Preferred Case for Watercooling

[Aikouka]

I do not juse the middle HDD Rack and off-set the lower rack to clear the front Rad

It looks like you're relying on the pull from that Noctua fan to cool 3 HDDs. What are the temps on those things? I'm curious because I've had issues with HDD temps in the past, so now I usually try to ensure that there's space between each drive and they have good air flow.

 

[Z15CAM]

According to HWM Pro the SSD averages 24C and max's at 30C . The 7200rpm WD Black HDD`s average 34C and max at 50C. This is with the Noctua`s on the Rad at 7v.

There is enough space to mount say a 120mm fan on the opposite side on the HDD Rack between it and that verily long PSU so to clear the wiring harnesses. If you extend the feet on the case it is possible to mount a fan under the bottom om the case as well.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Really the Fractal Design MIDI ARC2 Case can handle 2x280x60x140mm Rads and 9x's 140mm Noctua Fans plus what ever you want in the bottom if you extent the legs.


I running 3 Pumps but thinking about using 2 in 2 Loops - One for the CPU and the other through the X-Fire 290X's - Both through 280x60x140 Coolgate rads in push/pull.

I'm thinking the Corsair H110 will fail.

The Koolance RP 401x's 2 is a great product.

You might think I'm dyslectic an 1/2 blind - Which I'm am.

You can actually run a 280x60x140 rad on top with single fans but you will loose the top 5.25 bay.

Excuse my references to product ID as I' can't remember all labels without taking the time - But if your an enthusiast, you will get my drift.

You can mount a 360X60X120 or a 420x60x140mm rad in push/pull on top but you will loose that 5.25" Optic Bay.

It's all a trade-off. "Do I want to do the dremeling or sheet-metal work?" "Would I ever have need for 'optical drive expansion'" or "Could I use a slimline optical drive." Or would I be happy needing occasionally to plug in an external USB optical drive?

Like I'd said somewhere -- they design the heatpipe coolers to fit in "most cases" and without causing problems for expansion slots or RAM. I barely got my RipJaws "GBRL" heatspreaders to fit under my NH-D14 -- tight fit, but I did it without any "modding."

The watercooling "problem" sits in a nexus of the case design, chosen cooling capacity and radiator sizes and shapes. If one wants a certain cooling capacity requiring a bigger radiator or radiators in series, then you take time to choose the case toward that end, and anticipate some sheet-metal and other fiddling even if you deemed the case to be "near-perfect" for that function.

No getting away from it. And on the air-cooled side of the options? If you buy an NH-D15, you DO expect to lose a PCI-E x1 slot!!

 

[Z15CAM]

I use that 1st PCIe slot for my WinTV card and can slide a spare PCI NIC between the X-Fire Cards ;o)

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I use that 1st PCIe slot for my WinTV card and can slide a spare PCI NIC between the X-Fire Cards ;o)

Well, the coincidences between your 2700 and my 2600K rig keep piling up.

By "WinTV," I assume you mean a Hauppauge tuner card. I have an HVR-2250 in the same slot. But I've chosen not to deploy SLI or Crossfire (SLI because I tend to buy "NVidia").

Again, though, the original point: the air-cooler folks attempt to accommodate the case-maker folks and the common customers. And you can't much augment a heatpipe cooler with anything but fans (or duckts!) to improve things. While someone bent on custom water-cooling will find their "solution," I think it's a bit trickier fitting radiators with fans inside your case. Since I'm looking at a water-cooled system for next year's project, I've begun to think that picking the case and the radiators is an interdependent choice.

 

[Z15CAM]

Well I run the lowly Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 PCIe - Think I paid something like $18 for it including shipping paid from a seller named Honey who resides in China - Great Card ;o)

It captures 6056 kbps 720*480 (4:3) at 29.97fps MPEG Video (NTSC)(Version 2) (Main @ Main) (BVOP) with 128 kbps 48Hz Stereo MPEG V1 Layer2) in a TS container - DVD Quality - Not too shabby for watching and recording TV which nobody uses any more ;o)

I do make X264 AVC/ACC.mp4 or mkv's from it using MEGui at times

 

[njdevilsfan87]

I just stripped out everything in my Switch 810, since I never use the drive bays anyway. Freed up the space to fit another 360 rad so I am now working on a 2x360 build right now (will have to cool an overclocked 5960X and 3x GTX Titans and the Titans overclocked dump so much heat into the loop that I don't think 120 per Titan is enough).

I guess the 630 would be the up to date version of this case.

 

[Grooveriding]

I really think the 900D is the best case for watercooling without having to mod it. With no modifications at all you can use up to 2x480 & 1x360 in the case.

I did a small mod on mine to allow for a 240 in the front and run a 480 in the top and one in the bottom. It's a pretty big case though and not everyone is going to want that. I wouldn't mind if it was a bit smaller, but it's really ideal for water cooling.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well I run the lowly Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1250 PCIe - Think I paid something like $18 for it including shipping paid from a seller named Honey who resides in China - Great Card ;o)

It captures 6056 kbps 720*480 (4:3) at 29.97fps MPEG Video (NTSC)(Version 2) (Main @ Main) (BVOP) with 128 kbps 48Hz Stereo MPEG V1 Layer2) in a TS container - DVD Quality - Not too shabby for watching and recording TV which nobody uses any more ;o)

I do make X264 AVC/ACC.mp4 or mkv's from it using MEGui at times

I might have guessed the price on the 1250, but not nearly that low. And I would guess also that it's the "single-pair "double-tuner" version of the 2250? The 2250, I'm pretty sure, has two dual tuners. I'm pretty sure, because I only use one pair for the "live TV," and the other functions as a capture-source for SD and an AV hookup to an old JVC VHS deck.

I hope "Honey" transacts through Pay-Pal. Last time I made that sort of purchase, someone popped up in London about a month or two later with my credit card, trying to charge something at a WalMart. The card company was "on the case" like flies on a dead bunny, calling me directly before they'd process the $600 purchase. I had the card-number changed, and moved on with my life. But I still remember, and act more cautiously.