Are there any air flow cases with support of 280mm radiators on top?

Jack Of Owls

Jack Of Owls

Weaksauce
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Jan 3, 2021
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I just bought an EVGA 280mm AIO CLC liquid cooler - which hasn't shipped yet - that will not fit in my old Corsair 300R case, even in the front, so I need to make an upgrade in a new case. My budget is $100 or below. My 300R was a very cool (as in temps) case and I've kind of gotten used to those nice thermals (running my current i9 10850K on a Cooler Master LED 212 at 30c, idle). So my plan is to buy a case mostly designed for excellent air flow with good front fans and mount the 280mm radiator on top but there don't seem to be many (if any) choices with this feature. What do you guys suggest?
 
Nasgul said:
Buy the Corsair 4000D Airflow, which should be plenty for your needs.
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Don't do that before you check your RAM height. Supposedly there are clearance issues.

For a front mount, that should be fine. A cheaper alternative for front mount is the 275R which is similar just comes with cheaper fans. I got one for $55 shipped no rebate recently.
 
take a look at the phantek p500a, ~$100 and lots of room without being absolutely massive. ive been really happy with my phantek...
 
hehe, before I had even checked back on this topic I did some research and had decided on the 4000D (though I might go for the RGB varient 4000X) but thanks. Yeah, ram clearance is a huge concern, along with the i/o shield on that Asus z490-e. Also, I did take a look at the phanteks p500a too. Very nice case. I just want to make absolutely sure that that EVGA 280mm radiator fits at the top (however, it won't fit in the front of the 4000D, that I know). But that phanteks case is sure looking sweet too so it's between the two. Here's the links to the relevant components I'm concerned about. Will order the case as soon I'm sure. I currently own an old Corsair Carbide 300R case which I love and would keep if it was possible

RAM https://www.gskill.com/product/165/184/1608538914/F4-4000C18D-32GVK (42mm height)
280mm radiator https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=400-HY-CL28-V1
Motherboard: https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z490-e-gaming-model/
 
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Jack Of Owls said:
hehe, before I had even checked back on this topic I did some research and had decided on the 4000D (though I might go for the RGB varient 4000X) but thanks. Yeah, ram clearance is a huge concern, along with the i/o shield on that Asus z490-e. Also, I did take a look at the phanteks p500a too. Very nice case. I just want to make absolutely sure that that EVGA 280mm radiator fits at the top (however, it won't fit in the front of the 4000D, that I know). But that phanteks case is sure looking sweet too so it's between the two. Here's the links to the relevant components I'm concerned about. Will order the case as soon I'm sure. I currently own an old Corsair Carbide 300R case which I love and would keep if it was possible

RAM https://www.gskill.com/product/165/184/1608538914/F4-4000C18D-32GVK (42mm height)
280mm radiator https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=400-HY-CL28-V1
Motherboard: https://rog.asus.com/us/motherboards/rog-strix/rog-strix-z490-e-gaming-model/
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i would shoot either oem an email to see about clearance. it looks like the p500a will work but....
 
pendragon1 said:
i would shoot either oem an email to see about clearance. it looks like the p500a will work but....
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I did contact Corsair about it but, alas, I'm suddenly experiencing a serious issue right now with my new z490-E/10850K upgrade described here so everything's on hold with getting the new case until I get it sorted. However, I am heavily leaning towards the Phanteks now despite it being $20-$30 more than I planned. But thanks for your suggestions.
 
Yeah, avoid the 4000D if you plan to top mount, nice case but it is very tight up top. I know from experience that Arctic's 280 and Gskill Neo aren't even close to fitting. In fact, front mount 280 with tubes down will require a bit of case cutting (Yup, I hacked that brand new SOB up). Tubes up in the front is no problem though, but Bitwit will yell at you 😝.
 
jthomas said:
(Yup, I hacked that brand new SOB up)
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that the [H]ard way, nice!

Jack Of Owls said:
I did contact Corsair about it but, alas, I'm suddenly experiencing a serious issue right now with my new z490-E/10850K upgrade described here so everything's on hold with getting the new case until I get it sorted. However, I am heavily leaning towards the Phanteks now despite it being $20-$30 more than I planned. But thanks for your suggestions.
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no prob. we'll try and help with that too...
 
pendragon1 said:
no it doesnt, i would have suggested it. it support 2x140 fans or a 240 rad, a 280 rad wont work, i tried in my p350x(same case, different front panel).
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My bad then, I could have sworn I remembered it did a 280 radiator on the top. Sorry for the accidental misinformation.
 
you will absolutely be able to fit that in the top of a P500a.
Here is my P500a with 280mm Artic top mounted which is a thick rad and I am still above the motherboard area so no clearance problems to be found:

20210512_162204.jpg
 
motqalden said:
you will absolutely be able to fit that in the top of a P500a.
Here is my P500a with 280mm Artic top mounted which is a thick rad and I am still above the motherboard area so no clearance problems to be found:

View attachment 355895
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nice, thats what i was wondering aboot 'cause its not very clear in their promo pics.
 
motqalden said:
you will absolutely be able to fit that in the top of a P500a.
Here is my P500a with 280mm Artic top mounted which is a thick rad and I am still above the motherboard area so no clearance problems to be found:

View attachment 355895
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Thanks for the confirmation. That setup looks even bigger than the EVGA 280mm CLC I just bought so now I know it will fit at the top in the P500A. I was strongly considering the Corsair 4000X because i liked my old Corsair Carbide so much and wanted something of the same quality but updated to modern ATX case standards. But there were a few things I really disliked about it ie no option to mount the 280mm liquid cooler in front without modding if i needed that option in the furture, and I hated that there's only 1 USB Type A and 1 USB Type-C port on the front panel, plus the fans are only 120mm. The P500A corrects these issues so I'll be going with that, I think. It looks better too.
 
Lian Li O11 (the bigger version) perhaps? Technically it is a watercooler case but if you put in intake fans for the side intake it performs surprisingly well for air cooling And being a case designed for watercooling you can put radiators of almost any size to almost anywhere.
 
Update: The P500A was $139 on Amazon a couple of days ago but just dropped down to $109 today so I just pulled the trigger and ordered it :happy: With their 2 day delivery I should receive it at the same time as my EVGA 280mm water cooler, but... I'll still likely have to RMA my Asus z490-E motherboard due that issue I described in another topic but at least I got the case and the cooler to get the most out of my 10850K chip if and when I get that motherboard replaced. No regrets... so far ;)
 
The Corsair 5000 series cases have more room up top for rads. I am thinking of adding a 240 or 280 up top to go with my 2 360's I have in my case. I could fit another 360 up there but I like the configuration of the front rad with the ports at the top instead of bottom so the 360 will not fit with it this way.
 
Jamie Marsala said:
The Corsair 5000 series cases have more room up top for rads. I am thinking of adding a 240 or 280 up top to go with my 2 360's I have in my case. I could fit another 360 up there but I like the configuration of the front rad with the ports at the top instead of bottom so the 360 will not fit with it this way.
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Update #2: glad I went with the Phanteks P500A DRGB. No problems installing that EVGA 280mm liquid cooler at the top and my thermals are about 4-5 degrees cooler than the Corsair Carbide 300R I had.
 
The Corsair 680X can fit a 280mm with room to spare for RAM, I could probably just barely kiss them with push pull on a 280mm
 
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