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Watercooling. Which case?

C

CousinVin

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 11, 2009
Messages
393
I have it narrowed down to a few that i have been eyeballing, but I have some questions.

It is between the:
Corsair 650D
Corsair 800D
Silverstone FT01 or 02
or the NZXT Switch 810.


I would really like to have more room to work in without any goofy over the top designs, but still have room for at least one360 rad. I have been leaning heavily towards the 650, but the thing that is chasing me away is the inability to house a 360 rad without more modification.

The FT01 seems to be calling my name because of the basic, but clean square window. The big thing that makes me want the NZXT or the 800D is the large amount of space. HELP ME CHOOSE! If anyone has any other good WC cases, feel free to let me know! and please, no coolmasters. They just don't appeal to me.
 
NZXT Switch 810
NZXT Switch 810
NZXT Switch 810
NZXT Switch 810
NZXT Switch 810
 
Hah. Where and when will they be available? They're sold out on their site


Any others?
 
I have just finished a new build in a Corsair 800D.

the D will do all the things you want without much modification......
My only gripe with the case is the heft....the thing weighs a fuck-ton because it's all steel.

You can easily put a 360 radiator on top, in fact it's all drilled out for you.
I put the pump on the bottom opposite the PSU. I had to remove part of the framework for installing extra HDDs, but I'll never need it. I also drilled holes for bolts in the bottonm of the case to mount my pump (optional, of course)

The 800D is really spaceous. It has been pretty easy going. I have modified it quite a bit, but it is an excellent starting point.

As for the Silverstones.....they are NOT built for watercooling at all. You MIGHT be able to squeeze a 240 in the bottom of an FT02, but good luck. My son has one of the FT02s, it's a great case from an airflow perscective, but there are alot of tight spaces in there.:D
 
Azza Fusion 4000 (fits quad + triple radiator in top)
Azza Fusion 3000 (fits triple on top)
Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra (fits Triple 120/140 on top, and dual 140 on back of HD cage)
Enermax Fulmo GT (same as Blackhawk)
Xigmatek Elysium (fits 360/420 top + 360 front drive bays or 240 bottom)
NZXT Switch 810 (fits triple 120/140 top + dual 120 or single 140 bottom) These will be available everywhere in early Feb, otherwise the NZXT site refreshes with stock occasionally.
 
As for the Silverstones.....they are NOT built for watercooling at all. You MIGHT be able to squeeze a 240 in the bottom of an FT02, but good luck. My son has one of the FT02s, it's a great case from an airflow perscective, but there are alot of tight spaces in there.
Click to expand...

Doesn't sound like you've ever watercooled an FT02...

FT02 can be watercooled with tons of rad space. If you want to keep all three AP-181 fans on the bottom and still use a longer video card then you'll be limited to a 240 radiator on the bottom and a 120mm radiator at the top exhaust. If you're using a shorter video card then you can easily fit a 360 radiator on the bottom with a 120 on the top.

If you do decide to remove two of the AP181 fans (and their mounts as well, which is really easy to remove) then a 360 with fans can be placed on the bottom while still letting you use a long graphics card. If you want to remove all three AP181 fans then a 480 radiator will easily fit on the bottom.

If I were to WC another FT02 I'd go for the 180x2 or 180x3 radiators. The 180x2 radiator only requires the removal of the rear two AP181 fans and the 180x3 requires the removal of all fans. If you want to mount all three AP181 fans on the 180x3 radiator you'll need to modify the drive cage. Keep in mind that the 180x2 radiator already has more surface area than a 120x4 radiator.

EDIT: I should've clarified that the 180x2 and 3 radiators don't require the removal of the 180mm fans, but rather their mounting brackets.
 
Last edited:
FaRKle0079 said:
Doesn't sound like you've ever watercooled an FT02...

FT02 can be watercooled with tons of rad space. If you want to keep all three AP-181 fans on the bottom and still use a longer video card then you'll be limited to a 240 radiator on the bottom and a 120mm radiator at the top exhaust. If you're using a shorter video card then you can easily fit a 360 radiator on the bottom with a 120 on the top.

