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Watercooled Fractal Design Define Nano S

thenzfarmer
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Go to solution Solved by GrumpyBear17,
6 hours ago, thenzfarmer said:

Hmmm given this a bit of a look - the left most fan of the top rad sits above the rear fan, hence no screw or L bracket needed.
If a L bracket was needed, it would be to attach the rightmost fan of the SE240 to the front rad in your scenario.

Bummer. In my build the fans intersect perfectly at the corners, and I didn't feel confident with the radiator just being held by pressure and not much else on the panel-side (even though its tight!). Keep in mind that I have the fans for the front rad on the outside, so I have a lot more room to move

 

I also noticed the rivets on the inside of the case get in the way of flush mounting a front 280mm radiator, I'm gonna grind them down and re-clamp. They stick out about 4mm.

Posted (edited)

Hello,

 

I thought I'd log my build as it has been such a painstakingly difficult process!

It isn't completed yet, I still need to throw in a 1080tI and complete two lines of tubing but I can finally see the end... and it will be so rewarding when I get there!

 

Anyway.

I used to have a MATX Bitfenix Aegis case in which I had an I5-4690K paired with a 1070 at first and then a 1080Ti. The PC had a pretty neat dual radiator cooling system paired with a whole in 1 pump. It was a flexible tubing build with constant white lighting from a total of 9 Coolermaster 120mm and 140mm fans. Cooling was exceptional and it was a positive pressure build so dust was never an issue despite being in one heck of a dusty city (Melbourne).

I felt the urge to upgrade the CPU after 5 years of trustworthy performance and sold the whole build.

I owned a Razer blade 2016 for a while and the performance loss from the external GPU was just depressing so after about a year of ownership (much of it concurrent with that of my desktop), I sold it to another adventurous soul.

 

So.

I decided to build a more compact watercooled desktop that would pack a punch and look slick.

I started by looking at a few cases and narrowed it down to two - The Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Mini ITX and the Fractal Design Define Nano S. I wanted a small build with great watercooling options. The Fractal case won out because it made no sense to me that the Phanteks case enabled top mounting a 280mm rad without efficient airflow (seriously!).

 

I still had my 1080Ti (FE) so I proceeded with the selection of the other components:

  • I7 7700K
  • ASUS ROG Strix 270i
  • G.Skill Trident Z RGB F4-3200C16D-16GTZR 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4
  • Samsung 960 EVO NVMe M.2 1TB SSD
  • Thermaltake Riing Plus 12 RGB Premium Edition Fan 3pk
  • Phanteks F140MP Premium PWM 140mm Radiator Fan Black/White
  • EK CoolStream SE 240 Slim Dual Radiator
  • EK CoolStream CE 280 Dual Radiator
  • EK RES X3 110 Reservoir
  • EK-XTOP Revo D5 PWM Pump Plexi
  • EK FB ASUS Z270I Strix RGB Monoblock Nickel
  • EK Full Cover EK-FC1080 GTX Ti Backplate - Black & EK Full Cover VGA Block EK-FC1080 GTX Ti - Nickel

Upon receiving all this great kit, excited as I was, and having removed/assembled GPU waterblocks tens of times before, I proceeded to installing the waterblock on the 1080 Ti and 4 resistors later, I was done...

Not kidding. In one foul swoop I destroyed my beautiful GPU.

I didn't cry or get angry (surprisingly). I stood up, grabbed my keys and went for a long stroll.

Over the next few days, I tried myself at welding, baking GPUs etc.

 

On the bright side, between experiments I assembled the rig - and it was looking great. 

I had purchased 10mm hard tubing by Alphacool which is UV reactive and received OCcool fittings from Germany, including two 90 degree and two 45 degree fittings.

 

I then tried myself at bending tubing. Overcooked the first two which bubbled up like a cane toad's skin and then undercooked the next few which just didn't look right. A few meters of tubing later (literally) I had one or two good(ish) bends.

I assembled the lot, leak test - it leaked... Redid a bend, leak test - it held up.

Excited, I connected the power to the CPU, GPU and mobo, powered up the beast and POOF! A puff of smoke, a flash and a dead GPU (confirmed dead at this point I guess...).

