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

[Power5]

Its not the mobo tray, its the window on one side panel. I am thinking he wanted the panels to be interchangeable so that there was only 2 panels to manufacture, not 4.

[Hunter 101]

Mick, multi quoting some posts from the other thread in here that puts some more light on your comments in this thread above as reply to me to people dont have to search all over the forum to see what we are talking about.

As I've said before, I am reluctant to increase the size of my design any further. I'm only thinking about catering for these larger motherboards because there are very few cases that can accommodate them.

Please see my last post on other water cooling thread. I.e. no need for more than the 8 PCI slots that it has now as its a case for water cooling

Hunter, your wattage calculations are way off
You can calculate with 200W per CPU at 4,5Ghz (these Hexas don't use more power than Bloomfields, actually it's less at identical clocks/volts even with early A0 sample CPUs)
Maybe 300W for OCed Fermi cards (conservatively), 100W for the mobo with its Dual NF200's and another 100W or so for HDDs, pumps, fans etc.
In all, you should be fine with a single, good 1500W PSU.

Cooling-wise I'd say dual loop, quad rad for the GPUs and quad rad for the CPUs/mobo is more than enough.

@Mick64: Incredibly awesome cases, I want one
But please, include that "XL-ATX" support for the DP classified - no cases out for that board really

jcool, ure completely right, I been sitting here looking at some old speculation max OC watage numbers of mine. One minute with google confirms your numbers are more or less dead on all over the place

I still under the impression and believe I need a second PSU to drive the total HD I run and other gear and keep things rather quiet on the PSU fan noise. I like running my PSU at 50% for reasons of noise alone.

This is sweet news for the build size thou, and leaves me with only needing a quad or single loop with two times triple fan rads as you say, keeping whats there in case size other than the PCI slots will be good enough.

That basically also means the cooling will fit into the case with no further increase.

I will edit my post above to reflect my setup changes

Yeah, I did the exact same calculations a while back because I am gonna be building a very similar system

As for PSUs, you are right about fan noise, assuming you run full blast on CPUs and GPUs for longer periods of time, your best bet are two 1000 to 1200W high efficiency PSUs (go 80+ Gold if you can, I believe there is a new Antec Signature in that class with Gold certification).

However, I always swap PSU fans for noise concerns anyways, so for me, a good, single PSU with a quiet fan will do the trick (not planning to run 3 cards anyway. not until WCG starts supporting GPUs, that is )

after a fair bit of thinking and a bit more facts gathering by reading up on more info on max load values.

I have managed to land on that one product that I belive will do the job that I need done just finehttp://www.koolance.com/water-cooling/product_info.php?product_id=665 will be able to run 3 fermi cards, two pumps, 2 max OC Xeons and 12 HDs. As I am in Europe 1700 Watts will do as I am in 220 V AV.

That takes care of the inherit noise problem with one 1.5 KW PSU running at max values and the noise that generates as well as it removes the need to make the case having to hold 2 units of PSU. That means we can install 2 quad rads in top chamber. Now we just need a qod answer or render of how a raid card, 3 fermis, a sound card, 11 HD, one HDROM, 2 set of pumps & reservoir will fit into the case with this somewhat large CPU running it all. I am still unsure if all of that will fit into one case beside the large motherboard.

Now since we can fit two quads blowing in the top of the case and them pulling in air the sides and out on top of the case we should have enough cooling to run all this with not much rad fan noise at all.
My conclusion after a fair bit of thinking of the options and feedback all over the place, is that this case will do the job as it is as long as I can fit all that. Making this case cater for the most extreme usage one can throw at one single computer.

Can we have a rendering of how this will fit my setup please

[Gone Cruising]

Its not the mobo tray, its the window on one side panel. I am thinking he wanted the panels to be interchangeable so that there was only 2 panels to manufacture, not 4.

Ahhh, right!!!! I was thinking in acrylic where both sides of the case are clear acrylic so it didn't matter if you switched sides. Heck, just make both sides of the case panels giant windows, make perfs on the face at the bottom and top compartments so you can see all the goodies inside!!!!

[erikmorgan]

Definitely want one when it comes to fruition!

