Another "Which case" thread, sorry...

GoogalyMoogaly

GoogalyMoogaly

GoogalyMoogaly

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I'm planning on building a water-cooled PC.
I'm looking for a cheap case that will allow me to mount a 240mm rad and a separate 120mm rad (I'm planning on cooling CPU and graphics card).
I don't want to have to do anything fancy like modding the case and I'd prefer not to spend too much as the cost of this "water-cooling experiment" is starting to snowball.
I initially looked at the CM 690 II Lite as it was pretty cheap and apparently has room for a couple of radiators. Upon further reading it seems that to install the rad at the top you have the fans in a pull role rather than a push one. Does this work as well? How does static pressure work when pulling? Also the fact that you have to mount the fans and rad either side of a grate seems to me like it would hinder the operation of the rad/fan combo?
Partly due to the fact that there don't seem to be many of these in stock anywhere I ended up also looking at the CM HAF 922 case. I've got the HAF 932 on another PC and quite like this case so the HAF 922 is tempting. However from what I can tell with this case the rad actually sits outside the case on the top, again with a grate separating the fans and rad.

Am I right with this or have I been mislead by pretty pictures on the interweb?

Also it seems by the time I add a few extra case fans (too cool things like the HDDs and motherboard/chipset) the 690 II Lite doesn't work out much/any cheaper.

I've been thinking about this for ages and still haven't reached a decision...

Are there any cases under ~£80 (the cheaper the better really) that allow the fans and rad to be mounted internally without too much fuss?

Thanks in advance for any info or advice.
 
What about the CoolerMaster Storm Sniper black case?
It's a bit more expensive than the 690 II and the HAF 922, but is it worth the extra?
Seems to have a place to mount a 240mm rad, but does it actually work?
 
If you're going storm sniper territory, RV-02 might be a better bet.

RVO2WC.jpg

pic stolen from here

And still with enough space for an H50/70 in the top
 
oLysmoLy said:
wow whats the name of this case
Click to expand...

Thats a Silverstone Raven 2 Link to Purchase from OcUK

Its a cracking case (the pic is from the evga usa forums, the u.s.a guys have done some crazy things with the inverted layout, RVO2/FT02).

Can handle a 420 without any modding (enough cooling for a gpu+cpu easily), aswells as the possibility of just about fitting the biggest rad on sale the Hardware Labs Black Ice® SR Series 560mm Quad Radiator with some lite cutting of the case. A very good alternative to an 800D for watercooling.
 
I did look at the Raven 2, read some reviews, but there's just something I don't like, can't put my finger on it.
It might have been that at the time I was using a DVI -> VGA converter to connect my monitor and I think a review said this could cause problems with the top of the case fitting properly. Maybe that just stuck in my mind.
How would you set up a CPU and GPU loop with just 1 Rad? Surely you'd be carrying hot water from one over the other one before hitting the rad. unless the rad was in-between but then the hot water would go back to the reservoir.

Sorry, WC noob here...
 
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