 

At that point in time I made two decisions:

1. Bends, although I was convinced they had merit my looking at various videos, I would avoid, using 90 degree fittings instead.

2. I wouldn't bother building my righ absent a GPU.

 

So, time passed (like a month or more) and time is an amateur modder's worst enemy.

I decided I would upgrade the potential of my build from great to epic, and so I ordered UV LEDs and UV die (clear) for my build. And you know what? It looks super cool!

 

Now a few details I skipped:

  1. The motherboard supports ASUS Aura (RBG lighting) but has only one set of RGB connectors
  2. The motherboard has no USB2.0 connector (3.0 only)
  3. The Thermaltake fan hub (to control the lights & speed) requires a 2.0 mobo connector
  4. The Phanteks fan connectors are different to Thermaltake's and are therefore not compatible with the fan "hub"

The solutions were simple:

  1. USB 3.0 to USB2.0 Mobo adapter
  2. Corsair Commander controller fan hub allowing redirection of the USB2.0 signal to the Termaltake fan hub. Therefore we have:
    Mobo 3.0 connector > 3.0 to 2.0 adapter > Corsair Commander > Thermaltake hub
    With the two 140mm Phantek fans connected to the Corsair Commander and the three 120mm RGB fans connected to the Thermaltake hub.

Now I am still not sure whether or not I'll be able to control the fan speed or lighting due to the use of an adapter - I am hoping I can but yet TBD.

I could have opted for two 140mm Thermaltake RGB fans but I really like the muted appearance of the Phanteks combined with their "amazing" performance (according to other threads).

 

So the status quo is:

  1. The 280mm and 240mm radiators fit in the case - it's snug, but it works. I have the 280mm rad at the front with two 140mm fans in pull configuration inside the case and the 240mm rad at the top, as close as possible to the window to make room for the RAM sticks, supported by two 120mm fans in push config. I also have a 120mm fan at the rear of the case pushing hot air out of the case - hesitant to rotate it so it pulls cool air in as I would need a filter and at this point in time cannot be bothered.
  2. I have hard line tubing linking the CPU to the 240mm top rad, the top rad dripping into the reservoir, the reservoir down into the pump, pump into the 280mm front rad. Once I get the GPU I will route the front rad to the GPU and then the GPU to the CPU and we can call it a build.
  3. The tubing from the res to the pump is vertical and would go along the contour of the GPU. I think despite being tight that it will fit. If it doesn't, I can use the two little 1/4 extenders that came with the res to push the loop closer to the window and clear the GPU - nice to have a plan for once...
  4. I prefer the look without bends - the black corner fittings blend well with the build.
  5. The positioning of the UV strips was difficult - initially I hat 80cm of strips going around the window and lighting it all very nicely. But like everything, good things never last and upon installing the two top fans, I realised I no longer had enough clearance.
    Now I have two separate strips, one hidden behind the top rad and facing down and the second 60cm strip along the bottom and front edges of the window.

Happy for now but with two little worries:

  1. Will I be able to control fan speed and lighting through the USB3.0 to USB2.0 adapter?
  2. I have three different RGB lighting zones:
    1. The motherboard with the CPU cooler and the RAM
    2. The two RGB lighting strips
    3. The three 120mm fans (top x 2 and rear x 1)

Ideally I would like points 1 and 2 above to be linked and 3 to only run when temps exceed X (party mode!).

To do that, I need to configure the RGB cabling differently (likely mobo RGB header to split connector which goes to the 2 strips and connecting the CPU RGB connector to the end of one of the 2 strips).

 

Next update will be when I get the GPU and finalise the build - I hope this is helpful to others looking at building a watercooled system in the Fractal Design Define Nano S.

Thanks for reading!

Mike

 

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Edited by thenzfarmer
Pictures added!

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Pics plz :) 

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And if you're curious (or a stalker) I have a Just Black Pixel 2 XL 64gb

 

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Pics it will be gooder 

Im mostly on discord now and you can find me on my profile

 

My Build: Xeon 2630L V, RX 560 2gb, 8gb ddr4 1866, EVGA 450BV 

My Laptop #1: i3-5020U, 8gb of DDR3, Intel HD 5500

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

Pics it will be gooder 

better you mean?

