Fitting a 240mm Cooler in top of Corsair Spec-Alpha Case

[kirashi]

When building a new PC with a friend we ran into a bit of a snag with his RAM heatspreaders, mid-tower case, and AiO liquid cooler...

The G.Skill Ripjaw V5 RAM was literally 3mm too tall in an area to allow the Corsair H100i V2 Liquid Cooler to fit in his Corsair Spec-Alpha Case.

 

We had two options:

- Install the AiO cooler in the front of his case. This would require removing the SSD / 2.5" HDD mounting tray. He didn't want to do this though.

- Modify the plastic housing of the fans on the AiO liquid cooler. This would have been easier, but I didn't want to unbalance the fan blades.

- Remove the bit of aluminum that was blocking the installation of the AiO liquid cooler. Cutting aluminum without proper tools is fun!

 

 

 

First I separated the two heatspreader halves using a flathead screwdriver. This was the easiest part of the ordeal.

Then I took a pair of needle-nose pliers to the now-separated halves. I had to bend them 90 degrees out so we could cut them.

Next, I used another pair of pliers with a cutter close to the pivot point and squeezed as hard as I could. The aluminum broke after much effort.

Finally, I bent the short leftover heatspreader flaps back inward so the sharp edges were facing inward. Safety first!

 

 

As you can see in the picture, the H100i V2 now fits just fine, and you can't even tell it's modded... sort of...  ahem, look over there!

Hindsight tells me we should have found another solution, or at least painted the now-exposed aluminum, but it's not my RAM warranty that is void

 

Should I tweet Corsair and G.Skill about these amazing modifications, in hopes that someone will re-design the case in a future revision?

I tweeted Corsair about my modification, so hopefully Corsair will re-tool a future revision of this case to fit top-mounted 240mm radiators.

I'll also tag @Corsair Joseph for good measure, in case he can alert Corsair HQ about this faster.

 

EDIT/UPDATE:

It appears as though my friend and I clearly gave no poops about the Spec-Alpha Case specifications, as I now see the error in our ways...

• Cooling Layout:
  • Front: 2 x 120mm (2 x 120mm LED included)
  • Top: 2 x 120mm
  • Rear: 1 x 120mm (included)
• Radiator Compatibility:
  • 240mm: Front only
  • 120mm: Front, or Rear

Whoops... Oh well, clearly we are better engineers than Corsair since we managed to fit a top-mounted 240mm radiator.

[MoonlightSylv]

6 minutes ago, kirashi said:

Should I tweet Corsair and G.Skill about these amazing modifications, in hopes that someone will re-design the case in a future revision?

Yes, even though I prefer air cooling that would be awesome to be able to fit a rad in the top of this case.

[kirashi]

Just now, ShadowTechXTS said:

Yes, even though I prefer air cooling that would be awesome to be able to fit a rad in the top of this case.

Well, we managed to fit the 240mm H100i V2 into the top. I'll post more pictures once I'm home, from a camera that isn't a potato.

[Corsair Joseph]

I appreciate the heads up. But yeah, SPEC-Alpha case does not have clearance on top to slip in a 240rad AIO cooler - that case was never designed for that particular set up. If you notice how your H100i V2 rad + fans covering the upper part of you mobo, it's almost touching the pump. 

 

I'm just impressed that you've manged to fit that cooler in there without heavy modification

[kirashi]

10 hours ago, Corsair Joseph said:

I appreciate the heads up. But yeah, SPEC-Alpha case does not have clearance on top to slip in a 240rad AIO cooler - that case was never designed for that particular set up. If you notice how your H100i V2 rad + fans covering the upper part of you mobo, it's almost touching the pump. 

 

I'm just impressed that you've manged to fit that cooler in there without heavy modification

 

Yeah, we realized this after we started the build, so it's entirely our fault for not "reading the flipping manual..." because I mean, manuals are for kids.

Perhaps we'll see support added in a future case from Corsair, but until that day I'll keep this in mind for future builds using this case.

 

The finished product looks absolutely stunning with the red accenting and LEDs shining through the front. My friend is very happy with the case.

 

In the meantime, I'm just happy the Carbide Air 240's metal vents came off easily for painting.