Best case for internal water cooling loop?

[thebski]

Hey guys,

Planning a new build here, and I'm strongly considering water cooling. I'm wondering what the best case would be to fit a water cooling system inside? I'm going to be cooling either a six core SB-E or quad core SB processor overclocked, along with at least 2 large nVidia graphics cards. I have 570's right now, but when I upgrade to 680's or whatever they'll be I would buy water cooled versions. That means I'm probably looking at a 360mm and a 480mm radiator in one large loop. Is there any regular case out there that people have had success fitting something like this into? I kind of prefer to stay away from the cube cases if possible. My preference would be an HAF X, but I currently own one and there's no way something like that is fitting inside.

Thoughts?

 

[thebski]

Yea, $700 is stupid for a case when A) it looks pretty bland and B) a $220 case can fit enough cooling inside for a cpu and 3 GPU's. Hell, $700 for a case is stupid always.

 

[bejabbers]

The Xigmatek looks like a great case. Do you guys think a 240 mm rad would fit in the bottom behind the PSU?

I am thinking a 480mm rad up top, a 120mm rad on back, a 240 mm rad either behind the psu in the bottom or in the bottom front hard drive bay area standing upright with and move the hard drive bay behind the psu.

yup.

if you put the psu at the bottom, there's room for a double at the bottom and a triple up top. if you mount the psu at the top, then you have room for a double at the top and a triple at the bottom.

 

[thebski]

yup.

if you put the psu at the bottom, there's room for a double at the bottom and a triple up top. if you mount the psu at the top, then you have room for a double at the top and a triple at the bottom.

What about a 280(2x140) at the bottom with 420(3x140) at the top? Am I getting too greedy?

The Seasonic X-1250 is 7.48" long per Newegg, fwiw.

 

[Homeboy2]

Yea, $700 is stupid for a case when A) it looks pretty bland and B) a $220 case can fit enough cooling inside for a cpu and 3 GPU's. Hell, $700 for a case is stupid always.

No if it has a lot of clear panels and flashing lights.

 

[thebski]

The $220 case has a huge clear panel (almost too big), and will have enough red lights when I'm done to blind somebody.

I'd consider a $700 case if I owned a 3960X, 4 GTX 580's, 64 Gb of ram, and about 480 Gb of SSD storage space, and still had so much money left over it was pissing me off.

 

[saint19]

Even that, I'd buy the $700 case

 

[tjosborne]

so the haf x cannot have a completely internal wc loop with 3 cards? i was thinking of getting this case and another 570. that and my cpu overclocked to 4.5 is 954w. so should i be looking at a new case or is it do-able?

 

[saint19]

Why not? The HAF X can support those three GPUs without problems.

 

[bejabbers]

What about a 280(2x140) at the bottom with 420(3x140) at the top? Am I getting too greedy?

The Seasonic X-1250 is 7.48" long per Newegg, fwiw.

definitely the 420 at the top, bu with such a long power supply, maybe only a single at the bottom. What you could also do (which I did for my rig) is put another single rad over the exhaust on the back panel, which I believe would fit a 140. So that would give you a triple 140 at the top, a single 140 on the back and a single 140 on the bottom. Tons of rad space.

 

[rubix_1011]

When it comes to watercooling, you have to think a little more creatively than just 'what fits without making it fit'.

I've said this before, and someone has it as their signature- entering the world of watercooling immediately enters you into the world of case modding.

 

[bejabbers]

When it comes to watercooling, you have to think a little more creatively than just 'what fits without making it fit'.

I've said this before, and someone has it as their signature- entering the world of watercooling immediately enters you into the world of case modding.

investing in a dremel is probably one of the best things you could do.

 

[rubix_1011]

investing in a dremel is probably one of the best things you could do.

x100

 

[thebski]

Well I invested in a Xigmatek Elysium, and I'm putting a 420 at the top with a 240 where the drive bays go.

No, I could not mount a water cooling system for a cpu and 3 gpus internally on an HAF X without cutting it all to hell.

I'd rather avoid serious modding as long as I could. I don't mind some minor modding here and there, but if all I'm going to do is decimate a case I'd get out the sheet metal, chop saw, and welder and get to work on my own case.

 

[bejabbers]

Well I invested in a Xigmatek Elysium, and I'm putting a 420 at the top with a 240 where the drive bays go.

No, I could not mount a water cooling system for a cpu and 3 gpus internally on an HAF X without cutting it all to hell.

I'd rather avoid serious modding as long as I could. I don't mind some minor modding here and there, but if all I'm going to do is decimate a case I'd get out the sheet metal, chop saw, and welder and get to work on my own case.

it's a very good case to get started with. With some minor modding, the possibilities on that case are endless.

To start with though, I hate how the top of the case looks... it's almost unfinished. See if you can find a shroud that will go over it, so you can mount the fans in push/pull with the pull fans on the outside of the case... Just a suggestion.

