Home made watercooled case project

[Mord]

OK, guys, it's like this.

I was out there for a nice case to replace my Chieftec Dragon middle tower. But there's nothing that satisfies me fully. So i decided to make myself one. It's still on the drawing board, but hopefully I'll be getting to compose it.

The hardware:
DFI Ultra-D
Opteron 144
2x1GB UCCC
7600GS 128DDR3
Audigy2 ZS
2x PSU's - main and support (fans, etc.)
3x 250GB HDD's
DVD burner

The water setup:
2x block identical - CPU and GPU
1/4 tubing (small and clean)
Audi heatercore (2x 120mm)
NOVA pump (800l/h, 1.8m head)
60/100/100mm reservoir

The goals:
1. Smallest possible case
2. Quiet (closed noisy parts - HDD's, PSU's, RAD; less fans)
3. Good ventilation on the MB and VGA
4. Least possible deviation in loop

So this is what could manage till now:

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4830/26858228sz1.th.png (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=26858228sz1.png)http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/4002/64082842sk4.th.png (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=64082842sk4.png)http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/2305/73494565np6.th.png (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=73494565np6.png)http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3295/63810230zj0.th.png (http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=63810230zj0.png)http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/4062/67613588bx9.th.png (http://img444.imageshack.us/my.php?image=67613588bx9.png)

Small, the 4 fans on the rad blow at the MB and VGA. I know rad fittings at bottom are a no-no :nono:, but if i turn it that way it gets too cluttered.

So comment, advise, laugh. :)

[septim]

i dont think you'd need 2 PSU for this project, i would suggest 1 600w to 750w good quality PSU.

4 fans only small case:
since you're front mounting maybe a mcr or pa rad with 2 fans should be enough...
and if you follow my advice of 1 PSU, another 120fan on top to exhaust rising warm air.
and the back panel 120mm fan.

pump and tubing:
i recommend upgrade tubing to at least 3/8id, use a d5 or ddc3.1 (dont even need modded top)
i wouldn't recommend that submersible pump, as it would add more heat to the loop.
you may want to go t-line or mcres-micro or EK multioption
CPU block lots to choose from
GPU mcw60 seems to be prefered for ease of remounting on other gpu cards

and as you may hear from other members, pls dont mix alum and copper in a loop.

what sort of material are you looking at when making this case?

[Mord]

No, no... You've got it all wrong! :shocked:

Maybe it's my bad. :confused:

The second PSU is only for the fans, cathodes and controllers/displays.
All the parts I already have. I will NOT change them. I'm just looking for a nice idea for a case.

The pump is only 10W, so it's not a problem at all.

The setup is running at the moment at sub 40C full load (144@2870mhz@1.57v, 3-4-4-6,1t@262mhz, 750(720)mhz@@1.63v/1800mhz@1.89v, 4x120mm@rad@900rpm, room temp is 30C - pretty hot here).
So it's a nice setup, but I need a new case. Not new parts.

The material will be MDF most likely - good sound isolation, and easy to handle. 3mm preferably.

[septim]

ah lolz, mind posting what your PSUs are? so that everyone will know and recommend proper suggestions.

[Solarfall]

hey nice looking little project you have going on in here... best of luck to you. :toast: i just love these kind of projects.

i have a suggestion.. :idea: mount the 2 psu's to the bottom of you case and do a separate compartment to them..
a sort of a wind tunnel like in the bigger lianLi cases. that would look sick.

[Frank M]

IMO it looks nice.
Maybe if you made the case about 30mm taller, you could put the 3 hdds next
to each other below the mobo, and you could save ~4" in length.

3mm MDF is thin. 5mm would be better.

Also, what are those two psus? And how will they exhaust if they are back-to-
back? Maybe only one would be enough.

Solarfall, a separate compartment, like in Antec P180s, results in a big case.
One of the aims was small size.

Oh btw nice plans. Which program did you use?

[Mord]

10x guys!

PSU's are a FSP Bluestorm 400W and an old Delta 250W. The bluestorm is with a 120mm fan and the delta - a 80mm pulling in.

It doesn't matter if the PSU's are on top or bottom - it's the same height. Also the idea with the HDD's there is to be cooled by the rad's fans.

I am now drawing a cube case just to have a backup idea. App is Google Sketchup.

[Sparky]

Couple questions (out of curiosity) - why is the DVD at the very bottom of the case? And what is that mesh thing over the whole mobo area? :confused:

[Mord]

Couple questions (out of curiosity) - why is the DVD at the very bottom of the case? And what is that mesh thing over the whole mobo area? :confused:

Does it matter where is the DVD?! There's place for it there, so...
It's mesh, believe it or not! Just mesh - makes the hardware visible AND well ventilated. Better than plexy, better than cover.

[septim]

hmm another suggestion would be to make it like a Tech station, with the mobo horizontal for ease of swapping cards, etc...

[Mord]

hmm another suggestion would be to make it like a Tech station, with the mobo horizontal for ease of swapping cards, etc...
Hmm might consider that instead of the cube case... Looks nice, and can easily be closed with covers.
10x for the heads up, septim!

[septim]

NP, was just browsing around PTS and looked around for some tech station models...