Need help with rad/pump placement in minitower

E

eXacto

Gawd
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Mar 31, 2000
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I'm trying to find the best place possible for my radiator which is about 19x16x7cm, and my pump which is a swifty mcp300, a pretty small pump. The radiator is a bit crappy, so I'm thinking about buying a new one anyway that will fit the case better.

Anyway this is a small case, I think it's a Lian-Li PC-30 or something like that, so there's not much room for all of this crap. I will probably move the hard drives because they are just sitting on the bottom. I can put them in the drive cage that hangs below the 5.25" cage, but then I need a fan to blow air over them (hot SCSI 15k drive).

I think the radiator will fit in the front where to two fans draw in air, but I'd like to get rid of those because they are loud, and just use one or two 120mm panaflo. I think the best route would be to buy a longer but thinner heater core and mount it on the top of the case, enabling me to put both 120mm fans on it and have lots of room on the bottom of the case for the pump.

tewtcomputer.jpg
 
Drop your CD down a drive, and mount the rad in the top of the case with air blowing up an out through it. Attatch that HDD cage to the bottom of the case, and build a bracket to affix the pump on the top of those.
 
did you think about water block placement, too? It's going to be a pain in the ass to route tubing underneath that PSU... especially if it has an intake fan on the bototm of it... it's not goign to get much airflow when you have 2x big ass tubes blocking it... I'm about to do the same thing :)
 
Thanks for the replies guys. I have taken into consideration the power supply being in the way of the waterblock, but I really don't think it will be a problem considering the stock intel HSF I have in there now has about a 2cm clearance and the swifty waterblock I use has 45* angled connectors.
 
Originally posted by eXacto
Thanks for the replies guys. I have taken into consideration the power supply being in the way of the waterblock, but I really don't think it will be a problem considering the stock intel HSF I have in there now has about a 2cm clearance and the swifty waterblock I use has 45* angled connectors.
Click to expand...

I was about to mention that the swifty would be the best bet because of those angled connects... Your best bet for the rads is like you said, at the bottom of the case... if you put it at the top of the case, it'd be an incredibly tight fit, and you'd want a shroud anyways... That'd be tough, IMO... I started putting together MY mini-tower (temporary case) today, and i found out my custom block doesn't fit... good gravy. I spent all day disassembling 3-4 computers in my house so i could get it all under control... but no :(
 
definately front-mount it.

You can always add in door panel or blowhole fans later to help the radiator breathe.

That case is definately one of the smallest i have seen for using full-size parts internally.

One thing....try to get the swiftech MCP-600 pump...the 300 is notorious for failures. I was lucky and only lost a dvd-rom drive when the casing on mine cracked and started gushing coolant all over the inside of my case. If you do choose to use that pump...make sure it is in the bottom of the case, to minimize what the pump can kill if it does go awry.

edit: i also heard the via aqua 1300 is about the same size as a swifty...but i know nothing about the reliability or performance of them....but they arre about $20.
 
just a little something i thought i might add if you hadnt thought about it already. instead of air cooling your hard drives maybe you could water-cool them too.
 
I'm not sure what kind of design requirements you've got, but one possibility for radiator placement would be to have it placed outside the case. Consider making a kind of bolt-on enclosure for the radiator (and pump?) that would fit on the top of the case (or below it). You could play with the design a bit, but in the end you wouldn't have to worry about part fit inside the case at all. Would make for much easier servicing of the WC components, too.
 
Thanks but I'd like to keep everything in the case (radiator or fans sticking out the top at most) so that it's nice and portable.


Also, I just got this MCP-300 as a replacement for my first one which didn't crack but the rotor broke and was grinding the inside of the pump to hell. Hopefully these are built better.
 
I wouldn't count on that pump, but if that's what you wnat to try, more power to you. Case cracking is a well known issue with those pumps. If memory serves me right, it was a design flaw that caused the impeller shaft to omve in a non-rotational manner, causing it to smack against teh shaft crevice walls. Those walls would eventually crack, and eventually the crack reaches a portion of pump that is not epoxied watertight, and that is where the leak starts.

I was lucky my cpu didnt fry when it happened. I lost all flow due to the pump not moving any water because of teh impeller seizing shortly after the pupm casing cracked.
 
You're right they are prone to some serious problems but I did perform a couple of mods on my new one when I got it that keep the rotor in place, not able to move back and forth along the shaft. I think that should keep it in check.
 
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