[SOLVED] Need case ideas

[matt.themcgee]

I'm planning a new build I'll be doing within the next year. My requirements are that the case must support E-ATX and must also have enough room for a double Liquid loop. Anyone know any good cases that can do those?

 

[Aeacus]

Since choosing a PC case is personal choice, we can't say which case to go for. Also, case selection depends on the rad sizes you're planning to use and which you've failed to mention.

In any event, you can start by looking towards:
Lian-Li: http://www.lian-li.com/large/
Thermaltake: https://www.thermaltake.com/products/chassis.html?cat=78

 

[matt.themcgee]

Since choosing a PC case is personal choice, we can't say which case to go for. Also, case selection depends on the rad sizes you're planning to use and which you've failed to mention.

In any event, you can start by looking towards:
Lian-Li: http://www.lian-li.com/large/
Thermaltake: https://www.thermaltake.com/products/chassis.html?cat=78

Hi. Thank you for reply. I plan on hopefully doing 360 rads. For purely aesthetic reasons I want to have separate loops for my CPU and GPU. Also I'm less looking for a definitive answer of a case and more looking for ideas, and maybe size requirements of how big the case would need to be. Right now I'm checking out the View 91 from Thermaltake.

 

[Darkbreeze]

The first thing you need to do is figure out EXACTLY which board you'll be using, and EXACTLY what the dimensions of that board are, and then compare that to any potential case because I've enountered MANY cases that say they support E-ATX motherboards, and then found that there are different sized E-ATX boards. Some of which would not fit into cases that claimed they support that form factor. Apparently, the form factor is used somewhat loosely for any board larger than ATX and some of them are significantly larger, while others are only slightly larger.

It would be good to have that information before even looking at potential case models.

 

[matt.themcgee]

The first thing you need to do is figure out EXACTLY which board you'll be using, and EXACTLY what the dimensions of that board are, and then compare that to any potential case because I've enountered MANY cases that say they support E-ATX motherboards, and then found that there are different sized E-ATX boards. Some of which would not fit into cases that claimed they support that form factor. Apparently, the form factor is used somewhat loosely for any board larger than ATX and some of them are significantly larger, while others are only slightly larger.

It would be good to have that information before even looking at potential case models.

That is extremely helpful. I was unaware of the problem with E-ATX being different sizes. Thank you very much for that input. I will make sure to do plenty of research into the exact Motherboard size.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Also, are you looking for large mid tower, or a full tower, because there are both that can support E-ATX motherboards and dual radiators, so it would be helpful to know some criteria regarding what your expectations are as related to the case itself.

Mid tower or full? Clear side panel or not? If yes, acrylic ok or needs to be tempered glass?

Main chamber drive bays or bays only on the backside of the motherboard ok? Support for 3.5" drives or only 2.5" SSD or M.2 will be used?

Number and size of fan locations that would be preferred?

Color preference?

RGB?

 

[matt.themcgee]

Also, are you looking for large mid tower, or a full tower, because there are both that can support E-ATX motherboards and dual radiators, so it would be helpful to know some criteria regarding what your expectations are as related to the case itself.

Mid tower or full? Clear side panel or not? If yes, acrylic ok or needs to be tempered glass?

Main chamber drive bays or bays only on the backside of the motherboard ok? Support for 3.5" drives or only 2.5" SSD or M.2 will be used?

Number and size of fan locations that would be preferred?

Color preference?

RGB?

Hi. I have no preference in mid vs full just so long as it would support duel 360 rad loops. I do want a clear side panel as for material of it I would prefer TG but have no problems with Acrylic. I plan on using m.2 drives. I hope to have a front 360 rad and a top 360 rad as well as a rear fan if room for good measure. Ideally a black or white case. No preference to RGB. And the Motherboard I intend to use is the Z390 Aorus Xtreme.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Cool. I'll throw a few options your way later today. Unfortunately, I have to work sometime. LOL.

 

[matt.themcgee]

Cool. I'll throw a few options your way later today. Unfortunately, I have to work sometime. LOL.

Very much appreciated.

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, I think the first option at the top of most lists, without going too crazy on price, would be the Fractal Design Define R6.

It supports up to E-ATX boards, supports up to 420mm radiators in the top, 360mm radiators in the front and 280mm radiators in the base. So technically, it could do three radiators, although I don't know why you'd want to, but the options are definitely there for two. Are you planning to do separate AIO coolers or a custom loop?

