Looking for the smallest possible case that will house custom water cooling loop

hughythomas

hughythomas

hughythomas

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Hi guys

The time has come to upgrade my second rig based in a Sugo SG03.

The thing is, I will be upgrading to the GTX 680 in my main rig and use a custom watercooled loop housed in a TJ07.

I am looking for a transportable m-ATX/ATX case (former if possible) so that I can simply move my GTX 580 with EK block into the 2nd rig without hassle.

Having two custom loop based machines make more sense to me as I can simply swap components around and use all the spare fittings/hose I have etc.

What would be the best case for this scenario?

I keep coming back to the Fractal Design Arc Mini - is this pretty much the best?

Ideally I want to be able to cool a CPU/GPU with 2x Dual rads (ideally one rad would be an XSPC RX240) so there has to be space enough to house all of this BUT be transportable as I want to be able to take it to a friends house etc.

What say you guys?
 
Fractal Design Arc Midi is certainly the easiest small case.

You can do it with quite a few other cases, but yeah, it can take quite a bit of modding.

Shayper modded a 240 Rad into an FT03. But I think it was far from easy...

kd
 
Well yeah, it's bigger... But mini doesn't look too bad actually...

http://www.overclock.net/t/1230219/fractal-design-arc-mini-is-a-liquid-coolers-dream

To be honest, just google watercooling fractal design arc mini and you'll probably get a good idea of what you can do with it. Same can be said of most cases... Looks like if you took out the hdd bay you might be able to get a second 240 in the bottom, then have a drive bay res combo...

kd
 
I'm intrigued as to the thickness of radiator that the Arc Mini/Arc Midi will fit in the roof...

Wonder if I could fit an XSPC RX240 there for example?

Thanks again for the reply KD - I have done some background research but can't find too many examples of watercooled builds around these cases.

Shoulda gone specsavers I guess.
 
Yeah, annoyingly it's hard to say without having the case in front of you obviously... I'm pretty sure someone has done a mod with the Midi on the forums, but can't quite remember who. If you can find them (or anyone who owns one) then it might be worth asking them to measure up.

kd
 
Any case as long as you are open minded enough to work out how to mount things and where!

WP_000032.jpg


WP_000031.jpg


My Lian-Li PC-A06b had nowhere for a rad, and I had to ingeniously mount the pump on the rear.
 
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Nice build there dude!

Any more recommendations for small mATX cases that can facilitate a custom water loop setup?

Ideally I'd like to get at least a dual rad in there (thicker rad if possible!).
 
There is a Phobya mATX watercooling case, I'm sure it was available a few weeks ago but I can't find one for sale now. It's pretty ugly though.
 
Yer, I can't seem to find that case at all!

I'm liking the look of the new unreleased Bitfenix Prodigy. Granted it is only ITX but this second rig of mine is purely for LANs anyways. Maybe ITX would be more appropriate as I want to keep the portability of the thing!
 
I've got a PC Design Labs QMicra V2 that I bought from the MM. It's about the same size as a Lian Li V351, and the design incorporates carrying handles in the roof panel, which makes it easy to lug around.

Takes a 240mm rad mounted on the side panel, so I don't think a thick rad would be a problem.
 
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