What do you think of my "water cooling" case design?

**Sn@ke:~** · 02-27-2009, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by vinister

I'd rather see it made out of composite material, some kind of very strong plastic, with aluminum sides. But thats just me.

That is actually a very good idea if he was doing it in composite he wouldn't need to patent it and barely modify it, since it wouldn't be like anything on the market and it could be produce by injection molding adding carbon to the composite and all the holes could be perforated after the injection with a hole dye.

It would actually cost about the same but would greatly speed the rate of production and if he was to do so, since the cost of the dye moldings is somewhat costly he would need to produce a few thousand of unit at a cost of 350 + or -. I could see thousands of people buying it.

I would buy it in a heart beat.

**Eddie3dfx** · 02-27-2009, 05:40 PM

I honestly don't think it looks anything like a lian li or silverstone.
Looks quite unique actually.

**Mabyboi** · 02-27-2009, 05:50 PM

id buy one, and id get all my friends to aswell. its a VERY nice case!

**SoundEvolution** · 02-27-2009, 06:25 PM

I Like it a lot, Its big enough for water cooling and everything seems to be in a good place.. The onlything I would do different is switch the two rads.. just my 2 cents..

**pademon** · 02-27-2009, 06:29 PM

anybody want this case to take in a HWlabs 560gtx and 420gtx?
i like them both at the bottom

**msgclb** · 02-28-2009, 11:35 AM

About the only thing this case has in common with the TJ07 is the front rounded corners. What Lian Li case is this one suppose to look like? I just wish SilverStone or another manufacture would build something close to this design.

**3Z3VH** · 03-02-2009, 02:35 PM

A lot of people seem to forget this is a conceptual reder to address layout and function of the case, not a technical engineering drawing showing every bolt and weld. Also, the exterior at this point is largely irrelevant with the exception of the vents, fan holes, and mounting plates. The rest can look like anything it wants to, so any similarity with any other case that could possibly cause worry for copyright infringement, could be changed when it goes to engineering designs.

At this point I see nothing wrong with the case. It looks to be superb !

Now, get this to an engineering shop to give you a structurally sound, and manufacturable state, and I will be one of the first in line to buy one. Excellent job Mick64 !

**Scubar** · 03-02-2009, 02:59 PM

Silverstone TJ-11 maybe ? Id buy one if it was made, Might add a front door just cause i like front doors on cases to hide the bays.

**3Z3VH** · 03-03-2009, 09:54 AM

As far as a front door goes, I would just prefer he made this case as more of a frame, that could have any of a variety of panels mounted on the front and sides to change the look as the customer sees fit.

**westtrade** · 03-05-2009, 02:31 PM

Great job on the case design!!

**owcraftsman** · 03-06-2009, 08:09 AM

Love the design I like everything about it!! I've been doing my own drawings on something very similar it's nice to see I'm not the only one dissatisfied with current case offerings especially for water cooling. Who really wants to hang a rad off the back with the PSU GPU and Case fan blowing hot air right into it or on the top of the case when that's where all the hot air needs to escape. That's why I like my STC CM Stacker with rad installed in bottom of case but pushing hot air into the case is still a compromise. I especially like the separate compartments perfect solution to avoid heat exchange this is what I dream of over and over again. Simply fantastic I want one!! and steel is fine by me.

I'm a free hand drawer and like to dream lately though my ideas have shifted toward the new Sliverstone Raven design with the i/o at the top of the case. Seem to me a this is a fantastic solution and with separate compartments at the bottom for water cooling and front for HDD's, I think you'd have something just different/efficient/effective/and attractive enough as to attract a major manufacturer unless you want to do it on your own. Mountain Mods did it. Bottom line you'd have to produce substantial results that put the other offerings to shame and I believe you'd have a shot doing so by getting the heat out da box like your doing here. The only thing I would change is a separate compartment for HDD's too with side to side air flow similar to your WC solution. This would eliminate all high heat producing components from sharing that heat produced by the mobo.

