Soyo K7VME EXTREME CASE MOD!!! GUIDE ADDED W/ PICS!!!

[joshbrown89]

Okay, here is the guide I did up. It turned out great! Very quiet barely audible PC noise with the fans on low, and still quieter than before with the fans on high! I got about 25 degrees off my temps, and can now overclock great too. I couldn't post a 56k text only version because I didn't describe all of the steps in text, I just assumed people would look at the pictures. So, heres the link and have a great time!

CLICK HERE FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH PICTURES AND VIDEO!

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Here is a solution to the bad Soyo K7VME Case design with the PSU directly over the CPU, and the small space for a 80mm heatsink because of capacitors. If any of you own one of these cases, which probably a lot of you do considering they were being practically given away, then this may be something you may want to look into. I have been researching fans and heatsinks and cooling for 3 straight days now. And believe me, I have looked into EVERY option for a heatsink and fan that would work with a K7VME efficiently and very quietly also since my fan is very loud and hot, and I found nothing that would fit that would be quiet, and efficient. So I got creative, and came up with this plan.

I was very excited after doing all that research and finally coming up with my own insane idea for cooling down my case and making it super quiet. Well, I got my parts and tried to document what I did as best I could. It is actually very simple, you just need to be able to do things a little bit out of the box, but believe me, you'll love the cooling and quietness and control that this mod gives you.

Here are the step by step instructions, complete with pictures and video, to create a silent and very efficient cooling machine out of your cheap Soyo K7VME Kit. Enjoy!
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CLICK HERE FOR THE INSTRUCTIONS WITH PICTURES AND VIDEO!

 

[bartbrn]

Interesting fix! I'm positioning the PSU on the "floor" of the case as wel -- so the 92mm Panaflo fan would be a good "PSU hole" filler. For the CPU fan I'm using the Thermaltake TR2. I'd like to try one of those CPU exhaust horns many Antec cases have -- looks like trumpet attached to the left-side case cover; when the cover's closed, the "trumpet" sits directly over the CPU fan, providing an isolated and unrestricted pipe to vent CPU heat directly out of the case.

Does anyone know if these "trumpets" are available separately? If not, maybe I can jam my old bong in there, or a toilet-paper roll.

Thanks for the good info!

Bart Brown
wingswheels@sbcglobal.net

 

[scosmo451]

Good luck. I tried many things as well.

Cut out the webbing from the fan shield on the PSU to get as much airflow as possible. Cut out the vents on the PSU and mounted a fan as a "pusher" to push air out of the case and through the PSU. I used the 60mm fan that came with the Speeze heatsink when I bought the barebones. Cut out an opening on the side of the case and installed an 80mm fan blowing cool air in. Removed all of the peripheral slot covers. Cut out the webbing on the front of the case and mounted 80mm fan there. Then cut out a lot of the front cover in order to get as much airflow through there as possible, without actually changing the appearance of the front fascia. Used a TR2 and heatsink. Vented the top a bit with a Dremel tool. Taped all of the wires that I couldn't route out of the way. After all that, I was still hitting 47C at idle buttoned up. If I removed the case sides, it only went down to about 46C. Setting the PSU out of the case entirely dropped temps down to about 44C idle and about 50-51C at full load.

I finally gave up and bought this Rosewill 114A for $49 or so on sale with free shipping. Moved everything over and temps went down to 41C idle and 46C loaded. Upgraded to Arctic Silver 5 and am now averaging 39C without the paste being broken in and going about 44C loaded. The idle number is only about 7C above case temp and I'm running my 2500+ Barton core at 2.05 GHz right now. Haven't modded the case at all yet - just added two 80mm fans upfront blowing out and a 120mm fan in back blowing in. Had the 80mm anyway, but bought a lighted 120 and a lighted 80mm for kicks. All that and I still haven't spent much more than you've spent on the parts for the original case. Also bought some round cables and some sleeving, but that really isn't contributing much to the cooling. Not saying all this to suggest you did the wrong thing - I just did something else. Will probably cut the back out a bit and mount a better grill for the 120 as well as open up the front fan grills a bit.

I put the parts out of an old computer in the SOYO case. It's now a rip-rortin' Celeron 466 (not even OC'd) with 64MB of PC100 RAM, 12 gig hard drive, no modem, no sound, no NIC, no front USB, onboard video, 98SE, but does have two opticals and an Antec PSU. I actually like the way the SOYO case looks and the handle is very handy so I thought this was a good use for it. Probably going to play around with Linux on that box.

