Case filters?

[nhnewbie]

Has anyone tried setting up a case to minimize the amount of dust that gets into it? When I pulled apart my old PC, I was shocked at just how dirty it was inside. Of course with a dog, 2 cats, and wood stove for heat, I can see how it happened. With my new case, I decided to try to filter the air as much as possible.

I have an Ultra Wizard case (free after $40 rebate from Frys.com) and Ultra V psu (also free after $40 rebate from Frys). I filled all fan slots with fans (60mm in front to cool hdds, 60mm on side panel in place of the tunnel that didn't line up with my cpu anyway, and 120mm on rear). For the side and rear fans, I used a sheet of air conditioner filter material I got for under $1 at WalMart, and trimmed it slightly larger than the fans. I just sandwiched the filter between the fans and the case. In front, I cut a large piece the width of the inner case, and high enough to run from the bottom to just under the 3.5" bay. I snapped the front back on, which secured the filter nicely.

I have yet to put filter material on the large side panel vent area and the small rear case vent, but they are flat areas and shouldn't be hard to mount the filter material to.

So far all of my temps are staying cool, so the filters are allowing enough airflow. I know there are a bunch of little spots around the case that aren't filtered, but since all of my fans blow inward, there shouldn't be any air moving inward through those spots anyway, since the case should be slightly pressurized.

Has anyone else tried filtering a case? Did it work well?

Jim

[Fred_Flintstone]

Hi there...:D

but since all of my fans blow inward, there shouldn't be any air moving inward through those spots anyway, since the case should be slightly pressurized.

Forgive me if I'm being thick here...:rolleyes:
But it seems to me that if you have "all my fans blowing inwards"...you have no airflow at all!!.
What you need to do is have "ventilation fans blowing IN...and "exhaust" fans blowing OUT..this moves the air through the system and provides the necessary cooling??

By all means, filter the intake fans..but you really do need an outlet somewhere..or it defeats the object surely??..:(

[PrntRhd]

You can use a piece of washable furnace filter material in the front air intakes to control dust. Low restriction filters are advised. The rear case fans should pull the warmed air out of the case.

[Whyzman]

I use a piece of washable air-conditioning filter material. The stuff is so cheap, you can pretty much elect to wash it, or just cut a new square and simply replace...

It is low restriction, as PrntRhd points out, but catches a bunch.

I bought my piece (nearly a 2' X 3') for under $5.00 from Menards in Minneapolis which is very similar to Lowes, or HomeDepot. I suspect they should have them on hand...