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just had a REVOLUTIONARY idea for case design!


corsican

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as the title says I just had a novel idea for a PC tower design - tbh it makes so much sense can't believe no one else (apparently) thought about it before

 

lemme explain

 

the way cases are designed nowadays, the PSU which is placed at the bottom of the case can be oriented 2 ways:

 

1) PSU oriented downward. this in turn has 2 options:

- use a filter. this creates a risk of the filter getting clogged with dust & thus suffocating the PSU (and let's face it who checks UNDER their case regularly? in fact it's the ONLY part of the case people never look at)

- don't use a filter. since the PSU sucks in air, this is an invitation for all sorts of things to crawl in (bugs. literally)

not to mention what if the user forgets about it & puts their case on top of a carpet etc. thus again suffocating the PSU & risking overheat

 

basically, PSU oriented downward means the case has an *opening* which sucks in air & is also hard to see/reach & easily obstructed (unlike the classic opening at the front of the case for the front intake fan, except this one is easily visible & we all regularly check it so it's easy to maintain) so conceptually that's a bad idea

 

2) PSU oriented upward. and all the risks of stuff falling into the PSU

 

 

so as you can see the way the PSU is placed is fundamentally a stupid idea (whoever thought of that)

 

so here's my novel idea: to solve that problem why not place the PSU at the top of the case instead?

(with PSU fan facing downward of course)

 

this way no risk of obstructing the PSU or of outside stuff getting inside it so this soves the problem of a critical component being "exposed to the outside"

 

 

yeah heat rises & goes into the PSU but the PSU itself itself acts as an exhaust fan of sorts so that's not a problem (a PSU would overheat a lot more easily if its fan grid were obstructed which is a risk if PSU is at the bottom of case)

 

so there that's my novel concept for a new ATX design. wicked huh? :cool:

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There are a few out there. This was the Corsair one, although there is lot more in different places than just the PSU.

 

https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Cases/Carbide-Series%E2%84%A2-Clear-600C-Inverse-ATX-Full-Tower-Case/p/CC-9011079-WW

 

I have never done any thermal testing with this type of set-up and can't really add to the merits beyond the theoretical. However, I am always up for unconventional cases and there are few things I like less than the standard tower. All for someone to try something like this again.

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Sorry, but I don't get why this is revolutionary.

 

There have been cases for years that are designed for the PSU to be mounted in the top. My older Thermaltake case is like that, as is every single bare bones generic ATX case I've ever purchased.

 

The 570X is the first case I've ever owned where the PSU is mounted in the bottom. I feel putting a computer on the floor is a bad idea anyways because of all the dust that enters over time. I put the PSU with the fan down because I don't want anything falling in and shorting the PSU out.

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It's not revolutionary, sorry dude.

It actually used to be quite common. Especially when the PSU was the only source of airflow in the system (crazy, huh?). Yeah ... there was a time when there were no CPU fans, case fans or GPU fans. The only fan would be the PSU.

The problem with that is that the PSU would heat up due to the components inside the system. This is even more true today with the heat put off by GPUs. Bottom mounted PSUs have the benefit of a dedicated cool air flow.

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The way I see this is going modular,different places for each major component ie:

powersupply,Mb with cpu and cpu,coolers and fans and pumps in separat boxes.

I have the 1000d at the moment,thats not something you move around alot,its sitting in the same place.I have been thinking on a modulare set up for years and thats what I will be building next,Quick cuplings between units.

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The way I see this is going modular,different places for each major component ie:

powersupply,Mb with cpu and cpu,coolers and fans and pumps in separat boxes.

I have the 1000d at the moment,thats not something you move around alot,its sitting in the same place.I have been thinking on a modulare set up for years and thats what I will be building next,Quick cuplings between units.

 

been done.. but Ugly AF lol

 

 

 

https://www.thermaltake.com/products-model.aspx?id=C_00001891

 

VN10008W2N%20%20_de186d9459d74c3b9b51b6b41174d7a2.jpg

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The problem with that is that the PSU would heat up due to the components inside the system.

no problem: the PSU's own fan evacuates the heat

 

and if you prefer 0db mode for PSU: the case rear fan (which is below the PSU) evacuates that heat before it reaches the PSU

 

besides with today's PSU's having efficiency of Gold+ heat's even less of an issue

 

so in the end my revolutionary idea has only advantages over the classic design no drawbacks!

 

looks like borg technology +_+
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  • Corsair Employees

The main reason the industry moved away from the top-mounted PSU was because they started using the top panel for cooling. With cases like the older Antec 900 that had a top-mounted 200mm fan where the PSU was in standard ATX layout, cooling performance was drastically improved.

 

And as AIO coolers like our Hydro Series became more commonplace, that valuable top real-estate became useful for 240mm and 280mm radiators.

 

The added bonus of putting the PSU on the bottom is that it makes the case easier to work in, without the cluster of cables coming out of the PSU threatening to uglify a really clean build.

 

Personally though, my favorite design is still putting the PSU *behind* the motherboard like the AIR 540 or 680X.

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The added bonus of putting the PSU on the bottom is that it makes the case easier to work in, without the cluster of cables coming out of the PSU threatening to uglify a really clean build.

actually the cabnles are another reason why it's more of a PITA to work with bottom-PSU cases:

 

1) if cables are inside the case (no grooves to hide the cable on the other side of the case) then main cables (24 pin & CPU 8 pin) have to reach all across the mobo

 

2) if cables can be hidden then it makes no difference & if anything top-PSU is still better since the main (24 pin & CPU 8 pin) cables have to travel shorter distance to the mobo & these cables are always the bulky round type (not the flat type unlike Sata or pci-e cables)

 

so again my top-PSU design has the advantage :sunglasse

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