Case choice for custom loop

[Pikatchu]

I am currently using Openbench table as my "case", with a custom loop running a single 360mm radiator. One 360mm radiator was not enough for Ryzen 7900X and 3080, and adding more radiator to the bench will make it troublesome to move around.

 

I have a Lian Li Lancool 2 mesh case I can use, but after some measurements it will not work. The graphic card will interfere with the pump/res combo, using Corsair's XD5 pump/res, not comfortable on purchasing another flat pump/res combo.

A new case is needed to house my loop, will be looking to add another 240mm minimum and 360mm preferred. So, a 360mm + 240mm/360mm loop.

 

GPU + pump/res combo requires 17inches of clearance to front radiator/fan combo.

 

Any case recommendations? No Lian Li O11D recommendations please , I want to see are there other options than that.

 

EDIT:

After some research, I have found Lian Li Lancool 3 mesh to fit. The BeQuiet Dark Base 700 or Silent base 802 worked as well.

All three cases range from $150-$200, which is getting very close to a flat pump/res combo price point.

 

EDIT2:

After more measurement, I may be able to fit the pump/res on the PSU shroud horizontally in the lancool 2. But, it is a really tight fit where if I am a few mm off, it wont fit.

Still searching for case options.

[RONOTHAN##]

I have built a water cooled system in a be quiet! Silent Base 802, it's the system I'm typing this up on. Wouldn't necessarily recommend. It looked good on paper, but fitting dual 360mm rads in it and getting them both plumbed up is pretty difficult. If you want to do 360 and a 240 though, it might be a good option, it's a pretty easy case to mod because of how many panels are easily removable and easy to drill plastic. A couple other options I've seen though are the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2, Fractal Meshify 2 XL, Corsair 5000D Airflow, and cases like the Thermaltake Tower series

 

58 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

One 360mm radiator was not enough for Ryzen 7900X and 3080

I doubt that. I've got a 13700K and a 6900 XT on my test bench right now, both significantly higher power components (especially since both are overclocked and the 6900 XT is volt and power modded, the 13700K tops out at around 350W and the 6900 XT tops out at around 450W in anything but Furmark), and they're cooled just fine by a 360mm radiator. It's at the limits of that radiator, yes, I do need to run my fans a bit higher, but it definitely can handle it. What I might consider doing instead of doing the whole case upgrade to go water cooling is to just upgrade to a thicker and better radiator. The one on my test bench is an older version of this EK radiator, and it works pretty well. Worst case scenario you use the radiator in your new system as well, I would just do it first and see if it's even necessary to go dual rad. 

[fonzz1e]

o11 evo if u planning to add 3rd rad, 

depending on yer budget, the other options would be lancool3, phanteks nv7 or 719

[Pikatchu]

14 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I have built a water cooled system in a be quiet! Silent Base 802, it's the system I'm typing this up on. Wouldn't necessarily recommend. It looked good on paper, but fitting dual 360mm rads in it and getting them both plumbed up is pretty difficult. If you want to do 360 and a 240 though, it might be a good option, it's a pretty easy case to mod because of how many panels are easily removable and easy to drill plastic. A couple other options I've seen though are the Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2, Fractal Meshify 2 XL, Corsair 5000D Airflow, and cases like the Thermaltake Tower series

 

I doubt that. I've got a 13700K and a 6900 XT on my test bench right now, both significantly higher power components (especially since both are overclocked and the 6900 XT is volt and power modded, the 13700K tops out at around 350W and the 6900 XT tops out at around 450W in anything but Furmark), and they're cooled just fine by a 360mm radiator. It's at the limits of that radiator, yes, I do need to run my fans a bit higher, but it definitely can handle it. What I might consider doing instead of doing the whole case upgrade to go water cooling is to just upgrade to a thicker and better radiator. The one on my test bench is an older version of this EK radiator, and it works pretty well. Worst case scenario you use the radiator in your new system as well, I would just do it first and see if it's even necessary to go dual rad. 

Thanks for your input.

 

The thing I have against thicker radiator is case compatibility. As it stands, I am already having trouble fitting res/pump combo near the front of the case, having a thicker radiator will be even worst.

The thicker radiator would work by replacing my current 360mm, but I feel like it will only be used in my open bench.

[RONOTHAN##]

6 minutes ago, Pikatchu said:

Thanks for your input.

 

The thing I have against thicker radiator is case compatibility. As it stands, I am already having trouble fitting res/pump combo near the front of the case, having a thicker radiator will be even worst.

The thicker radiator would work by replacing my current 360mm, but I feel like it will only be used in my open bench.

I will say for my 802 based system, a thick rad isn't really any more trouble to fit in there than a slim rad, at least at the top. The front does have issues fitting bigger rads than my 360mm 30mm-thick XSPC rad, getting that hooked up to my reservoir requires a very specific fitting setup and I couldn't fit anything thicker (partially because it's a cross flow rad, so inlets and outlets on opposing sides), but the top has no such compatibility concerns. All that would need to be done to fit it in there is swap it out and recut a few tubing runs. 

 

Thick rads aren't necessarily as hard to fit in your system as you think they are. 

[Pikatchu]

6 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I will say for my 802 based system, a thick rad isn't really any more trouble to fit in there than a slim rad, at least at the top. The front does have issues fitting bigger rads than my 360mm 30mm-thick XSPC rad, getting that hooked up to my reservoir requires a very specific fitting setup and I couldn't fit anything thicker (partially because it's a cross flow rad, so inlets and outlets on opposing sides), but the top has no such compatibility concerns. All that would need to be done to fit it in there is swap it out and recut a few tubing runs. 

 

Thick rads aren't necessarily as hard to fit in your system as you think they are. 

I see.

 

Is your pump/res a combo unit or separated unit? Is it a flat res or cylinder res?

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Pikatchu said:

I see.

 

Is your pump/res a combo unit or separated unit? Is it a flat res or cylinder res?

Cylinder res, flat reservoirs don't hold enough IMO. It is a combo unit, I could fit a separate one though if I tried. 

 

A photo of my system for reference:

Spoiler

Side panels are off and it's a little older, but I'm not home rn so it's the best I've got. 

[IkeaGnome]

I have a 280mm and 360mm in my Fractal Pop Air XL. You could run a way thicker 360mm rad. 280mm could be thicker if you didn't have fans on it like I don't.

Spoiler

That's with the old GPU and ARC. I don't have a picture of it with the 4090 in it, but the 280/360mm can keep a 13900k and 4090 plenty cool.