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

[Mick64]

What are the dimensions?

Height - 600mm + 10mm for feet

Depth - 650mm

Width - 220mm

Remember, this is for Xtreme water cooling. Anything smaller, and things would start to get a little cramped...

[Eddie3dfx]

Mick, have you ever though of isolating the radiator areas so no heat is brought into the system?
Basically just fillports for the tubing and a small hole for the wiring.

[Mick64]

Mick, have you ever though of isolating the radiator areas so no heat is brought into the system?
Basically just fillports for the tubing and a small hole for the wiring.

I completely understand what your saying, but it might be difficult to cater for everyones needs. Perhaps I could include a detachable plate that covers a large hole in the dividing panels. This could then be modified to suit your own requirements?

[ReverendMaynard]

I think price would depend heavily on materials. Aluminium is going to be much more expensive than steel. Would you prefer a high priced aluminium case or a lower priced steel one?

higher priced aluminum for sure.

Looks great btw, I'd buy one in a heartbeat.

[Power5]

You have space, why not use a 200mm front fan and 140mm rear fan? Lower speed, less noise, more CFM. The front fan looks very dinky to me in the renderings.

[Oupavoc]

Look great nice work. I like the design really nice and clean. A 200mm at the front and a 140mm at the back would be great. What about a side fan also?

[Mick64]

You have space, why not use a 200mm front fan and 140mm rear fan? Lower speed, less noise, more CFM. The front fan looks very dinky to me in the renderings.

Look great nice work. I like the design really nice and clean. A 200mm at the front and a 140mm at the back would be great. What about a side fan also?

Cheers guys! I like the idea of larger fans. This would defiantly be a plus! Not so sure about a side fan, one it would spoil the view through the window, and two, I really don't think it would be necessary. I think I will do a render with a bigger fan in the front, but not just yet. I'm in the middle of decorating my son's bedroom, so I haven't much time at the moment...

[3Z3VH]

I am not sure if this is something you plan to just build for yourself, or to have produced (as you have hinted at) but the majority of computers nowadays are moving toward having at least some sort of eSATA support. Replacing the Firewire port on the front with eSATA would be a very good move. I can not think of a single person I have met that has used Firewire400 in the past 2 years. If they have a Mac, they use the faster Firewire800 (1394b) now, which isn't compatible with the old 1394a connector, and isn't even present on current PC motherboards as far as I have seen.

Also, there is plenty of room above the hard drive cage, is there any way to put a bit more space between each drive to allow a bit more air through ?

One more thing... cable management. Be sure, when you lay out the standoffs on the motherboard tray to conform with ATX standards, that you cut a few large holes for cables to be run behind the motherboard tray, so the users won't have to do it themselves (and trust me, they will, if you don't

Otherwise, I think the case is a winner. I also vote for Aluminum, due to the weight, and ease of manufacture.

Edit: On the topic of fan sizes... perhaps designing a replacement face, or mounting plate with a different size fan mount would be better. This would allow buyers to upgrade to larger fans by buying the 140mm plate, or 200mm plate giving them the choice of which fans they wish to use.

[Mick64]

Spot the differences.......

[vinister]

Very nice with the big front fan. Kudos on the esata aswell, good idea. Enough rendering, where do I send money?

[CmB]

I like the cpu cutout. Would the tray fit e-atx boards?

[DistortioniZm]

Great work! This would make picking a case to buy alot easier for me. Something like this has been needed for a while now IMO.

[Mick64]

I like the cpu cutout. Would the tray fit e-atx boards?

In a case this size, it would be possible to install an e-atx motherboard, however, you would be reducing the amount of room available for any water cooling equipment. (Pumps, reservoirs, etc)

[3Z3VH]

I like the new location on the Power/Reset/HDD LED. It looks a lot more efficient ! (also, eSATA ! )

I can't tell, though, if the HDDs were given more cooling room, but the Motherboard tray still needs more cutouts for cabling. I can understand if you are just waiting till you lay out the standoff locations before you place the holes though.

Good job man ! Tell us who you sell the design to (also, make sure you patent it soon, before a builder sees it as a good idea and takes it) !

[Mick64]

I like the new location on the Power/Reset/HDD LED. It looks a lot more efficient ! (also, eSATA ! )

I can't tell, though, if the HDDs were given more cooling room, but the Motherboard tray still needs more cutouts for cabling. I can understand if you are just waiting till you lay out the standoff locations before you place the holes though.

Good job man ! Tell us who you sell the design to (also, make sure you patent it soon, before a builder sees it as a good idea and takes it) !

Cheers 3Z, Hard drive cooling, IMO, is sufficient, especially now there is a 200mm fan blowing over them. The Motherboard tray doesn't require cut-outs, because I have included cable routes in the top and bottom dividing panels. I didn't think showing stand-offs was necessary, but I can add them if you like?

[3Z3VH]

I did notice the cable routes in the top and bottom, but if the case can fit an Extended ATX board, that means there is a lot of room between the bottom of a standard ATX board, and the bottom divider. I am even in the planning process for cutting holes in my TJ-09's Motherboard tray as we speak so I can hide my cables a little more effectively.

Cases that already have these cutouts have them in spots that allow the cables to be hidden at each edge of the board, and if you are using a larger board, the holes are covered up anyway, so they aren't unsightly.

As I said, it isn't a huge deal, since the buyers of the case will most likely be the type that can cut them themselves, it is just something that came to mind as a feature people (like me) look for in a well-designed case.