If you do decide to remove two of the AP181 fans (and their mounts as well, which is really easy to remove) then a 360 with fans can be placed on the bottom while still letting you use a long graphics card. If you want to remove all three AP181 fans then a 480 radiator will easily fit on the bottom.

If I were to WC another FT02 I'd go for the 180x2 or 180x3 radiators. The 180x2 radiator only requires the removal of the rear two AP181 fans and the 180x3 requires the removal of all fans. If you want to mount all three AP181 fans on the 180x3 radiator you'll need to modify the drive cage. Keep in mind that the 180x2 radiator already has more surface area than a 120x4 radiator.
Click to expand...

Yes, I have one, but the thought of squeezing a 120.2 in the bottom of the case, plus a pump and a reservoir made me think twice, plus what good is a solitary 120.1 radiator unless it is teamed with something else.

Falls under the category of you " could" do it......." when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail".....:eek:
 
magoo said:
Yes, I have one, but the thought of squeezing a 120.2 in the bottom of the case, plus a pump and a reservoir made me think twice, plus what good is a solitary 120.1 radiator unless it is teamed with something else.

Falls under the category of you " could" do it......." when you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail".....:eek:
Click to expand...

Obviously you haven't seen this thread.
 
Tsumi said:
Obviously you haven't seen this thread.
Click to expand...

A nice job that guy did......but a pretty major overhaul.
As I said, the FT02 is NOT very watercooling friendly, the guy tore out all the HDD area, and I assume a ton of stuff from the bottom to mount his radiator, removed 1/2 of the front bay.

My Corsair 800 was a walk in the park compared to that.:D
I have a 120.3 inside and a 120.2 outside and needed no modification for the radiators, pump space, yes. reservoir space,yes........but not nearly as much work.
 
magoo said:
A nice job that guy did......but a pretty major overhaul.
As I said, the FT02 is NOT very watercooling friendly, the guy tore out all the HDD area, and I assume a ton of stuff from the bottom to mount his radiator, removed 1/2 of the front bay.

My Corsair 800 was a walk in the park compared to that.:D
I have a 120.3 inside and a 120.2 outside and needed no modification for the radiators, pump space, yes. reservoir space,yes........but not nearly as much work.
Click to expand...

Also, CoolerMaster's HAF cases (all of them, surprisingly) are water-cooling friendly - even the budget HAF912 (though the budget HAF is worth considering for its own sake - it beat out the ANTEC Three Hundred, which actually undercuts it by $5 before rebates).
 
As I said, the FT02 is NOT very watercooling friendly, the guy tore out all the HDD area, and I assume a ton of stuff from the bottom to mount his radiator, removed 1/2 of the front bay.
Click to expand...

I disagree. And I've done it multiple times too. If you think unscrewing a few screws to remove the bottom fans and brackets is "difficult" then you shouldn't be messing around with water cooling at all. It took me a lot more work to get my TJ07 perfectly set up than the last FT02 with 600x120mm worth of radiator I built.
 
I agree that the FT02 is not built with watercooling in mind, but it can easily accommodate a 360 radiator. This is a thread I did when I first watercooled my FT02, which shows how easy it is to fit a 360 rad in the bottom

Tsumi linked the new revision I recently posted with the Magicool 540. Sure it requires that you remove the HDD bay, but that mod is just as intrusive as adding a 240 in the bottom of an 800D, plus it doesn't worsen the structural rigidity of the case. If one wished to do so, one could just as easily fit a 560(4x140) radiator in an FT02.

But my vote is for either the FT02 or the 800D (the NZXT is simply too plasticy for my taste)

EDIT: btw, the mods to fit a larger-than-360 rad in the FT02 does not require any cutting - just a screwdriver and drill to remove the rivets.
 
Last edited:
And if you only use the 180mm x 2 radiator you don't need to remove any rivets, just a few screws.
 
I'm also considering a new case for more radiators.

