum crap off and then I'll put some nice Acrtic Silver 3 on.

Then I'll re-assemble and see what kind of temperatures turn up.

Thanks Trob for the illustration you did - I didn't do the fan grill (we'll see) but ended up cutting a fair bit of metal and plastic.

Stay tuned for the pics....

L8r

Just a quick one Halo, how in the hell did you get your GPU heatsink / fan off? I could not get mine off.

QUOTE (NFCTinken @ Jul 12 2003, 04:51 AM)

Just a quick one Halo, how in the hell did you get your GPU heatsink / fan off? I could not get mine off.

Slowly...

It was alot easier when I had the M/B removed from the case.

I removed the CPU heatsink first.

Then from that side i use a medium sized flat head screw driver, inserted it between the sink and the black seat and then slowly twisted the screwdriver.

It's stuck on real good - as you'll see when I post my pics.

But just take it a little bit at a time and it will come off.

My entry was moved to first post. CLICK HERE

This next post is how to remove/clean and then apply a better Thermal Compound - For this I used Arctic Silver 3


Enter the Boozer and Mr. Goo head!
For this you'll need:
- Isopropyl Alcohol the higher the % the better
- GOO GONE
- Q-Tips
- Coffee Filters


And of course..... a tube of Arctic Silver 3 Thermal Compound
Looks like THIS.
They also have a good tut on how to prep your chips and apply the thermal compound. You can check that out HERE.

Remove CPU Heatsink


You'll need to lift the Black pressure tab and then remove the heat sink clip completely. Then carefully persuade the sink to lift off the chip. When you get it all apart this is what you should have.


Remove GPU Heatsink
Now NFCTinken, posted a question about how to get the GPU heat sink off. Well if you look at this shot - I first release the chrome clip (similar to CPU) then slide a screwdriver from the right between the heat sink and black lower seat. Using a motion like you were removing a paint can lid - (hey just thought of that) - I slowly persuaded the heat sink to release. Now the NVIDIA chip has a much larger surface area than the INTEL chip on the right. That's why it's such a bugger to get off. But just take your time.


Remove M$ Bubble Gum
First use the GOO GONE. It dissolves the bubble gum. You'll need to work it with the Q-Tip(s). Use alot of them cause they end up soaking up the goo. Then once you get the stuff off - use the Alcohol to do a real good clean.


You need to clean both surfaces. This is the CPU heatsink after a few cleans with GOO GONE. Next I'll use the Alcohol.


When you're done rest the heat sink gently back on the chip. This to keep the airborne dust from landing on the chip.


Here's the GPU NVIDIA chip - just freshly peeled.


Then clean and clean. Although I didn't take another picture you need to completely clean the bubble gum on the chip - so yes I did clean that stuff on the edges.


Applying the Arctic Silver 3
I used an old cd as a palate and a clean edged credit card. Just follow the Arctic Silver instructions. Remeber to use the coffee filters to apply a thin rub of the compound to the bottom of the heat sinks as well.


The chips should then look like this...


Then re-assemble the GPU and CPU heatsinks and clips.

The whole project took me a few hours and if I didn't take any pictures that time would probably come all the way down. But like my last mod - I took my time and enjoyed it.

Overall, I'm really pleased with my temperature results. With these temps I do not plan on doing any further cooling mods. I bought the mini HDD fan and was going to do the HDD fan install - but I want to keep my xbox as quiet as possible.

Thanks to Trob again for the inspiration - who know's maybe I'll get started on that grill mod. But for now everythings.... COOL

L8r

WOW, great job halo. What an improvement, 46.5C. You did a great clean job cleaning up the rear for the 80mm. I hope you get a posted tutorial out of this. I'm glade it was you that tried my suggestions instead of someone else who might screw it up. Anyone who wants to try the 80mm fan I am going to direct them follow this tutorial.

Good job.

Hey halo. I'll pay you for an xbox, the 80mm fan and some extra money for your time if you can install this fan in a brand new xbox for me. Can you?

very very nice! I have a 70mm fan, so I dont worry about having to cut much of the plastic, just the metal. I should try the atric silver...someone should pin this as a guide or something

QUOTE (PerfectModifications @ Jul 12 2003, 08:33 PM)

Hey halo. I'll pay you for an xbox, the 80mm fan and some extra money for your time if you can install this fan in a brand new xbox for me. Can you?

I tell you - these mods are really easy to do. PerfectM, honestly it would be a crime to charge any money to do these mods (because they're so easy to do).

Just follow the thread and voila - you'll have yours done in no time. REALLY...

QUOTE (Senates684 @ Jul 12 2003, 08:34 PM)

very very nice! I have a 70mm fan, so I dont worry about having to cut much of the plastic, just the metal. I should try the atric silver...someone should pin this as a guide or something

Yeah Senates, I really didn't think it would have made that much of an improvement. But given the results, I was really pleased. Didn't need to install any other fans (so she's still quiet) and was able to further reduce temperatures simply because I used a better conductor.

And all you need to do is lift the sinks, use Goo Gone, clean with Rubbing Alcohol, apply the thermal paste then stick it back together - DONE.