New Ambitious Watercooling Build Help a WC Virgin

Hi I've build many systems but never one that was water cooled, I have troubleshooted systems of this type but never actually chose the parts and built one. What I have in mind is a very ambitious build.

Here is what I want to do

Dual Videocard setup on water, either dual GTX 580 or dual 6970
Intel Sandy Bridge or current offering on water
Chipset water cooled on mobo

What should I be buying. Keep in mind I'm new to water cooling but at the same time I'm a very advanced pc builder who has been doing this for a ver long time and learn very fast.

Here are a few questions I have that the FAQ guide didn't cover

1. What is a push/pull setup, I hear it mentioned quite often as the best solution and I'm curious if it is in fact the best type of setup for what I want to do and also what it is.

2. Should I be looking for a enclosed loop for the cpu alone such as a Corsair H70 and then getting the remaining equipment.

3. Either dual gpu solution I go with it appears that I'll be dissipating upwards of 650 watts depending if I include my cpu in the loop or not. Is there a certain radiatior I need to look for, actually what equipment would you recommend for this type of build if you were doing it and money wasn't a issue as long as the kit was under $500.

4. I have a Antec 902 case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058&Tpk=antec 902 is this case ideal for water cooling? If not any recommendations.

I promise to build a thread and update with pics as my build matures and throughout the process.

Any other watercooling knowledge you can offer would be appreciated. I plan to pop my WC cherry within the next 3 months.

BTW I've seen Sandy bridge clocked at 5.5ghz on air in some leaked photos so that's one reason I'm aiming for SB. Is there a better socket that you would recommend for extreme gaming performance in a 3x 1920x1080 surround gaming setup?

Any help would be appreciated

I was in your shows about 24 months ago when I built my first WC rig (see sig rig). I am looking to update my rig and the vast majority will be reused.

1. What is a push/pull setup, I hear it mentioned quite often as the best solution and I'm curious if it is in fact the best type of setup for what I want to do and also what it is.

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Push/Pull refers to a dual fan setup. One fan pushing and the other fan pulling.

2. Should I be looking for a enclosed loop for the cpu alone such as a Corsair H70 and then getting the remaining equipment.

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I think this is personal preference as to how "dirty" you want to get it.

3. Either dual gpu solution I go with it appears that I'll be dissipating upwards of 650 watts depending if I include my cpu in the loop or not. Is there a certain radiatior I need to look for, actually what equipment would you recommend for this type of build if you were doing it and money wasn't a issue as long as the kit was under $500.

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I am cooling 3xGTX285 with 2x SwifTech 120x3, but I am also cooling Mobo & Chipset. Temps are definitely great.

4. I have a Antec 902 case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...pk=antec 902 is this case ideal for water cooling? If not any recommendations.

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Again this is personal preference. This would not be my first choice for a WC case though.

Dual GTX580's will do you fine for 3x 1080p. I am looking to do the same for my rig update. I've got done a lot of reading on SB as I'll likely be adding an eVGA SR-2 to my sig rig as I do work on mine and the additional memory will be great.

1. Push/Pull refers to fan configuration - Either pushing air through the rad or pulling air through, different rads respond differently although it usually very minor. The best performance is being able to do both (fan on both sides of the radiator)

2. I think your better off including the CPU in your GPU loop - The CPU block and pump will be must better. Make sure you have enough rads to handle the load... here is a good article http://skinneelabs.com/triplesv2.html?page=4 This will give you an idea of what your configuration can dissipate - THANK YOU Skinnee!!

3. The link above will answer some of those questions - $500 might be a slightly tight budget - this stuff is more expensive then it looks

4. I don't know if I'd chose that case. You really only have room for a 240mm rad... the 200mm fan at the top doesn't really lend itself to working with a radiator. Can you use the case? Yes, but, get ready to get very creative and be comfortable hacking it apart.

As for case recommendations it just depends what you like, your budget and how much custom work your will to put in. For your loop you probably need room for at least a 360mm and a 240mm rad so keep that in mind when selecting a case.

Thanks for the responses so far. Push Pull makes sense as it would maximize airflow to dissipate the heat away from the rad as quickly as possible utilizing the CFM of both fans efficiently.

As far as the setup, if you were building what exact setup would you use specifically can you guys link me some builds. Also what kind of clamps, tubes to use etc for such a build

I saw a thread that was interesting as I would want to build something very similar One thing I liked about his build alot was this front panel digital monitor that kept track of temps etc.. it looks sick. does this come with a watercooling system? I'm willing to expand my watercooling budget if need be, what is the most ideal case you can think of to use for watercooling that is available in black.

