Best Case for Watercooling w/o Modification

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Markyip1

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 12, 2007
Messages
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Hi all,

About 8 months ago I decided to watercool my rig during a mid-life upgrade to a quad core and a better motherboard. I settled on a single loop cooling the CPU, comprising of a Swiftech MCR-320, Liang Li DDR 3.2 pump, Swiftech MicroRES, and a D-Tek Fuzion. The rest of my current rig is expressed in my Sig.

All of this is currently housed in a TJ-09, except for the radiator which is mounted on the back. Originally I had wanted to mod the TJ-09 to fit the 320 across the top, but after careful study, I decided it would be too much of a hassle. (The chief issue is that I live in an apartment in Manhattan w/o easy access to a workspace in which I can do the necessary dremel work.)

My current setup with the RadBox works, but it's clunky, and it really doesn't fit under my desk anymore, so basically, I'm looking to upgrade my case. I love the Silverstone's build quality and layout, but I need something that can fit the radiator inside without modification work. My search has brought me to basically two options, the Lian-Li PC-A77 and the new V2100/V2110, as these a) look to be able to accommodate my hardware, b) have breakout USB ports at the top vs bottom (very important,) and c) conform to a classic full tower profile. Does anyone know if these can accommodate the MCR without modding?

Note that I researched the TJ-07 when building my rig a year and a half ago, and decided to pass on it due to complaints about airflow around the video cards and side rattle. However, besides the two Lian-Li's, I'm pretty much in the dark about what's out there that will fit my setup (with radiator) internally. Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Many thanks!
 
Look at the Cosmos S from coolermaster, it has a 3x120 at the top and it includes a cover for it. its about $220.
 
I knew the Gigabyte Aurura*, cases were made for small W/C setups..
but the Cosmo S is nice, but i see it a lot :S
 
Mark is right. The Cosmos S is the best case you can buy pretty much if you want to house a really nice watercooling kit inside and have no modding to do.
 
Never really considered the Cosmo S since I'm not the biggest Cooler Master fan, but I will -- thanks. Does anyone know how it does with airflow, particularly around two large (8800 GTX) video cards?
 
Markyip1 said:
Never really considered the Cosmo S since I'm not the biggest Cooler Master fan, but I will -- thanks. Does anyone know how it does with airflow, particularly around two large (8800 GTX) video cards?
Click to expand...
It has tons of airflow. I have considered this case before. It has a 200mm fan on the side that blows right on your video cards.
 
my cosmos s is probably the best case i have ever owned. drop in a 320mm rad w/o modding and keeps old aircooled 8800gtx running pretty cool. inside the case there is plenty of space for anything you could need and you can easily mount the pump in the bottom fan area (and if you bolt it down like me.. the holes are there for the fan already.

my last case was a p180 andit was a bitch to maintain it. cramped as hell with shitty airflow with everything going everywhere in it.

in my cosmos s, this is no longer a problem. i actually took off my broken gtx from itd waterblock while in the case, rma'ed it, then reinstalled the new gtx in the case without draining my loop. there is that much room.
 
Hey all,

Thanks for the advice several weeks back. I decided to go with the Cosmos S and hope to be building this weekend.
 
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