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Ultimately I want a custom water cooled system. What is your favorite water cooling ready case and why. Yes cases you have to mod are acceptaple.

 

Phantek enthoo Primo is what im looking at. Huge case, lots of rad support, filters, doesn't look like a damn spaceship!. I know the res and pump mount is worthless... Such a shame everything else is soo good! I can't seem to find a case that beats it.

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My last water cooled build was with a XSPC H2 case, but very hard to find to buy.    Was able to fit 10x120mm radiator space dual pumps and a dual bay res, even with all that the case still looked empty.

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The Phanteks Entoo Primo looks pretty nice. I never found a res/pump mount being needed. NZXT has been pretty good for watercooling for me, but I've been looking at smaller form factor watercooling builds since there's not a lot of heat output from most components these days.

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

 

You could fully deck out a UFO Horizon for around $400, which is less then the Primo, and fit 3x120 and 1x240 for 600mm of total rad space. With the PSU's and rads below the mobo, your ambients for your motherboard components will be lower as well.

 

If you really want to go baller, the Ascension will fit anything and is fully customizable as well (pick each panel individually). Its HUGE though...mini-fridge big, lol. I run a custom even bigger version and currently have two PSUs, 2x 480mm's up front, a 1x240mm rad in the back...and still have room for one more 480 and two more 360s on the side if I want!

Edited by Puck

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

I will have to disagree. Yes, they are specifically made for watercooling, and yes, they are expensive, but they are not the best of the best. They are designed to be big, incorporate large radiators, but that's about it. I have the Pinnacle 24, and 16 non-toolless screws on the front and rear? Such a hassle. Top-mounted quad radiator? Fans will still need to be mounted on the outside if you want some fans on the inside. When I mean inside, like 2 fans, because with the PSU in the rear and the 5.25" bays in the front, you won't be able to put 2 more than two fans there.

 

I tried it, and never again will I get a MountainMods or anything that costs over $100 for a case. You can find great cases for custom watercooling for under $100. I have at least 12 watercooled systems, built at least 25. There's no reason nowadays to run quad radiators for anything, unless you're going to sport quad GTX 480's for some dumb reason.

Edited by El_Capitan

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I am with El Capitan on this one. I have gone from huge to now seeking to get as small as I can, within reason. I am currently running on the rig I built last week using a Corsair Air 540 and while not the best case I have ever set up for water cooling, they have put some thought into it and once you figure out routing it works and looks quite nice. My other current rig is in a HAF XB and that one works pretty good as well if you don't mind sacrificing your 5.25 bays for a res/pump combo. For me the fun comes from taking a case that is not specifically set up to be water cooled and making it work and look nice. The temps on todays hardware just don't require more than two radiators so it's getting easier to do.

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

I will have to disagree. Yes, they are specifically made for watercooling, and yes, they are expensive, but they are not the best of the best. They are designed to be big, incorporate large radiators, but that's about it. I have the Pinnacle 24, and 16 non-toolless screws on the front and rear? Such a hassle. Top-mounted quad radiator? Fans will still need to be mounted on the outside if you want some fans on the inside. When I mean inside, like 2 fans, because with the PSU in the rear and the 5.25" bays in the front, you won't be able to put 2 more than two fans there.

 

I tried it, and never again will I get a MountainMods or anything that costs over $100 for a case. You can find great cases for custom watercooling for under $100. I have at least 12 watercooled systems, built at least 25. There's no reason nowadays to run quad radiators for anything, unless you're going to sport quad GTX 480's for some dumb reason.

 

Pinnacle is their least customizable basic tower model, and thumb screws are an option on all builds. My Ascension is 100% tool free.

 

When ordering you have the option to change around any panel and basically build your case one side at a time for your own build, so if you don't like the layout it is due to how it was ordered.

 

Radiator space depends on your build. You can argue overkill, but so is overclocking for 99% of people. Not to mention someone with multiple cards and a hot CPU all overclocked will want more then just two small rads. My build is one of those "dumb reasons" to use the GTX 480s. I have two and am debating adding a third. You won't find a $100 case that can handle that with the ease of building and modding as a caselab/MM build.

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

I will have to disagree. Yes, they are specifically made for watercooling, and yes, they are expensive, but they are not the best of the best. They are designed to be big, incorporate large radiators, but that's about it. I have the Pinnacle 24, and 16 non-toolless screws on the front and rear? Such a hassle. Top-mounted quad radiator? Fans will still need to be mounted on the outside if you want some fans on the inside. When I mean inside, like 2 fans, because with the PSU in the rear and the 5.25" bays in the front, you won't be able to put 2 more than two fans there.