Considerations:

Will hold a 3x or preferably 4x radiator up top and a 2x radiator (preferably front vice bottom for dust reasons) 120mm or 140mm ok.

It can't be more than 24" tall to fit under my desk (would leave 1" breathing room - desk is 25")

Would like filter for intakes to keep inside mostly dust free. The case will be sitting on pile carpet and I have a dog. My current rig gets pretty dusty.

Not be gaudy looking.

the nzxt looks promising but the 240 radiator goes on the bottom. Looking at pics I'm not sure how that'll work with the power supply down there too. anyone have pics of that? know if it could be front mounted?

xigmatek is too tall.
enermax too tall
blackhawk too tall.


EDIT:

This is the best review of the NZXT I've seen yet. http://www.overclockers.com/nzxt-switch-810-black I think it might be perfect! While the 240 radiator goes on the bottom there are filters down there too. I have a feeling this might be my next case.
 
Last edited:
robble said:
EDIT:

This is the best review of the NZXT I've seen yet. http://www.overclockers.com/nzxt-switch-810-black I think it might be perfect! While the 240 radiator goes on the bottom there are filters down there too. I have a feeling this might be my next case.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that review yet. I wonder if I can get a 240 rad down there and still be able to fit pump/res/bluray and 1 HDD & 2 SSD somewhere. Hmmmm.
 
i went with the 650D. it looks large enough to house a modest system, and i won't need bod hard drive bays anyway.
 
dudewth said:
Thanks for the link. I hadn't seen that review yet. I wonder if I can get a 240 rad down there and still be able to fit pump/res/bluray and 1 HDD & 2 SSD somewhere. Hmmmm.
Click to expand...


I was wonder about the pump/res also. I don't think the drives will be a problem. Perhaps the pump could go on the power supply. Res might be able to be mounted on the back by the gromit holes. I'm sure something could be figured out.
 
He started a thread titled cases for water cooling and he went with a 650d? That's the least WCing friendly of all the cases listed :p.

WCing and modest don't really go together :). Enjoy the case though, it is very nice.
 
After some more research and talking with the guy who did the review at overclockers.com I'm sure the NZXT 810 is the case I am going to get. It'll be just about perfect - and could reach perfection once i figure out the pump/reservoir placement.
 
robble said:
I was wonder about the pump/res also. I don't think the drives will be a problem. Perhaps the pump could go on the power supply. Res might be able to be mounted on the back by the gromit holes. I'm sure something could be figured out.
Click to expand...

I'm getting the Switch 810 on Thursday (as long as nothing goes wrong) so I'll be looking at it more closely. I might consider a 5.25" bay res and maybe pump/res combo up there as well. Will see how much space it has.
 
dudewth said:
I'm getting the Switch 810 on Thursday (as long as nothing goes wrong) so I'll be looking at it more closely. I might consider a 5.25" bay res and maybe pump/res combo up there as well. Will see how much space it has.
Click to expand...

Where did you get it from? Get it before it went out of stock?
 
In the Switch, if you run the rad at the top, there should be plenty of room by the bottom hard drive cage for a pump. in my situation, where I have a top and bottom mounted radiator, I'm going to have to get creative when my Switch gets here on Friday. I was thinking securing the pump where the rear 140mm exhaust fan would normally go. Otherwise the space between the PCI brackets and he side panel looks like a decent option, right on top of the PSU.
I can't use the any of the bays as I have too many hard drives, but the case should have plenty of room regardless.
 
Bad ConNecTioN said:
He started a thread titled cases for water cooling and he went with a 650d? That's the least WCing friendly of all the cases listed :p.

WCing and modest don't really go together :). Enjoy the case though, it is very nice.
Click to expand...

It will be air cooled for a while anyway. The plan is, if i do WC, one 240 or 280 on top and one 120 or 140 rad on the back. All other components i could fit right where the hard drive bays come out. I can see it, it will just take planning.

