Easiest case to watercool...

[UncleDavid218]

Hey guys,

I was once quite into the modding/watercooling scene a few years ago.

Here was my main build:



I have since sold that case and setup, and after two years of having an aircooled machine I desire to go back!

Here's my setup now...



For now I'm looking to purchase a new case and watercooling setup.
I prefer the Lian Li/Silverstone look.
But here's the catch: I want a case that can have a 240MM rad installed with almost no modifying.
Is this possible? Price isn't too much of a concern, but less than $300 is ideal.
It has to be smaller for LAN parties. I hate dragging this P182 around...

[exemay]

your probs better off posting this in the liquid cooling section...but anyhow ill give you my recommendations:

the easiest cases to water-cool at the mountain mod ones, although i dont like the look of them or the way they are layed out, they are without doubt the easiest and require no modding atall

The Tj07 is a brilliant case aswell, because of the large section in the bottom which can easily accommodate a 120.4 radiator

other cases are things like the lain li 343 cube case, its nice and big and can easily be converted to have a horizontal motherboard tray

although that v2000 is a brilliant case aswell, why not stick with that case??
hope this helped!

[osiris999]

really a mountain mods case is worth your time checking out. they have some in your price range and some very good ones just right outside. the site also puts cases on sale for very cheap. plenty of room for that rad and bigger with no problem. 2 360mm rads are very easy to install. along with the psu going behind the motherboard makes cable management the easiest you can get.

[Arkangyl]

CoolerMaster Cosmos S, has three 120mm fans up top, spaced out perfectly for a 120x3 rad (or 120x2)

MountainMods cases are pretty much made to watercool

Silverstone's take minor amounts of work (pretty sure there are kits / parts to facilitate the mounting of radiators in their lower section)

[SoulsCollective]

Mountain mods anything.

Silverstone; the TJ-09 is available with a rad-support bracket that simply screws on and supports a 240mm radiator in the top exhaust vents with no modding needed whatsoever. Or, you can do what I did, and extend the exhaust vent with a bit of work and make space for a 360mm. The TJ-07, with work, fits two 360mm rads at bottom, a 360 and a 240 with slightly less work, but still some modding required (although I believe the TJ-07 is EOL'd).

Li-Li; I'm no expert, but several of their larger cases have excellent reputations and, eyeballing it, should fit radiators with minimal work.

Coolermaster; Cosmos S goes without saying, otherwise the HAF looks sort of like it could be moddable and is smaller than most of the above - although again I'm not really sure, not having tried myself.

Basically, you're unlikely to meet all of your criteria - cases that readily fit a radiator without much work are necessarily larger and with more empty internal space, meaning you're unlikely to find one that suits smaller than your current P182. I LAN a lot, and long ago decided that really, I'll just give up on "portability" - fitting eight HDDs, kilowatt PSU, multiple WC loops (and now, hopefully, a Kayl custom SS), etc in a smaller case just wasn't going to happen, and I'm only carrying the thing for five minuts at most, so just grin and bear it.

[Serpentarius]

is my eyes playing me or the gpu is slightly bent?

[SoulsCollective]

is my eyes playing me or the gpu is slightly bent?

Hard to tell with the camera angle, but it does look like the Dominator cooler is pushing down the back of the card, yes.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

Quite simply here are the easiest cases to watercool without modding:

1) HAF932/ATCS840/Cosmos Series, straight up triple 120 rad at the top - good to go
2) TJ07 - triple or quad rad at the bottom, not cutting necessary - with some handy work it can easily fit another dual fan rad on top of the triple/quad on the non PSU side.
3) Lian-Li P80 - triple or quad at the front, loads of space, easy as pie. - expandable with modding to 2 large radiators.