Might think about doing a 420mm custom loop that incorporates both the CPU and graphics card in one loop, if you're inclined. Otherwise, this case would do two separate AIO coolers without any trouble I think.

Also has TG side panel, and pretty much every feature you could want in a modern case.

How much are you willing to throw at a case?

 

[matt.themcgee]

So, I think the first option at the top of most lists, without going too crazy on price, would be the Fractal Design Define R6.

It supports up to E-ATX boards, supports up to 420mm radiators in the top, 360mm radiators in the front and 280mm radiators in the base. So technically, it could do three radiators, although I don't know why you'd want to, but the options are definitely there for two. Are you planning to do separate AIO coolers or a custom loop?

Might think about doing a 420mm custom loop that incorporates both the CPU and graphics card in one loop, if you're inclined. Otherwise, this case would do two separate AIO coolers without any trouble I think.

Also has TG side panel, and pretty much every feature you could want in a modern case.

How much are you willing to throw at a case?

I am not very concerned about $ with this build. My idea was to run 2 custom loops. One for the CPU and one for the GPU. Would the R6 be big enough for that?

 

[Darkbreeze]

So, are you planning dual reservoirs, or one reservoir for both loops? I think my concern here is that a lot of cases that list support for big dual radiators, may not support them in reality given a lack of real estate for locating reservoirs for them both. I'm not positive on that, as I have ZERO experience with building custom loops myself even though I have SOME theoretical knowledge of them.

Closed loop systems, I've done enough of to not be clueless. Mostly I'm an air cooled guy, but I also do a fair amount of case mods so I've encountered a variety of build related issues.

Maybe I'll bring somebody in with a truckload more open loop experience as I think his input would be not just beneficial, but maybe necessary as well.

 

[matt.themcgee]

So, are you planning dual reservoirs, or one reservoir for both loops? I think my concern here is that a lot of cases that list support for big dual radiators, may not support them in reality given a lack of real estate for locating reservoirs for them both. I'm not positive on that, as I have ZERO experience with building custom loops myself even though I have SOME theoretical knowledge of them.

Closed loop systems, I've done enough of to not be clueless. Mostly I'm an air cooled guy, but I also do a fair amount of case mods so I've encountered a variety of build related issues.

Maybe I'll bring somebody in with a truckload more open loop experience as I think his input would be not just beneficial, but maybe necessary as well.

I am planning on duel reservoirs as I plan on using a different color for both loops. Input from someone with a lot of experience would be amazing.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I sent him a message. He is usually very good about responding, so give him a chance to do so. Might not be until tomorrow. He's the top dog when it comes to open loops around here.

 

[rubix_1011]

So, did someone say watercooling loops?

Sounds like dual loops are being requested, and regardless of how this works out, we definitely need to know the hardware you intend to cool. Let me ask a few questions, all of which are going to be important in the decisions that follow.

1. What CPU? Is it going to be overclocked? If so, clock speed + vCore to get there.

2. What GPU, or if multiple, what and how many? Will they be overclocked or stock speed? If so, please list stock speeds & OC speeds.

3. What case will be used? I know this was asked further above, but without knowing what you have in terms of radiator mounting area, it will be difficult to provide many options.

4. What is your watercooling budget? This is liquid cooling components ONLY - I am assuming you have already purchased everything else in terms of hardware.

5. What are your expectations of how well this loop will cool? Have you researched your CPU and GPUs to see what other air and liquid cooling temps are, at least examples of them? Having an idea of what you can expect is helpful to maintain realistic expectations and to help clear up incorrect data provided from sources who might not have the most subject matter knowledge.

6. Will this be soft tubing, or is this expected to be a hardline tubing build? If the latter, please, please, PLEASE to yourself well by watching as many YouTube videos as you can on preparation, methods and how-to's. Also, you will want to do some practice prior to attempting at home. Please be aware that you can bend hardline tubing incorrectly where it looks well, but if the tubing is not at correct temperatures, you can weaken it or cause micro-fissures to form.

7. Have you read through the watercooling sticky? It is linked in my signature below. It needs a bit of updating, but the principles are essentially the same.

8. Do you know the total TDP wattage needing to be cooled? Please note that this is not the same value when using a normal PSU calculator - you only need to account for the power draw of the components to be cooled in the cooling loop; usually CPU and GPU(s). I have a handy calculation sheet linked in the sticky if you want to download it and play around with it.

