Project Case: A watercooled, steambox-styled powerhouse.

[xxroxx]

Hello there, [H]|F!

It's been quite some time now that I've been wanting to design a case for myself - for pretty much the same reasons the guys at NCASES did it. My project has went throught a lot already. From a cube-shaped 30cmx30cm box, it went to a vertical, Bolt-like case and now to a horizontal watercooled case.

The main idea is to get as much as possible inside the smallest enclosure possible. My latest and greatest inspiration was the M1 project, which, by reading all the designing story, taught me a lot. Like, for example, that you won't be able to go smallest form factor possible without making compromises.

So my goals became:

• For it to be watercooled
• For it to be smaller than 15L
• To look good
• And to be fully featured

Right now, I've reached a layout I like. It uses, however, two 1U PSUs, which a lot of people don't seem to like because of it's loudness - but that is not a limiting factor to me. I'll be using it alongside a headset 90% of the time, I'm also already used to PC noise and, finally, I'm a bit deaf (like, really just a little).

I'd like to make it clear that I ABSOLUTELY DON'T PRETEND to: (1) kickstart it and sell to people interested and (2) have any profit with it.

That being said, I DO PRETEND to upload my CAD drawings of the final result so anyone who has a structure like me can fabricate one for it's own.

Now, let me talk about 'my' structure. I'm only being able to develop this because my dad gave me a way to fabricate the case - he runs a business of recycling equipment and own two industrial sized CNC's. Also, he haves the contacts to get the material, to get the cutted plates bent, to get everything painted, etc. So, yeah, a big thanks to him
(Btw, I wish I heard of the M1 sooner... Perhaps I could have made and sent them the prototypes... Oh well. I'm getting off topic, sorry.)

Anyway, the project won't be fabricated until march or later, so that gives me (or us, if you want to help) quite some time to tweak it's layout. The reason for that is that I'll be attending to AutoCAD and CNC classes until then, so, yeah.

So, what about the design itself? Ok, ok. Let's get into that.

I've already experimented a lot - and by a lot I mean an awful lot - of differente layouts. This is the best design/layout achieved to date:

25/01/14

About 9,5 liters!

Pump is Swiftech's MCP35X, reservoir is Bitspower's Z-Multi 150, radiator is Alphacool ST30 2x120mm and waterblocks are Bitspower's Maximus IMPACT full motherboard block and XSPC's 780ti one. Fittings are all going to be compression ones.

So, what do you guys think? Are there changes you'd do to the current layout? Let me know!

 

[xxroxx]

OLDER DESIGNS/LAYOUTS

11/01/14

About 10 liters!
10/01/14

"Roughtly 14,5L. The slot-load blu ray slim optical drive is missing in this 'renders', but it should be there and it fits. It's position is quite like the one used in the M1, on the front frame. Also, there should be some space between the pump and the res, I know. But it fits (using a male/male adapter)."

 

[Alted4]

Two questions:

1) What is the drive resting on? One of the power supplies? Heat might be a concern if it is.

2) Are you sure that you need 2 PSU's? I think FSP makes them up to 700 or 800 watts. Athena Power might, too.

 

[xxroxx]

1) For now, yes. But there would be a bracket for it to go in there

2) Maybe not. I'm studying some other options right now, like ditching the GPU watercooling and using something AIO for the CPU, like H100i or H220. Temps would be quite higher for the GPU, but you are not going for 1.3 GHz in such a small case, right?

What concerned me was that the whole system + custom loop and some light overclocks would go for more that 500W. Not so sure now. And ditching the GPU WC'ing would allow me to do some very neat tweaks...

Oh, and I saw the 700W Athena PSU. Quick google search and I decided to stay away from that thing. Gave me hopes, though.

 

[balance101]

been waiting for someone to do a water cool steambox

cant wait

 

[xxroxx]

Thanks! And WOW. I'm not sure yet, maybe it need some fixes, but I've currently achieved 10,01L!
That's with a 1U 600W PSU, a GTX 780 Ti, an ASUS Maximus IMPACT motherboard, 1 HDD, 2 SSDs and a 2x120mm AIO liquid cooler!

I'll work a bit more on it and then I'll post a more refined sketchup model here! Currently trying to find a way to fit a ODD in there...

Also... 20 days till my parts are all here!

For those curious... Here are them:

i7 4770k
Asus Maximus VI IMPACT
Corsair Vengeance LP 16GB
x2 Gentle Typhoons 120mm - 4250 RPM
8 pin EPS to 6+2 pin PCI-E adapter
x3 Kingston SSDNow v300 240GB (will be in RAID 5)
EVGA GeForce GTX 780 Ti Superclocked w/ ACX
Silverstone Slim Slot-Load Blu Ray Optical Drive

At first, this will be in my current case... Which is the housing of a HP Pavillion from 2006/5, not sure. I'll mod it slightly to fit the parts while this project isn't finished.