[jimmyxxx]

Looks like a tight fit for long psus
The HDD cage should be rotated 180 degrees, so you can make a tidier cable managment (ports facing backwards).
The rest is just perfect

[Mick64]

Looks like a tight fit for long psus
The HDD cage should be rotated 180 degrees, so you can make a tidier cable managment (ports facing backwards).
The rest is just perfect

Thanks jimmy. Yes your right, it probably would be a tight fit for a long PSU, but seeing as there are plenty of +1000w small PSU's on the market, I can't see that being much of a problem. I could extend the length of the case, but at 650mm already, you're talking one huge case! As for the HDD cage, I wasn't aware that the orientation of the cage made a difference in relation to the HDD's. I would also prefer the ports facing the back (or right, depending on how you look at it). However, I'm going to change the design of the HDD cage anyway, because I downloaded this one off the ScetchUp website and I believe it's a copy of a Lian Li cage. So I wouldn't want to steal their design...

[jimmyxxx]

yeah there is a lot of small 1000w psus but the good ones (pc power and cooling, corsair and enermax) are usually long.
Now talking about the cooling, have you plans for using peltiers? With that ammount of radiators the peltiers can really make a bif difference.

[Sn@ke:~]

pro: It is a very nice case with a very sweet design i really love it's look and as a lot to offer.

Cons: the compartment space where the mobo reside is too small and restraint.
seems like there could be more slot in the back for extra device like PCI card, fan controller sata to e-sata port things like that.


I would personally have stick the rad on the outside left panel in a compartment making the tower just a little larger in its thickness for the radiator, blowing the air out of the case through the rad. Leaving more space in the inside and I would of make a compartment at the top like a wind tunnel for the HHD and optical or else that would heat the inside. there would also be a big fan on the right side panel blowing in and cooling the mobo while boosting airflow sucking out the air through for the radiators. the right side panel would lso be a tray with perforated hole over the entire surface for Xtrem cooling air + WC optimum.

But that is just me

[Sparky]

Where do you buy 200mm fans? Can't seem to find any

Also, looking at the panel where the PSU mounts, the screw holes aren't quite right PSUs don't screw in the four corners but 2 corners, one slightly off center from the corner, and then one off to the side. I have no idea who's bright idea that was, but I thought I'd mention it so you don't produce the case and find out 2 of the 4 screw holes for the PSU don't line up

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Where do you buy 200mm fans? Can't seem to find any

Also, looking at the panel where the PSU mounts, the screw holes aren't quite right PSUs don't screw in the four corners but 2 corners, one slightly off center from the corner, and then one off to the side. I have no idea who's bright idea that was, but I thought I'd mention it so you don't produce the case and find out 2 of the 4 screw holes for the PSU don't line up

you can get coolermasters fans they use on their new cases on their website shop IIRC

@ mick : make it 8 PCI slots and the mobo compartment will be just right. That way you have room blow the mobo to run cables/wires to the bottom edge of the motherboard and it can fit 3 dual slot video cards on any motherboard

[Sparky]

Good idea on the slots, that way you could shove 4 dual slot cards in the system using this board for example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130136

Most cases that bottom PCIe slot can only take a single slot card since that would be the bottom of the case, but adding one more slot would give it the room it needs

[Mick64]

pro: It is a very nice case with a very sweet design i really love it's look and as a lot to offer.

Cons: the compartment space where the mobo reside is too small and restraint.
seems like there could be more slot in the back for extra device like PCI card, fan controller sata to e-sata port things like that.

snip

But that is just me

Where do you buy 200mm fans? Can't seem to find any

Also, looking at the panel where the PSU mounts, the screw holes aren't quite right PSUs don't screw in the four corners but 2 corners, one slightly off center from the corner, and then one off to the side. I have no idea who's bright idea that was, but I thought I'd mention it so you don't produce the case and find out 2 of the 4 screw holes for the PSU don't line up

you can get coolermasters fans they use on their new cases on their website shop IIRC

@ mick : make it 8 PCI slots and the mobo compartment will be just right. That way you have room blow the mobo to run cables/wires to the bottom edge of the motherboard and it can fit 3 dual slot video cards on any motherboard

Good idea on the slots, that way you could shove 4 dual slot cards in the system using this board for example
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130136

Most cases that bottom PCIe slot can only take a single slot card since that would be the bottom of the case, but adding one more slot would give it the room it needs

Thanks for all your input guys! looks like I need to make a few more mods to this case design. The most significant mod would be making the case a little bigger, it seems. A little more room below the motherboard, so I will have to make the case, say, anther 20mm taller making it 620mm in height. A larger motherboard tray to accept e-ATX boards and enough room to fit a long PSU (I know the PSU mount isn't quite right Sparky ). By my estimation, this would mean another 30mm on the depth of the case, making it 680mm. I've also been looking at 200mm case fans, you can see a selection here: http://www.performance-pcs.com/catal...ain_page=index, it looks like there aren't many available at present. It also looks like I might need to extend the width of my case to accommodate some of these fans. With a case of this magnitude, it would defiantly have to be made of aluminum and maybe add some casters, because lifting it isn't going to be easy. I would like to know how people feel about this, would you be happy with a case of these proportions? If the increase in size isn't a problem, then maybe I'll give these mods a go....

[CmB]

Size is fine. What pisses me off most about current cases is the lack of size for monster watercooling needs. I say give it a go!

--Chris