[Tim1]

Wish this was already in production. I'm deff buying one. Just one thing, maybe continue the window to show off the HDDs? Theres a project here that has what im talking about on a lian li but i can't find it atm.
Heres a pic of almost what im talking about.

But just have the window on the hdd section.

Overall though, seems like a case that has everything i need and will be around for longer than my lian li v2000

[azcrazy]

sweet case if u ask me

[Jsunn]

I would definitly buy your case!!

I wma looking at the 10 PCI slot MoBo, but not really excitited about the cases available.

You may or may not have seen in my liquid cooling thread, that I am looking at increasing the height of my case design. There is a very good chance that I will be getting my design built in the not too distant future so I would like some input from you guys. The reason I want to increase the height is to accommodate the EVGA 4x SLI XL-ATX motherboard which requires 10 PCI slots. This would also make it possible to fit the new dual socket motherboard from EVGA. What I would like to know is how many of you are thinking of getting these motherboards and would you buy my case to put them in? If interest is faverable, I will modify my design and possibly produce some new renders with the dual socket motherboard installed.....

[Jsunn]

Mick,

Any update on the timeframe...I am in the planning phase of my first watercooling design and this case is the, bee's knees!

Great project.

-Jason

[The_Beast]

I'm not exactly a water cooling master but I would buy that case in a heart beat if it was the right price and material used

[Mick64]

First an apology for copying and pasting from my liquid cooling thread...

Well, I've finally had the time to create another render. This shows what the case would look like after increasing its size to accommodate the EVGA dual socket motherboard. There are now 10 PCI slots and an additional 5.25 drive bay. I only had time to do 70 passes though, so the render's not as sharp as I would like, but it's not bad. Let me know what you think.

Sorry, but I still haven't got any updates on manufacture. Still waiting to here if there has been any progress, but I know my contact is busy with other projects at the moment....

[ShadowFox19]

Dude, your work is awesome! I'll definitely buy one if this goes into production.
The only weak point, for me, is that it only holds four 3.5" HDD's. Granted, I could put a HDD cage in a couple/few of the 5.25" bays, but I like to keep a couple of those free for future use.

Great work! I'm really diggin' the revamped version to accommodate the dual classified board.

One question - How wide is that case? The reason I ask is because I was wondering if you could find a way to design it so you could stack the RAD's with fans on the outside and a set in between the RAD's.
Like this: {38mm Fan}[RAD]{25mm Fan}[RAD]{38mm Fan}

EDIT: What program did you use to make that?

[Mick64]

Dude, your work is awesome! I'll definitely buy one if this goes into production.
The only weak point, for me, is that it only holds four 3.5" HDD's. Granted, I could put a HDD cage in a couple/few of the 5.25" bays, but I like to keep a couple of those free for future use.

Great work! I'm really diggin' the revamped version to accommodate the dual classified board.

One question - How wide is that case? The reason I ask is because I was wondering if you could find a way to design it so you could stack the RAD's with fans on the outside and a set in between the RAD's.
Like this: {38mm Fan}[RAD]{25mm Fan}[RAD]{38mm Fan}

EDIT: What program did you use to make that?

Thanks Shadow!

With a little thought, you could arrange the cooling loops to give give you room for up to 8 HDD's. I'm also thinking about changing the design of the cages so that it's possible to fit 5 drives in each cage.

The case will be 240mm in width, so you could easily fit two 60mm rads in that configuration.

I use Google SketchUp for modelling and Kerkythea for renering...

[ShadowFox19]

Thanks Shadow!

With a little thought, you could arrange the cooling loops to give give you room for up to 8 HDD's. I'm also thinking about changing the design of the cages so that it's possible to fit 5 drives in each cage.

The case will be 240mm in width, so you could easily fit two 60mm rads in that configuration.

I use Google SketchUp for modelling and Kerkythea for renering...

http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/k...seDesign-1.jpg

Where do you have the pumps placed in that drawing? In the res?

[Short_Cirkit]

I'd buy it!! NOW!!

[Mick64]

Where do you have the pumps placed in that drawing? In the res?

That's a Primochill Typhoon III, the pump's built in and you can run two loops off the one res. It's not ideal, but it is an option....

[Mick64]

Here's another render of the extended case. I've put some casters on it this time and changed the design of the HDD cage. I prefer the original cage myself, but I've had to simplify the design to aid manufacture and now it can hold five drives...

