Cooler Master Storm Enforcer custom cooling modifications

[Darkbreeze]

Although a few a few sites have incorrectly reported the CM Storm Enforcer as having a rear 140mm fan, we all know that isn't true. It comes with a 120mm fan in the rear exhaust and the handful of listed mods for this case I've seen haven't mentioned anything about being able to put a 140mm fan there.

I just wanted to share the fact that I was able to not only fit a Noctua NF-A15 PWM 140x150x25mm fan there, by scribing the inner circumference of the fan casing onto the case and then adding additional holes to allow the full airflow through without restriction, I was actually able to drop my peak CPU temps by 5°C as measured in Prime v26.6 after ten minutes.

I had added the second NF-A15 PWM to the other side of my Noctua NH-U14S but didn't register any significant drop in load temps so I thought I'd give this a try and I call a 5°C drop a success, especially after it failed to improve cpu cooling on the heatsink itself. I now get a max core and package temp of 51°C on small FFTs in Prime with a ten minute run. Previously it was 56°, with an 8320@4.5Ghz and 1.35v.

I'm guessing that if I added another one to the heatsink now, I might actually see another drop, but we'll find out after I install that one when it comes. Here's a few pics, keep in mind the back paint job is only temporary until I get my custom grill cover, at which time I'll completely cut out the case grill which will likely further reduce the restriction and possible add another degree or two drop in temps but more importantly will probably lower sound levels. Audible sound from the fan has also decreased. I'm assuming it's due to the larger PWM fan, versus the 120mm voltage controlled Noctua I had there, being able to run at a lower idle RPM and maybe also a better blade design on the 140mm unit. Any comments are of course welcome, if they're relevant an not offensive in nature.

It's also worth mentioning that I could not get past 4.3Ghz with my previous NH-U12S on this CPU, regardless of what I set the supporting CPU settings to. The second I went past 4.3Ghz with enough voltage to keep it stable, thermals went crazy, and if I tried going above 4.3Ghz with anything less than 1.325v, I could not remain stable. The addition of the U14S has mitigate a good amount of that, but the further addition of better case cooling has been the more major player.

Current build specs

AMD FX-8320@4.5Ghz
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX R2.0
16GB HyperX 1866mhz
Sapphire R9 290X (Added since last pictures were taken)
EVGA G2 750w
Samsung 850EVO 250GB
WD 2TB Black series 3.5" (x2)
Noctua NH-U14S
Noctua NF-A15 PWM (x4)( 3 case, 1 CPU cooler)
Cooler Master Megaflow 200mm red
​

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, it seems I was right about the 140mm's in front. I moved the megaflow to the top, replacing the two 120mm fans that were there and did some light modification to the case front to accommodate the bottom of the lower fan and removed part of the separator lip from the bottom of the top door to allow the upper fan some clearance and to be able to draw it's airflow from the same vents used by the bottom fan.

The result was another drop in peak core temps of about three degrees, down to 49°C when under full load in Prime for about 16 minutes. Plus, if I open the front swing door, I get an additional drop in core temps of about 8°C within seconds from the upper fan passing cool air directly to the CPU cooler. Considering this makes for an overall drop of 7°C, a 13°C drop in temps with the door open, from my original temp of 56°C under the same load and duration, I'd say adding the rear 140mm and dual front 140mm's, and moving the 200mm to the top was well worth it.

Plus, more importantly, sound levels have dropped unbelievably. Under full load before it was a fairly loud "whooshing", that could not be mistaken for anything other than what it was. Now, under full load after ten+ minutes, it's audible, but not loud nor annoying at all. I think getting rid of the 120's accounts for that, which is still rather surprising. I knew I'd probably drop some decibels but the change in sound level in entirely beyond what I imagined.

Now, if I can just figure out how to get two 140's up top. Heh. Heck, if I come across another megaflow, I might even try for dual 200's in the front. I realize there are cases that can easily accommodate these arrangements, but it's a lot more fun making it work on a case that wasn't intended for it, plus, those cases are generally larger and with a smaller case like this, you get a much more rapid exchange of internal air using the same fan configuration, which means when you can make it work, a smaller case actually should provide a more efficient cooling result.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I'll be adding further data and images later, as I'm sure other cases offer similar potential.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, I couldn't leave well enough alone, and didn't really like the look or feel of the way the front fans worked out with somewhat using the stock configuration, so I made a custom inner front face panel to go beneath the actual front fascia. I also cut away some of the obstructing metal on the original front framework to optimize airflow and reduce the noise from the obstructing protrusions. In addition, I relocated both fans, the top one just slightly higher, and the bottom one I relocated to the middle.

This enabled the lower fan to blow directly into the GPU area just above the top of the drive cage and the upper fan to blow a less restricted path to the CPU cooler. The new front plate also minimizes the backpressure from leaking back through the front "gaps" in the framework, which I noticed it was doing, and thereby allowing some of the already heated air inside the case to be recirculated through the fans again. Since the existing openings are now blocked off, all incoming airflow must come through the front vent, or at least significantly more than before.

Anyhow, thought I'd share these as well since I already posted the other stuff, even though it seems there is little interest in this older case model. I still see a fair number of folks purchasing these cases through my involvement with various forums so perhaps it may be useful or at least interesting to somebody looking to play around with an older case they have sitting around or as a project.

