So, I’ve been trying to find a system for Katherine’s grandma to use to browse the web and do some basic writing. I was digging around on Craigs List and found an add for a PIII 700MHz system with 128MB of RAM for $40. Not too shabby I figure…

I go and check out the system, and the guy tells me that he put a 256MB PC100 stick in the system instead of the 128MB as advertised, and as a result, the price went up to $50. Ok – no worries. Extra $10 for a single 256MB stick is well worth it these days. SDRAM is a bitch to find…

Anyways – the system boots up fine, and runs XP without a hitch. Sure, it’s not the speediest of systems, but for a web browser it’ll do just fine. I’ve got an extra 128MB PC100 stick lying around, so I toss that in just for kicks.

Here’s the fun part. I’ve got a number of old cases here at home. I really didn’t trust the power supply that the system came with, so I transferred the whole thing over to another case with a more reliable PSU, but before I did, I removed the built-in fan grille with my rotary tool. I took the 80mm fan that came with the old case and put it where the grille had once been. I used the super accurate “hand test” to see what difference to the airflow it made, and WOW. I’m guessing that I’ve now got about twice the airflow that I did before.

I had already removed the fan grilles in my CM Stacker case for my main system, but those were just the wire grilles, not the mesh built-in kind. It makes quite a difference to the overall airflow in the system, and allows you to run the fans slower with the same overal airflow, and even less noise than before. 🙂

I can’t find my camera cable right now, but I took a picture of the back of the case without the grille, and the cutout piece. I’ll post them here once I manage to get the pictures onto my computer.