 

I tried it, and never again will I get a MountainMods or anything that costs over $100 for a case. You can find great cases for custom watercooling for under $100. I have at least 12 watercooled systems, built at least 25. There's no reason nowadays to run quad radiators for anything, unless you're going to sport quad GTX 480's for some dumb reason.

 

Pinnacle is their least customizable basic tower model, and thumb screws are an option on all builds. My Ascension is 100% tool free.

 

When ordering you have the option to change around any panel and basically build your case one side at a time for your own build, so if you don't like the layout it is due to how it was ordered.

 

Radiator space depends on your build. You can argue overkill, but so is overclocking for 99% of people. Not to mention someone with multiple cards and a hot CPU all overclocked will want more then just two small rads. My build is one of those "dumb reasons" to use the GTX 480s. I have two and am debating adding a third. You won't find a $100 case that can handle that with the ease of building and modding as a caselab/MM build.

 

Yeah, all the options also add more to the price. I removed all 16 screws and replaced them with 4 thumbscrews each. None of the inside are tool-less screws, also.

 

I know what you're saying, but know what I'm saying. For a $430 case, yes, $430 case, had I known what I was getting, I wouldn't have paid more than $85 for it. It's that much of a let down. A quad radiator, and you can't even put 8 fans on it for push/pull, and have them all inside the case, for that matter. One day I may mod it, but right now, it is what it is.

 

Overclocking is overkill for 99% of people because 99% of people don't understand computer hardware. Those that do overclock, don't need a quad radiator. I have a delidded 3770K with a thick dual 140mm radiator in pull only, that can hit 5.1GHz at 1.48V's without ever going past 69C during Prime95.

 

I even added two GTX 780's in SLI overclocked, and the temps for the GPU's never went past 50C during load. Two GTX 980's will be even cooler, I'm sure.

 

By all means, if you want to buy a $430 case and try for yourself, it's your money. The worst investment in a computer part I ever spent, though.

Edited by El_Capitan

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Thanks for talking some sense into me! The more research I do the more I realize the 500 or so on a custom water cooling setup can fund something else.

 

All of these 200-250$ cases are full of gimmicks... I don't need a basic fan controller I just want extreme cooling without it looking like a damn child's toy!

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I have my wifes Pink NZXT Phantom case water cooled with a 360 rad in the top and a 240 rad on the bottom. No cutting needed. I originally had a bay res for it but now use a Bitspower res hanging out back using a D5 pump with a Bitspower pump head and it all fits fine. I could have used a Swiftech Micro res but wanted the extra capacity.

 

You can find cases that will let you work with them easily but you may need to get more creative. I put together an all internal build using a  CoolerMaster HAF 912 for a friend as well as an all internal build in a Coolermaster stacker 830. Both using 240 rads using basic loops. A bay res will give you additional space in the chassis but can be ugly at times.

 

The only limits are your imagination and the hardware you are trying to stuff int he chassis.   

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

I will have to disagree. Yes, they are specifically made for watercooling, and yes, they are expensive, but they are not the best of the best. They are designed to be big, incorporate large radiators, but that's about it. I have the Pinnacle 24, and 16 non-toolless screws on the front and rear? Such a hassle. Top-mounted quad radiator? Fans will still need to be mounted on the outside if you want some fans on the inside. When I mean inside, like 2 fans, because with the PSU in the rear and the 5.25" bays in the front, you won't be able to put 2 more than two fans there.

 

I tried it, and never again will I get a MountainMods or anything that costs over $100 for a case. You can find great cases for custom watercooling for under $100. I have at least 12 watercooled systems, built at least 25. There's no reason nowadays to run quad radiators for anything, unless you're going to sport quad GTX 480's for some dumb reason.

 

Pinnacle is their least customizable basic tower model, and thumb screws are an option on all builds. My Ascension is 100% tool free.

 

When ordering you have the option to change around any panel and basically build your case one side at a time for your own build, so if you don't like the layout it is due to how it was ordered.

 

Radiator space depends on your build. You can argue overkill, but so is overclocking for 99% of people. Not to mention someone with multiple cards and a hot CPU all overclocked will want more then just two small rads. My build is one of those "dumb reasons" to use the GTX 480s. I have two and am debating adding a third. You won't find a $100 case that can handle that with the ease of building and modding as a caselab/MM build.

 

Yeah, all the options also add more to the price. I removed all 16 screws and replaced them with 4 thumbscrews each. None of the inside are tool-less screws, also.