 

[thebski]

it's a very good case to get started with. With some minor modding, the possibilities on that case are endless.

To start with though, I hate how the top of the case looks... it's almost unfinished. See if you can find a shroud that will go over it, so you can mount the fans in push/pull with the pull fans on the outside of the case... Just a suggestion.

Yea the shroud they sent with the case is awful and worthless. I have fans mounted in push/pull but everything is inside the case, and just with the screw heads in the top the shroud won't go back on. Also, for whatever reason, when HWLabs decided to make their GTX 420 they decided it would be fun to leave a little space between the fans. They did not do this on their 240mm version. Because of that, the holes in the top of the case didn't line up so I had to do some slight modding by just using a die grinder to extend the holes a little bit. I'm just going to get some decent sized washers, paint them and the bolt heads black and I think it will look fine.

 

[thebski]

Here are a few pictures of what I have so far. Frozen CPU was out of the Bitspower Rotary fittings, so they shipped late and won't be here until the end of the week. As soon as I get them I can finish up.

Drives painted black to match everything else. The color difference isn't as different in normal lighting as it shows up here under flash. I used a semi gloss paint and should have used flat black probably.

All fans are red LED and I'm still waiting on res, fittings, fan controller, blu ray drive, another 8 gb of memory (red to alternate with the black), and a 240GB Vertex 3.

The res is an EK MultiOption Advanced 250. I fear that the 250 may be too tall. I plan on it going between mobo and media drive bays. The pump will be mounted on top of the hard drive bay.

I was particularly pleased because it required no modding to mount the hard drive bay where it is. The bottom of the hard drive cage has pre threaded holes in it and I was able to line up some of the honeycomb holes with the holes in the hard drive cage and just used the included thumb screws to mount it in place.

 

[bejabbers]

looks awesome!

 

[we1shcake]

you really dont realise how massive this case is without the motherboard in it, someone should built a m-ITX system in one for comedy value, congrats on the case, looks fantastic

 

[thebski]

I must say I'm very happy with how it's turning out and how I think it'll turn out. The only problem is I won't have water cooled graphics cards in it until the GTX600/700? series comes out. I have 570's and don't really want to sell them to drop 1500 on 580 Classy Hydro Coppers just to have the 780 come out in a few months.

I also have to mention the motherboard. I am so impressed with the Maximus IV Extreme appearance wise. It's gorgeous and the red/black theme is going to be perfect!

 

[Motopsychojdn]

When it comes to watercooling, you have to think a little more creatively than just 'what fits without making it fit'.

I've said this before, and someone has it as their signature- entering the world of watercooling immediately enters you into the world of case modding.

you called?

@Op, nice looking job man, but yes as you realised, matt black is the way hehe
@Bejabbers,
I'm voting for an additional 480 mounted on the top when Op is ready hehe, some nice legs and it will sit just nice 'finishing' the top off I reckon

Now, lets see how your cables turn out, I'm confident its going to look great
Moto

 

[bejabbers]

you called?

@Op, nice looking job man, but yes as you realised, matt black is the way hehe
@Bejabbers,
I'm voting for an additional 480 mounted on the top when Op is ready hehe, some nice legs and it will sit just nice 'finishing' the top off I reckon

Now, lets see how your cables turn out, I'm confident its going to look great
Moto

I think there's room in the front for a triple rad, instead of a double... or maybe, with some minor modding, a 2x2 120 rad

 

[Motopsychojdn]

yeah...... RX240 sized rad actually inside the harddrive cage
Op, whats the internal measurements on the hdd cage? I'm curious now to see if it would fit hehe
Moto

 

[thebski]

Any 120mm wide radiator will fit where the hard drive cage is meant to go (i.e. down in the front where I have mine). I was originally hoping to get a 280mm in there, but I tried to put my 420 in there and it was too wide. How big a radiator you get in the front depends on how many media drive bays you need. With 3 media drives, a sound card, and a fan controller a 240 was all I was going to get in there. A 420 is actually larger than a 480 surface area wise so I figured I'd be just fine with a 420 and 240. You could get a 360 in there if you only need 2-3 media drive bays.

I will get you internal measurements later today. I should be tearing into it with fittings and all later today, so I'll measure the width and depth of the hard drive/media drive cage.

As far as the actual removable drive cage that I'm planning to mount my pump on, no you won't be getting any radiators to mount inside that thing.

 

[wolfram23]

+1 for buying a dremel. I finally got one and it made my internal 900 II WC project a LOT easier.

Also, I rather like the Silverstone TJ07B. It's just got a really good design IMO. It's big, but not too big. I think the 800D is a little too large lol. I also like that you can stick all your rads in the bottom compartment.

 

[rubix_1011]

This topic has been closed by Rubix_1011