Here's the pic


Here's the source http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1548046&highlight=it's+hard+pimp

Nice pics of his setup on page 6.

Lord_Exodia said:

As far as the setup, if you were building what exact setup would you use specifically can you guys link me some builds. Also what kind of clamps, tubes to use etc for such a build

I saw a thread that was interesting as I would want to build something very similar One thing I liked about his build alot was this front panel digital monitor that kept track of temps etc.. it looks sick. does this come with a watercooling system? I'm willing to expand my watercooling budget if need be, what is the most ideal case you can think of to use for watercooling that is available in black.

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My current system is in my sig... that's what I'd recommend Fitting are really up to you, you can go cheap with barbs and zip ties or get elaborate with compression fittings, really just aesthetics. If you do need to get some angled fittings I recommend the swivel fittings, this is a must! This can easily tack $100+ dollars into your setup.

That LCD thing in that pic you linked can be added... I think it's like $60. Seems more like bling to me than anything else - it's not part of any kit/system though.

As far as a case I think the corsair 700/800D are good choices although they're too easy for me... I really enjoyed hacking up my case and doing a little bit of fabrication so I used an old lian li I had, IMO it's part of the fun!

The LCD display you mentioned is this here:
http://www.aerocool.us/peripheral/modernv.htm

As far as I know, unless you find a retailer that still has them in stock, they aren't making them anymore. At least Newegg isn't restocking them.

Here are two alternatives from the same company.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...99198&cm_re=touch_2000-_-11-999-198-_-Product
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999218&Tpk=v12xt

Everything said so far has been pretty spot on, going to add a few additions though.

0. Define your performance/aesthetic needs, setting a target budget will let you establish the minimum and work your way up from there.

1. For cooling the GPU(s), get a block that covers the vRAM and mosfets (full cover block).

2. I believe fitting everything into an Antec 902 COULD be done but it would be neither easy nor pretty. If you can afford it, the 700d (no modding required) and the TJ07 (modding required) are the best watercooling cases around imo.

3. Running 2 loops (one GPU one CPU/Chipset) might be advisable, you're right on the borderline of where I'd say 1 or 2.

4. You can save some money by ditching the chipset blocks, the stock air cooling typically handles everything well, but this goes back towards point 0.

5. Stick to distilled water with 2-3 drops of biocide (or a silver kill coil) as your coolant. Stay away from that PCice/primochill coolant crap and any dyes that will stain your blocks and void any warranties. If you want color, buy colored tubing. If you want to make me sad, buy neon green. Trust me, I've read a lot of logs and seen a lot of builds in person, neon green sounds great on paper but fails to deliver.

6. Expect lots of little costs, things like tubing, extra fittings (45s, 90s, swivels, compressions), biocide, fan grill if you mod the case, extra rad fans, fan controller (optional), tax.....it adds up. If you can't put a price on happiness by all means pick up 2 dozen nickel compression fittings and I'll be jealous

These parts are expensive but you'll have them around for awhile, do plenty of research before you pull the trigger. Oh, and read the stickies if you haven't already

As noted i'd ignore chipset blocks. It is rarely worth it unless your going to extremes. But even most nitrogen/dice runs i've seen don't use any kind of block on the mosfets/chipset.

Oh and check the tube sizing twice. They have OD and ID (outer and inner dimention) the inside needs to fit on the fittings, not the outside. The clips/compression fittings need to fit on the outside too.

Also get tygon tubing. Youll thank yourself later. Though expensive, it is less prone to kinks, so is ideal for a first timer. Take everything slowly and plan every stage. Don't get caught up in any moment or anything.

Crispy002 said:

If you want to make me sad, buy neon green.

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You'd hate mine then

So I went through Phase 1 of my ordering and took advantage of many black friday deals online and ordered the following things highlighted in Green

Case: I will stay with my current Antec 902 and modify like crazy http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058&Tpk=antec 902

Power Supply: Silverstone Strider 1500W http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817256054

Motherboard: I actually switched and ordered an ASUS P8P67 Deluxe http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131679


CPU:Sandy Bridge Core i7 2600K [/B]http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

Memory: Patriot PC 12800 DDR1600 8GB 2x 4GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4&cm_re=ddr_3_pc_12800-_-20-220-484-_-Product

Bootable Hdd:OCZ Vertex 2 90GB SSDhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...=OCZ_Vertex_2_90GB_SSD-_-20-227-601-_-Product

Storage Hdd: 2x1TB Seagate Raid 0 in my sig

Optical Drives: Lite-on Blu-ray Burner with 3d http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106348

Video Cards: TBD (either 2; GTX 570/580 or 2 6950/6970) will put on water.