 

[matt.themcgee]

Alright to answer your questions.

1: I plan on running the currently unreleased core i9-9900ks.

2: I plan on running 2 of the 2080ti Aorus Xtreme Waterforce WB.

3: I'm actually not sure about a case yet as I really don't know what cases would support what I have in mind (do you have any suggestions based on what info I provide?).

4: I'm not overly concerned about budged. I'd like to keep it under 1k but would be willing to go over if need be.

5: My expectations aren't that high on cooling performance as this will be my 1st watercooling experience. I've been looking to get into watercooling for a couple years and finally have the budget to do so and I want to go BIG on it hence the GPUs and CPU.

6: I plan on doing hardline tubing. I will make sure to do my research.

7: I am in the process of reading the sticky in my freetime as of about 30 minutes ago. However I'm a slow reader so I expect it to take a while for me to read and reread to fully understand and comprehend everything.

8: I do not know the total TDP needed to be cooled but I expect I can do the calculations based on the calculator provided in the sticky.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Took a while, but I finally got him here. It would have helped if I had PM'd the right person in the first place. Which I didn't. Sorry for that. LOL.

 

[matt.themcgee]

Lol. No worries at all. I'm just happy to be receiving such help at all. I havent even been on this site for a year yet but every time I have a question everyone is always so helpful.

 

[SPECOPS70]

Good midtower choice is:

http://www.deepcool.com/product/case/2018-09/9_9604.shtml

I bought it 2 months ago for the looks (rgb) and for what i can put into it. I am very happy with it. it looks amazing and i have:

ryzen 2600x
captain 240 pro
2x ssd's
2x hdd's
rtx 2060
rog b450 f gaming board
added 1 additional deep cool rgb fan for the rear

I would recommend it. has a few conns but it is great.

good luck

 

[Darkbreeze]

That case does not support dual 360mm radiator locations. It supports only ONE location with a 360mm radiator, and the other location supports only up to 280mm. That case is a no go.

 

[matt.themcgee]

Thank you for that clarification Darkbreeze. And thank you Specops for the suggestion even though it wont work out.

 

[matt.themcgee]

That case does not support dual 360mm radiator locations. It supports only ONE location with a 360mm radiator, and the other location supports only up to 280mm. That case is a no go.

Would the Obsidian Series 1000D Super-Tower be overkill in size? I feel like it might be but am not sure. Two other cases I am interested in but might be too small are the Saberay and the Define R6.

 

[Darkbreeze]

Although I'm sure that rubix will have some pretty specific recommendations on cases that he already knows are good for dual loops, I think one case you might want to look at is the Fractal Design Define S2. It supports up to 360mm radiators in front and up to 420mm radiators in the top.

It's completely geared for water cooling and I'm pretty sure it will easily support dual reservoirs. I have a 1st gen Define S. I'm thinking about getting a second gen Define S2 and doing a loop, but haven't decided for sure yet.

https://www.fractal-design.com/home/product/cases/define-series/define-s2-black-tg

 

[Darkbreeze]

The Define S2 IS the Define R6, just without the drive cages and such in the main compartment because it IS intended for water cooling. Other than that, they are an identical case. Basically it is the water cooling version of the Define R6.

 

[rubix_1011]

The Fractal line is often used by watercooling builds, so you could find several examples online as to what might work. You're looking at the following TDP loads based on typical base thermal design:

i9 9900 - 95watts at factory clocks/settings
2080Ti - 250-260watts (x2 = 500/520watts)

At factory clocks, you're looking at around 600 watts to cool in total, which power draw cannot = thermal load output 100%, so anywhere from 70-85% is more realistic, making this value around 450-510watts, although I like to lean towards the higher end. This could be handled by a single (thick) 360 radiator if you really wanted to. Otherwise, a single 360 for the GPUs would easily handle those cards and you could run a thick 240 or 360 for CPU, if you were planning to overclock.

If I was doing a no price is too much build for this, I would run dual loops - one for CPU with a thick 240 (45mm - 60mm thick) radiator. For the GPUs, I would run a normal 35mm or even 45mm thick 360 radiator, running the blocks in parallel, not serial. I would use DDC pumps with a small cylinder reservoir for both as I like pumps that handle restriction more than overall flow rates like the D5 tends to favor.

Radiator placement will really depend on what case you end up with and how much depth you actually get to mount radiators - remember that a thick radiator will be even thicker once you mount a 25mm fan, as well.