Fractal define s2 vision water cooling

brightside229 · 1 Jun 2019 at 20:49

Hi, So i recently received my new case, the S2 vision for my new ryzen build.

I am trying to piece together the pieces ready for a water cooling build.

I am a little confused regarding the radiator. I am wanting to top mount it, and i am wanting a 360 radiator. Trouble is am not 100% sure what thickness radiator the case will support. The thing that is throwing me off is that the booklet says it supports 120, 140, 240, 280, 360 to the top. But then it has two lines pointing to the 140 and 280 saying 35mm max. Which i assume means maximum thickness for the 140 and 280 is 35mm which is fine.

But why would the 140 and 280 have a maximum thickness and the 360 not? Anyone fitted a 35+ 360 radiator in the top case. or any one have any idea's?

I am well out of the game with things like this, last time i touched cooling was when i had a Vapochill LS on my athlon 64

Dominic-Toretto · 1 Jun 2019 at 21:29

Don't quote me on this, but I believe the 120mm mounts are inset further in, and will not clash with the mobo / components like the 140mm will, due to both lesser width and placement.

andy_mk3 · 1 Jun 2019 at 21:40

As above the 140 rads are wider and there isn't a lot of clearance with the wider rads.

I'm going to doing an S2 build with 2x 360 rads

brightside229 · 1 Jun 2019 at 22:16

Awesome, thanks for clearing that up! looking at the 280s vs 360's they are indeed a fair bid wider

So looks like you are correct, the extra width must interfere with the motherboard.

andy_mk3 · 1 Jun 2019 at 22:51

Yeah the 120 rads are offset towards the front of the case giving you more clearance. Although you are still limited to certain rads once you add fans too.

MikeTimbers · 2 Jun 2019 at 23:12

I have a older Define S not S2 but have a 280mm in the roof without too many problems with my motherboard. It's tight and you need to be careful with your build sequence but it's not really a problem

brightside229 · 4 Jun 2019 at 09:58

So just won a second hand Hardware labs nemesis 360GTR which is 398mm x 133mm x 54.7mm (L x W x H)

I'm pretty chuffed that i won it for the princely sum of £33.91 delivered, cheapest i found brand new is £111 + delivery.

Fingers crossed it fits to the top of the case, if not i will mount it at the front which wont be an issue.

If it fits the top i am considering also putting in the hardware labs 360GTS at the front. Question is will this be of any benefit for just an overclocked cpu? The new ryzen? i am thinking of future proof if i decide to water cool the new navi gpu

olliej82 · 6 Jun 2019 at 00:02

I've got the old define s with a 360mm 60mm thick rad in the top and a 240mm 60mm thick rad in the front. Still has room to fit a tube reservoir.