Tt ARmor + Case and WC

[Baer]

I am building a new rig, It will be an i7 extreme but I have not decided on the Mobo as yet. I have been building high end OCed computers for years but I have never liquid cooled. I am thinking of liquic cooling the i7 chip. The liquid cooling unit that is built for the Armor + is the 760i LCS which fits conviently in 2 5.5" bays. I love the Armor case but I am not so sure about the liquid cooling module.
I went to Danger Den to try to spec out a set up but there are many choices.
I would like the groups opinion on the Tt unit or suggestions on an alternate set up.
The key factors are reliability, relitave ease of instalation and overall quality as well as size. I do not want to overly fill the case with pumps Etc.
Price for this specific rig is not a factor.

 

[ChristmasGT]

I have a TT lcs the cooling system that came with it was absolute junk, the Acrylic top cracked but luckily I caught it. I'm doing the reverse mod to it and have been setting up a CPU only loop, should be done by the end of this week, if you wanna see it here's the link:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=215137

I'm going to mount my 3x120 Rad in the front should fit just fine =D

 

[Baer]

That is what I am concerned about, the LCS just does not look like it is built with quality in mind. 3X120 RAd still leave me room for a pair od SDD's and a pair of Raptors as well as a bug storage drive? It looks like it talkes up lots of space.

 

[cytech]

I put a double in the front and a single in the back still has plenty of room.

ive changed it a little since these pics, removed the "utility draw" and put the rad all the way down freed up space for another bay.

im planning on putting another double up top as well.


€dit: Nvm i didnt see the "+" brdore so probably irrelavent :s

 

[BillParrish]

That case has plenty of room for a conventional system if planned well. I do not care for any of the current Tt products and my issue with the 760i LCS are:

Only includes one 120mm rad. Marginal at best - would require a lot of airflow/CFM (read noise) from the fan to cool well and insufficient for med to high OCing and adding video card to loop is almost out of the question for any high performance machine. Probably OK for a stock machine not pushed hard but still minimal and the only real advantage over the stock Intel cooler (free !!) would be perhaps a few deg cooler CPU temp with demanding games. A TRUE 120 with a good fan would likely give it a hard run for the money for 1/2 the price.

The braised block does not have the acrylic top but suffers the same problem. The CPU water block hold down is a direct bolt down of a bracket to retain the block. Difficult to tighten evenly and easy to over tighten and damage the board. It should be spring loaded. Simple and cheap to fix with $5 of threaded rod, nuts, washers and springs ( the DD hold down kit sold for the old Maze 3 blocks would solve the issue and likely easier than a trip to the hardware store staring into the specialty hardware drawers)

The P500 pump is noisy compared to more expensive pumps in my experience with 3 of them. The older 400L/h pumps where much much quieter.

The only advantage to this kit is the ease of installation. The "built it yourself" option requires a huge amount of planning and careful engineering to really do a good job, its not hard but will take a lot of time to do it right. Instead of just unboxing and slapping it in, expect to spend several hours if not more staring at your case going over options of where to put what. Then expect to get it 1/2 assembled and discover a better way and have to rip it all out and start over. If you like that kind of thing, I love it, the satisfaction when done is well worth the trouble.

Price - It will cost more for a custom system/kit The Tt is 189 retail, likely less online and so with just another $10 for the block hold down you would be done. But think you have the time, adding another $50 -$75 for a decent pump, block, dual rad (think triple if you might add video card in future) would be a better way to go IF you have the inclination to spend the time needed and think your skills are up to the task.

Had the kit I used still been available (see sig) I would have recommended that over the bay mount but it appears it is discontinued although they might still be in stores. Mainly because of the quiet pump, more radiator(s) etc. it was a good buy for the money and if the block hold down was taken care of a very good cost/performance ratio for about $150 which makes it a deal. Many installation options. Oh well.

 

[haste]

using a t-line, cpu waterblock, pump, and rad, it all fits nice in the tt armor case with plent of room to work with. i was even able to remove/install a new power supply without taking out the w/c. there are still 5 bays available in front if you use a 2x120 rad.

i have 4 hard driver, a fan controller, cpu holder/cigarette lighter, and 2 optical drives installed.

here are some pics of how it looks to give you an idea.

 

[Baer]

Thanks guys. Based on what you have said and shown as well as other posts I read I will not be using the 760i.
I have no problem with spending lots of time planing, I used to build vacuum tube ham radio transmitters back when I was a teen (wayyyy last century) so I am looking forward to the project.