SXS
01-25-2011, 05:43 AM
:welcome:
Like some on here, we like to not follow the norm, and try to do something unique, makes it all the more challenging.
So here I was with a dillema, most of the current crop of cases like the Corsair series and Silverstone series and LianLi and a number of Coolermasters are commonly used for liquid cooled configurations. It was hard enough trying to find a case which no one has liquid cooled before at an extreme level, ie. custom work rather than an off-the-shelf H50/H70 etc... ;)
So.... :shocked:
I came upon Fractal Design - I fell in love with the simple design and solid build, the build quality of the XL was just outstanding. The powder-coating was top-notch, and fairly resilient to regular scratching etc... And to top it off, it was a pre-silenced case with some serious weight to it (great for me as I have a few mastiffs which have a habit of sleeping next to the case and knocking them over!)... :shakes:
The box-of-tricks which controls all the fans and pump is the wonderful mCubed T-Balancer BigNG.
With the pump at 50% duty, and the fans at 2% duty, regular use and idle barely hits 30c! On full load with Prime (heat-gen mode) it barely peaks 49c.
This is a 3.8oc'd quad 6600, with an FSB of 470.
I'm in love with this build, not only does this case look the part, but cable-management and hose management is out of this world. I've literally hid everything. Also have added my own liquid level sensor to the res so that a blue led flashes with a buzz sound when it gets halfway ;)
The hoses have plenty of slack to work on this board without even having to deal with watercooling hoses, the idea was a clean build that one could jump into and switch ram and CPU and even swap out the MB without barely any extra effort on-top of say an air-cooled configuration.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat, heres the pictures, hope you enjoy... I'm not much of a photographer, but I did my best with the little compact camera... :cool:
Case: Fractal Design Define XL (redefined)
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2336/dscf2273m.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9828/dscf2278c.jpg
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/8562/dscf2288.jpg
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9513/dscf2261y.jpg
http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/4232/dscf2321p.th.jpg (http://img545.imageshack.us/i/dscf2321p.jpg/) . http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4335/dscf2318.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/i/dscf2318.jpg/) . http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/3133/dscf2280.th.jpg (http://img812.imageshack.us/i/dscf2280.jpg/) . http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4871/dscf2295p.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/i/dscf2295p.jpg/)
LC configuration:
1 x Triple 140mm Magicool Hi-Flow Slim Radiator
2 x EK XT Dual 120mm Hi-Flow Radiators
1 x EK Supreme LT waterblock
1 x Swiftech Chipset waterblock
1 x Danger Den GPU Full Card waterblock
1 x Swiftech v2 Reservoir
1 x DDC 18w Pump with XSPC Hi-Flow Top
1/2" ID plumbing between radiators, res, pump
Dual 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fittings to CPU waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to Chipset waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to GPU waterblock
The usual drain-ball-valve and Bitspower fillport, etc etc...
Pump and fans controlled by the mCubed T-Balancer BigNG
Yate Loon SH's 140mm and 120mm
...
Conclusion:
Hope this encourages more to do unique custom builds using rare cases! The fun in modding is to put that dremel, jigsaw and drill to good use :yepp:
Oh and apologies folks for not putting any lighting in there, I mean come on, would you stick a neon light in a Ferrari engine bay??! :rofl:
Fractal Design - I applaude you chaps, lovely case! :clap:
Like some on here, we like to not follow the norm, and try to do something unique, makes it all the more challenging.
So here I was with a dillema, most of the current crop of cases like the Corsair series and Silverstone series and LianLi and a number of Coolermasters are commonly used for liquid cooled configurations. It was hard enough trying to find a case which no one has liquid cooled before at an extreme level, ie. custom work rather than an off-the-shelf H50/H70 etc... ;)
So.... :shocked:
I came upon Fractal Design - I fell in love with the simple design and solid build, the build quality of the XL was just outstanding. The powder-coating was top-notch, and fairly resilient to regular scratching etc... And to top it off, it was a pre-silenced case with some serious weight to it (great for me as I have a few mastiffs which have a habit of sleeping next to the case and knocking them over!)... :shakes:
The box-of-tricks which controls all the fans and pump is the wonderful mCubed T-Balancer BigNG.
With the pump at 50% duty, and the fans at 2% duty, regular use and idle barely hits 30c! On full load with Prime (heat-gen mode) it barely peaks 49c.
This is a 3.8oc'd quad 6600, with an FSB of 470.
I'm in love with this build, not only does this case look the part, but cable-management and hose management is out of this world. I've literally hid everything. Also have added my own liquid level sensor to the res so that a blue led flashes with a buzz sound when it gets halfway ;)
The hoses have plenty of slack to work on this board without even having to deal with watercooling hoses, the idea was a clean build that one could jump into and switch ram and CPU and even swap out the MB without barely any extra effort on-top of say an air-cooled configuration.
Anyway, enough of the chit-chat, heres the pictures, hope you enjoy... I'm not much of a photographer, but I did my best with the little compact camera... :cool:
Case: Fractal Design Define XL (redefined)
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/2336/dscf2273m.jpg
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/9828/dscf2278c.jpg
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/8562/dscf2288.jpg
http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9513/dscf2261y.jpg
http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/4232/dscf2321p.th.jpg (http://img545.imageshack.us/i/dscf2321p.jpg/) . http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/4335/dscf2318.th.jpg (http://img407.imageshack.us/i/dscf2318.jpg/) . http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/3133/dscf2280.th.jpg (http://img812.imageshack.us/i/dscf2280.jpg/) . http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/4871/dscf2295p.th.jpg (http://img96.imageshack.us/i/dscf2295p.jpg/)
LC configuration:
1 x Triple 140mm Magicool Hi-Flow Slim Radiator
2 x EK XT Dual 120mm Hi-Flow Radiators
1 x EK Supreme LT waterblock
1 x Swiftech Chipset waterblock
1 x Danger Den GPU Full Card waterblock
1 x Swiftech v2 Reservoir
1 x DDC 18w Pump with XSPC Hi-Flow Top
1/2" ID plumbing between radiators, res, pump
Dual 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fittings to CPU waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to Chipset waterblock
Single 8mm OD plumbing to Legaris hi-flow Banjo fitting to GPU waterblock
The usual drain-ball-valve and Bitspower fillport, etc etc...
Pump and fans controlled by the mCubed T-Balancer BigNG
Yate Loon SH's 140mm and 120mm
...
Conclusion:
Hope this encourages more to do unique custom builds using rare cases! The fun in modding is to put that dremel, jigsaw and drill to good use :yepp:
Oh and apologies folks for not putting any lighting in there, I mean come on, would you stick a neon light in a Ferrari engine bay??! :rofl:
Fractal Design - I applaude you chaps, lovely case! :clap: