How difficult is a case swap?

[Saint Crake]

Alright, I ordered a pc from ibuypower and I got the Erbus XL. Anyway, when they say it's XL they don't joke. It's larger than some of the systems supermicro makes and it must weight at least 90 pounds. Anyhow all the components are the same size save for all the case fans.It's got a koolance water cooling system. This case size is just ludicrous and I was wondering, if I were to order a normal size case how hard would it be to swap everything over, with or with out the watercooling. i should just be able to get a standard case and a decent cpu cooler and transfer everything over right?

 

[phearbot]

Without the water cooling it probably wouldn't be a huge ordeal if you know what you're doing. Hopefully someone who knows more about water cooling will weigh in on that bit for you, but the only major things you need to be concerned about is that the case will be big enough for your motherboard. If you have a full ATX board and you get a smaller case it may be meant for Micro ATX or Mini ITX.

As you said all of the parts are the same size, I will take you at your word. If you were using an air cooler, you would likely not even have to detach it from the motherboard. You would basically leave your RAM and CPU attached, disconnect any SATA devices, unscrew the motherboard, and swap over. You'd also have a few minor things like moving the motherboard faceplate for the back of the computer, but it's fairly trivial. I'd guess 30 minutes tops, barring water cooling.

 

[linsyschopman]

Without the water cooling it probably wouldn't be a huge ordeal if you know what you're doing. Hopefully someone who knows more about water cooling will weigh in on that bit for you, but the only major things you need to be concerned about is that the case will be big enough for your motherboard. If you have a full ATX board and you get a smaller case it may be meant for Micro ATX or Mini ITX.

As you said all of the parts are the same size, I will take you at your word. If you were using an air cooler, you would likely not even have to detach it from the motherboard. You would basically leave your RAM and CPU attached, disconnect any SATA devices, unscrew the motherboard, and swap over. You'd also have a few minor things like moving the motherboard faceplate for the back of the computer, but it's fairly trivial. I'd guess 30 minutes tops, barring water cooling.

i've just done my first case swap and no, 30minutes is not how long it's going to take definetly plan in 1-2 hours if it's your first time and if you're planning on cable management or anything.

 

[phearbot]

Mmmm.. The more I think about it I think linsyschopman is probably more accurate. I was thinking how long it would take me having done it plenty of times, and frankly I usually don't worry much about cable management. A couple of zip ties and I'm done.

Thanks linsyschopman for throwing that in there.

 

[Trenchcoat]

Alright, I ordered a pc from ibuypower and I got the Erbus XL. Anyway, when they say it's XL they don't joke. It's larger than some of the systems supermicro makes and it must weight at least 90 pounds. Anyhow all the components are the same size save for all the case fans.It's got a koolance water cooling system. This case size is just ludicrous and I was wondering, if I were to order a normal size case how hard would it be to swap everything over, with or with out the watercooling. i should just be able to get a standard case and a decent cpu cooler and transfer everything over right?

Depends on your parts. System details and Pics as always are best for making a useful appraisal of your situation and what we can do to better it.

 

[linsyschopman]

Mmmm.. The more I think about it I think linsyschopman is probably more accurate. I was thinking how long it would take me having done it plenty of times, and frankly I usually don't worry much about cable management. A couple of zip ties and I'm done.

Thanks linsyschopman for throwing that in there.

haha no problem, i might have been a little too anxious considered it took me almost 3 hours, but yeah my cable management was a huge pain because my seasonic psu cables were just too damm short.

 

[Saint Crake]

Without the water cooling it probably wouldn't be a huge ordeal if you know what you're doing. Hopefully someone who knows more about water cooling will weigh in on that bit for you, but the only major things you need to be concerned about is that the case will be big enough for your motherboard. If you have a full ATX board and you get a smaller case it may be meant for Micro ATX or Mini ITX.

As you said all of the parts are the same size, I will take you at your word. If you were using an air cooler, you would likely not even have to detach it from the motherboard. You would basically leave your RAM and CPU attached, disconnect any SATA devices, unscrew the motherboard, and swap over. You'd also have a few minor things like moving the motherboard faceplate for the back of the computer, but it's fairly trivial. I'd guess 30 minutes tops, barring water cooling.

Alright, I ordered a pc from ibuypower and I got the Erbus XL. Anyway, when they say it's XL they don't joke. It's larger than some of the systems supermicro makes and it must weight at least 90 pounds. Anyhow all the components are the same size save for all the case fans.It's got a koolance water cooling system. This case size is just ludicrous and I was wondering, if I were to order a normal size case how hard would it be to swap everything over, with or with out the watercooling. i should just be able to get a standard case and a decent cpu cooler and transfer everything over right?

Depends on your parts. System details and Pics as always are best for making a useful appraisal of your situation and what we can do to better it.

Operating System
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core i7 4820K @ 3.70GHz
Ivy Bridge-E 22nm Technology
RAM
8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 800MHz (9-9-9-24)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. X79-UP4 (SOCKET 0)
Graphics
BenQ XL2420TE¬ (1920x1080@60Hz)
3071MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 (MSI)
Storage
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10EZEX-00BN5A0 ATA Device (SATA) 28 °C

Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST BDDVDRW UH12NS30 ATA Device
Audio
ASUS Xonar DSX Audio Device

I was looking on Amazon and decided on the Cooler Master HAF X - Full Tower Computer Case with High Airflow Windowed Side Panel and USB 3.0 and Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2) for a CPU cooler. I probably will just remove the watercooling, unless it'll fit in this case. Also, will I need to buy case fans as well?

 

[manofchalk]

Normally a case swap would be pretty quick and simple, though whenever custom water-cooling is involved it will make things more complicated and take longer. Since you bought it pre-done, I suggest you look up how to assemble a loop, because your pretty much going to have to tear it apart and put it back together.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHNFhTAvvBA
Probably also worth buying some extra tubing.

I have a HAF-X and love the thing, though I wouldn't recommend it. Quite simply its an old case, there are new cases that just have much better functionality and features. The NZXT Switch 810 is a pretty good option.
Whether your water loop will fit in the HAF-X depends on what you have in the loop. You can natively fit a 360mm radiator at the top of the case, though there are ways of packing more rad space into it (external mounting, like I did, can have another 360mm. Remove the 3.5 drive cages, thats a 200mm or 240mm rad).

Check my build log, can see what I have done with custom water in my HAF-X.

 

[sora]

Without the water cooling it probably wouldn't be a huge ordeal if you know what you're doing. Hopefully someone who knows more about water cooling will weigh in on that bit for you, but the only major things you need to be concerned about is that the case will be big enough for your motherboard. If you have a full ATX board and you get a smaller case it may be meant for Micro ATX or Mini ITX.

As you said all of the parts are the same size, I will take you at your word. If you were using an air cooler, you would likely not even have to detach it from the motherboard. You would basically leave your RAM and CPU attached, disconnect any SATA devices, unscrew the motherboard, and swap over. You'd also have a few minor things like moving the motherboard faceplate for the back of the computer, but it's fairly trivial. I'd guess 30 minutes tops, barring water cooling.

i've just done my first case swap and no, 30minutes is not how long it's going to take definetly plan in 1-2 hours if it's your first time and if you're planning on cable management or anything.

This, if you are a beginner I'd suggest keeping the case since you might screw up w/ the water cooling if your iBuyPower PC includes it.