I also went ahead and painted the grillwork on the back where I had drilled it out to accommodate the increased airflow from the 140mm exhaust fan modification. Looks a little better anyhow. I'm thinking about having my buddy who does automotive paint give the whole case a few shades darker than forest green with metal flake makeover just for kicks.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

My son has that case.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah, I'm planning to do a new build soon with either an Enthoo Luxe, a Thermaltake Core X9 or a Thermaltake Core V71 and jump the fence to an i7/Z97-A or possibly something with Broadwell and will likely give this build to my daughter who likes to game as well. Should serve her well as it's been rock solid through everything I can throw at it so far.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

He's still running it with a 8150 @ 4.5 ghz with a PH-TC14PE.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Is it all configured stock as far as the fans and fan locations?

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Yes , run's like a champ.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Yeah. I actually like the case quite well for what it is. I'm not the biggest fan of most of cooler master's products, but they have a few really good cases and I think the Storm enforcer is one of them, even though it's beginning to be relegated to the genre of "older" cases.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

Still a solid case that holds a large air cooler.

 

[intp4w5]

Nice looking gaming rig. I'm surprised you can get 8-13degC just by opening the door. I guess the ambient temp here is just really bad.

The Noctua U14S has also been solid for me so far, although I've wanted to fit a Noctua D-15 at first except that it isn't compatible with my RAM.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Actually, opening the front door drops it an additional 6°C, due to the direct path of cool air from the front straight into the cpu cooler with nothing in between. I like the U14S better. It actually performs just as well as the D14 on a lot of single fan benchmarks, so I would think that with a dual fan configuration it's performance might be pretty close. Both, and actually all three, are damn good though.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Update- Replaced the two front NF-P14r fans with two NF-A15's. Thermal limit after running 15 minutes of Prime95 v26.6 dropped another 1.6°C, to 48°C max peak. More importantly, the replacement of the Noctua NF-P14r fans with a pair of NF-A15's has reduced the sound to the point where you cannot hear ANY fans at idle without sticking your head down by the case. After 15 minutes of Prime, you could hear the fans, but they were only about as loud as an average unit with stock fans at idle.

The NF-P14r has a 25.8db sound level while the A15's have a 19db spec. The difference, while not seeming all that much on paper and despite a lot of reports to the contrary, is extremely noticeable. The reduction in temp and sound, was in my opinion, well worth the forty bucks for the fans plus I have another rig to use the replaced fans in so it's no loss either way. For a 125w FX chip overclocked a full 1Ghz beyond the stock frequency, I couldn't be happier with a 48°C thermal limit. I might even bump the clock up a bit more on the CPU now.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nice looking gaming rig. I'm surprised you can get 8-13degC just by opening the door. I guess the ambient temp here is just really bad.

The Noctua U14S has also been solid for me so far, although I've wanted to fit a Noctua D-15 at first except that it isn't compatible with my RAM.

There is a new Noctua cooler that should fit. It begins sale in June and is the Noctua NH-D15s which has the lower fins notched out to accommodate taller RAM than the D15 can clear.

http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=112&lng=en

 

[halperin]

hey darkbreeze, do you mean that opening that front door that hides the CD drive drops core temps by 3 degrees? mine is stock so i dont have a fan there but i wonder if that would help drop my temps

 

[Darkbreeze]

It only helps mine because I've modified the front of the case, under the front panel.

The framework. If you look at the pics on the inside of the case you can see where I've cut the obstructions away so there is a direct path for airflow from the front upper fan to the cpu cooler. On a stock case that has not been modified and has no fan there, there would be little improvement. If you have no placeholders installed in the drive locations there, and only one optical drive, it might see a very little improvement, but it's unlikely. You would need to do the modification and install a fan there to see the temperature difference. I only open it when gaming, simply because it affords a slightly lower temp. It actually doesn't need it open as the temp never gets anywhere near the thermal limit anyhow.

 

[damric]

I dig that Enforcer. It reminds me of my old HAF 912, but much more refined. It even has an ash tray on top?

 

[Darkbreeze]

Exactly. Hm, is that smoke from my cigarette or my motherboard. Oh well. Actually I quit smoking five years ago. Made it much easier to tell where smoke was coming from.

I'm planning to upgrade to a newer case in the near future, but I'm waiting for Skylake to see what performance is like before making the switch to Intel. As I've been saying in a lot of threads, I'm tired of building client rigs that crush my own system in many ways. I only went with my AMD setup because I got the core hardware for an exceptional price and needed something right then to replace my older system whose motherboard took a powder.

 

[damric]

Exactly. Hm, is that smoke from my cigarette or my motherboard. Oh well. Actually I quit smoking five years ago. Made it much easier to tell where smoke was coming from.

I'm planning to upgrade to a newer case in the near future, but I'm waiting for Skylake to see what performance is like before making the switch to Intel. As I've been saying in a lot of threads, I'm tired of building client rigs that crush my own system in many ways. I only went with my AMD setup because I got the core hardware for an exceptional price and needed something right then to replace my older system whose motherboard took a powder.

I feel ya. My wife and my daughter have Haswells and I'm the one rocking an AMD...

 

[Darkbreeze]

Girls get all the good toys.