Monitors: 3x ASUS VG236HE http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearc...HE 23 LCD Monitor 23IN WS LCD 1920X1080 VG236

Monitor Arm: Triple Horiz Monitor Arm http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001NPEC5A/ref=oss_product

Water Cooling Kit: TBD Any specific recomendations, I've decided to leave my chipset cooled actively by stock fan, For 2 videocards and CPU What res and kit should I get what fittings, tubing etc? Obviously I need to wait for blocks to be available for Sandy Bridge CPU's & videocards I choose but as far as the remaining stuff I need help, please be as specific as possible, also what places should I be considering ordering from? This is where I need help

** UPDATE ** 01/10/2011

I just ordered my mobo and CPU all that is left will be the water cooling, and my dual GPU's. I'm getting very excited now.

I'll say one thing, you don't go half assed on upgrades.

celwin said:

I'll say one thing, you don't go half assed on upgrades.

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Thanks, I'm trying to make sure this newer rig lasts as long as the one in my sig. With only a few minor upgrades it's been about 3 years or more

Using the 900 2 your biggest chalenge is going to be where to put the rads, and once you fit the rads, where are you going to fit the drives. Simply put its not all going to fit internaly. With some serious modding (And when I say serious I mean bring your metalworking skills) and a couple of component swaps you could make everything fit, however I think a simpler solution would be to step up to an Antec 1200. This would give you the room to fit your drives, run a 3x120 or even better a 3x140 rad up front and a 200mm single up top (For the love of all thats good... stay clear of the antec aluminum radiator). This will give you adiquate heat disipation to make running wc worth it over sticking to air.

When it comes down to what components specificaly to run you are going to see 3000 different ideas, and for the most part they will all be pretty solid. Alot of people wont aggree with what some of what I have to say, but this has worked quite well for me so,

Pump: Swiftech MCP355 or other ddc type pump

Res: XSPC res top. This will simplify tube layout as well as make it very easy to purge your loop.

CPU Block .. Lots of good ones out there right now. Read around and pick one that meets your fancy. Personaly I went with the Danger Den TDX, I really like it astheticaly and its cheap and easy to change tops if you change form factors.

GPU Block: Depends on the specific card you get.

Rads, if you go with the 1200, I would go with a Phobia 200mm on top under the big fan and a PA140.3 in the front, if you are bit more budget minded you could replace the PA with a Swiftech MCR320, it will cost you some performance but at half the price.

Tube and Fittings: This is where most people will disagree with me, I prefer 3/8"id over the 1/2"id. Its significantly easyer to plumb and route and the performance difference is imho nominal when run on a DDC with a top. Like someone else said, tygon is good stuff and again easy to route.

Thanks for the replies so far, I guess what I'm asking is not only what you recommend but where I can find these items as well. I've checked into many of them and have had a hard time finding them, also when I do find them they are either in europe for online etail or I simply never heard of the company. The post just above is very detailed and I thank you for that MrGoat, however what is a very reliable source to buy these parts from?

Please list any reputable etailers I can buy and feel comfy like when I order from newegg, mwave, zipzoomfly, xoxide, frozencpu, tigerdirect etc..

Also my hopes grew recently when I found this in that thread I linked a few posts ago. Looks like there is hope to get this done in my Antec 902 after all



I've PM'd this user who frequents the forum quite often and hopefully will get a reply soon on what hardware he used and what type of mods were necessary. A setup like this seems fine for what I want to do so thank you guys and please keep those suggestions coming. I'm going to start a new thread once I put this unit together with plenty of pics and benchmark scores, tripple monitor gaming pics and videos, temp postings etc.. I'll also give credit to those whose suggestions I follow in my presentation of the system, e.g. this is the xyz rad I bought thanks to xyz user for the suggestion! etc..

Glad to see you like my case mod!

I used the hardware listed in my sig, with the exception of the ssd. It was an extremely tight fit with two video cards and two hdd's. The biggest challenge for me was cable management because I don't have a modular power supply, so I was stuck trying to hide the cables somewhere. Do get a modular psu, which looks like you have picked out.

You will want to route as much of the cables as you can behind the motherboard/other side of the case because of the tubing.

