Associate
Been helping a friend recently with selecting parts and building a new system, he's gone for the Phanteks P500A case in white, and I recommended the Arctic Freezer II 360, although no RGB with that, we were fortunate enough to pick up a good pre-owned unit (Rev 2) and then some suitable RGB fans from the members market which also meant we had an RGB fan for the rear of the case, all for the same cost as a the coolers RRP.
So when putting it all together, turns out he encountered a little fitment/compatibility issue with trying to fit the radiator in the top of the case, again, just like the front of the case and the issue with the fans not fitting outside the chassis behind the front mesh panel, phanteks have half-assed the job of compatibility by penny pinching and skimping on materials by a few millimetres
As you can see from these pictures, when placed in the top of the case and mounted as best as you can using the recessed mounting slots, the radiator hits up against the back of the case, and results in all but about 4 of the screw holes being misaligned (back of case is at the top of the right hand picture)
The issue, is this folded strengthening lip on the back panel, and the rivets that hold it in place, should have either spot welded the flat panel in place, or made it 5mm bigger, it's not like the Artic Freezer Radiator is monstrously over sized, just a poor job of ensuring compatibility no doubt driven by penny pinching.
The solution, as you can see here is to use some of the mesh holes and some small rubber washers between the radiator and the mesh, this allows all bar the tube end of the radiator to be fastened in securely. The top insert being flexible does indeed still fit, but those with OCD might wish to use suitable countersink head screws! (back of case is at the bottom of the picture)
It does raise the question, why didn't they just use a top panel with compatible size/spaced mesh holes stamped in it over the entire area, and simply supply rubber washers and do away with the contrived mounting positions, again, over complication in trying to create compatibility failing for the smallest and stupidest of reasons.
So when putting it all together, turns out he encountered a little fitment/compatibility issue with trying to fit the radiator in the top of the case, again, just like the front of the case and the issue with the fans not fitting outside the chassis behind the front mesh panel, phanteks have half-assed the job of compatibility by penny pinching and skimping on materials by a few millimetres
As you can see from these pictures, when placed in the top of the case and mounted as best as you can using the recessed mounting slots, the radiator hits up against the back of the case, and results in all but about 4 of the screw holes being misaligned (back of case is at the top of the right hand picture)
The issue, is this folded strengthening lip on the back panel, and the rivets that hold it in place, should have either spot welded the flat panel in place, or made it 5mm bigger, it's not like the Artic Freezer Radiator is monstrously over sized, just a poor job of ensuring compatibility no doubt driven by penny pinching.
The solution, as you can see here is to use some of the mesh holes and some small rubber washers between the radiator and the mesh, this allows all bar the tube end of the radiator to be fastened in securely. The top insert being flexible does indeed still fit, but those with OCD might wish to use suitable countersink head screws! (back of case is at the bottom of the picture)
It does raise the question, why didn't they just use a top panel with compatible size/spaced mesh holes stamped in it over the entire area, and simply supply rubber washers and do away with the contrived mounting positions, again, over complication in trying to create compatibility failing for the smallest and stupidest of reasons.