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Ok! We have post!

 

The ordeal. Got my new GPU, took all the time in the world and installed the waterblock on it, finished the tubing loop and then leak tested it and it sprung a leak. Slow but from the outlet of the reservoir where I used a little 1/4 extender to get the "reservoir to pump" section of tubing around the GPU.

 

Had to drain it (very happy with the drain location actually - put the case on its side, unscrew the seal, screw a piece of tubing, sit it back up and done!) and cut a longer piece of tubing to substitute the existing tubing and extender.

 

After about 2 hours of testing the loop, I connected it all up and everything was running. The loop was very tough to fill, probably due to the section of tubing that links the reservoir to the pump. There are 2 sharp 90 degree angles there which are rather problematic when there's air in the loop. A little shaking got the best of it (Don't shake the baby!).

 

I then connected the rig to a TV and got no signal. After 3+ hours of testing with/without GPU, CMOS reset etc. I figured out one of the RAM sticks is faulty...

Down to one stick for now but it's finally finished! Time to install the OS!

Very happy with the uncluttered look despite its a M-ATX format case!

 

Note the Primochill UV reactive die I used is very "not" UV reactive at all! Will tell better when/if I get the system lighting under control but so far hugely unimpressed. I'll top up the reservoir a little more when I get a replacement RAM stick.

 

Next update when the software is installed and I get some temps and benchmarks.

Thanks, Mike

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Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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  • 2 weeks later...
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Update 3. Still some issues with the build slowly getting ironed out:

1. The software for the Thermaltake Riing fans and the Corsair Link 4 software for the Commander Pro hub are causing BSODs. Also, the Thermaltake software doesn't enable temperature control of the fans which I find... antiquated. Yes, you can set profiles with different lighting and speed options but they don't react to computer states.

 

2. I have insofar been unable to enable the XMP profile for my 3200Mhz RAM. The ASUS Strix Z270i MOBO might be to blame (although I updated it to the latest revision of the BIOS). As a result my RAM is running at 2133MHz which is the default speed.

 

3. The I7-7700k is a joke - the thermal throttling on this thing is insane. Probably a bad chip with terrible TIM - thermal differences between cores go as high as 15 degrees Celcius and jumps by order of +30 degrees are frequent. Keeping in mind that meanwhile the GPU doesn't exceed 40 degrees Celcius with ambient temps of 20 to 25 degrees Celcius after running for a full hour on Unigine Heaven at max settings & 1440p.

That said, running Prime95 v26.6 for an hour, CPU temp didn't exceed 65 degrees Celcius.

 

4. One of my two RAM sticks is dead and I had to send the two back for RMA - twiddling my thumbs while I await the retailer's decision.

 

5. My Bitfenix Fury 750G has given me a terrible coil whine - Bitfenix has decided to refund my PSU and I need to pick a suitable one to replace it - any idea if I should go for 650W or 750W? I read great things about EVGA's PSUs, the Corsair AX platinums and the Seasonics - any recommendations?

 

6. The 1080Ti was giving me terrible coil whine at the start which is slowly subsiding - curious to see if a new PSU will resolve any of that.

 

7. Finally - and a minor gripe - I tested the Primochill UV Clear-blue Intensifier at different concentrations and its reaction to UV is almost non-existent. I have ordered Mayhem UV Clear-blue and will post a side by side comparison video/photos upon arrival.

 

So I have cleaned and drained the loop and will need to disassemble some of it to remove/replace the PSU - and that's after I order/receive a new PSU and get new RAM sticks.

On the plus side, big fan of the Aura software for CPU block and RAM lighting - some very cool effects.

 

I have never struggled this much with a build but I can feel I'm almost there...

Mike

 

20170803_214822.jpg

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Update 4.

1. Purchased a Seasonic Prime Titanium 650W PSU to replace my existing 750W one - read great reviews so it should be a great replacement.
Might have an issue with the length of it (170mm) compared to my existing one (160mm) which might cause issues with the 90 degree fitting that connects the front rad to the GPU. TBD.