 

I know what you're saying, but know what I'm saying. For a $430 case, yes, $430 case, had I known what I was getting, I wouldn't have paid more than $85 for it. It's that much of a let down. A quad radiator, and you can't even put 8 fans on it for push/pull, and have them all inside the case, for that matter. One day I may mod it, but right now, it is what it is.

 

Overclocking is overkill for 99% of people because 99% of people don't understand computer hardware. Those that do overclock, don't need a quad radiator. I have a delidded 3770K with a thick dual 140mm radiator in pull only, that can hit 5.1GHz at 1.48V's without ever going past 69C during Prime95.

 

I even added two GTX 780's in SLI overclocked, and the temps for the GPU's never went past 50C during load. Two GTX 980's will be even cooler, I'm sure.

 

By all means, if you want to buy a $430 case and try for yourself, it's your money. The worst investment in a computer part I ever spent, though.

 

I get what you mean, but it is not fair to complain about not being able to push AND pull on quad radiators, and then right after that mention how useless quad radiators are anyway. If a quad is so much overkill and nobody even needs one (which I agree is true for most people) then why would you try to run 8x fans in push+pull on one??? Very few cases can fit a quad, even even fewer of those will allow push+pull. That is a very long and fat rad stack and your case would need to be enormous to space it far enough from drive cages, PSU's, and graphics cards to fit. Not to mention most people run quad rads in order to run less/quieter fans at the same water temp.

 

Your cherry 3770k isn't the best example for rad space since it runs way cooler then most. I don't think I have ever seen a 5.1ghz 3770k hold 69c with only a dual rad at that high voltage. When I was on just watercooling my delidded 3770k would hit ~70c with a Swiftech triple and an Aquacomputer double in series @ 1.4v core. That's more then double the rad space, 300less mhz, and .05 less vcore for the same temp.

 

I do agree that money could be better spent elsewhere if you are willing to mod your case, but if you want something that will work out of the box for exotic WC setups that you can totally customize for your own layout then the MountainMods and Caselabs cases are still the best bet. Nitpicking about having to spend extra on thumb screws or complaining about a feature that one particular version of their cases cant do (and most others wont anyway) doesn't seem fair. FWIW the Pinnacle is meant for those concerned about footprint, not max WC real estate...the Extended UFO, Ascension, and Extended Ascension can all do multiple push+pull quads.

 

 

 

I have my wifes Pink NZXT Phantom case water cooled with a 360 rad in the top and a 240 rad on the bottom. No cutting needed. I originally had a bay res for it but now use a Bitspower res hanging out back using a D5 pump with a Bitspower pump head and it all fits fine. I could have used a Swiftech Micro res but wanted the extra capacity.

 

You can find cases that will let you work with them easily but you may need to get more creative. I put together an all internal build using a  CoolerMaster HAF 912 for a friend as well as an all internal build in a Coolermaster stacker 830. Both using 240 rads using basic loops. A bay res will give you additional space in the chassis but can be ugly at times.

 

The only limits are your imagination and the hardware you are trying to stuff int he chassis.   

 

:thumbsup: You can get a lot done with a bit of ingenuity! For years I ran an ancient Chenming Server tower that was hacked to crap...dremeled a cutout for a second PSU, made a triple 120 rad cutout for the top, a double cutout for the front, side fan drilled and bolted to the horizontal brace, etc. That thing was a cheap OEM server tower from the late 90s/early 2000s and lasted me close to 10 years as I did more and more mods to it!

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Pretty much anything from MountainMods or Caselabs will be specifically made for watercooling. Expensive, but they are the best of the best.

I will have to disagree. Yes, they are specifically made for watercooling, and yes, they are expensive, but they are not the best of the best. They are designed to be big, incorporate large radiators, but that's about it. I have the Pinnacle 24, and 16 non-toolless screws on the front and rear? Such a hassle. Top-mounted quad radiator? Fans will still need to be mounted on the outside if you want some fans on the inside. When I mean inside, like 2 fans, because with the PSU in the rear and the 5.25" bays in the front, you won't be able to put 2 more than two fans there.

 

I tried it, and never again will I get a MountainMods or anything that costs over $100 for a case. You can find great cases for custom watercooling for under $100. I have at least 12 watercooled systems, built at least 25. There's no reason nowadays to run quad radiators for anything, unless you're going to sport quad GTX 480's for some dumb reason.

 

Pinnacle is their least customizable basic tower model, and thumb screws are an option on all builds. My Ascension is 100% tool free.

