I'm not sure what you want to remove by cutting, but you mention your fan seems "quite loud lately". Oftentimes a buildup of dirt and crud over time, on the fan blades will cause any fan to be more noisy. It doesn't take much either.

GG

It's not the fans, they are clean, what I am talking about is the metal grill that covers them, I am POSITIVE it is what is causing the noise.
http://www.thermaltake.com/images/cases/products/wingo/shared/80mmFan.jpg

This might give you a better idea:
http://www.polywell.com/case/10-bay-Mid-Tower-601-back-side.jpg
See the two round fan grills with the squares in them? Mine is like that only it has circular holes.

The photo helps a lot. I can only think of using a dremel tool with a cutoff wheel as making the cleanest cut, Other than that, You might try drilling the surrounding holes with a drill bit large enough to cut near the edge of the hole without the bit grabbing and ripping the metal, then finish with a file. You'd probably need to remove the fan first.

GG

I don't see any logical reason why a fan would get louder because of the grill stamping, which obviously hasn't changed over time.

More likely is that the fan bearings are going out, and that is causing the fan to wobble on its axis and make noise. This is a very common failure.

The fix is simple: replace the power supply, or take it apart and replace the fan separately. These items are readily available at places like Fry's.

Logical reasons....let's see....air moving quickly past thin slits, similar to how woodwind instruments work. Test it out for yourself. Take you fan an unscrew it from your case and listen to how quite it is, then put it up the the holes and check the difference.

Also another reason for me doing this is to improve airflow in my case. The amount of air prevented from entering/exiting my case because of those holes is unacceptable...again, check it out for yourself if you want to.

It is not that it has just lately been making more noise, it is just that I have noticed it more lately.

i just realized i read your comment wrong...i didn't quite read the part about getting loud over time when i wrote the first sentence above

Perhaps the easiest cure for this would be "white noise" such as a stereo,cd player, etc.
Mike A

Next time paste your link in the "Optional Link URL" Then add a word or two as I did.

I believe the bearings are bad which causes the fan to move against the metal grill. Maybe you can add one or two flat washers to move the fan away from the housing instead of replacing it. My 2¢

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Everyone who can find the gardenweb metalworking forum should own a Dremmel tool. Go get one and have fun carving up your case. Just post the results, quieter or no.

You may want to consider taking the guts out of the case first. Computer parts won't like tiny metal bits all over themselves.

If you have a compressor already, a cut-off tool can be bought from Harbor Freight for 20 bucks. You will need the compressor to blow the chunks out of the case afterwards too :). Have fun.

Kurt