My basic Idea for the perfect case:
5 compartments
1-top hinged access w/240mm above i/o (completely vented) down scooped at rear for cable mgmt.
2- main mobo/optical with CM style blower
(with the mobo orientated i/o up top the blower to the right would blow right on RAM and PWM area nicely)
( I see enough room to the left for two EK tube style res. fill at top access to PSU/WC compartment Btm)
3- HDD 5 min. w/side to side air flow front case access so side pnl can stay in place for R&R quick connect not necessary but for one of the drives would be nice.
4- PSU/WC entire bottom
5- Control panel on/off/reset usb esata fan temp and lighting control all integrated

Side panel 240mm fan and clear view mobo compartment only

All within a 12 bay case size scale.
2bay I/O and Ctrl Compartments
3bay Optical
4bay HDD
3bay PSU/WC

Oh well a guy can dream hugh?

**Mick64** · 03-06-2009, 12:14 PM

Thought you guys might like to know that I've had some interest in my case from a popular case manufacturer. Lets hope things go a little further.....

**3Z3VH** · 03-09-2009, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by owcraftsman

...
I'm a free hand drawer and like to dream lately though my ideas have shifted toward the new Sliverstone Raven design with the i/o at the top of the case. ...

After having seen the Raven a month or so ago, then seeing this case, I was thinking it would be awfully neato to reduce the top radiator space to a 360 (instead of its current 480 size), then rotate the motherboard 90 degrees so the cables come out the back of the top cavity... this gives you plenty of room to plug and unplug the cables, keeps them from looking ugly in the back of the case, and you haven't hurt the case's cooling potential all that much, since you only lost 120mm of radiator, in an already radiator-heavy case.

**Bond Number** · 03-09-2009, 04:02 PM

The case looks sweet. I have been eyeing this thread for the last few weeks, jonesing for new renderings everyday. I by no means want to take away from the design (it is just awesome), but the front is somewhat bland.

I think the circular grill takes away from rest of the case. I saw a Audi R-8 last week and the front fascia was pretty amazing. Maybe tie some of the features of the frontend into your case. I think a quadrangular grill that stretches 1/3 up from the bottom might add to the case, something like a lian-li, but not orthoganol make it a little skewed. Also for the mesh maybe use something retangular, something different from the normal hexagonally packed mesh. The R-8 color scheme was a daytona grey pearl with a black grill and small chrome hightlights, very nice.

**Power5** · 03-10-2009, 01:05 PM

I havent seen any radiator pictures in the thread, but from the looks, this is only a single rad on top and bottom? Would it be possible to double the rads?

Do you have an email?

**3Z3VH** · 03-10-2009, 01:39 PM

Double the rads ? Do you really need more than a quad, and triple radiator ? Are you trying to run a mini nuclear reactor in this case ?!

**MrToad** · 03-10-2009, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by vinister

I'd rather see it made out of composite material, some kind of very strong plastic, with aluminum sides. But thats just me.

Actually aluminium composite sheet (two aluminium sheets with a polyethylene core sandwiched in between) is readily available.

Antec uses this product quite often on their cases.

Regarding "borrowing" design ideas, well... That is a fantastically grey area. I don't see LL taking SS to court over the "curved" case design...

I must admit, I quite like the design. However, being realistic, this case should be in the same price bracket as the LL V2010. Probably higher due to lower production runs.

And on the subject, I can't think on any other companies but LL and SS that have the tooling and the experience/expertise to pull a design like this. Antec probably has the tooling, but I don't know to what extent they would be interested in such a "niche" and premium design.

Still, a good effort. The MM Pinnacle does all what this case does, and it does it well, but your design is certainly more aesthetically pleasing (at least to my eyes).

**Mick64** · 03-10-2009, 06:42 PM

Just a quick reminder as to what all the fuss is about. LOL

**jimmyxxx** · 03-10-2009, 07:35 PM

the real deal about the design of this case is using it for liquid cooling.
But if you want to take this case in the comercial league, you had to re edit the front of the case and the top chamber.
Making a hole on the top part of the front so you can fit 3 more 5.25" drive Bays.
One more PCI slot is need for certain mobos to run Tri-Sli (the classified one from evga).
Radiator supports have to be modular so if you dont want the extra rads you can put 2 drive cages for lots of HDD.