At first I used clear 1/2 ID, 3/4 OD tubing, with some premixed blue coolant. Don't use that crap, it stains and gunks up everything. Use distilled water, and algaecide (I picked up a bottle of algaecide for ponds at Home Depot). If you go that route you only need 2-3 drops, and yes its some potent stuff hence the small drop amount.

The tubing I just mentioned is BIG and I needed more space. So I ended up getting some 1/2 ID, 5/8 (iirc, I can check) OD. It was all black colored and looked amazing once installed. It also allowed me more room, however it kinks easier and is more likely to slide off a barb if secured with hose clamps. I would still suggest going this way, kinks or not.

I highly suggest using compression fittings. They not only look the best, but its a more secure fit and easier to use then hose clamps. Do NOT get 7/16 tubing and put it over 1/2 barbs.

There are rubber grommets on the back of the case that will need to come off. They get in the way with the bending of the tubing. The metal edges underneath aren't sharp at all, so you don't need to worry about the tubing getting cut.

The major problem is where to put the reservoir. It needs to be before the res. I used a "T" and had the cpu going to the T > Pump > Rads. With the video card blocks and chip set blocks (which would add a little more complication) the loop will have the cpu going to the video cards and towards the pump. That will put it at the bottom of the case, where the pump is, at least that's where I put mine. I mounted it with foam padding on the bottom removable tray. Anyways, that means you have far less tubing to deal with, which good, however you will need more compression fittings and the reservoir is down lower.

I've drawn up a few diagrams with possible ways you can route your tubing/flow.

Here's an idea for the T line way,



Here's a way with the Res immediately above the pump. You could alternately put the res at the very top 5.25 bay. I don't really think that's a very good idea because you would have to use a 90 degree angle fitting to go to the very top of the case, and then another to come all the way down, but it could be done. With it right above it's closer and more out of the way.



Lastly, you could go with a radiator with a built in res, which I think might be the best way for you. It would save quite a bit of space, and the top radiator is the highest point in the loop (the hardest part of bleeding).



Also just wanted to point out that the card lengths I put on there are shorter than normal. My 5850's only had about an inch and a half breathing room on the side. The 90 degree compression fittings that swivel would be extremely useful in the lengths going from the cpu to the cards, and the cards to the res.

I would suggest getting the same pump I did, because I know it fits. It's the DD-CPX-Pro 12V Pump, and will handle multiple rad's and blocks without any problems. I could actually sell you mine, if you are interested.

I only had my cpu cooled, which yes two Triples is overkill, however I'm into the aesthetics of computers and having only one rad on the side looks bad. Two triples will work for what your doing. Mine were Stealth GTS 360mm rads from Danger Den. It looks like they are out of the black radiators. I would definitely suggest the stealth radiators because they have smaller physical size (only around an inch tall) and have a higher fin density.

Lucky for you I have all the pictures and diagrams I used to plan out my water cooling build...

Here is the diagram and dimensions looking from the back. You will want the fans blowing away from the case, and the actual length between the case and the fans was more than 1.36 inches. It ended up being around 2.25-2.5 inches.



Front view,



When you go to drill the holes for the screws, you will need to measure from the TOP of the case and the bottom. Do NOT measure just the side panel, otherwise the rads will not be centered. They will end up lower. Also, I had the bottom water hole the exit, with the top being the entrance.


Here was another proposed diagram, however if you compare this picture with the finished product the rads aren't in the middle of the case, they are back a good distance back because of the barbs.



I can't remember the exact length between the front of case and to the first brackets. I believe it was around 3-4 inches, however you can decide how far back exactly you want to go.

Here's a picture showing the length mentioned,



Here's showing the black tubing (horrible picture quality but looks good still)



You can see from the picture above that I did some slight modifications to the side panel. Normally there is the plastic piece covering the back mesh triangle area to hold on a fan. I took that off because of space constraints. I gained a lot of space by talking it off and it looks better too. I used black duct tape to tape the black mesh back down and screwed the original screws that held that plastic in, through the tape and mesh. Watch out for how far you screw the screws back in because you can push through those black screw coverings.

Going a little more in depth on the brackets I used to support to the rads/fans...I used a total of 2 brackets to make 1 bracket. They were all 90 degree galvanized steel brackets that I got from home depot. One was a small one (1 inch) and the other was 4 inches. You could use 5inch size, however any bigger is probably a little too much. I can tell you from experience that if you can find a 1.5 inch bracket, that it is worth getting over the 1 inch. The 1 inch bracket, when screwed to the other bracket and then having the rad screwed down, scratched the tar out of the radiator. An even better idea, than 1.5 inch bracket is to just get a rubber o-rings or washers and put them on the screw. The brackets were all cut down a dremel to fit better. They were then spray painted black.

