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Looking for a Watercooling Case

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Go to solution Solved by RyanChase,

I really like the Enthoo Evolve Tempered Glass case. The only downside to it is the fact it doesn't have great airflow. Otherwise, it does everything you have requested above and stays sexy.

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Hello, I'm making my first custom water cooling build and I'm having massive trouble finding the right case for me.

I'm looking for something that looks very simple and solid, not sure what the proper term is but Fractal Design calls it Scandinavian Design.

Budget is $220 (£165).

 

Requirements:

  • Black
  • ATX support
  • Power supply shroud
  • 360mm/420mm radiator support on top
  • 3x 120mm/140mm fan support on front/back (can be split)
  • Pump and reservoir mount
  • Big window or whole side panel window
  • Well placed cable passes to the back (rubberized)
  • No HDD cages
  • Support for 1 HDD at the back/under psu shroud
  • Enough space for hard tubing, reservour and a 1080Ti
  • Enough space on top for the radiator and fans
  • Designed for good air flow

I keep finding cases even half my budget, but all of them have one of these flaws (looking at you, Fractal Design):

  • No power supply shroud
  • No 360mm/420mm radiator support
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Posted
4 minutes ago, szwagi said:

Hello, I'm making my first custom water cooling build and I'm having massive trouble finding the right case for me.

I'm looking for something that looks very simple and solid, not sure what the proper term is but Fractal Design calls it Scandinavian Design.

Budget is $220 (£165).

 

Requirements:

  • Black
  • ATX support
  • Power supply shroud
  • 360mm/420mm radiator support on top
  • 3x 120mm/140mm fan support on front/back (can be split)
  • Pump and reservoir mount
  • Big window or whole side panel window
  • Well placed cable passes to the back (rubberized)
  • No HDD cages
  • Support for 1 HDD at the back/under psu shroud
  • Enough space for hard tubing, reservour and a 1080Ti
  • Enough space on top for the radiator and fans
  • Designed for good air flow

I keep finding cases even half my budget, but all of them have one of these flaws (looking at you, Fractal Design):

  • No power supply shroud
  • No 360mm/420mm radiator support

cooler master mastercase series

"How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?" -John Paul Larkin

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Just now, szwagi said:

It looks great, however I can't find any that support 360mm/420mm radiators on the top :/

thats the great thing about it though, it is modular to the greatest extent. there is an entire modding community JUST for the case, I'm sure you can find a part someone has made for it that supports a 360mm/420mm rad.

"How can someone win if winning means that someone loses?" -John Paul Larkin

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The Define C TG/non-TG looks good but it doesn't have the 360/420mm rad support up top but it has all of the stuff you asked for except the rad up top it would just be in the front

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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12 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

The Define C TG/non-TG looks good but it doesn't have the 360/420mm rad support up top but it has all of the stuff you asked for except the rad up top it would just be in the front

I noted it down before, but I really need the 360mm/420mm rad on the top :(

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3 minutes ago, szwagi said:

I noted it down before, but I really need the 360mm/420mm rad on the top :(

Can I ask ask why?

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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Define C TG/Define R5

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Full Specs

Spoiler

 

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Posted (edited)
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29 minutes ago, Billy_Mays said:

Can I ask ask why?

I'm definitely not an expert, but these could be some of my reasons:

  • I feel like having some extra space on the radiator so I can keep my fans at low speed
  • Since hot air rises, the heat from the radiator would go outside of the case by default
  • Having it on the top looks better
  • I can probably get away with less hard tubing

Edit: But yes, if I don't find anything better I will go with the Define C TG and mount the 360mm radiator on the front as an intake.

Edited by szwagi
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2 hours ago, RyanChase said:

I really like the Enthoo Evolve Tempered Glass case. The only downside to it is the fact it doesn't have great airflow. Otherwise, it does everything you have requested above and stays sexy.

Wow, I pressed liked on your answer, but it somehow went over my head and I didn't check the case out :o 

I found the exact same case, came here to post about it and spotted your answer.

 

The case is amazing, I'm going to go with it, thanks a lot to you and everyone else that tried helping me out!

Hope I can fix the airflow issue with some modding if it's going to be that bad.

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7 hours ago, szwagi said:

Wow, I pressed liked on your answer, but it somehow went over my head and I didn't check the case out :o 

I found the exact same case, came here to post about it and spotted your answer.

 

The case is amazing, I'm going to go with it, thanks a lot to you and everyone else that tried helping me out!

Hope I can fix the airflow issue with some modding if it's going to be that bad.

The airflow WILL be bad. The front pantel is far too close to the air inlet. There are some aftermarket solutions but none are ideal, as this case should have been revised already.

If I might suggest a very similar alternative with MUCH better airflow, Phanteks Enthoo Pro M (360mm top)

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

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13 hours ago, szwagi said:

I'm definitely not an expert, but these could be some of my reasons:

  • I feel like having some extra space on the radiator so I can keep my fans at low speed
  • Since hot air rises, the heat from the radiator would go outside of the case by default
  • Having it on the top looks better
  • I can probably get away with less hard tubing

Edit: But yes, if I don't find anything better I will go with the Define C TG and mount the 360mm radiator on the front as an intake.

