Like some on here, we like to not follow the norm, and try to do something unique, makes it all the more challenging.
So here I was with a dillema, most of the current crop of cases like the Corsair series and Silverstone series and LianLi and a number of Coolermasters are commonly used for liquid cooled configurations. It was hard enough trying to find a case which no one has liquid cooled before at an extreme level, ie. custom work rather than an off-the-shelf H50/H70 etc...
So....
I came upon Fractal Design - I fell in love with the simple design and solid build, the build quality of the XL was just outstanding. The powder-coating was top-notch, and fairly resilient to regular scratching etc... And to top it off, it was a pre-silenced case with some serious weight to it (great for me as I have a few mastiffs which have a habit of sleeping next to the case and knocking them over!)...
The box-of-tricks which controls all the fans and pump is the wonderful mCubed T-Balancer BigNG.
With the pump at 50% duty, and the fans at 2% duty, regular use and idle barely hits 30c! On full load with Prime (heat-gen mode) it barely peaks 49c.
This is a 3.8oc'd quad 6600, with an FSB of 470.
I'm in love with this build, not only does this case look the part, but cable-management and hose management is out of this world. I've literally hid everything. Also have added my own liquid level sensor to the res so that a blue led flashes with a buzz sound when it gets halfway
The hoses have plenty of slack to work on this board without even having to deal with watercooling hoses, the idea was a clean build that one could jump into and switch ram and CPU and even swap out the MB without barely any extra effort on-top of say an air-cooled configuration.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat, heres the pictures, hope you enjoy... I'm not much of a photographer, but I did my best with the little compact camera...
Case: Fractal Design Define XL (redefined)
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LC configuration:
1 x Triple 140mm Magicool Hi-Flow Slim Radiator
2 x EK XT Dual 120mm Hi-Flow Radiators
1 x EK Supreme LT waterblock
1 x Swiftech Chipset waterblock
1 x Danger Den GPU Full Card waterblock
1 x Swiftech v2 Reservoir
1 x DDC 18w Pump with XSPC Hi-Flow Top
1/2" ID plumbing between radiators, res, pump
Dual 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fittings to CPU waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to Chipset waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to GPU waterblock
The usual drain-ball-valve and Bitspower fillport, etc etc...
Pump and fans controlled by the mCubed T-Balancer BigNG
Yate Loon SH's 140mm and 120mm
...
Case was bought from OC, so too was the XFX PSU! Would have bought the rest of the bits here, but OCUK are still wayyyyy behind on the watercooling components stock selection side of things - sort it out already! Could have saved a packet and a half if I bought everything here LOL!
So here I was with a dillema, most of the current crop of cases like the Corsair series and Silverstone series and LianLi and a number of Coolermasters are commonly used for liquid cooled configurations. It was hard enough trying to find a case which no one has liquid cooled before at an extreme level, ie. custom work rather than an off-the-shelf H50/H70 etc...
So....
I came upon Fractal Design - I fell in love with the simple design and solid build, the build quality of the XL was just outstanding. The powder-coating was top-notch, and fairly resilient to regular scratching etc... And to top it off, it was a pre-silenced case with some serious weight to it (great for me as I have a few mastiffs which have a habit of sleeping next to the case and knocking them over!)...
The box-of-tricks which controls all the fans and pump is the wonderful mCubed T-Balancer BigNG.
With the pump at 50% duty, and the fans at 2% duty, regular use and idle barely hits 30c! On full load with Prime (heat-gen mode) it barely peaks 49c.
This is a 3.8oc'd quad 6600, with an FSB of 470.
I'm in love with this build, not only does this case look the part, but cable-management and hose management is out of this world. I've literally hid everything. Also have added my own liquid level sensor to the res so that a blue led flashes with a buzz sound when it gets halfway
The hoses have plenty of slack to work on this board without even having to deal with watercooling hoses, the idea was a clean build that one could jump into and switch ram and CPU and even swap out the MB without barely any extra effort on-top of say an air-cooled configuration.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat, heres the pictures, hope you enjoy... I'm not much of a photographer, but I did my best with the little compact camera...
Case: Fractal Design Define XL (redefined)
. 
. 
. 
LC configuration:
1 x Triple 140mm Magicool Hi-Flow Slim Radiator
2 x EK XT Dual 120mm Hi-Flow Radiators
1 x EK Supreme LT waterblock
1 x Swiftech Chipset waterblock
1 x Danger Den GPU Full Card waterblock
1 x Swiftech v2 Reservoir
1 x DDC 18w Pump with XSPC Hi-Flow Top
1/2" ID plumbing between radiators, res, pump
Dual 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fittings to CPU waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to Chipset waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to GPU waterblock
The usual drain-ball-valve and Bitspower fillport, etc etc...
Pump and fans controlled by the mCubed T-Balancer BigNG
Yate Loon SH's 140mm and 120mm
...
Case was bought from OC, so too was the XFX PSU! Would have bought the rest of the bits here, but OCUK are still wayyyyy behind on the watercooling components stock selection side of things - sort it out already! Could have saved a packet and a half if I bought everything here LOL!
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