Here's the bracket picture for reference...


Note: the rubber o-ring or washer should go over the top screw head. Come to think of it, you might be able put the screw in the other way if you were able to get a screw small enough to not protrude from the other side.

All the screws I used for the brackets were longer than they needed to be, so I used a dremel to cut them down to size. I used locking washers, and a nut on the opposite side of EVERY screw, just because I was worried about them coming loose from vibration.

I would suggest getting 38mm fans that have a high static pressure, but a low sound. I had six, 88CFM fans on the outside of the case and it was very loud. It would be pretty cool and useful if you got a fan controller that supports 6 fans, and you can change it based off your temps. Maybe even one that will ramp up the speed based of CPU temp, although the video cards are being cooled too, so perhaps not the best of ideas.

I can't recommend any cooling blocks for the new processors, and gpus (they aren't out yet). I can say though, that you might want to hold off on buying the blocks immediately when they come out. Why? Well the 5970 had some issues with not all models matching up correctly with the block, so it didn't fit correctly. CPU wise, you can just usually get an adapter mounting kit. I used the Enzotech Sapphire cpu block, which is cheap and does a very nice job for the money.

Chipset coolers usually aren't worth the effort. IIRC the sandy bridges processors are similar to the 1366 series, which leads me to believe that the motherboard layout will also be similar chipset wise. So I don't think you will really need to worry about it. The full coverage block you posted was pretty cool though.


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It's a little unorganized...I shall work on that...but hopefully that covers some of your questions, and explains how I did it.

As for where to purchase, I typicaly shop frozencpu.com as they have one of the best selections around. Great customer service, however if you shop a bit you can normaly find things at better prices elsewhere. A couple of other reputable dealers would be sidewindercomputers.com and petrastechshop.com, these two will alot of times have better prices but not the selection that frozencpu has. Also if you like their hardware dangerden.com sells directly. Over all it pays to look around and see what works.

For the res I'm really a big fan of a ddc with a res mounted to it, this is a pic of mine from a couple years ago,

It realy cleans up the tubing situation. I prefer a res over a T as its MUCH easyer to fill and purge your loop, also with this type res you can ensure that your pump never runs dry(bad) during the fill process. This setup can be found here, again shop around as I'm pretty sure you can buy the pump and top seperatly for a better price.

I got an excellent Cyber monday deal on my ram and ordered it today, I have updated post 9 with the memory and highlighted it as ordered.

Now days into the schematic planning I'm now leaning toward a external solution. What do you guys think of something like this? http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...uid_Cooling_Housing_Enclosure_CAS-EX10-2.html

I still get to build my own loop and I have the convenience of fitting everything I want and not worrying about the real estate available in and around my case. Thoughts, opinions etc.. are welcome

Dangerden makes really nice acrilic stuff. You can fit whatever rads in there you want and of course it saves you space. The drawbacks are that it doesnt come on the cheap and with an external unit like this its harder to move your gear and you have more risks to damage on your tubing.

MrGoat said:

Dangerden makes really nice acrilic stuff. You can fit whatever rads in there you want and of course it saves you space. The drawbacks are that it doesnt come on the cheap and with an external unit like this its harder to move your gear and you have more risks to damage on your tubing.

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Hmm, the goods outweigh the caveats then. I never plan to move the stuff around, In the rare event I will need to move it, I'll disconnect all the tubing. The price is a bit of a concern though. It's alot to pay for a simple, yet convenient half case kinda thing. I bet somebody handy with metal could make something similar for far less. but meh. MrGoat, have you seen any others like this that are cheaper, yet still fit at least 2 3x120 rads with fans and a good res and pump. I'd be willing to buy a cheaper one and suffer a few more inconveniences. BTW Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and no deals on that external wc case I linked before,

Lord_Exodia said:

Hmm, the goods outweigh the caveats then. I never plan to move the stuff around, In the rare event I will need to move it, I'll disconnect all the tubing. The price is a bit of a concern though. It's alot to pay for a simple, yet convenient half case kinda thing. I bet somebody handy with metal could make something similar for far less. but meh. MrGoat, have you seen any others like this that are cheaper, yet still fit at least 2 3x120 rads with fans and a good res and pump. I'd be willing to buy a cheaper one and suffer a few more inconveniences. BTW Black Friday/Cyber Monday, and no deals on that external wc case I linked before,

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I wouldn't pay 160 + frozencpu's killer shipping for an external enclosure when a full tower could contain the same components in a smaller package for a similar price. Plus (in my opinion), a fully internal solution is much more elegant.

