Case Design for Liquid Cooling

[generics_user]

IMO, 3x 5.25" drive bays would be enough, but I have provided the option of another two at the expense of reducing the 120.4 to a 120.3. The HDD drive rack would be removable anyway, so that you can have the drives in any orientation. I may even provide an optional alternative rack designed to hold SSD's, I'm just not quite sure of the dimensions at the moment. I'm pretty sure air flow would be more than adequate and you could always fit a 160.1 rad in front of that 200mm fan if you really wanted to???

your design is greagt but mick64 is right, 3.5" only bays are outdated 5.25" are much more flexible

additionally i don't know ANY high quality 200mm fan out there, it'll be quite difficult to source a fan of this size -> 2 120mm are a better choice

maybe it's possible to make a 3.5" and 5.25" bay with a blanking plate for the 200 mm fan once youn install the 5.25" bays

it would be a great feature and VERY flexible

[Trigger5521]

yes maybe have the front intake as a 3x 5 1/4 bay device?
I dunno, I love the case, but, part of me wants the front to be cleaner without the grill of the 160mm fan
Would also be good if either the bottom or top rad mounts were removeable to include room for hdd bays for file a handy file server.
Good work!

I also like everything about the case except the front fan grill. Maybe a plate over the grill would clean up the look for the front.
Similar to this

(link to Alastor's rig in water cooling gallery)

[_Slim_Shady_]

Mick,

You have great case design here. Realize that there is no way you'll satisfy everyone's desire though. That's the nice thing about modding cases. If you don't like it then mod it.

I think you are on to a very flexible design. If someone doesn't like 3.5" bays it should be easy enough to swap it with a 5.25". If you don't want the bay turned sideways then mount the other way around.

My one suggestion to make the design a little more flexible would be to put a fan hole on the bottom of the PSU tray so you could flip the PSU over if you didn't want the fan facing up.

[Mick64]

I, personally, use 6 5.25" bays in my TJ07: 2 rheobuses, 1 optical drive and 3 3.5" HDDs suspended in this. As it was mentioned before, 5.25" bays are very good for decoupling of HDDs using suspension. And I'd gladly use another two bays for reservoirs for my 2 loops.

You have stated that you use 6 5.25" bays, when you actually only need to use 3. The hard drives could be mounted in a HDD rack. If you were building a system in my case, you could even use the top two bays for reservoirs....

yes. but all 5.25 drive bys would provide flexibility of moving drives around. if someone wishes to remove three of them? even get the antec 900 effect of 2 fans in the front

Blanking plates would be provided for unused bays. I'm sure I've probably said this before, although it may have been lost when the server went down? but this case is designed for water cooling. Most of the hot components would be cooled with water not air, therefore I don't see the need for more fans, especially smaller ones, as this will just generate more noise.

the only thing i dont like is the psu fan hole... itll pull hot air from the graphics cards... wouldnt it make sense to pull cool air from under the case by flipping it?

Again, the air in the middle section should not be that hot, at least not hot enough to effect the performance of the PSU. As most PSU's now use a large fan for cooling I felt that the most effective use of this fan would be to accelerate the air flow through the case, improving the cooling effect, instead of waisting the airflow through the PSU alone....

your design is greagt but mick64 is right, 3.5" only bays are outdated 5.25" are much more flexible

additionally i don't know ANY high quality 200mm fan out there, it'll be quite difficult to source a fan of this size -> 2 120mm are a better choice

maybe it's possible to make a 3.5" and 5.25" bay with a blanking plate for the 200 mm fan once youn install the 5.25" bays

it would be a great feature and VERY flexible

I think I've answered some of these questions above, as for the fan, there are several 200mm fans available here and probably more on the way. What you have to remember is that the larger the fan, the slower it needs to rotate and then less noise is produced...

I also like everything about the case except the front fan grill. Maybe a plate over the grill would clean up the look for the front.

I really can't see the problem with the front fan grill? It matches the side grills, which I think pulls the whole look of the case together...

Mick,

You have great case design here. Realize that there is no way you'll satisfy everyone's desire though. That's the nice thing about modding cases. If you don't like it then mod it.

I think you are on to a very flexible design. If someone doesn't like 3.5" bays it should be easy enough to swap it with a 5.25". If you don't want the bay turned sideways then mount the other way around.

My one suggestion to make the design a little more flexible would be to put a fan hole on the bottom of the PSU tray so you could flip the PSU over if you didn't want the fan facing up.

Thanks for the support Slim, as I've said above, I purposely faced the PSU fan up-wards to improve air flow through the case. It may spoil the look slightly but, I believe, if the fan is there why not put it to good use? Perhaps putting a grill over the hole will improve the look?

[_Slim_Shady_]

I wouldn't worry about a grill over the PSU fan hole. I don't think it spoils the look at all. My suggestion for adding another hole on the bottom was to satisfy those who could flip their PSU over. Personally, I would use it the way you have it.

In the end, I wouldn't make too many compromises on this already excellent design.

[Mick64]

I wouldn't worry about a grill over the PSU fan hole. I don't think it spoils the look at all. My suggestion for adding another hole on the bottom was to satisfy those who could flip their PSU over. Personally, I would use it the way you have it.

In the end, I wouldn't make too many compromises on this already excellent design.

Thanks again for your support!

I've tried to accommodate as many of the ideas that have been put to me, without compromising my original design concept, and I think I've done pretty well! It would be impossible to please everyone, as we all have different tastes, but I'm more than willing to make changes if the idea is sound.

Now all I need is for someone to make it!

[Baleful]

Silverstone...buy this idea and produce it NOW!
Silverstone TJ-1337 FTW edition!

While that would be the ethical thing to do, I very seriously doubt any case manufacturer is going to "buy" his ideas. Instead, they'll take the design, change 1% of it, and start mass producing. It's a e way of doing business, but business is business.