Hello, I'd just like to chime in here with some of the reasoning you've stated. I respect your opinion but I believe you've been misled somewhere.

 

  • As long as your radiator is 30mm or thicker, you just need some fantastic static pressure fans that sit around 400 - 600 rpm and it will be fine.
  • The hot air rising theory doesn't really apply in custom water cooling as much as people believe. Yes, it does happen, but all it takes to counter act this is A SINGLE rear exhaust fan. This is only important in fanless setups.
  • That's subjective and I respect your aesthetic preference.
  • Most likely, yes, but you still need to run tubing towards your pump/res setup that will most likely sit up front and bottom of the case. Running tubing up front isn't going to add more complexity.

To be quite honest with you, your single requirement for that specific radiator set up is significantly hindering your possibilities for an adequate system build. You can literally get away with sub 60c~ temps with a single 240mm radiator that cools your CPU and GPU. For example, one of my rigs at home is running a 7700K and a 1080, both staying around 55C during full load. I have a pair of Corsair ML120 PRO fans running at 550rpm keeping the liquid temps low, all while staying near silent. The loudest part of that rig is the coil whine from the GPU. 

 

Back on topic, I would highly suggest that you mount the radiator up front to give you more flexibility of your options, and provide the same amount of cooling / heat dissipation. You can find the right case for you. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where it's placed, so long as it's being cooled by fans. 

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9 hours ago, TVwazhere said:

The airflow WILL be bad. The front pantel is far too close to the air inlet. There are some aftermarket solutions but none are ideal, as this case should have been revised already.

Yup, I rethought the whole thing and I will increase my budget a little bit so I can find something better.

 

5 hours ago, Corsair Blake said:

To be quite honest with you, your single requirement for that specific radiator set up is significantly hindering your possibilities for an adequate system build. You can literally get away with sub 60c~ temps with a single 240mm radiator that cools your CPU and GPU. For example, one of my rigs at home is running a 7700K and a 1080, both staying around 55C during full load. I have a pair of Corsair ML120 PRO fans running at 550rpm keeping the liquid temps low, all while staying near silent. The loudest part of that rig is the coil whine from the GPU. 

 

Back on topic, I would highly suggest that you mount the radiator up front to give you more flexibility of your options, and provide the same amount of cooling / heat dissipation. You can find the right case for you. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where it's placed, so long as it's being cooled by fans. 

I will look for another case, I'll probably change my requirements a bit and go with a 280mm radiator.

I'll go for a full tower case this time, the mid towers are very crowded with custom loops + psu shroud.

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Update: I think I'll go with a NZXT H440, it seems very nice. Is there anything I should watch out for with it?

 

I will want to mod the side panel though, possibly replace the whole thing with tempered glass.

Are there any good resources out there? I saw this being done on reddit: 

Spoiler

hScXjj8.jpg

 

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On 9/21/2017 at 12:15 PM, szwagi said:

It looks great, however I can't find any that support 360mm/420mm radiators on the top :/

core x9 i have a 480 and 360 rad in the top and in the bottom and 1 360 in the front :P

 

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be quiet! Dark Base Pro 900

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/D4M323/be-quiet-dark-base-pro-900-black-atx-full-tower-case-bgw11

Phanteks Enthoo Luxe

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/78zZxr/phanteks-enthoo-luxe-tempered-glass-black-atx-full-tower-case-ph-es614ltg_bk

Thermaltake X71

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Bd7CmG/thermaltake-core-x71-tempered-glass-edition-atx-full-tower-case-ca-1f8-00m1wn-02

Pahnteks Enthoo Pro M

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2mQRsY/phanteks-enthoo-pro-m-tempered-glass-atx-mid-tower-case-ph-es515ptg_bk

 

 

I've also got some extreme choices...

Thermaltake "The Tower" 900

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/zk8H99/thermaltake-the-tower-900-atx-full-tower-case-ca-1h1-00f1wn-00

Lina LI PC-O8 or PC-O11

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/xBZ2FT/lian-li-case-pco8wx

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/c7Brxr/lian-li-pc-o11-wx-atx-full-tower-case-pc-o11wx

 

"Put as much effort into your question as you'd expect someone to give in an answer"- @Princess Luna

Make sure to Quote posts or tag the person with @[username] so they know you responded to them!

 RGB Build Post 2019 --- Rainbow 🦆 2020 --- Velka 5 V2.0 Build 2021

Purple Build Post ---  Blue Build Post --- Blue Build Post 2018 --- Project ITNOS

CPU AMD R7 7800X3D    Motherboard Asrock B650E Taichi Lite    RAM Corsair Vengeance RGB 32GB 5200mhz    GPU ASUS RTX4080 STRIX 

Case Fractal Torrent   Storage Samsung 980Pro 2TB, Crucial P3 Plus 4TB x2,     PSU Corsair RM1000x    Cooling Deepcool AK620

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