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Case Recommendation for First Custom

About to design my first water cooling loop and plan on placing a GPU and CPU in the loop with a 360 rad and a 120/140 rad (optional). I had my eye on the Fractal Define S Window, Fractal Define R5 Window, and the Cooler Master MasterCase 5. My current build is in a HAF 922 which has long outlived it usefulness. Looking for a case that is modular, water cooler friendly, has a window, and is mid size ie smaller than the HAF 922. Any recommendations. 

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How about the Segotep K7 RGB Fully Tempered Glass Mid Tower ATX Gaming Casing. I can't seem to find it anywhere out of Asia, but you can probably order it from the site above and ship it to your country. It costs 359 Malaysian Ringgit which translates to about 86 USD.

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Fractal Define S Window all the way :)

6600K - ASUS Z270i Gaming ITX - 8GB Corsair  Vengence LPX DDR4 2400MHZ - EVGA 1070SC - 120GB HyperX Savage SSD - CX430 PSU:|

PSU tier list- 

 

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Just now, Freezanator said:

How about the Segotep K7 RGB Fully Tempered Glass Mid Tower ATX Gaming Casing. I can't seem to find it anywhere out of Asia, but you can probably order it from the site above and ship it to your country. It costs 359 Malaysian Ringgit which translates to about 86 USD.

Wow that case looks good but I not going planning on going thru the hassle to have it shipped to the US :(

 

2 minutes ago, Matt_98 said:

Fractal Define S Window all the way :)

Thats what I am thinking. It def looks really good. 

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What is your budget and what accent colors are you looking for?

My Daily Driver:

 

Acer Predator Helios 300
»« Intel Core i5-8300H »« 16GB DDR4 RAM »« NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB »« Silicon Power A60 512 GB M.2 SSD »« 
Toshiba PC L200 1 TB HDD »« Microsoft Windows 10 Home »«

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7 hours ago, Lyte Starr said:

Have this case, love it.

 I saw that the case has mounting for reservoir pump combos. Did you have any issue with mounting your pump/reservoir. 

 

7 hours ago, Freezanator said:

What is your budget and what accent colors are you looking for?

My budget is 125 US and looking for all black or red/black 

 

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7 minutes ago, dmoney1942 said:

My budget is 125 US and looking for all black or red/black 

 

Found a couple which have the Red/Black scheme:
Corsair Carbide Series Black/Red Steel ATX Mid Tower
Rosewill Redbone - Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
InWin 703 Black SECC ATX Mid Tower Case

My Daily Driver:

 

Acer Predator Helios 300
»« Intel Core i5-8300H »« 16GB DDR4 RAM »« NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6 GB »« Silicon Power A60 512 GB M.2 SSD »« 
Toshiba PC L200 1 TB HDD »« Microsoft Windows 10 Home »«

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Do anyone have any experience with the cooler master MasterCase Series of cases for water cooling 

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1 minute ago, Ichi said:

None of those can fit a 360 rad which is what OP wants...

What's a 360 rad? 360mm radiator?

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Toshiba PC L200 1 TB HDD »« Microsoft Windows 10 Home »«

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7 hours ago, Freezanator said:

What's a 360 rad? 360mm radiator?

Yup.

 

Just get the Define S, it is built with watercooling in mind.

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28 minutes ago, Ichi said:

Just get the Define S, it is built with watercooling in mind.

 From what i seen in the forum, It seems to be a popular case. 

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Check out the InWin 805, although no support for a 360 rad unless you mod the front... but that is actually quite an easy mod to do... comes in red/black and looks very similar to that Segotep one linked to before.

 

Also, you could look at the InWin 303... I just did a build myself in that, which you can see HERE. You can get x2 360 rads in here if you want, and it comes in black or white (although I vinyl wrapped mine), and the front panel light is blue. However, it is blue by virtue of a blue acrylic insert, so modding this wouldn't be THAT hard.

 

30120-hi.jpg

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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6 hours ago, atomicus said:

Check out the InWin 805, although no support for a 360 rad unless you mod the front... but that is actually quite an easy mod to do... comes in red/black and looks very similar to that Segotep one linked to before.

 

Also, you could look at the InWin 303... I just did a build myself in that, which you can see HERE. You can get x2 360 rads in here if you want, and it comes in black or white (although I vinyl wrapped mine), and the front panel light is blue. However, it is blue by virtue of a blue acrylic insert, so modding this wouldn't be THAT hard.

Wow I have to say that is a nice build with the InWin 303. How did you install that radiator in your build. It looks side mounted. 

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8 minutes ago, dmoney1942 said:

Wow I have to say that is a nice build with the InWin 303. How did you install that radiator in your build. It looks side mounted. 

 

Yes, if you look at the case that's how it's designed, with the top 'shelf' allowing rad placement on side, so fans are facing outwards. Very unique design, and the glass side panel really sets it off. It's a gorgeous case, and would be worth it at twice the price IMO! If you see any case with a glass side panel, it really destroys any case with perspex/acrylic... just looks so much more expensive and classy.

