Need help spec'ing a water cooled build case mod for a Lian-Li PC-V1010B

[ciaranohare]

Hi all,

I've been ear marking a new PC build project using the Lian-Li PC-V1010B. I am going for this case because its not a full tower yet I think it should be big enough to house a water cooled rig etc. I am hoping you can help with this assumption as I've never built a watercooled PC before. I've been building for years but only air cooled pcs.

I prefer to build a project on a month to month basis (affordable) so I'd be adding one piece of kit at a time. Although I think I'd need to buy the entire water cooled loop in one go.

Here's how I'd seen it panning out...

1. 
   Lian-Li PC-V1010B Case
   With side window (purchased else where)
   I have a Asus Commando mobo
   Q6600
   x4 gig XMS 2 800hmz (looking to Upg in time)
   x2 500 gig 7200 hdd (looking to upg in time)
   x2 250 gig 7200 hdd
   Hyper 850 watt PSU (looking to upg in time prob modular)
   8800 GTX (looking to upg in time although x3 sli 8800 gtx is appealing)
   x1 DVD RW SATA
   x1 CDRW IDE
   XFI Platinum SC

Any new hardware such as mobo's memory cpus gpus etc will be considerd at a later stage. For now I just want to build the best watercooled rig i can with what i've got. Although suggestions are welcome within reason!

Its important that the WC loop is internal and not external.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Cheers
C

 

[Ducky Spud]

You should be fine fitting a nice WC setup into that case. Would be better if you could remove one of the HDD cages at the bottom and fit a pump in there, but guessing your going to be using both?

Looks like theres room to fit a rad to the top of the case too, that where you planning it?

Good luck with the build, keep us updated

 

[ciaranohare]

Yeh i am willing to remove a hdd cage for sure if that means i can fit the WC pump and rad in the lower chamber. Although I am not 100% which is the best place to put the rad. I know its best to keep the resevoir as high as possible for better water pressure.

Has anyone else actually built a WC setup in this case yet? I've googled the bejesus out of the web and not one build i can reference!

 

[Ducky Spud]

You'll get a pump in there at the bottom but probably not a rad. Like I said, I would see if you can mount the rad to the roof of the case. Another common place is the back, but dont think that would work with that case (would block expansion ports)

As for res, have you considered a bay res. Would just take up one 5.25" bay and is a pretty easy solution

And snap, I cant find any other watercooled setups in this case, you may be on your own

 

[ciaranohare]

Yeh i was thinking of playing around with dif res. not sure which will look best yet, either the bay res or a dif quirky one if i can find it online.

Re the rads, well I've been measuring a x2 fan Rad and it should fit in the bottom compartment if i remove one of the drive bays. Alternatively I could use a x3 fan rad if i remove the hdd bays completely and add the bay to the front of the chassis.

Whats the story with dual v's tripple radiators? I really only want to cool my CPU at first and I've read that even single rads do the job nicely.

thx for the feedback Ducky Spud! If i get it right I might have the 1st online post for a WC case like this.

 

[Ducky Spud]

Well rads are typical of most things, you get what you pay for!! If you get a single TFC or Thermochill PA120 rad with a good fan on it (Noctua, Xigmatek etc) then that would be fine for cooling just the CPU.

However, if you went for a single XSPC RS120 (or other relatively low end/cheap rad) with some rubbish old fan on, it probably wouldnt do the job anywhere near as good.

If you can fit a dual rad in there then I'd say go for that for now. As long as its a good quality one you should be able to add a GPU block to that loop too without much trouble. However, if you do go tri SLi in the future, and watercool them, you might want to think about going for a seperate GPU loop altogether with another double or triple rad!