NZXT Switch 810: Fan Mount Troubles, Case Connectors

[Nebulocity]

Greetings all!

I received my order from Newegg last night, and here is what I got:

Case: NZXT Switch 810
Case Fans: 4x NZXT 140mm Enthusiast Series (+4 more NZXT 140mm stock case fans)
PSU: Corsair AX750
MB: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H LGA 1155
GPU: Asus Radeon HD 7850
CPU: Intel Core i5-2550k
CPU Cooling: Corsair H100
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600


Motherboard is mounted with all of the main components. I've connected the USB 2.0 cables, a SATA2 cable, the front panel Power connectors, etc. But one cable that I wasn't sure what to do with was this one:

http://media.bestofmicro.com/3/H/329309/original/nzxt_switch-810_usb3.jpg[img]

Apparently, this is the front-panel USB 3.0 internal connector, but on the motherboard booklet, I don't see a location to plug it into?

Greetings,

Please forgive the length of this message...

I purchased an NZXT Switch 810 PC case and four extra NZXT 140mm Enthusiast Series (non LED) case fans, in order to add etxra air flow to my case. However, I am having problems with installation, and the instruction manual did not help.

1) The Enthusiast fans come with 4x mini screws and 4x rubber grommets. How do you thread the rubber grommets into the fans? The fan case has closed corners, and the screw holes are too small for the grommets. Pliers/tweezers didn't work, as I couldn't fit them in either. See [url=http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/svcompucycle_2206_187981061]http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/svcompucycle_2206_187981061[/url] for an image explanation - my fans are like the fan casing on the right.

2) Do I need to buy a set of longer screws to mount 140mm x 25mm fans on the top (external) part of the Switch 810, if I have a Corsair H100 CPU cooler mounted at the top (internal) part of the case? The screws that came with the Enthusiast fans are too small to thread from the top (because they are "closed cornered" fan cases), but if I thread from the internal side of the case, it interfers with the H100 being mounted. I can ummount the H100, screw in the 140mm fans from the internal side of the case, and then re-mount the H100...but the screws from mounting the 140mm external fans 'raises' the H100, so that I can't screw it in.

3) What is the ideal method for routing fan cables from the top of the case, to the interior of the case, to the back cable-management area of the case (behind right side panel of case, if looking from the front)? I tried to feed the cables (fan speed switch + fan power cable) through the large holes intended for airflow, but the fans sit on top of the cables and graze the cable itself, which I can imagine is not a good thing to happen.

4) Has anyone come up with a way to mount individual fan switches (that come with fans) on the outside of cases? The Switch 810 comes with a fan speed controller, but it only has 7 slots, when the case houses 10 fans (not counting the extra 2 if going push/pull on the H100, bringing the total to 12 fans). So I was thinking of trying to find a way to get the invidual speed switches for the 4 extra Enthusiast fans that I bought mounted to the front or side of the case, so that I don't have to open the darned thing in order to adjust fan speeds. With all the cables (hopefully neatly, as soon as I read up on how best to accomplish cable management) on that side of the case, opening it would cause everything to "spill out"...I have a rat's nest right now, and the side panel doesn't even stay on, ;-(

Thanks all. Answer what you can, if you can, and if you feel up to it. I know it's a lot. I'm such a noob.

I hope someone can offer tips/advice/answers to these...I spent four hours last night trying to get everything running, and finally got tired at 2:30am and went to bed (with work at 7am). :fou:

 

[tougas]

Mounting the fans on the top. You need to take off the top vent and drop the screws through the top and have the fan underneth or vice versa. Either way the screw he'd will be touching metal. The grommets go between the metal and the fan. The front of the case requires the 4 long screws that come with the case. The accessories box is stored in one of the HDD trays. The screw slides through the fan holes then to the metal from the front mod the case. To remove the back panel there are 2 spring loaded locks on the back of the top panel. Just push down and it it should pop up. For the front panel its the same thing but the buttons are on the top of the piece. Just don't pry because they are plastic.

 

[tougas]

Install a 5.25 drive fan controller or buy y splinters for fan plugs. I also don't really like that fan hub. But its mainly because the fans I had were 4 pin and the hub is designed for 3 pin. As for cable management at the top there is a nice gap towards the front of the case that leads the the back of the tray. Ill post some pics if I have some

 

[Nebulocity]

Install a 5.25 drive fan controller or buy y splinters for fan plugs. I also don't really like that fan hub. But its mainly because the fans I had were 4 pin and the hub is designed for 3 pin. As for cable management at the top there is a nice gap towards the front of the case that leads the the back of the tray. Ill post some pics if I have some

That's a great suggestion, thanks. I went looking for a fan controller before I made my purchase, but I wanted one that had red LEDs in the front instead of the all-too-common blue or green LEDs.