If craigslist is popular near your location you might be able to pick up a larger case and offload the Antec.

I'm still going to support the TJ07, the only con is the price but the results are downright beautiful. This is a dual-loop TJ07 build.


Pump placement on the same mod just different color scheme

Your right, 160 is alot for that. At that price point you may as well just buy a bigger chasis and go all internal. Cleaner and way easyer to deal with. The only other place I can think of that might make something like that is MountanMods.com and last I checked their stuff wasnt cheap ether.

MrGoat said:

Your right, 160 is alot for that. At that price point you may as well just buy a bigger chasis and go all internal. Cleaner and way easyer to deal with. The only other place I can think of that might make something like that is MountanMods.com and last I checked their stuff wasnt cheap ether.

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Yeah it is too expensive. I have looked into it and I could get a full tower for $159.99 and that would make sense, however I then realized for what I want to do it still wont all fit in a full tower with my hard drives, I want my ssd as primary and a raid 0 data storage area along with 1 optical at least. A triple would fit in a full tower with that but I need 2 triples or more as I will be doing extreme overclocking and calculate that with the current plans I'll need to dissipate over 800watts easily. Imagine 2 GTX 570s or 580s overclocked to the max and a 95Watt Sandy Bridge Overclocked to the max. The cards would easily be upwards of 350 watts each and the processor around 200W. Now here's the kicker, even if I go AMD with the 6950/6970 the scenario doesn't change AND I will probably be adding a 3rd card before Q3 of 2011 into the loop. I need 2 Triples at least so even a full tower will. not rectify the issue.

So what I've been working with King Icewind on is buying a very cheap $59.99 tower and doing all the mods myself and making it into a enclosure for everything. My brother will let me borrow his Dremmel so things are on track for that.

K.I. is a very modest and humble guy form what I can tell but look at the schematic we both came up with for the build. It's his artwork and a quick sketchup in his words. It looks beautiful.

I can think of one other way to go. If you go with a 1200... which is pretty much the same case you have now, just a bit taller. You could go with a 3x120 in the front and use the 1x200mm phobia at the top. Things would be a bit tight but workable. The other case that would work well with this type setup would be a haf.


This is what I'm working out with an original 900 which will require significant modifaction as hte orignal case is not as wide as the 900 2 and 1200. In the case of a 900 2 your issue will be clearance for the motherboard, and of course fiding space for your drives, but with the 1200 you can fit all of this without any huge mods having to occur to make things fit.

FYI, whichever way you go.. we def want to see pics

MrGoat said:

FYI, whichever way you go.. we def want to see pics

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The 1200 has 12 bays and the triple 120mm rad would occupy 9 of those bays. Leaving me only enough room for one optical and 2 hdd's, I have 3 hdd's so unless I modify something somewhere to accomodate the extra hdd which I can do It'll be a tight fit. Hmm, I have alot to consider. You will all definitely get pics of everything, case, benchmarks, temps, surround games, videos of surround games, and everyone who contributed will be given their due credit with the suggestions I follow. Damn if only there were a 13 bay fulltower or 14 for that matter that was around $160 or less

Isn't one of the drives going to be a ssd? SSDs are typicaly 2.5" drives which gives you significantly more mounting options than a standard drive. They also dont generate alot of heat so they can be placed in low ventelation areas. Personaly I would consider mounting it verticaly on the outside of the 5.25" cage, that would give you the room you need in a case this size.

The Corsair 700d is on sale right now thread located here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1566390

Might be worth another consideration. Apparently the windowed side panel can be added for 1 cent and there's a $40 MIR.

Updated post #9 as I've ordered the cpu and mobo, now I'm waiting for my vga choice along with my water cooling stuff. More updates to come VERY soon, check post 9 to see what mobo and proc I ordered Everything green is ordered or in my home already.

So far all components except watercooling have arrived, I will be building the system either tonight or tomorrow. Here is some hardware Pr0n for you guys



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I want to fine tune the system on air cooling and monitor temps, and stability. This way when I water cool I'll have a perfect Idea on my temp improvements and overclocking improvement.

Here is a pic I took before my videocards arrived, it shows my monitor arm setup and components




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