2. I tested the Mayhems UV Clear Blue dye and the Primochill UV Electric Blue Intensifier side by side and the latter is basically not UV reactive at all. Why it even has UV in the name is beyond me. Uploaded a video for the sake of comparison:

Will rebuild the PC as soon as I receive the PSU and then it's only a matter of slapping the two Ram sticks into it and we're up and running again.

Mike.

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Man, I've gotta get some UV lighting for my PC. That UV reactive mix looks sick!

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3 hours ago, zubiecup99 said:

Man, I've gotta get some UV lighting for my PC. That UV reactive mix looks sick!

Yeah it's awesome right? I was going to go with a clear liquid loop but I think the combo of the UV and blue dye is irresistible.

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Update 5.

Of course, fate would have it that the PSU is too long and as suspected, I need to re-run the tube section that links the front rad to the GPU... I have a few ideas but I'm tired of having to redesign the tubing!

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Looking good! Can't wait to see ya get that ram and get the thing on!

Make sure to quote me or tag me when responding to me, or I might not know you replied! Examples:

 

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Buy whatever product is best for you, not what product is "best" for the market.

 

Interested in computer architecture? Still in middle or high school? P.M. me!

 

I love computer hardware and feel free to ask me anything about that (or phones). I especially like SSDs. But please do not ask me anything about Networking, programming, command line stuff, or any relatively hard software stuff. I know next to nothing about that.

 

Compooters:

Spoiler

Desktop:

Spoiler

CPU: i7 6700k, CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, Motherboard: MSI Z170a KRAIT GAMING, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 4x4gb DDR4-2666 MHz, Storage: SanDisk SSD Plus 240gb + OCZ Vertex 180 480 GB + Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM, Video Card: EVGA GTX 970 SSC, Case: Fractal Design Define S, Power Supply: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 650w Yay, Keyboard: Logitech G710+, Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, Headphones: B&O H9i, Monitor: LG 29um67 (2560x1080 75hz freesync)

Home Server:

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CPU: Pentium G4400, CPU Cooler: Stock, Motherboard: MSI h110l Pro Mini AC, RAM: Hyper X Fury DDR4 1x8gb 2133 MHz, Storage: PNY CS1311 120gb SSD + two Segate 4tb HDDs in RAID 1, Video Card: Does Intel Integrated Graphics count?, Case: Fractal Design Node 304, Power Supply: Seasonic 360w 80+ Gold, Keyboard+Mouse+Monitor: Does it matter?

Laptop (I use it for school):

Spoiler

Surface book 2 13" with an i7 8650u, 8gb RAM, 256 GB storage, and a GTX 1050

And if you're curious (or a stalker) I have a Just Black Pixel 2 XL 64gb

 

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19 hours ago, DocSwag said:

Looking good! Can't wait to see ya get that ram and get the thing on!

Thanks mate! I need all the help I can get!
I fitted the PSU cables I had to the new one and the system wouldn't even post -_-

I had to remove the cables from the PSU and the other components one after the other with the very little room there is between the PSU and the pump and with the tubing in the way! I then used the Seasonic cables and the system posted. I didn't think cables could be the issue...

I've learnt a lot putting this PC together!

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Just now, thenzfarmer said:

Thanks mate! I need all the help I can get!
I fitted the PSU cables I had to the new one and the system wouldn't even post -_-

I had to remove the cables from the PSU and the other components one after the other with the very little room there is between the PSU and the pump and with the tubing in the way! I then used the Seasonic cables and the system posted. I didn't think cables could be the issue...

I've learnt a lot putting this PC together!

Sometimes the psu vendors swap around the connections on the psu cable and psu connector. So it's generally recommended to use the cables the psu came with or ones designed for the psu, or you could have issues and maybe even lose some components :P 

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Interested in computer architecture? Still in middle or high school? P.M. me!

 

I love computer hardware and feel free to ask me anything about that (or phones). I especially like SSDs. But please do not ask me anything about Networking, programming, command line stuff, or any relatively hard software stuff. I know next to nothing about that.

