Help with Watercooling & Case

The Asgard

The Asgard

The Asgard

Soldato
Joined
27 Jan 2003
Posts
5,962
Location
Chesterfield, UK
Hi,
Looking for some advice.I have about £350-400 to spend on a case and the water cooling kit including the blocks, which will cool a X2 4400 & 1900/7900.

My train of thought at the moment is a Swiftech H20-220 Apex water cooling kit. Currently using an Asus Vento Case and I am guessing that this kit won't fit although mounting the rad externally looks likes a possibility? Assuming it doesnt fit which case do people recommend? I like the look of the Lian Li V1000 ? Any suggestions ? Must be in black and I'm looking for a easy mod for a bodge free rig.

Is this still the water cooling kit I should be looking at for this sort of price range? I was going to go for a Koolance PC3-725. Built a few watercooled rigs in the past but always ended up a bit of a pig. Worked well but always ended up a BagOCrap because of things being a tight fit.The kit needs to run whisper quiet normally but for benching have the power to cool or better still run whisper quiet with some good overclocking at the same time.

I have been going around a bit in circles so any help would be greatly appreciated to get the most from my money. Needs to last me a while ;)

Cheers for any input
 
Vento was a strange decision at at the time but I just fancied a change and it fitted in well with the Reserator. Thought about the V2000 but the size puts me off. Mounting the rad on the back would also free up the inside. Don't want screw up an expensive case.
 
shadydelboy said:
1) Swiftech H20-220 Apex "Ultra" Watercooling Kit £163.27

2) Lian-Li PC V1000 PLUS Silver Aluminium Midi-Tower £140.94

Would be easy to say that and just be done with it, however, with that dosh and case, I'd be much more inclined to go full custom H2o, squeeze some more performance, like:

ThermoChill PA120.2 £50.79
AquaXtreme 50Z-DC12 £54.99
AquaXtreme MP-05 SP Limited Edition CPU £43.99
Maze 4 GPU £34.99
Danger Den fillport £9.99
7/16" ID Masterkleer PVC Tubing £5.23
Misc (water, additives, clamps, barbs, ptfe) £15

Total £214.98

A little bit more, but thats a killer loop, and would do veeeery nicely in that case :)
Click to expand...

Cheers for that m8. What fans would you recommend? The system need to be whisper quiet if possible or adjustable. So would you fly with the v1000 case ? 120.2 over a 120.3 ? Its knowing where to draw the line. TIA
 
Really appreciate the input. Really is difficult to decide what to do. Am I right in thinking that its the law of diminishing returns? Although I have that amount to spend I dont want to throw the money away, theres always soemthing else to get.

Main concern is mounting the rad with the lian V1000 case. My last watercooled project was a nightmare the rad was slightly too wide and I couldnt fit the side panel.
 
shadydelboy said:
120.3 deffo if it will fit, although it should if you are mounting on top (could even look @ mounting inside at top, although you have said you don't wanna cut)
Click to expand...

When you say mounting on top do you mean the entire rad sitting on top? or just the rad at the top of the case and the need for holes to be cut in the top?
 
Top external sounds a tad ugly and wouldn't show the case off but cutting holes in the top and screwing up is scary stuff for an expensive case.

So the 120 holes are dremeled and not drilled with a cutter ? Am I right in thinking you use a dremel for pretty much all case modding ? If so what dremel / ???? would you recommend? I just used a drill in my last project probably not the right tool for the job hence the mess.
 
shadydelboy said:
Nah, I used demel to sound dramatic :p

114mm hole saw + arbour + decent drill + masking tape + decently mapped out spaces to cut = Very nice looking.

Even if you mess up a little, you can use big fan grilles to cover up :)
Click to expand...

:D. What fan controller would you recommend m8?

Can I ask what you used? Case & Kit.
 
shadydelboy said:
TBH any fan contoller would be ok, look for one with 4 fan options and you are away. Asaka look nice :)

Currently I have a P160 and W/C loop as in my sig, only cutting was internal (HDD cages, and a few other bits) but I have done a few top mounted rads (internal) and they all looked sweet as a nut, best was on a V2000 black, with silver grilles, 3 x 120mm fans for a HE 120.3 internal, looked schweet :)
Click to expand...

Must admit I'm torn between the V1000 and 2000. I like my rigs on the desk so I can see the thing but a 2000 might be just a tad much.
 
MikeTimbers said:
For a low restriction rad like the PA series, Nexus fans (or Yate Loon but they're like hen's teeth)
For a high restriction rad like a heatercore, a 38mm deep fan like the Panaflo L1A or the M1A on a fan controller.
Click to expand...

Quiet fans are a must have and I dont mind paying a bit more for the quiet. I will checkout the Nexus Fans m8.
 
TonyMontana said:
I bought these yesterday ...no intention to overclock just needed silence :)

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.p...ial=RC-830&other_title=+RC-830+CM Stacker 830
http://www.zalman.co.kr/eng/product/view.asp?idx=160&code=021

of course I do not recommend the zalman for extreme overclocking ..swiftech seems to cover that area better... but the case... oh the case... the case kicks @55 :D


P4 prescott 3GHz, nvidia 6800..
Click to expand...

Just sold my reserator because it was struggling with the overclocked X2 [email protected] and overclocked X1900XT @ 690/800. But to be fair it was the GPU block that wasn't man enough for the job. Good kit though
 
chaparral said:
Am still thinking of getting one these and adding a 120mm rad to one the 120mm fans as well..

The only thing thats puts be right off it.is it takes up the top pci slot..So went running sli gfx cards it going leave me very limited...Plus some asus motherboards need that top slot for sli cards..Plus other motherboards may follow the same asus lay out later.

If not..I may get the longer v1200 case.and mount my own daul 120mm rad & fans under the top plate..It be cheaper that way.(v1200 case is only £10 more then the v1000 and a lot longer.so the rad and psu will fit much better).

Lian Li V1000
6e843810.jpg


Lian Li V1200 (Bet you could fit a triple 120mm rad to top of this one or even two daul 120mm rads. :D :D )
The only problem is.It don't look right..It looks to long.
c7f1b583.jpg
Click to expand...

Not seen the 1200 before, looks interesting m8. Width I can deal with a bit more than hight. So your going for a 725 and an extra 120.1 ?
 
chaparral said:
The Asgard

I can't make my own mind up what to go for..I been reading,thinking and seaching for last 2 to 3 weeks..it's driving me crazy...Which ever case and cooling system i go for.I can bet i wish i got a different one a week or so later.

My favorite one is the black v1000 with the builtin koolance for sure..But it's so much money to loose if i don't like it when i get..

The other problem i don't like is the window on the wrong side on the v1000 cases.
(it's on the other side to normal cases because of the upside down motherboard).
and i have my PC on my right side on my desktop so i would not be able to see the window side..
Click to expand...

Do you know I have exactly the same problem ! I don't like the panel on the wrong side too. What are we to do?? I thought by asking a few questions here might make the decision plane sailing but like you its now driving me mad.
 
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