Thermaltake Armor LCS

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17 Aug 2013
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I am currently looking towards a new case with a better cooling solution. I have come across a Thermaltake Armor LCS which is quite cheap. Looking into it as it's quite old now it's designed for socket 775 where as I have 1155. What adapter would I need in order for this?

Alternatively, I've noticed the Corsair h100 for sale on this site (also a used h100i on ebay for £17 more, is that worth it?) but what case would you recommend to go with that? as I'm on a budget so the cheaper the better.
 
Forget the Thermaltake armor LCS, it is essentially a normal full size case with a low quality custom loop, where the radiator is built into the case. In reviews it seems to offer the same cooling as mid range air cooling. The radiator it has built in seems okay, so it might be the block that is to blame.

Unless someone has made it for you, you will have o fit the hosing and blocks together, it will essentially be like doing a custom loop from scratch, just more fiddly considering the radiator is fixed to the HDD cage. Even if someone has already made the loop and is reselling it, it is probably well used and is due a clean or replacement hosing to avoid algae and other nasty things. If this was the case, you might as well be heading down the proper watercooling custom route for all the trouble it will cost you.

If good cooling is all you are after, get a cheap case that can accommodate larger, high end air cooling and that will be the cheapest and most effective way to your heat problems. H100i is a decent cooler in terms of performance but i would never buy one second hand privately. There have been a lot of posts on this forum about the Hxxi's pump failing and if that happens, you cant RMA it since it is privately bought.

Go for a new h100i/h80i or get a cheaper refurbished one from OCuk or go for high end air cooling with a case that can take the size of the cooler you chose. For the h100i, the case just needs to be able to mount a 240mm radiator near the CPU. The H100i is 27mm thick, so make sure you can fit it in without it getting in the way of your motherboard heatsinks or RAM.
 
Thanks, I'll continue to have a look around. A lot depends on the case I'll get I suppose.

The refurbished h100 is very tempting, at the same time so is a Thermalright true spirit 120/140.
 
The radiator it has built in seems okay, so it might be the block that is to blame.

The radiator being old school is aluminium IIRC which means it's basically the same as the one on the H100. The tubing is sub 3/8" and the pump is a bit on the weak side (though those two sort of cancel each other out) and the CPU block is an outdated design. Having said that, if the OP just want's to cool the CPU then an LCS plus the addition of a new CPU block would deliver performance on par or better than any closed loop cooler and offer a building block for expansion.
 
I got my TT LCS 7 years ago and I am still using it :).

Watercooling is nothing special, but it gets the job done, I had a [email protected] and temps were fine, around 60 at load iirc. It is also very easy to install. The rad is built in but it can be removed.

A very beautiful case imo, also huge which means you have plenty of room to work with.

I have removed the watercooling last week because I upgraded my rig, but I was impressed that the pump was working flawlessly after 7 years!
 
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