 

[medeyer]

Using two PSU's is a bit unusual, as is the position of the GPU. Using just a single SFX PSU would be more than enough, especially if Silverstone are bringing out that 550W PSU later this year. Also, have you thought about having the fans & radiator on the front of the case? It looks like there's a fair bit of wasted space at the front with just the reservoir there

 

[Phuncz]

Just some thoughts to help you save even more space:
- lose the "multi SSD's" and get a single good M.2 SSD. You won't notice the difference unless benchmarking them but you lose some substantial volume.
- don't use an HDD inside your case, place it in an external enclosure (maybe NAS ?). I went that way and never looked back, but this is a NAS server I'm talking about in my case.
- you are loosing a lot of space because of the reservoir. Look at these for a more space-saving solution.
- those 1U PSU's take up a lot of volume, almost the same as two SFX PSU's. Consider this with a possible new high-end SFX PSU from Silverstone incoming to replace two 1U PSU's with one SFX PSU.
- You haven't mentioned a CPU/motherboard waterblock, so: this might be for you.

A tip for the future: you shouldn't order your parts before you even finished your case design, SFF works best if you choose the right parts that can fit in your case, not the other way around.

 

[xxroxx]

Using two PSU's is a bit unusual, as is the position of the GPU. Using just a single SFX PSU would be more than enough, especially if Silverstone are bringing out that 550W PSU later this year. Also, have you thought about having the fans & radiator on the front of the case? It looks like there's a fair bit of wasted space at the front with just the reservoir there

Silverstone's options are coming too late for me. Also, I've already took one of them out. And about the rad and fans... May be a good idea. I'll try that.

Just some thoughts to help you save even more space:
- lose the "multi SSD's" and get a single good M.2 SSD. You won't notice the difference unless benchmarking them but you lose some substantial volume.
- don't use an HDD inside your case, place it in an external enclosure (maybe NAS ?). I went that way and never looked back, but this is a NAS server I'm talking about in my case.
- you are loosing a lot of space because of the reservoir. Look at these for a more space-saving solution.
- those 1U PSU's take up a lot of volume, almost the same as two SFX PSU's. Consider this with a possible new high-end SFX PSU from Silverstone incoming to replace two 1U PSU's with one SFX PSU.
- You haven't mentioned a CPU/motherboard waterblock, so: this might be for you.

A tip for the future: you shouldn't order your parts before you even finished your case design, SFF works best if you choose the right parts that can fit in your case, not the other way around.

I have no option but to order the parts now. I live in Brazil, and hardware here is REALLY expensive (like twice or more the original price), so my GF will bring me parts from the US.

I also have a current new design that changes quite a bit the setup and is better. I'm using the 1U psu because of it's slim profile. It's half of the SS SFX one (86 x 40).

I'll upload some pics of the new design in a minute...

EDIT:

Here's the new layout:

 

[Alted4]

If you order the parts though a package forwarding company, you can order them and have them delivered to a US address, and from there mailed to you in Brazil. Paying shipping twice would be a pain, but much less than double the price.

 

[xxroxx]

If you order the parts though a package forwarding company, you can order them and have them delivered to a US address, and from there mailed to you in Brazil. Paying shipping twice would be a pain, but much less than double the price.

I did research on that. Shipito was an option but I can then have trouble with the customhouse. They can hold my package and then I'd have to pay more than twice... So, yeah, I prefer my GF

 

[medeyer]

Are you sure you'll have enough room in between that radiator and motherboard? I own the Asus Impact and there are all sorts of bits sticking out everywhere and it can be a bit of a hassle.

 

[xxroxx]

Are you sure you'll have enough room in between that radiator and motherboard? I own the Asus Impact and there are all sorts of bits sticking out everywhere and it can be a bit of a hassle.

Well, this isn't a 100% accurate version yet, so probably in this model, no.
But everything will be double measured before it's done. Yet, I don't think it is quite too far now from where it should end in.

 

[Aibohphobia]

Well, this isn't a 100% accurate version yet, so probably in this model, no.
But everything will be double measured before it's done. Yet, I don't think it is quite too far now from where it should end in.

You'll definitely want to double check the measurements for the Impact, it wasn't out yet at the time so it was modeled by using the P8Z77-I Deluxe as a base and then referencing the photos that were available.

 

[xxroxx]

You'll definitely want to double check the measurements for the Impact, it wasn't out yet at the time so it was modeled by using the P8Z77-I Deluxe as a base and then referencing the photos that were available.

Don't worry. Mine will get here way before the final drawings, so I'll certainly grab a caliper rule and measure everything out.

 

[xxroxx]

Newest design:

About 9,5 L!

1U psu out, SFX psu in!