BTW, case is looking awesome Mick.

[Extigy]

with your most recent update, this case is alot more viable to produce. Only thing i could suggest is a proper square box frame at the back like tj07 as opposed to using one sheet of ally as it will give alot more strength and be cheaper stil to manufacture. (bending metal completely around requires a very large and very expensive press!)

so... Front, top, bottom is one piece, back is seperate.

[Mick64]

While that would be the ethical thing to do, I very seriously doubt any case manufacturer is going to "buy" his ideas. Instead, they'll take the design, change 1% of it, and start mass producing. It's a e way of doing business, but business is business.

BTW, case is looking awesome Mick.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting any financial reward for designing this case. I just had an idea that I wanted to share, in the hope that someone would want to produce it. Of course, some recognition for the design would be nice and I would desperately like one of my own!

with your most recent update, this case is alot more viable to produce. Only thing i could suggest is a proper square box frame at the back like tj07 as opposed to using one sheet of ally as it will give alot more strength and be cheaper stil to manufacture. (bending metal completely around requires a very large and very expensive press!)

so... Front, top, bottom is one piece, back is seperate.

I completely understand what you're saying, and if making the case out of one continuous length is impractical or too expensive then this is one compromise I suppose I will have to make.

[Baleful]

To be honest, I wasn't expecting any financial reward for designing this case. I just had an idea that I wanted to share, in the hope that someone would want to produce it. Of course, some recognition for the design would be nice and I would desperately like one of my own!

That's class right there, you don't find that very often in people.

I have a feeling with your level of determination, good things will come your way. Keep up the good work man.

[Mick64]

Here's the first render of my case design with the latest changes. It shows the motherboard in the typical orientation, with the, optional, full optical drive rack at the top, and the extra HDD rack at the bottom. You may notice that I have added a Cooler master MegaFlow 200mm fan at the front and a few more details. I Haven't got much time at the moment, but I will try and add a some more renders as soon as I can. Still looking for someone to build it though!

[liguhy]

I assume the latest changes (full internal 5.25 bay mounts on top and the HDD rack on bottom) will be removable? I hope so; if they are that will still allow full radiators and/or space for pumps/etc but still have the option of mounting full stuff in them when installed. I don't really see a need for the bottom HDD cage with the one already in the middle (will the mid-hdd be removable?, no biggie if not, imo). Just my

Oh, btw. Mad props for the sketchup skillz, case design skillz, and whatever else I'm forgetting...skillz.

[Mick64]

I assume the latest changes (full internal 5.25 bay mounts on top and the HDD rack on bottom) will be removable? I hope so; if they are that will still allow full radiators and/or space for pumps/etc but still have the option of mounting full stuff in them when installed. I don't really see a need for the bottom HDD cage with the one already in the middle (will the mid-hdd be removable?, no biggie if not, imo). Just my

Oh, btw. Mad props for the sketchup skillz, case design skillz, and whatever else I'm forgetting...skillz.

Thanks for the kind words! Yes, the optical drive rack at the top can be replaced with a short version, and both the HDD racks can be remove or rotated if you wish. You could even use the small HDD rack in the middle section if you only require two drives. I'm also in the process of designing an alternative rack for mounting SSD drives.

[Mick64]

SSD adapter rack holds up to 8 SSD's....

[Waterlogged]

SSD adapter rack holds up to 8 SSD's....

BRAVO Mick! Awesome solution to the SSD question.

[Chris1985]

Looks awesome!

depending on the price and availability i'ld buy one immediatly.
any shipping planned to Holland, Belgium or Germany?

hope all goes well for you and someone does take up on the offer to build it

[exemay]

wow 8 SSD's....does any 1 have that much money! :O haha

nice work

[terente0081]

Very nice design! I really like it and I would love to see more cases like this brought to production. It looks like a good case built with water cooling in mind. That place for a 480 rad is welcome.
Here are some pics of the case I am getting custom built right now. It's basically built from 2 Lian-Li V2000's. I like simplicity, clean looks and lots of interior space. Enjoy!

[Mick64]

^^^
Nice case! More of a cube than a tower though. Wish I had the resources to get my design off the drawing board. Would love to see it in reality!

[Brodholm]

^^^
Nice case! More of a cube than a tower though. Wish I had the resources to get my design off the drawing board. Would love to see it in reality!

What are the dimensions now? You should really update your first post :P

[Mick64]

What are the dimensions now? You should really update your first post :P

The dimensions now are: Height - 625mm, Depth - 700mm, Width - 230mm.

I'm currently adding a few more details and finishing touches. When I'm complete, I want to do several renders showing different configurations, positions and some of the details. This is going to take a little time, but when I'm finished I will post these renders in my first post.

[liguhy]

Here are some pics of the case I am getting custom built right now. It's basically built from 2 Lian-Li V2000's. I like simplicity, clean looks and lots of interior space. Enjoy!

You should (if you have not already) setup a work log for that case. While it is monstrous, I absolutely love the hinged 16x120mm rad "panel" (how many other "radiator panels" are there! ).

Anyway, setup a worklog if you haven't so we can see more pictures and comment without hijacking Mick64's post.

[Mick64]

Hi! Back again with some more renders. I have added some more detail in these, and I've shown the case with several possible layouts. Unfortunately interest in my design seems to have diminished, and I'm no closer to getting it produced, but you never know, someone may have been influenced by my design and something resembling it may still get produced...

[tuanster1119]

I'm no closer to getting it produced, but you never know, someone may have been influenced by my design and something resembling it may still get produced...

this makes me a sad panda

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

oy I am going to help but I cant do it from france ! - I think the time has come that we can speak to my contact mick

new renders look great