Did i mention i have never watercooled something before? :p
 
Bad ConNecTioN said:
In the Switch, if you run the rad at the top, there should be plenty of room by the bottom hard drive cage for a pump. in my situation, where I have a top and bottom mounted radiator, I'm going to have to get creative when my Switch gets here on Friday. I was thinking securing the pump where the rear 140mm exhaust fan would normally go. Otherwise the space between the PCI brackets and he side panel looks like a decent option, right on top of the PSU.
I can't use the any of the bays as I have too many hard drives, but the case should have plenty of room regardless.
Click to expand...

I was thinking of running a 420 and a 240, that's why I'm wondering about space. Might just end up with a 420 and 140 and have space at the bottom for pump/res.
 
robble said:
I'm also considering a new case for more radiators.

Considerations:

Will hold a 3x or preferably 4x radiator up top and a 2x radiator (preferably front vice bottom for dust reasons) 120mm or 140mm ok.

It can't be more than 24" tall to fit under my desk (would leave 1" breathing room - desk is 25")

Would like filter for intakes to keep inside mostly dust free. The case will be sitting on pile carpet and I have a dog. My current rig gets pretty dusty.

Not be gaudy looking.

the nzxt looks promising but the 240 radiator goes on the bottom. Looking at pics I'm not sure how that'll work with the power supply down there too. anyone have pics of that? know if it could be front mounted?

xigmatek is too tall.
enermax too tall
blackhawk too tall.


EDIT:

This is the best review of the NZXT I've seen yet. http://www.overclockers.com/nzxt-switch-810-black I think it might be perfect! While the 240 radiator goes on the bottom there are filters down there too. I have a feeling this might be my next case.
Click to expand...

If you need space for more rads, then Caselabs(MH10) would be your best option.
 
robble said:
That's pretty damn sweet. It is ready for 4 Quad 120mm radiators!

Not sure I want to spend the money on it though.
Click to expand...

I agree the Caselabs M series cases are probably THE most well designed and best suited for any situation. Plus they are all aluminum.

I emailed the company with some questions, they responded in less than an hour and emailed me the full manual for the case.
Answered each of my questions in detailed fashion.

Makes my Corsair 800d look totally bush league.
 
magoo said:
I agree the Caselabs M series cases are probably THE most well designed and best suited for any situation. Plus they are all aluminum.

I emailed the company with some questions, they responded in less than an hour and emailed me the full manual for the case.
Answered each of my questions in detailed fashion.

Makes my Corsair 800d look totally bush league.
Click to expand...

Agreed the caselabs M cases are amazingly well designed and all AL but I can't justify nearly 400 bones for one when the FT02 is 250ish and the switch is <200. I'd rather spend less on a switch and have more dough to throw at ivy bridge components. If caselabs could give us a case somehow with the watercooling capacity of the M8 at like <300 i'd consider it.
 
Yes.

I thought 475 for a case was pretty crazy.

It's awesome, but jesus.....thats three tires for my truck.:eek:
 
Imitation said:
Agreed the caselabs M cases are amazingly well designed and all AL but I can't justify nearly 400 bones for one when the FT02 is 250ish and the switch is <200. I'd rather spend less on a switch and have more dough to throw at ivy bridge components. If caselabs could give us a case somehow with the watercooling capacity of the M8 at like <300 i'd consider it.
Click to expand...

A smaller case with the same WC potential is coming Summer 2012. Could be sub $300.
 
WorldExclusive said:
A smaller case with the same WC potential is coming Summer 2012. Could be sub $300.
Click to expand...

mmm i'd love to see it. Hopefully they get it out by the time ivy bridge arrives otherwise i'll be picking from what's available which will likely be the switch.
 
Another negative on the M case if you have a wife (doesn't really apply to single guys) is that it's huge (although that is also what makes it great). My wife would freak if I tried to put that in our bedroom.
 
dudewth said:
I was thinking of running a 420 and a 240, that's why I'm wondering about space. Might just end up with a 420 and 140 and have space at the bottom for pump/res.
Click to expand...

We have holes tapped for a bracket that allows the pump to be mounted on the motherboard tray. We should be getting the brackets instock on our store soon. Fitting a 240, even a double thick should be a breeze. ;)
 
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