 

Compooters:

Spoiler

Desktop:

Spoiler

CPU: i7 6700k, CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3, Motherboard: MSI Z170a KRAIT GAMING, RAM: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 Series 4x4gb DDR4-2666 MHz, Storage: SanDisk SSD Plus 240gb + OCZ Vertex 180 480 GB + Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 7200 RPM, Video Card: EVGA GTX 970 SSC, Case: Fractal Design Define S, Power Supply: Seasonic Focus+ Gold 650w Yay, Keyboard: Logitech G710+, Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum, Headphones: B&O H9i, Monitor: LG 29um67 (2560x1080 75hz freesync)

Home Server:

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CPU: Pentium G4400, CPU Cooler: Stock, Motherboard: MSI h110l Pro Mini AC, RAM: Hyper X Fury DDR4 1x8gb 2133 MHz, Storage: PNY CS1311 120gb SSD + two Segate 4tb HDDs in RAID 1, Video Card: Does Intel Integrated Graphics count?, Case: Fractal Design Node 304, Power Supply: Seasonic 360w 80+ Gold, Keyboard+Mouse+Monitor: Does it matter?

Laptop (I use it for school):

Spoiler

Surface book 2 13" with an i7 8650u, 8gb RAM, 256 GB storage, and a GTX 1050

And if you're curious (or a stalker) I have a Just Black Pixel 2 XL 64gb

 

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3 hours ago, DocSwag said:

Sometimes the psu vendors swap around the connections on the psu cable and psu connector. So it's generally recommended to use the cables the psu came with or ones designed for the psu, or you could have issues and maybe even lose some components :P 

Haha I do not want that! I think a list of the do's and dont's of PC building is warranted (and probably exists ?)!

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Update 7!

New RAM sticks installed, loop filled, new UV arrangement (ordered another strip for full coverage) and she's up and running! ?

Ordered black & UV blue braided PSU cables and cable separators for a final touch but I won't install them for a while.

So happy ?

Last update will be when I've replaced all the cables, installed the new UV strip and sorted out the best mix of blue dye to UV dye.

Woohooo!

 

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Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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  • 2 months later...
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Final update - all the performance issues are resolved (clean install of Windows without ASUS Suite 3).

 

The PC runs very very well. The CPU gets hot during load (max of 85C) while the GPU reaches as high as 55C. Idle temps are 40-50C for the CPU and 30C for the GPU.

 

Here are pics of the finished product :)

Desktop 1.jpg

Desktop 2.jpg

Desktop 3.jpg

Desktop 4.jpg

Desktop 5.jpg

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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Nice hardware man, Case needs some work :D  makes us polar opposites !

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Hey Mike, this is a super inspiring build and I'm definitely going to take on a few things from it! I stumbled across this whilst looking for ideas with my nano S build.

 

I have a similar one in the works but on a z370i strix/zotac 1080ti mini arcticstorm. w/c components are similar, the z270i block also fits on the z370i so I'm going to use that. I'm going for the d5-res combo and will have the CE 280 at the front in push only (fans in the front). Thankfully this board has a USB2 header so I've got a Aerocool Project 7 hub doing the fans/RGB control (very cool little piece of kit - $25 RGB and PWM fan hub!). Sadly they got rid of the 4-pin RGB header on this edition of the board, and instead replaced it with a programmable 5v header for LED strips.

 

I wanted to ask how you mounted the top radiator, as I have the same RAM and I know from eyeballing it will cause clearance issues with the SE240+25mm high fans. How far did you mount it away from the standard mounts, and how did you do it? When pushed closer to the side window, only the screw holes from the far side of the radiator will line up for me. I was thinking of fabricating a bracket and screwing it in from the rear of the case, just to hold the radiator up on that side - I'm not sure yet. I already scratched the paint on my SE just from lightly test fitting it.. did they coat these things wafer thin or what!

 

I can't believe how difficult it is to find fans that have decent static pressure, are PWM controlled and use a standard 4-pin RGB connector.. I think that's the component I struggled with the most!

 

One suggestion I can make is for the moduvent, if you wanted to raise it up evenly to give it a meaner look (and some airflow to those top fans), some screws with bump stops over the mounts might do the trick.. I was going to try and do something similar. Something like this but with a larger rubber bump stop that you can cut to your needs.

