Help me choose a case for custom Watercooling

1kiwi

1kiwi

1kiwi

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Joined
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Hi All,

I'm currently at the limit of my current CPU (mid 70's load temps) and i really feel like taking the plunge into watercooling. I'm planning on a single CPU loop for now.

I was thinking about going for the following main components:

Decent bay res with custom top
Dtek Fusion with quad nozzle
Laing D5 / Laing Ultra 18W
Thermochill PA120.2

I know that i will be hard pushed to get all of this into my current Antec 900. My original plan was to get a MM UFO case but i simply can't afford it.

Can anyone suggest a decent case that will enable me to fit in the above components without to much hassle / cost.

All comments suggestions welcome.
 
You could mount the radiator externally with the Swiftech rad mount (ocuk sell them) for a tenner.

Not as neat but has the following advantages:

No new case required
The air blowing through your rad is room temp not case temp

That's what I did with my watercooled setup as my case (antec p180) was too small to put the rad inside.

The Laing d5 is a great pump but I would also consider getting a XSPC Edge which is better than a Dtek fusion V1 but slightly worse than a v2.

It's advantages is that it is a low resistance block and will still be giving you maybe 3gpm flow whereas a fusion with nozzle may drop below 1gpm in flowrate.

It will then give you the option to easily add a gpu cooler to the loop without having to worry about a 2nd loop and flowrates.

Have a look here:

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/XSPC-Edge-Acrylic-CPU-Preview.html

And here:

http://www.martinsliquidlab.com/D-Tek_Fuzion_V2-Review.html

You will notice a XSPC edge is one degree better than a fuzion v1 with quad nozzle and the fuzion v2 is 2.5 degrees better than v1 and 1.5 degrees better than an Edge.

Also of note is that unlike the v1 fuzion blocks there is no, and I repeat, no gain from using a nozzle with the v2 block so you can save some money there.
 
Nice responses guys.

BTW Huddy, i'm familiar with your build log - Nice work mate.

Does anyone know of a build log for the 900 that utilities an external rad as mentioned by Greebo?
 
Could I suggest the slimline Mod for the Optical Drive on your 900?

If you then removed the Hard Drive cages in the 5.25" bays, then you could fit the PA120.2 behind the lower two fans, get some cheap brackets to fit your two hard drives into the upper two bays and have it all internal :D
 
"slimline Mod" - Sounds good, however, with the 120.2 in the front, where would i put the bay res and optical drive?

Can you provide an example of this?

Note: I'm still willing to consider replacing the case.
 
Arrr, OK. So i would have the PA120.2 where the existing fans are in the front, and the harddrive cage below the DVD drive at the top. The pump and res would sit on the bottom somewhere?
 
Pretty Much - The Slimline Mod (Search Case Central forum for the it, theres been a couple done there) basically squeezes a slimline dvd-writer into the plastic fascia below all the 5.25" bays right at the bottom of the case.

Your PA 120.2 would then fit into the bottom 7 bays of the case, leaving you two bays free at the top. These can then be used for a HD each.
 
When i think about it, i could probably live without having a DVD drive permanently contained within the case.
 
Arthalen said:
Your PA 120.2 would then fit into the bottom 7 bays of the case, leaving you two bays free at the top. These can then be used for a HD each.
Click to expand...

Hi, i just measured it and according to the demensions on this ocuk page, it will be slightly too long for the 7th bay slot :confused:

Perhaps an external one is the only way to go, unless someone can show me an example.
 
Greebo said:
Y
It will then give you the option to easily add a gpu cooler to the loop without having to worry about a 2nd loop and flowrates.
Click to expand...

I don't want to sacrifice too much cooling power by adding the GFX card to the loop. How much do you think this would effect the CPU temps?
 
A PA120.2 will easily power through cooling both a Quad and a single GPU.

As for the dimensions issue, double check the dimensions on the Thermochill website's PDF Design document by Marci. I'm sure when I measured it up there was two free bays....
 
beh* said:
I don't want to sacrifice too much cooling power by adding the GFX card to the loop. How much do you think this would effect the CPU temps?
Click to expand...

Well, so long as you went with a low resistance cpu block and gpu and have a good quality double rad and pump, not much.

I was just cooling my cpu before I added the GTS G92 to the loop and my cpu temps only went up by 1 - 2 degrees.

Okay, it really depends if you are trying to eek out the last few mhz of overclock from your cpu. If so, buy two loops but not worth the money IMO.

So now for 24/7 use my 3.8Ghz Q6600 peaks at 66 C instead of 64C in prime95. So what? It never gets that hot in day to day use plus I now have my gpu hitting 43C max and running at the silly clocks as per sig. And my watercooling setup is a long, long way behind your proposed one. You should see 5C+ better temps.

A modern decent loop with a good double rad and decent components can cool both cpu and gpu perfectly fine.

The fuzion v2 without nozzle is still the best cpu block by 1.5 degrees over the edge but it is very, very restrictive in comparison.

If you were looking at buying the v1 fuzion then definitely get the edge instead as the edge is one degree better than the v1 fuzion with quad nozzle.

Don't forget until recently the v1 fuzion with quad nozzle was considered the best cpu block by miles for a quad so anything which is a better cooler and less restrictive is still miles ahead of the competition.

Less restriction = higher flowrates which means the water will transfer the heat away from the cpu quicker so long as the rad is up to the job.

I would recommend the thermochill rad as you have specced for a cpu/gpu loop.
 
DSCN2322.jpg


Could get a mount like that on the rad?

I use mine for my 2pumps. They are made by mountain mods
 
Greebo said:
Well, so long as you went with a low resistance cpu block and gpu and have a good quality double rad and pump, not much.

I was just cooling my cpu before I added the GTS G92 to the loop and my cpu temps only went up by 1 - 2 degrees.

Okay, it really depends if you are trying to eek out the last few mhz of overclock from your cpu. If so, buy two loops but not worth the money IMO.

So now for 24/7 use my 3.8Ghz Q6600 peaks at 66 C instead of 64C in prime95. So what? It never gets that hot in day to day use plus I now have my gpu hitting 43C max and running at the silly clocks as per sig. And my watercooling setup is a long, long way behind your proposed one. You should see 5C+ better temps.

A modern decent loop with a good double rad and decent components can cool both cpu and gpu perfectly fine.

The fuzion v2 without nozzle is still the best cpu block by 1.5 degrees over the edge but it is very, very restrictive in comparison.

If you were looking at buying the v1 fuzion then definitely get the edge instead as the edge is one degree better than the v1 fuzion with quad nozzle.

Don't forget until recently the v1 fuzion with quad nozzle was considered the best cpu block by miles for a quad so anything which is a better cooler and less restrictive is still miles ahead of the competition.

Less restriction = higher flowrates which means the water will transfer the heat away from the cpu quicker so long as the rad is up to the job.

I would recommend the thermochill rad as you have specced for a cpu/gpu loop.
Click to expand...

Yep, definitely going thermochill and will probably use the EK block as suggested. Cheers for the advice :)
 
waso_dude said:
DSCN2322.jpg


Could get a mount like that on the rad?

I use mine for my 2pumps. They are made by mountain mods
Click to expand...

Hi, thank you waso for the screen shot. If that is indeed the antec 900 then could you please supply more screen shots, in particular how cramped the box is once everything is in it. Also, how did you secure the rad and where did you put the harddrives, res and pump? Thank you in advance.
 
Problem solved:

Just bought this of the MM.

Ste-PC-Proc-1-JPEG.jpg


Cool huh. Now i just have to fill it with watercooling goodies.
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