Case Design for Liquid Cooling

[ryan92084]

Do you guys get leaking rads often? I've never had a rad leak that I didn't destroy myself (was on my first build, didn't realize screws weren't supposed to go all the way through the radiator).

with the top portion being mostly enclosed i would think it'd be pretty easy to spot a leak early anyway

[Mick64]

Added slots to rad brackets and PSU can be mounted top or bottom....

[phantomferrari]

the only thing i might add is mesh at the bottom of the case so the psu can draw cool air from outside the case if one wanted

[ryan92084]

the only thing i might add is mesh at the bottom of the case so the psu can draw cool air from outside the case if one wanted

both sides are mesh... don't really think you need any more than that

[shansmi]

I want one ASAP! Good H2O cases are hard to find and this one looks great. Did I miss a spec sheet of what size motherbards will fit? X58 Classified is E-ATX.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

it has an EATX tray

[WaterFlex]

I started to hate my CASE. No space for rad

[Semicycle]

I've lurked on these forums for years (I was a pretty active member of OCforums in my WCing days), but had to come out the bushes for this one. This is a beautiful design. The best part is everything has been designed with function in mind first. That’s refreshing to see with some many eyeball gadgets being sold today.
Be sure to balance production cost to your final product. Consider the number of plasma cuts and the number of Break Press bends it will take to shape each component in your design. I really like the designed of the HD cages, but they may prove expensive to manufacture than they have to. How about a simpler U shaped design at the same width as a 3.5”HD and without the recessed hole system.
As I look at your layout, it looks like you have 19 separate components that need to be cut and fabricated. Here’s what I see:

External Components:
-Top/Bottom/Front/Back
-Left Case Side
-Right Case side

Internal Structural Components:
-Plane Separating Middle from bottom
-Plane Separating Middle from top bottom
-Motherboard Tray Back
-Motherboard Tray Bottom
-Top Motherboard Tray Rail Piece
-Bottom Motherboard Tray Rail Piece
-Plate to hold Reservoirs

Other Internal Components:
-PSU Seat
-Bottom PSU Back Plate
-Bottom HD Cage
-Middle HD Cage
-5 ¼ Cage
-Top LCD Cage
-Top PSU Back Plate
-Top Radiator Mount plate
-Bottom Radiator Mount plate

One more thing…Do you plan on adding more holes to the top and bottom sheets separating the motherboard section to allow for water tube routing?

Again Great Job and Good Luck with this design.

[Mick64]

Case configured for a top mounted PSU.

With a 120.3 rad fitted, there won't be room for a long PSU.

Added some extra holes for cable tubing because of the two possible PSU configurations.

[ryan92084]

looks better everytime i see it

[snowbank]

I would pay $300 for that case - easy. Sign me up for one...

Have you thought of contacting Swiftech or EK to see if they want to make it? You could make a branded bundle version with the pumps/rads ready to go... like what swiftech did with the modified p180. just a thought...

[Waterlogged]

Mick, I don't know how much more you can tweak or perfect this without hitting that line of "Ooopps, too far". Take the designs and start hitting some case manu's up side the head until one yells NO MÁS, NO MÁS!

[kinghong1970]

ya... imagine what the mona lisa would have been with just a couple mo' brush strokes...

[BringerOdeath]

If it has 10 expansion slots I would Totally love to buy one!!!

[kinghong1970]

might as well throw in a kitchen sink while you're at it...

Mick... dunno how your progress is going on this... but some questions...
1)have you gotten some quotes?
2)now that you have a "working" design, did you start looking at the parts to see if it can be made economically?
i only say this cus it seems there is only 1 seam for the outer chassis... while this may be quite doable... you may want to consider one or 2 more seams to make the parts "smaller" and create less waste when cutting.
look at how lianli assembled their chassis (since it's curved panels are similar to yours)
3)i googled and was able to find some companies that makes steel chassis.... i googled under "sheet metal workshop new jersey"
4)you can also try www.RFQWork.com to see about getting quotes on protos.

big name case manufacturers are interested only in making their product and if any, would buy your design ideas... or even knock off...
you may be better off getting quotes within the states and see how much it'll cost to make.. oh say, 50 of em...

maybe go to For Sale section and take pre-orders...

[ryan92084]

assuming the price isn't completely outrageous i'd definately be down with a preorder

[Brodholm]

A case like this needs to be produced in larger scales to not be THAT expensive. Its still going to be expensive. But all the good stuff is

[pingpong1455]

Awsome looking case man ! its gorgeous

[ILikeCosmosS]

its looks great but

i just would like to see if i could replace the top 240mm brackets with 360mm/480mm brackets to put either 360 or 480 rad and same would go for the bottom

the top psu mount should be more flush ( so bigger brackets can fit)

[kinghong1970]

its looks great but

i just would like to see if i could replace the top 240mm brackets with 360mm/480mm brackets to put either 360 or 480 rad and same would go for the bottom

the top psu mount should be more flush ( so bigger brackets can fit)

well, i don't know about the rad brackets...

a 240 gives you the option to mount a 240 and even a 360, 480... by mounting jsut the 2 of the 3 or 4 fans... still provides good rigid mount... but a 360 or a 480 bracket means that that space is less flexible...

[Waterlogged]

well, i don't know about the rad brackets...

a 240 gives you the option to mount a 240 and even a 360, 480... by mounting jsut the 2 of the 3 or 4 fans... still provides good rigid mount... but a 360 or a 480 bracket means that that space is less flexible...

+1...not to mention, that 240 bracket is going to cost less than a bigger bracket.

There seems to be a lot of ppl "not thinking", going on lately.

[Semicycle]

I think the (2) 240 Brackets are more than enough to hold 2/3/4 fan radiators without issue. Good way to reduce costs. Every little bit helps.

[Sherif846]

That's a cool design, but for me I would love the edges to be straight right angled, instead of curved. But definetely, that's a case that's hard to find and probably lots of us here are striving for to accomodate our modern beasty rads

[kinghong1970]

Mick,

instead of a radiator mount that is fixed for 120mm radiators, why not just supply with brackets that will hold from the bottom like this?


the base of it can attach to the case via machine screws and provide a slot at the base so to accommodate for thicker/thinner radiator width.
the fan spacing will allow for 120mm and 140mm radiator placement so long as it is 15mm spacing.

that way, you have ability to use the upcoming 140mm radiators as well as a 120mm radiator of any sizes AND thickness...

yes there will be a gap when you mount fan on top... nothing a simple neoprene washer or two cannot handle...

oh, and one more thing thats beneficial about this bottom rad bracket... less material... less waste = better cost...

[Mick64]

Mick,

instead of a radiator mount that is fixed for 120mm radiators, why not just supply with brackets that will hold from the bottom like this?


the base of it can attach to the case via machine screws and provide a slot at the base so to accommodate for thicker/thinner radiator width.
the fan spacing will allow for 120mm and 140mm radiator placement so long as it is 15mm spacing.

that way, you have ability to use the upcoming 140mm radiators as well as a 120mm radiator of any sizes AND thickness...

yes there will be a gap when you mount fan on top... nothing a simple neoprene washer or two cannot handle...

oh, and one more thing thats beneficial about this bottom rad bracket... less material... less waste = better cost...

Thanks for your input kinghong. Just a couple of things I need to point out. Any thickness of rad can be fitted to my rad bracket. Now that the brackets have slots, any 120mm rad can be fitted what ever the fan spacing. It will not be possible to fit 140mm rads without increasing the height of the case by another 40mm. I don't want to shorten the brackets, as they will help to strengthen the case......