PD: srry for my english
PD2: my other idea is to take out the top chamber, and make the case just enough tall to fit a quad radiator on the top part: Ex. Cosmos S

**The0men** · 03-10-2009, 08:48 PM

Actually, I would probably add one or two 5" drive bays below the current ones, with a modular
HDD bay that can be installed in the top or bottom section of the case, as well as a little mesh
behind the hole the in the motherboard tray where the CPU is.

The reason I think the extra 5" drive bays would be handy, is alot of people use fan
controllers with watercooling, they can take one or two, and one may be used for
a reservoir also. This doesn't give you any room for IR receivers or optical drives.

But seriously it looks awsome!

**Defratos** · 03-11-2009, 01:32 AM

So where can I buy one? lol j/k. Lovely case mate, I just looked at the pics and didn't read the forum so did you build this yourself?

**Power5** · 03-11-2009, 04:49 AM

I was thinking the same thing. If you turn the top into a 360 rad, you could fit the 5.25 bays in the top chamber giving it the desired external bays. Or the space could be used for HDDs by those who want more storage. This was why I was wondering about double rads. So you could have a triple loop system.

**masxerofkartis** · 03-11-2009, 05:04 AM

Mount the top rad horizontally on the roof and pust some more drive bays, the always come in handy. Also having it horizontally i believe is better since you may get some tube blockage like that and there is clearly no reason to put it vertically since it will occupy too much space.That way you can actually have an extra PSU and extra HDD bays

Also try to use aluminum, it is more lightweight and easier to handle.

**antiacid** · 03-11-2009, 06:54 AM

I love your case and I enjoyed reading this thread to see the progression. Here are my suggestions (which, of course, you can disregard because let's face it: Everyone is a critic):

1- To solve the foot problem, why not go for hourglass design like they do on high-end A/V equipment? It works wonders on hardwood/ceramic/flat floors and it would give it some more style (i.e. http://www.edesignaudio.com/hourglass.gif)

2- Is there any chance that you can push the design towards something silent? I’m thinking extensive use of rubber and possibly even air-filters to keep the dust outside.

3- Maybe I don’t quite get it but it looks like the PSU area is made for a top-fan PSU while my current one is bottom-fan (my tj-09 has a bottom fan grill). I’d need to mount mine upside down and I’m thinking it would push warm air into the case. Is it possible to make the stand-off a grill and another hole/grill in the bottom part?

4- For the radiators, I love how that would work out. Let’s just make sure that a ½ID / ¾OD tube on straight or (at most) 45degree barbs would “fit” with the pre-cut holes in the divider.

5- As for the pump area, is it possible to make pre-cut holes to fasten the pump? Mine is currently on a pad that isn’t fastened but I’m thinking some kind of vibration dampening system could be made on this tower to help reduce the noise and make it even more pretty :P This could also be made for two pumps (I mean, at that point, what’s an extra 4 screw holes with soft plastic threads…)

6- I don’t think you need to extend the case even more than it is. Triple SLI is fun but really, it accounts for a minuscule amount of configurations these days (with double dual cards being the “norm”). I think that if anything, you should try to optimize it to reduce the dead space as much as possible.

7- For the backplate, a standard “enthusiast” setup would be 2x dual slot video cards, 1x single slot audio card, 1x esata/usb ports card and possibly 1x light controller. That means that with 6-7 holes, you’d have plenty. I know some folks will say that they need more for raid controllers, tv capture and whatnot but then they probably can re-arrange their cards to make it fit, or buy another case. There has to be some limits to a design at some point or else you’ll end up with a case like Homer Simpson’s car lol

On a side note, I was thinking how cool it would be to have either a detachable motherboard tray that “snaps-on” with some kind of locking system (clamps?). The Silverstone sliding trays are a decent start though.

Finally, I’m thinking that since this case is geared towards water-cooling enthusiasts, might as well go all the way and add some funky stuff to the front panel like a small gauge for GPM, a reservoir front-view or maybe a fill-port at the top? Something to give it some STYLE!

Keep the good work going