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Beating the Heat: A DIY 180mm Fan Mod for My Server Rack

One of the absolute biggest drawbacks of having a server rack in your house is the notorious combination of constant overheating and jet-engine noise levels.

Today, I decided to tackle both of these problems in one fell swoop. Standard rack fans just weren’t cutting it, so I brought out the heavy artillery: I mounted two gigantic Fractal Design FDE Dynamic X2 GP-18 PWM Black 180mm fans right at the top of the rack. To make them fit, I had to do a bit of custom metalwork and cut a dedicated hole in the top panel.

The result? Absolutely worth it. Thanks to this DIY solution, I can pull a massive volume of air through the rack every single minute, keeping all the hardware chilled, and most importantly—it does it all while remaining incredibly quiet.

An inside look from the bottom up. You can see the two massive 180mm Fractal Design fans securely mounted to the top panel, towering over the rack-mounted power strip
Another interior upward shot showing the PWM fan cables routed down from the new 180mm setup
The top view of the rack showing the DIY surgery. I had to cut a custom rectangular hole out of the solid metal chassis