 

[joshbrown89]

Wow nice ideas you had there. Seems like probably not exactly the thing I would do, as I am getting the 60mm to 80mm fan adapter so I can get a quieter fan noise. But my case temps aren't that high, and with the PSU on the bottom of the case doesn't seem to be a problem if I get a 92mm fan to suck hot air out. I was thinking of getting a fan to redirect air like you were saying bartbrn, but not sure what parts I would need and how to get proper airflow in and out of the case.

But we'll see how it works. I actually changed my plans slightly. Instead of having to make a hole in the side of the case for the PSU on the bottom of the case, I would just turn the PSU, and have the power cord running in from the bottom hole on the back of the computer where the PSU was. The top hole would be of course for the 92mm fan. That way, I don't need to be making any holes in the metal and having a tacky cord coming out the side, and would minimize the PSU noise also since it is fully inside the case. I am not worried about the PSU not having airflow, because its a cheap part anyways and I should have good airflow around the CPU and in the case after I get the two new fans in.

I am excited, and as I said give me in the middle of next week for some pics and stuff. If anybody else has done any work trying to cool a K7VME, please post about it

 

[scosmo451]

Yeah, I don't mind fan noise much. I've usually got a box fan going in the room anyway. My computer here at work is so quiet, it distracts me. Always opening up MBM5 to see what the fans are running. They're temp controlled and it drives me nuts. Works, though - setting at 35C on CPU and 30C on case, with 2.8 Pentium in an ANTEC Performance Series II SOHO File Server Tower except mine's beige. Can't have it at home because of the sheer size of it.

I liked the idea of running the PSU fan out the side. Wish I had thought of trying that. I might still try it since the case doesn't matter anymore, but the board and chipset don't have temp senors, so I wouldn't know if it worked.

 

[scosmo451]

Got anything together yet? Interested to hear how you fared.

 

[joshbrown89]

FIRST POST UPDATED WITH LINK TO MOD GUIDE WITH PICTURES!

I just finished the mod, and made a big guide on how I did it and how it turned out. It was great! Barely audible at low fan speeds, and still quieter than before at high fan speeds! I got about 25 degrees off my temps too! And I am now overclocking my Sempron 2500 to that of a 2800. Not limited by temps, just lockups.

Anyways, enjoy the guide and post anything you want here.

 

[scosmo451]

Looks like it turned out pretty good. I've been wondering if it's possible to completely remove the casing from the PSU, drill it nine ways to Sunday for better airflow and then reassemble. Seeing it there on the bottom of your case makes me think it might work. I'll try it on this Soyo PSU before trying it on my new one. BTW, don't know if you tried it or not, but the PSU just kinda "pops" open if you stick a screwdriver in the right place. Of course, your way of getting to the fan wires worked just fine, so no reason to open the whole thing.

Also, you might try cutting out the webbing a bit on the PSU to increase the flow from the fan. I used regular side snip wire cutters - the metal is very soft - then cleaned it up a bit with a sanding drum on the Dremel. I left some material there for a basic guard. Took a pic for you to show what I am talking about. Easy 5 minute job. (well, that's 5 minutes American; not sure what the exchange rate is)
http://www.geocities.com/scosmo451/Cutout_PSU Might even help with sound a bit since the fan won't have to blow through so many obstacles, but I doubt it would be noticeable with a closed case anyway.

BTW, how did you paint the drive? Doesn't look bad at all.

 

[joshbrown89]

Heya

Looks like a nice job you did there. Sounds like a good idea the increased PSU airflow I mean but I didn't quite catch what you meant by completely removing the casing from the PSU. You mean take it apart somehow and drilling holes to increase airflow?

The PSU isn't THAT loud, with the fan controller you can just turn it down because it doesn't get that hot and you can make it very quiet. But ya, every little bit counts although I am quite scared of the fact that a PSU can kill you even when unplugged because of the capacitors. I have shorted a PSU out before, and good for the plastic screwdriver handle, or I would be toast

Yup the paint job turned out great. It's the second CD drive I painted .... I used Krylon Interior-Exterior Wood, Metal, Plastic, Wicker Spray paint. lol thats the best name I can get from looking at the bottle. It dries in 12 minutes too Worked great, and have a really nice finish. Better than the OEM finish in my opinion. Just make sure to cover the LED's with vasaline very carefully so that you can just scrape off the paint after and not take paint off the plastic around the lights. And... take off the face plate and buttons/tray front.

 

[scosmo451]

"You mean take it apart somehow and drilling holes to increase airflow?"

Yep, exactly. Not hard to take apart at all. Yes, it's best to avoid the capacitors, but that's not too hard.

Of course, I also have a system wide nerve problem that might have been caused by numerous high-voltage electrical shocks when I was younger. (hence the wheelchair avatar) I may not be the best person to listen to.

 

[joshbrown89]

Haha okay well...

If I find that for some reason the PSU is too hot I might do that, otherwise things are just fine. Thanks.