1 HDD, 1 SSD, full size GPU and itx mobo. Oh, and 240mm AIO CPU watercooler.

Parts are on their way. Should have them in 6~7 days (altought the case won't be made until late march/april)

 

[eggDK]

FYI: You can do a custom CPU+GPU loop without a reservoir. I did this in my SUGO SG08 with a 2*140mm rad + 2*140mm fans. The graphics card will actually take up less space when using a full cover block than the standard air coolers....

On a side note: I wouldn't call your screenshots "renders". I know this is a vague defitnition, but in the CAD community rendering is when you apply some degree of ray-tracing and reflections onto you 3D model. As an example, see this project that I never actually finished: https://grabcad.com/library/watercooled-mitx-pc

 

[King Icewind]

If you just do a simple t line for the res, or get a radiator with a built in res, you'd probably be able to get away with cpu block/pump combo like the Apogee Drive II for the cpu and gpu.

 

[xxroxx]

FYI: You can do a custom CPU+GPU loop without a reservoir. I did this in my SUGO SG08 with a 2*140mm rad + 2*140mm fans. The graphics card will actually take up less space when using a full cover block than the standard air coolers....

On a side note: I wouldn't call your screenshots "renders". I know this is a vague defitnition, but in the CAD community rendering is when you apply some degree of ray-tracing and reflections onto you 3D model. As an example, see this project that I never actually finished: https://grabcad.com/library/watercooled-mitx-pc

Oh, these really aren't renders. I know what renders are my bad
Well, yeah. Reservoirless would be an option.

If you just do a simple t line for the res, or get a radiator with a built in res, you'd probably be able to get away with cpu block/pump combo like the Apogee Drive II for the cpu and gpu.

T line? And, as dissapointing as it might sound, perhaps I'll go x2 AIO for this. Still studying it, tho.

 

[King Icewind]

Just get a T fitting, put however much tubing you can off the top, and then use a plug. It's a cheap mans res and saves a lot of space.

With the Apogee Drive II you would have an all in one almost, just a little more maintenance.

CPU Block/Pump > GPU > Rad w/ built in Res
CPU Block/Pump > GPU > Rad > T Line

But whatever you do it sounds like a fun build! Gl.

 

[xxroxx]

Just get a T fitting, put however much tubing you can off the top, and then use a plug. It's a cheap mans res and saves a lot of space.

With the Apogee Drive II you would have an all in one almost, just a little more maintenance.

CPU Block/Pump > GPU > Rad w/ built in Res
CPU Block/Pump > GPU > Rad > T Line

But whatever you do it sounds like a fun build! Gl.

Could you dumbd this a little bit more? I'm not sure if I got it

#############

PARTS ARE HEEEERE!

 

[xxroxx]

Finally, some news!

So, my parts are all together now and I'm running them inside a CM Elite 130. Temps are OK, even tought it's ~31°C in my room right now. Here is the link to the gallery: http://imgur.com/a/LeIA0

Thanks!

PS: I'll now proceed with finishing the case and drawing it in CAD.

 

[xxroxx]

News!

So, here's a proper render (altought quite failed, I know) and my current progress in SW. Maybe it'll get done before schedule - though I still got to get some specs for properly mounting hardware inside of it.

It currently sits at 10.2L, fitting a 2x120 rad, integrated pump/block, up to 2 HDDs or 6 SSDs, allowing a 1 HDD and 3 SSD configuration, a ODD, SFX PSU, MITX motherboard and full lenght graphics card.

 

[Xeepsn]

Hi, any update on this?

 

[xxroxx]

Still in CAD. I've been busy this days with work + girlfriend + school. But maybe in one, two months I'll have my prototype. Also, I'm studying using acrylic in some parts so that delayed the project a bit.

 

[xxroxx]

So, here's how everything goes in:

Any comments/suggestions?

 

[silk186]

If you are going to use 2 SSDs, why don't you stack them? It's not like heat is an issue with them and it would help with cable management. Though, I'm not sure what your SATA power cables are like.

 

[xxroxx]

If you are going to use 2 SSDs, why don't you stack them? It's not like heat is an issue with them and it would help with cable management. Though, I'm not sure what your SATA power cables are like.

It's just to show possible mounting points

 

[Ca11idus]

what is the spacing between the rad and the gpu? Looks like all of that air is going to get stuck where the gpu is blocking the exit.

 

[xxroxx]

what is the spacing between the rad and the gpu? Looks like all of that air is going to get stuck where the gpu is blocking the exit.

Very few mm
But pressure should take the air out.

 

[xxroxx]

Hello! Just passing by to tell you that this project isn't dead. I'm actually almost done with the design! For simplicity sakes, however, I had to make some compromises.
The actual case measures around 10L. Fits 1 240 mm AIO or two 120. That way it also fits a Hard Drive, ODD, SDD, I TX mobo, SFX PSU and full size GPU. Since I'm doing "the mod" to my 780ti, these compromises aren't of much impact. I'll now work on reducing the overall size of the case and make some final adjustments to then machine it.
This should happen sometime between April and June.

Thanks for reading,

Rox.