 

When ordering you have the option to change around any panel and basically build your case one side at a time for your own build, so if you don't like the layout it is due to how it was ordered.

 

Radiator space depends on your build. You can argue overkill, but so is overclocking for 99% of people. Not to mention someone with multiple cards and a hot CPU all overclocked will want more then just two small rads. My build is one of those "dumb reasons" to use the GTX 480s. I have two and am debating adding a third. You won't find a $100 case that can handle that with the ease of building and modding as a caselab/MM build.

 

Yeah, all the options also add more to the price. I removed all 16 screws and replaced them with 4 thumbscrews each. None of the inside are tool-less screws, also.

 

I know what you're saying, but know what I'm saying. For a $430 case, yes, $430 case, had I known what I was getting, I wouldn't have paid more than $85 for it. It's that much of a let down. A quad radiator, and you can't even put 8 fans on it for push/pull, and have them all inside the case, for that matter. One day I may mod it, but right now, it is what it is.

 

Overclocking is overkill for 99% of people because 99% of people don't understand computer hardware. Those that do overclock, don't need a quad radiator. I have a delidded 3770K with a thick dual 140mm radiator in pull only, that can hit 5.1GHz at 1.48V's without ever going past 69C during Prime95.

 

I even added two GTX 780's in SLI overclocked, and the temps for the GPU's never went past 50C during load. Two GTX 980's will be even cooler, I'm sure.

 

By all means, if you want to buy a $430 case and try for yourself, it's your money. The worst investment in a computer part I ever spent, though.

 

I get what you mean, but it is not fair to complain about not being able to push AND pull on quad radiators, and then right after that mention how useless quad radiators are anyway. If a quad is so much overkill and nobody even needs one (which I agree is true for most people) then why would you try to run 8x fans in push+pull on one??? Very few cases can fit a quad, even even fewer of those will allow push+pull. That is a very long and fat rad stack and your case would need to be enormous to space it far enough from drive cages, PSU's, and graphics cards to fit. Not to mention most people run quad rads in order to run less/quieter fans at the same water temp.

 

Your cherry 3770k isn't the best example for rad space since it runs way cooler then most. I don't think I have ever seen a 5.1ghz 3770k hold 69c with only a dual rad at that high voltage. When I was on just watercooling my delidded 3770k would hit ~70c with a Swiftech triple and an Aquacomputer double in series @ 1.4v core. That's more then double the rad space, 300less mhz, and .05 less vcore for the same temp.

 

I do agree that money could be better spent elsewhere if you are willing to mod your case, but if you want something that will work out of the box for exotic WC setups that you can totally customize for your own layout then the MountainMods and Caselabs cases are still the best bet. Nitpicking about having to spend extra on thumb screws or complaining about a feature that one particular version of their cases cant do (and most others wont anyway) doesn't seem fair. FWIW the Pinnacle is meant for those concerned about footprint, not max WC real estate...the Extended UFO, Ascension, and Extended Ascension can all do multiple push+pull quads.

 

The two are not mutually exclusive. I can complain about a "best of the best" case for custom watercooling that supports a quad radiator, but it not supporting fans to be all internal, nor able to fit all 8 fans, among other features. I can also state that a quad radiator is useless because they are, and because I have 3 of them and use 2 of them in two different builds, and it's just not needed. Just because I deem them useless doesn't mean I wouldn't use them, but I will state the reason why (which I have done). Just because I have them in my builds, and that I don't necessarily like or need them, doesn't mean I can't have an opinion. If you don't like my opinions, IDGAF.

 

The 3770K screenshot is in this post here. It's just a single Coolgate 280 radiator with two 140mm fans in pull. The case is a Corsair Carbide Air 540, and I can't fit long cards in it, but will fit cards like GTX 970's just fine. I can complain about some issues with the Corsair Carbide Air 540, but I only spent $85 or so after MIR, so I expect there to be shortfalls with a case usually around the $125 - $150 range for custom watercooling.

 

I have another delidded 3770K that gets to 4.9GHz at 1.48V's, and temps get to 82C on the hottest core, and that's with a single 120.3 radiator in push/pull. I'm definitely lucky with the other 3770K. I've been meaning to switch the radiator on it to a thicker 120.3 radiator to see how it does, but I never got around to it. I don't keep it that high an overclock most of the time, anyways. I just like to have fun with some benchmarks from time to time.

 

I have more complaints about my MountainMods case, but I don't really care to gripe about something just to complain about it. I just wanted to give the OP some reasons, and steer him into making the best decision for himself.

Edited by El_Capitan

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