I thought that front gap was for the third 120mm or 140mm fan? It fits three, and that's the only gap that I could see. Unless your not talking about the "large" gap, and rather something else...which I probably didn't see. I'll have to look a bit more, and THEN see if it's even possible to run my fan cables that way (the fan in the front may fit, as well as the middle, but I don't think the rear fan at the top of the case will). And for the rear fan, I didn't see any gaps back there, other than the gap that the fan actually sat on, which is why I mentioned that it grazes the wire when it spins up.

Heading home from work right now to mess with it some more. Round 2, start!

 

[Nebulocity]

Mounting the fans on the top. You need to take off the top vent and drop the screws through the top and have the fan underneth or vice versa. Either way the screw he'd will be touching metal. The grommets go between the metal and the fan. The front of the case requires the 4 long screws that come with the case. The accessories box is stored in one of the HDD trays. The screw slides through the fan holes then to the metal from the front mod the case. To remove the back panel there are 2 spring loaded locks on the back of the top panel. Just push down and it it should pop up. For the front panel its the same thing but the buttons are on the top of the piece. Just don't pry because they are plastic.

Well, I took the top vent off when i started. I actually took ALL of the removable panels off, in order to get a better view of what could go where. The only reason I didn't mount the fans under the top panel is because the H100 reservoir goes there, and since it can only fit 120mm fans, there's no place for me to screw that into...unless I'm imagining what you are talking about wrong.

Air vent on top of case
V
Top panel of case
V
140mm fans
V
Corsair H100 cooler
V
120mm fans for H100
V
Case interior

If that's what you're talking about...yea, it doesn't fit. I may have to find a place that has the 120mm NZXT fans (so that they match what I already have) and use those, so then I can do the Push/Pull Config like that...since it's not working out so well with the way I was trying to do it:

Air vent on top of case
V
140mm fans
V
Top panel of case
V
Corsair H100 cooler
V
120mm fans for H100
V
Case interior

Such a pain in the butt. If I knew it was going to be such a pain, I'd have just gone with the 550D, lol.

 

[tougas]

in the top fan bay closest to the face to corner is left open there is nothing stopping you from running cables there just make sure you rotate the fan to give you the optimum distance to the corner and yes the top can fit 3 140 or 120 fans the gap is in the corner of the bay.

 

[Nebulocity]

in the top fan bay closest to the face to corner is left open there is nothing stopping you from running cables there just make sure you rotate the fan to give you the optimum distance to the corner and yes the top can fit 3 140 or 120 fans the gap is in the corner of the bay.

Ahh, ok. I found it!

Wow, this case is very loud! I have the fan "controller" fully loaded, and fans plugged into the motherboard. I can control those with Speedfan, but I really do wish that they added some sort of switch (like on some of the Corsair cases) to control those fan speeds.

Guess I'm off to look for a not-too-pricey fan controller that can handle 10 fans (or maybe just 6 or 7, since Speedfan can handle the ones connected to the motherboard.

Sheesh!

 

[tougas]

Ahh, ok. I found it!

Wow, this case is very loud! I have the fan "controller" fully loaded, and fans plugged into the motherboard. I can control those with Speedfan, but I really do wish that they added some sort of switch (like on some of the Corsair cases) to control those fan speeds.

Guess I'm off to look for a not-too-pricey fan controller that can handle 10 fans (or maybe just 6 or 7, since Speedfan can handle the ones connected to the motherboard.

Sheesh!

My case is loud too but its not loud from the fans mine appears to be load from the airflow. Its making more of wind tunnel noise rather than the traditional whining of a fan or fans.

 

[Nebulocity]

That's pretty awesome that you get that amount of airflow!

Mine was more of a vibration-type sound. I purchased an NZXT Sentry Mix, and it has done a great job over the few days that I have had it so far. It took all of 2 minutes to set up (well, after about 30 minutes of twisting bag ties and whatnot to hook up the fans, make sure it worked, then re-manage the cables). Now that I've got everythign set up, I'll probably switch my twisty-ties with actual zip ties for cable management so it looks less...Macguyver'ed ;-)

Although I must have left something loose in there, because there's a minor rattling in the case...I'll have to go hunting through to make sure I didn't leave something in there that could short the board, after I finish studying for Finals in school...one more week...ugh.

 

[Nebulocity]

Best answer selected by Nebulocity.

 

[Ladamyre]

Sorry I'm late, hope somebody who knows is still linked to a response here. I wanted to find out what type those stock fans are, PWM (4 pin) or just standard 3 pin fans?

 

[tougas]

which fans are you talking about? the stock ones with the case?
The stock fans are standard 3 pin connectors that are wired to a fan hub powered by a molex connector.