When I was a teen I worked a few months in an office where people chain smoked constantly.
My computer kept dying, and I started ranting about how much old these computers were. Based on how much yellow gunk was inside it. Like quarter inch layer on everythin.
I was informed they were less then six months old.
Resigned by end of month.
Chain smoking inside while working would disgust the average smoker! I wouldn’t put up with that unless it was well ventilated and I grew up with a parent who smoked and did so myself for a number of yrs.
That's freaking brilliant. You simultaneously cool the CPU, keep the CPU clean, and clean your air. I might be sslliigghllyyy worried about the filter decreasing airflow if you used a HEPA filter, but probably not much of an issue with a MERV filter.
I'd be all for a case manufacturer to clone my design in metal but I doubt that common HVAC air filter form factors are the same around the world; you'd either need an oversized design with adapter plates, or many case size variants.
I knew the Mammoth existed when I made mine, but it's not what I wanted.
The Mammoth is designed to withstand water spray and dust and still cool the components satisfactorily, while mine is designed to clean as much air as possible for the synergy with computer cooling.
Additionally, I wanted to use HVAC filters due to their price/availability and large area, and I wanted a vertical motherboard like the Raven so I could access all the motherboard ports on the top.
If anybody would do it, I think Silverstone would. They think out of the box.
Modern design considerations would be allowing for top-mounted radiators on the exhaust side, and having the power supply attached to the motherboard tray so you could route power cables behind.
Custom cut acrylic (or other plastic sheet) might be an option too. Pretty cheap if you stick to rectangles, though there are places that will cut based on your 2D vector files also.
Thanks, I forgot that was the case, I looked it up and you're right. I use merv 14 in my home and it eliminates smoke from forest fires, but not allergens, I'm going to get a hepa filter next time.
Pollen or animal allergens should be totally captured by a MERV 14 filter. Smoke is much more challenging to filter out, and that's where a HEPA would be better (but not necessary unless you're filtering incoming air directly).
More (or more powerful) fans will definitely work, but isn't "free" in terms of noise or electricity. Unlike a normal desktop it doesn't work to put this one in a different room. Still, with a MERV filter, I doubt it's too big a deal.
That's awesome! I wonder if a centrifugal fan would be better than the axial fans though. Centrifugal fans, IIRC, can handle resistance better than axial fans. They're better for forcing air through a filter. They're probably louder though, so it's a tradeoff. If I was building something like this and I owned a house, I might build a centrifugal fan, like a Fantech FR100 or something, into the attic suspended by elastic like I did for my old grow room. You could get great airflow with relatively little noise.
You're gonna run those fans anyway... And you've already paid a premium for quiet ones that can run 24 hours a day, and in some cases with variable speed. Why not do this?
One thing to watch out for: You want HEPA filters with a low static pressure. Less wear on the fan. Generally more surface area (folds) is a good rule of thumb. Those 3M filters for furnaces tested well (like top 3) the last time I bothered to look at reviews, and they're everywhere.
Bonus points for exhausting vertically. Convection.
I'm just going to sacrifice my dignity for all the other people who may be looking at that and thinking "how does that design keep the computer clean?"
I'm sure it works like you say, but I guess I'd expect the case to be on the other side of the filter if you wanted to use the filter to keep the computer clean. I assume that's not the point, and the cleanliness is coming from having a larger fan blowing over it?
omg I was looking for this! I remember seeing this build on /r/battlestations or somewhere like ages ago, but I could never find it. (Googling for "carvac hepa filter" doesn't seem to yield any relevant results)
You can also build your computer into an air filter like I did.
I'm currently running MERV 13 filters and it pulls over 100 CFM at a very livable noise level, currently equipped with Noctua NF-A12x25 fans.
The computer stays very cool but also incredibly clean.