Has anyone tried external liquid cooling?

[CurseTheSky]

After moving to an Antec P182 SE from my Thermaltake Kandalf LCS, I'm having a hard time figure out where to put everything. I haven't even decided on the reservoir and pump yet, but the radiator is the biggest problem.

I have the Swiftech MCR320 (3x120mm) radiator, which is far too big to fit inside the case. Actually, for internal mounting, WITHOUT modding, I'm limited to 1x120mm radiators, which definately won't take care of what I want to do (either CPU + Northbridge + Southbridge, or CPU + GPU).

I was thinking of grabbing a Swiftech RADBOX and mounting the radiator in place of the rear 120mm. It will look really goofy, and block some of the IO panel, but it's my best option at the moment. The case has precut grommets that will work with my 3/4" OD tubing, but I still need to route fan wires, etc.

Any thoughts? Other than getting a different case (I love this one) or modding it heavily, is there a better way? Also, any idea what fans to get? I'd prefer something with sleeved cabling, even if I have to pay a few extra bucks. My other gear includes Apogee GTX (nickle top), MCP655 Pump, and a MicroRes.

 

[Rike]

My P180 on water

The MCR320 off the back only blocks one video port. There's still room at the PCI slots to plug in sound cables or other small cables. The only mod I did for that was holes at the top for tubing. The mod for the top rad is a different story.

If you remove the middle HD cage, you can fit the MCP655 there as well as the MircoRes.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Very nice. The picture of yours was what actually "sold" me on the case. It's not as elegant as a TJ-07 or similar cases, but it's also much more portable.

Was the RadBox hard to set up, and does the radiator feel like it's going to wobble or fall off? My girlfriend has a 3 year old, so I'd like to avoid any possible accidents. Great kid, but they get curious.

Also, where are you running your fan cables?

Great job. Looks really good.

 

[Rike]

Thanks for the compliment.

The rad box is easy to set up and once the rad is on it's remarkably stable. Now if the little one started pulling really hard on it, she could do some damage, but I've bumped mine pretty hard several times without any problems.

I made some very long, sleeved, three pin extensions that run to a small grommeted hole for the cables that's above the I/O shield. From there the cables run behind the mobo tray and forward to a fan controller.

This is my most current pic under UV.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Hmm, any idea where I can get some fans with JUST the 3-pin connectors? Long cables would be a bonus too. I'm thinking of hooking them into one of these, hidden behind the motherboard: http://www.jab-tech.com/Nexus-...le-FSA-75-pr-3860.html.

 

[Rike]

You're already looking in the right place. Jab-tech is my go to place for all that kind of stuff.

Get 3 high speed Yate Loons and just cut off the four pin part. Jab-tech also sells 3 pin extensions in 12", 18", 24", 36" lengths. They'll even sleeve it for you if want.

 

[aigomorla]

curse why not just top mount it externally?

You can use one of the fan mount screws as a bolt mount. You would need to goto a hardware store and find M6 Thread bolts. Thats the screws that fit on the MCR series.

Top mount it with the barbs stick out a little off the back. Then drag the tubes behind.

Tyler's old setup is linked in my sticky check out how he did it.

 

[PCTC2]

Originally posted by: aigomorla
curse why not just top mount it externally?

You can use one of the fan mount screws as a bolt mount. You would need to goto a hardware store and find M6 Thread bolts. Thats the screws that fit on the MCR series.

Top mount it with the barbs stick out a little off the back. Then drag the tubes behind.

Tyler's old setup is linked in my sticky check out how he did it.

I know it's not done (I still need a few more parts, etc), but my PA 120.3 is top mounted temporarily on my P182. Link to thread

You could do a much cleaner job. I don't care much b/c I'm migrating to a new case anyways.

 

[aigomorla]

Originally posted by: PCTC2

Originally posted by: aigomorla
curse why not just top mount it externally?

You can use one of the fan mount screws as a bolt mount. You would need to goto a hardware store and find M6 Thread bolts. Thats the screws that fit on the MCR series.

Top mount it with the barbs stick out a little off the back. Then drag the tubes behind.

Tyler's old setup is linked in my sticky check out how he did it.

I know it's not done (I still need a few more parts, etc), but my PA 120.3 is top mounted temporarily on my P182. Link to thread

You could do a much cleaner job. I don't care much b/c I'm migrating to a new case anyways.

lol this is exactly it. Only with better cable management

 

[PCTC2]

Originally posted by: aigomorla

Originally posted by: PCTC2

Originally posted by: aigomorla
curse why not just top mount it externally?

You can use one of the fan mount screws as a bolt mount. You would need to goto a hardware store and find M6 Thread bolts. Thats the screws that fit on the MCR series.

Top mount it with the barbs stick out a little off the back. Then drag the tubes behind.

Tyler's old setup is linked in my sticky check out how he did it.

I know it's not done (I still need a few more parts, etc), but my PA 120.3 is top mounted temporarily on my P182. Link to thread

You could do a much cleaner job. I don't care much b/c I'm migrating to a new case anyways.

lol this is exactly it. Only with better cable management

I said it's not done. Lol. If you notice, the harddrives aren't even in for that pictures. It's being migrated to a P190 anyways... but yeah. Better cable management.

 

[PCTC2]

Double Post! Sorry.