[SAL36864]

I also prefer the original.

If you are going with two loops, like in the most recent picture, would you not want the Quad rad for the Quad GPU loop (easily exceeding 600 watts), and the triple rad for the CPU (about 260 watts) loop? And is there any reason you went with Quad on top with Triple on bottom rather than the reverse or both above or below the main compartment?

Regarding the front fan, in terms of performance/cost and performance/size, I would have to agree with people that a 120mm fan (or fans) would be preferable. There are also some good 140mm fans but they are far more expensive (roughly: $5 for 120x25 Yate Loon, $10 for a 120x38mm Ultra Kaze, $15 for a 120x38 Delta, $40 for a 140x50 Delta)

Also, I have been reading the threads regarding your case design since the beginning, and must say it is a most impressive case. I hope that it comes out, is made to your liking, and if it is not too pricey ($600 for the 10 drive one seems reasonable), I'll try to get one.

Edit: As for Al vs Steel, I have no preference.

[LabregoO]

Here's another render of the extended case. I've put some casters on it this time and changed the design of the HDD cage. I prefer the original cage myself, but I've had to simplify the design to aid manufacture and now it can hold five drives...

Where do you get those models ? Are you (still) using SketchUp + Kerkythea ? Really good that work , and the case is huge wanna see that build

[Gone Cruising]

Hey mick,

Any news yet?

BTW, what size did you end up with on the case when adding the dual cpu mobo?

I ended up with 300mm W x 648mm H x 615 D (11.8"W x 25.5" H x 24.21" D) So far I have redesigned the case about 16 times since last October....man it was hard to get all the screw holes correct and to get everything to fit and where to mount stuff.

Im building the first one for a co-worker and he has two 360 Fessers (bottom compartment) so the need for 300mm wide was needed. I would need to go taller to fit a rad up top (top/bottom different sizes), about 7 mm, which I should have done (back to the drawing board to make them even)

Going this wide 300mm you should be able to fit dual rads up top and dual on the bottom....4 loops would be nice with the dual socket. Of course im using acrylic which is thicker material...

What did you find were the spec's for the dual socket mobo?

Here's a pic with it 60% done. (acrylic and aluminum angle)

[DeltZ]

How does one go about finding out all the internal measurements of a case?
Taking a ruler to a case seems exceedingly difficult :P

Have wondered this in the past.

And how do you fabricate it?

There's only so much a CNC mill can do. How do you do metal folds for strength etc...

Custom case sounds really fun ^^ But it seems impossible to do without some complex processes.

Sorry if this has been asked or something within the last 21 pages...

[Gone Cruising]

How does one go about finding out all the internal measurements of a case?
Taking a ruler to a case seems exceedingly difficult :P

Have wondered this in the past.

And how do you fabricate it?

There's only so much a CNC mill can do. How do you do metal folds for strength etc...

Custom case sounds really fun ^^ But it seems impossible to do without some complex processes.

Sorry if this has been asked or something within the last 21 pages...

Deltz, often times you can find components people have made to spec in google sketchup. You import those components such as a mobo, psu's, rads, etc. and build around them. Adding other components as you go along. Cases can be as small as the components allow or as big as you want them to be. I don't work with metal yet and specialize in acrylic, so I can't help you there.

Taking a ruler to all components is what I have had to do over the past 6 months to get the excact spec's for components (H x L x W plus mounting hole distances). I've uploaded a few onto google sketchup's warehouse under Gone Cruising. You finr hundreds of others.

Google sketchup is perfect software to start your designs and it's free!!!

[franklin5252]

It looks great keep up the good work.

[Bolas]

Sorry, but I still haven't got any updates on manufacture. Still waiting to here if there has been any progress, but I know my contact is busy with other projects at the moment....

Let us know who's holding things up and we'll bombard them with emails, phone calls, etc, until they get with the program and make your case for us!!

[dudexxl]

Hy all ,

I have been reading this post for about 2 h now going through every comment and every picture posted , it looks it's my dream case .
Hope I see it in stores till the end of the year. Mick64 good luck and lots of money and health.

[oRIDDLERo]

IF you build it i will buy it. I promise. When you build this Please send me an email and a PM. I will pay a premium. I must have this case.