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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7 minutes ago, atomicus said:

 

Yes, if you look at the case that's how it's designed, with the top 'shelf' allowing rad placement on side, so fans are facing outwards. Very unique design, and the glass side panel really sets it off. It's a gorgeous case, and would be worth it at twice the price IMO! If you see any case with a glass side panel, it really destroys any case with perspex/acrylic... just looks so much more expensive and classy.

Trying to figure out the airflow on that case, it seems to defy logic with the rad facing that way. I do agree with you, It be hard press to find a case with a glass side like that. 

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23 minutes ago, dmoney1942 said:

Trying to figure out the airflow on that case, it seems to defy logic with the rad facing that way. I do agree with you, It be hard press to find a case with a glass side like that. 

 

Defy how? Intake at bottom, exhaust out the top rad through the side panel... pretty simple. ;)

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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23 minutes ago, atomicus said:

 

Defy how? Intake at bottom, exhaust out the top rad through the side panel... pretty simple. ;)

now that you put it that way xD. so there is a spot for air to escape from the top. Did not notice from the pictures of the case. Reviews mentioned that the cable management was difficult. Did you run into any problems. 

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59 minutes ago, dmoney1942 said:

now that you put it that way xD. so there is a spot for air to escape from the top. Did not notice from the pictures of the case. Reviews mentioned that the cable management was difficult. Did you run into any problems. 

 

Yes if you see pictures of the case elsewhere you will see that side panel has cut outs which allow air exhausted from those top fans to escape out the side. My temps are excellent, idling around 15-18 deg C, and in gaming I've yet to get much above 40-45 deg for CPU or GPU! And it's VERY quiet.

 

Cable management at the rear of the motherboard tray is not the best design, I agree with that. There is probably a good 1-2cm too little space, but it's do-able. You just can't mash all the cables together and hope for the best as you can with many cases these days, so a bit more planning and attention is required. No big deal in the grand scheme of things though. :)

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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11 minutes ago, atomicus said:

 

Yes if you see pictures of the case elsewhere you will see that side panel has cut outs which allow air exhausted from those top fans to escape out the side. My temps are excellent, idling around 15-18 deg C, and in gaming I've yet to get much above 40-45 deg for CPU or GPU! And it's VERY quiet.

 

Cable management at the rear of the motherboard tray is not the best design, I agree with that. There is probably a good 1-2cm too little space, but it's do-able. You just can't mash all the cables together and hope for the best as you can with many cases these days, so a bit more planning and attention is required. No big deal in the grand scheme of things though. :)

xD That what I did with the HAF 922. I stuck all my cables from my non modular PSU behind the motherboard tray because there was so much room back there. I do not think i can use my non modular PSU with this. However i need to get another one anyways because it already over 6 years old. Looks like this case will work better with a mini ATX motherboard. ATX looks too big

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8 minutes ago, dmoney1942 said:

xD That what I did with the HAF 922. I stuck all my cables from my non modular PSU behind the motherboard tray because there was so much room back there. I do not think i can use my non modular PSU with this. However i need to get another one anyways because it already over 6 years old. Looks like this case will work better with a mini ATX motherboard. ATX looks too big

 

It would be harder with a non-modular that's for sure. There is nothing wrong with an ATX motherboard in this case. The only issue would be if you had your USB 3.0 connection at the bottom, as they have big chunky connectors so it would restrict fan/rad placement down there. Mine is at the side on my motherboard, so no problem. I had no real issues, and I have the fans and a wide Hardware Labs radiator down there. It was a bit of a fiddle getting it all in, and I can't access the bottom of my motherboard now, but I really don't see that as an issue. But yes if you had a Micro ATX motherboard that would make things a bit simpler. No need for Mini ITX, that's TINY!

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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1 minute ago, atomicus said:

 

It would be harder with a non-modular that's for sure. There is nothing wrong with an ATX motherboard in this case. The only issue would be if you had your USB 3.0 port at the bottom, as they have big chunky connectors so it would restrict fan/rad placement down there. I had no real issues with mine though, and I have the fans and a wide Hardware Labs radiator down there. It was a bit of a fiddle, and I can't access the bottom of my motherboard now, but I really don't see that as an issue. But yes if you had a Micro ATX motherboard that would make things a bit simpler. No need for Mini ITX, that's TINY!

I do agree with that USB 3.0 Port. That thing is huge compared to other ports. Yea Micro ATX seems like a good option or regular ATX. I prob go EK for all my Rads. 

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1 minute ago, dmoney1942 said:

I do agree with that USB 3.0 Port. That thing is huge compared to other ports. Yea Micro ATX seems like a good option or regular ATX. I prob go EK for all my Rads. 

 

Check some reviews... the EK rads aren't actually that great, which is why I went for Hardware Labs. They're not terrible by any means, but there are better options available. For fittings though I can't recommend them enough.

System: Ryzen 7 5800X - Gigabyte X570 Aorus Master - Noctua D15S Chromax - 32GB 3600 RAM - EVGA Black 2080Ti

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1 minute ago, atomicus said:

 

Check some reviews... the EK rads aren't actually that great, which is why I went for Hardware Labs. They're not terrible by any means, but there are better options available. For fittings though I can't recommend them enough.

Thanks for the advice. 

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