 

Cheers for any information you can provide, and again - awesome build.

 

Sean

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On 11/4/2017 at 12:59 AM, GrumpyBear17 said:

Hey Mike, this is a super inspiring build and I'm definitely going to take on a few things from it! I stumbled across this whilst looking for ideas with my nano S build.

 

I have a similar one in the works but on a z370i strix/zotac 1080ti mini arcticstorm. w/c components are similar, the z270i block also fits on the z370i so I'm going to use that. I'm going for the d5-res combo and will have the CE 280 at the front in push only (fans in the front). Thankfully this board has a USB2 header so I've got a Aerocool Project 7 hub doing the fans/RGB control (very cool little piece of kit - $25 RGB and PWM fan hub!). Sadly they got rid of the 4-pin RGB header on this edition of the board, and instead replaced it with a programmable 5v header for LED strips.

 

I wanted to ask how you mounted the top radiator, as I have the same RAM and I know from eyeballing it will cause clearance issues with the SE240+25mm high fans. How far did you mount it away from the standard mounts, and how did you do it? When pushed closer to the side window, only the screw holes from the far side of the radiator will line up for me. I was thinking of fabricating a bracket and screwing it in from the rear of the case, just to hold the radiator up on that side - I'm not sure yet. I already scratched the paint on my SE just from lightly test fitting it.. did they coat these things wafer thin or what!

 

I can't believe how difficult it is to find fans that have decent static pressure, are PWM controlled and use a standard 4-pin RGB connector.. I think that's the component I struggled with the most!

 

One suggestion I can make is for the moduvent, if you wanted to raise it up evenly to give it a meaner look (and some airflow to those top fans), some screws with bump stops over the mounts might do the trick.. I was going to try and do something similar. Something like this but with a larger rubber bump stop that you can cut to your needs.

 

Cheers for any information you can provide, and again - awesome build.

 

Sean

Hey Sean,

 

Thanks for the great feedback and also the suggestion for the moduvent - that was going to be my next objective and I really like your idea and will need to test moduvent height first to make sure having it fixed there is a good outcome seeing that I usually remove it during long gaming sessions!

 

I'm so happy with the Phanteks 140mm fans - they have given me such great pull on that front rad but yeah, a lot of research was involved.

 

As for the top rad in conjunction with the front CE280, yes there was some scratching involved but what I did is :

  • Take the empty case
  • Insert the CE280 and push it into place
  • Screw in the two bottom screws of the top 140mm fan but not the two top ones
  • Insert the SE240, ensuring you push it hard against the rear/left/top corner (top left of window) and then sliding it in against the 140mm fan you screwed in
  • At that point, the rad will hold there by itself (it won't tilt down on the window side, the case's shape prevents that) - then, during the rest of the build, just screw in supporting screws through a mesh-holes at the top of the case to hold it in place - I have three there
  • Once it's all put together, you'll find the pressure exerted by the back of the case and the front/top 140mm fan are enough to hold it in place without the supporting screws. I keep the screws in there because I'm paranoid that I'll move my build and throw it in the trunk of a car, the rattling will make it drop. Further to that and aligned with your suggestion for the moduvent, you could possibly kill two birds with one stone by screwing screws with the wider bump stops into the rad, which will be non-invasive for the case and do the trick.

When it comes to installing the RAM, there is enough room to wiggle the sticks between the tubing and insert them but then it's your choice how easy you want this process to be - I have the knack now so I don't bother removing it, but I used to remove the right-most fan on the SE240 to give more room to my fingers and ensure the sticks were correctly inserted :)

 

Hope this helps, I'll post a photo of the top of the case without the moduvent to show you what it looks like.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions - Mike

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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On 11/3/2017 at 3:07 PM, Defyant said:

Nice hardware man, Case needs some work :D  makes us polar opposites !

Haha thanks man, gratifying if you like shiny things!

Fractal Define Nano S - ASUS Z270i - 7700K - 1080Ti FE - 16GB GSkill Trident RGB 3200Mhz - 1TB 960 EVO M2 SSD - EKWB Loop

Full parts list here: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/TkCpPs

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