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Thread: Budget watercooling case

  1. #1
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    Budget watercooling case

    My friend is looking into a case that is ideal for watercooling somewhere in the future. It should also be somewhat capable of holding a dual loop system. His budget is under $200
    His first choices for this were
    HAF 932
    Cosmos S
    ATCS 840

    Thanks in advance
    Current System:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.99 GHz
    4 Gb (2x 2Gb) OCZ SLI-Ready RAM
    2x XFX 8800gt XXX edition @ 690/975
    1x 300GB Western Digital Caviar HDD

  2. #2
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    all good cases
    the cosomos s you can fit a 240 + 360 with mods
    the haf you can have great vga cooling + a nice triple at the roof
    atcs is the only thing i am not sure about

  3. #3
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    all good cases, but let him be aware that the quality on CM's cases are pretty bad. steel construction (heavy), sharp edges on the inside, cheap plastics for the front and wheels. broke the wheels on my haf already.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by LOUISSSSS View Post
    all good cases, but let him be aware that the quality on CM's cases are pretty bad. steel construction (heavy), sharp edges on the inside, cheap plastics for the front and wheels. broke the wheels on my haf already.
    Really?

    I have dealt with a lot of CM cases and they seem fine to me. My friend fell in love with his CM690. They seem like they are pretty good quality.

    Also, the Cosmos S and ATCS 840 are alu, not steel.

  5. #5
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    Yeah he was leaning towards the cosmos s and haf, I heard that's the atcs can hold a 360 at the topcorrect me if I'm wrong I was telling him to go with the haf as it's got better air coolingand he is definetly air cooling for a little while before he gets his setup for watercooling... Are there anyother sub $200 cases good for watercooling? What are your thoughts on the xazer vi although that's sorta out of the price range???
    Current System:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.99 GHz
    4 Gb (2x 2Gb) OCZ SLI-Ready RAM
    2x XFX 8800gt XXX edition @ 690/975
    1x 300GB Western Digital Caviar HDD

  6. #6
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    The Xaser VI is an awesome case. I love the nice wire management of it and I find it is more then worth it's price. I put 2 240GTX's in it but mind you I did do some cutting. If you click the sig below on the pic it will take you to my album which shows some of the process.

  7. #7
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    Yeah when I told him about the xazer I had your case in mind Sadasius haha yeah the mods may be a problem but who knows it should be easy all you did was cut out another hole at the top??? Btw I like your paintjob too...

    What do you think of the stacker 830 is it any good for watercooling?? It seems to be a beast at air cooling that's for sure
    Current System:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.99 GHz
    4 Gb (2x 2Gb) OCZ SLI-Ready RAM
    2x XFX 8800gt XXX edition @ 690/975
    1x 300GB Western Digital Caviar HDD

  8. #8
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    haf 932 will be your best friend
    I like turtles

  9. #9
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    Well I did more then cut holes. I have done a bunch of stuff to that case that I just did not post pics yet of. Like the fact it has 3 doors instead of 2 and I am not talking about the front access door either. I made acrylic rad holders and sealed off the case. If I really wanted to I could have used a 360 and 240 GTX as I could have moved my PSU out the back of the case a little to make room. But I chose to make it look pretty..... Besides I did not think just an extra 120 would make that big a difference considering I am using San Ace fans on full in a push/pull on both 240GTX rads. The bottoms one's are there you just cannot see them because of the rails. I would not recommend this case as a budget though unless you don't mind a lot of dust and if you just hang the rad out the back of the case.

    The paint is actually powder coating. I did not want to bother to paint. I got a little lazy with this build.

  10. #10
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    Coolermaster HAF 932

    In Amazon is at $150 with 2 day free shipping if you have Amazon Prime Account
    i7 2600K | Asus Maximus IV Extreme | 8GB DDR3 1600 C9 Corsair Vengeance | GTX580 Matrix Platinum | Vertex 2 120GB | Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD | Corsair AX1200 | FT02
    EK Supreme HF Full Nickel | MCR320 XP + GT AP15| DDC3.25 + EK Top V2| EK Multioption Res X2 150 Advance | Bitspower Fittings & Rotaries
    My flickr

  11. #11
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    i saw the haf for 139 at newegg...

    so the xaser vi looks to be a good choice if he's up to some modding...

    thoughts on the stacker 830?? ive seen it dual looped before with the black ice gt rads that are slim in the side door with a btx mod.... does this sound feasible ??? is it possible to fit a 2x120 mm rad in the front????
    Current System:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.99 GHz
    4 Gb (2x 2Gb) OCZ SLI-Ready RAM
    2x XFX 8800gt XXX edition @ 690/975
    1x 300GB Western Digital Caviar HDD

  12. #12
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    The Stacker 830 is rather small. You could stick a 240 rad up front but anything more and your into modding territory or hanging things off of the back of the case.

  13. #13
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    ok i see yeah and the guy that i saw had those puny little rads on the side of the case, in the door where you can put 4 fans... theres no way thats any good.... yeah for the price it seems too small and too useless
    Current System:

    Coolermaster HAF 932
    XFX 680i LT SLI Motherboard
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.99 GHz
    4 Gb (2x 2Gb) OCZ SLI-Ready RAM
    2x XFX 8800gt XXX edition @ 690/975
    1x 300GB Western Digital Caviar HDD

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