New Case

Gavster

Gavster

Gavster

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Joined
20 Dec 2020
Posts
566
Location
Leeds
Hi guys, I decided to treat myself to a new case, the lovely Lian Li 011D XL evo and covering options I got both the vertical and upright GPU mounts but I can`t make my mind up which one to choose.

First option is the vertical mount with the pump and reservoir mounted to the vertical fans, although the pipe routing is a bit more difficult I slightly prefer this.

https://i.-ibb.co-/yBR3jWwW/PXL-20251031-114744279-011253.jpg

Second option is the upright mount which I like, the pipe routing is easier and I like the location of the GPU but it hides the fans and could probably get a bit of noise from the fans blowing on the back of the GPU. I`m also not sure on the pump and Reservoir location as it looks a little odd looked worse elsewhere.

https://i.-ibb.co-/Xxdd4q0r/PXL-20251031-122024498-2-011233.jpg

What do you think?
I haven`t placed the top radiator and fans yet and I still have some tweaks to do but I`m torn between the two.
 
The amount of problems people have with rider cables I personally just go for the standard GPU mount… But that’s just my own preference to be honest.

I wouldn’t lose that nice radiator spot as it’s one of the best airflow parts of the case, mine is throwing tons of hot air directly out the vented back behind it.

What did you decide? They make a lot of distribution plates for these cases also a nice option ;)
 
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Nice case ;)

I went with standard mount with res/pump on lower fans. The Velocity CPU block makes tube routing a pita when not using a distro plate/have a res in the way. I intentionally got a X-Flow radiator to mount on the side upright slot to simplify my tube routing.

20251019-082411.jpg

20251019-081215-1-1.jpg
 
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I no longer watercool but what I have found with my 011 Evo RGB is that with the gpu in the vertical position with the three fans set to exhaust just about all the heat from the gpu goes straight out of the case and the gpu fans rarely ramp up. I have the case in inverted mode so the motherboard is upside down and airflow is in at the bottom of the case and out at the top and vertical position. The rear vents are blocked off with filter material. The cpu is cooled by a Thermalright 360mm AIO with the rad mounted up top. Every fan in the case is set to my motherboards silent profile so the pc is nice and quiet. I have not had any problems with putting the gpu on a riser. Previous was a Kolink pci-e 4 riser and now I use the recommended Lian Li pci-e 4 riser.
 
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Smffy said:
The amount of problems people have with rider cables I personally just go for the standard GPU mount… But that’s just my own preference to be honest.

I wouldn’t lose that nice radiator spot as it’s one of the best airflow parts of the case, mine is throwing tons of hot air directly out the vented back behind it.

What did you decide? They make a lot of distribution plates for these cases also a nice option ;)
Click to expand...
I have had two GPU riser cables and I haven`t had a problem with either so fingers crossed this one will be OK.

I have two radiators and they`re going top and bottom with the GPU upright mounted and the reservoir mounted on the rear bottom fan, I`m not a fan of distro plates personally, I prefer reservoirs and multi direction tubes as opposed to linear tubes with distro plates.
 
Sin_Chase said:
Nice case ;)

I went with standard mount with res/pump on lower fans. The Velocity CPU block makes tube routing a pita when not using a distro plate/have a res in the way. I intentionally got a X-Flow radiator to mount on the side upright slot to simplify my tube routing.
Click to expand...
Thank you, they are nice to work with.
I think I have sorted my routing by putting the reservoir over the rear fan and having the top radiator inlet and outlet at the rear.

I see you have the very nice uni fans, I wish they had done reverse version in 140mm as I have two 420mm radiators and the bottom fans I want the reverse so I went with the D30 fans.
 
pastymuncher said:
I no longer watercool but what I have found with my 011 Evo RGB is that with the gpu in the vertical position with the three fans set to exhaust just about all the heat from the gpu goes straight out of the case and the gpu fans rarely ramp up. I have the case in inverted mode so the motherboard is upside down and airflow is in at the bottom of the case and out at the top and vertical position. The rear vents are blocked off with filter material. The cpu is cooled by a Thermalright 360mm AIO with the rad mounted up top. Every fan in the case is set to my motherboards silent profile so the pc is nice and quiet. I have not had any problems with putting the gpu on a riser. Previous was a Kolink pci-e 4 riser and now I use the recommended Lian Li pci-e 4 riser.
Click to expand...
I have a Thermaltake 400mm riser cable on order but at the moment it`s on a pre order so I have a bit of wait for that.
 
Gavster said:
I have had two GPU riser cables and I haven`t had a problem with either so fingers crossed this one will be OK.

I have two radiators and they`re going top and bottom with the GPU upright mounted and the reservoir mounted on the rear bottom fan, I`m not a fan of distro plates personally, I prefer reservoirs and multi direction tubes as opposed to linear tubes with distro plates.
Click to expand...
Fair enough, I would still consider the upright GPU over the motherboard and whether you might have fans throwing air out the side mesh which draws quite a lot of heat out the rear of the case as it goes out. But it should be epic regardless
 
Smffy said:
Fair enough, I would still consider the upright GPU over the motherboard and whether you might have fans throwing air out the side mesh which draws quite a lot of heat out the rear of the case as it goes out. But it should be epic regardless
Click to expand...
Yeah I`ve had a look at various options but I`ve settled with the GPU upright at the side with fans blowing onto it to cool the back plate and bring some cool air into the case.
 
Have the fans sucking because if you have them blowing it will only blow the heat from the card into the case. Sucking will cool the backplate because the fans are so close to it they will just suck the heat from it and dump it outside the case.
 
So after a few issues that need sorting out I bought some Lian Li Infinity SL fans as I discovered that they had started making 140mm reverse fans. I was struggling with clearance issues at the bottom of the motherboard with the two usb3 connectors and at the top with the 8pin power lead so going to the 25mm Infinity fans from the D30`s helped with the clearance, they also look a lot better too.
I`m quite happy with the result.

https://i.-ibb.co-/7xsp0hdy/PXL-20260216-231631433.jpg
 
Sin_Chase said:
Looking good!
Click to expand...
Thank You, it wasn`t plain sailing, the pump failed while I was filling the loop so I had to drain it and buy a replacement as well as changing the fans due to clearance issues, buying a second riser cable as the first one wouldn`t fit through the GPU upright bracket and buying 2 90 degree USB3 adapter cables as the supplied cables wouldn`t fit due to the positioning on the motherboard. This in itself was a nightmare as there were none in stock in Europe so I had to order them from the USA but they were shipped direct from China.

It`s been one of those builds but I`m happy with the result.
 
I went for the vertical mount & put the reserviour behind the motherboard, below the PSU:
https://i.-ibb.co-/cS7DJGzB/PXL-20260310-113125297-MP.jpg
 
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R.C.Anderson said:
I went for the vertical mount & put the reserviour behind the motherboard, below the PSU:
https://i.-ibb.co-/cS7DJGzB/PXL-20260310-113125297-MP.jpg
Click to expand...
Looks nice, reverse too. I don`t have room behind the motherboard as I`m using both the HDD trays and I have the Lian Li fan hub stuck to the inside of the door hiding the cables.
 
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