What Features would make your ideal watercooling case?

[mattkosem]

I really want a midi tower case that can handle:
* Top-mounted 360 60mm thick radiator + 25mm clearing for fans (only supporting low profile RAM is acceptable)
* 2x front 120/140mm spaced for 240/280mm radiator, with removable filter for easy cleaning (or fixed if it can be vacuumed)
* 3x 5.25" bays that the 360 up top won't block
* 1x or 2x 120/140mm fan at the bottom (in addition to PSU), with filter

This is perfectly doable as long as you guys just add another 120mm to the length of the case and make the HDD tray completely removable (with screws or whatever, as long as I don't have to cut it).

Sounds like a pinnacle18, except downsized and with the psu in a different location...or even closer to a monticle if it could really fit a Rad up top. If TT can pull something like that off, it'd probably be a home run with water or air.

--Matt

[vhaarr]

Indeed, the Pinnacle 18 or Monticle 24 cases are almost what I want

They're missing the intakes at the bottom and the Monticle 24 doesn't really support a radiator up top unless you sacrifice the top 5.25" bay.
You can flip the front panel upside down but then you end up with the bayres/pump at the bottom of the case plus the front 240mm radiator+fan sandwich would most likely interfere with the top radiator.

[JoeM]

So I actually stopped lurking finally and paid my buck to get access, lol. Anyway, thinking about it, the first thing that someone does when starting a WC build is typically rip the case apart, start drilling out pop rivets, and start cutting away the junk and sanding things down. So give some options here.

1. Paint color - Black, white, or bare metal sanded and ready for priming and painting. Instead of pop rivets, consider screws instead (ala Silverstone for example, but make sure you take into account noise dampening and preventing the screws from backing out). Give an option to the side panel - solid or acrylic window. And for God's sake, please don't try to jam some gargantuan fan onto the side of the case. And having "cool all your life" etched into the window in 128 point font really looks gaudy as well. Make the logos more understated, and let the design of the case speak for itself.
2. While most say dual 360 rads, I would say the bare minimum would be a 360 and a 240 both internal. And for flexibility, please at least make the 360 mounting options flexible enough to take a thicker rad and 38mm fans. Not everyone would want 3000rpm fans in the case, but you'll be excluding a fair amount of modders right off the bat if you don't take that into account.
3. People want to show off what they've done to make their case unique, even if it's simple and small. So keep it simple, and leave off all the extra junk, and don't try to provide some pre-installed package, unless you offer it as a separate option. Keep the extras included to the basics, like thumb screws, grommets, and some cable management straps. The only "extra" I can think of that might be nice to have would be an integrated dual pump controller. We don't need some sliding door on the top with a hidden tray, or a 5.25 drawer.
4. Well placed tubing holes that can fit 3/4 inch OD tubing. Unibits are little pricey just to bore out a hole that's too small.
5. Keep the overall design simple. No "flaps" on the front, no flashy graphics, and don't bother with LEDs. If the builder wants lighting in the case, they'll most likely get a few cold cathodes.
6. It was mentioned earlier, but I'll reiterate. Watercooling rigs with multiple internal rads can get pretty heavy. Go easy on the weight. Maybe use aluminum where possible.
7. Skip the fans, because we'll likely toss them and install our own preferred fans anyway. If you really want to toss something in for the fans, maybe just a power block like Bitspower makes.
8. Include an integrated PSU jumper somewhere hidden to allow us to leak test our setup without resorting to a paper clip to hotwire the PSU.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm really curious what the end result of this effort will be. I certainly don't envy your job of trying to surf through all of the feedback!

Edit: Just thought of one more. I understand that full metal cases are expensive, but if you're going toolless, please don't use cheap plastic clips. Because nothing says "awesome" like a cheap plastic clip holing that $700+ watercooled vid card in place, right?

[Tt Enthusiasts]

So I actually stopped lurking finally and paid my buck to get access, lol. Anyway, thinking about it, the first thing that someone does when starting a WC build is typically rip the case apart, start drilling out pop rivets, and start cutting away the junk and sanding things down. So give some options here.

1. Paint color - Black, white, or bare metal sanded and ready for priming and painting. Instead of pop rivets, consider screws instead (ala Silverstone for example, but make sure you take into account noise dampening and preventing the screws from backing out). Give an option to the side panel - solid or acrylic window. And for God's sake, please don't try to jam some gargantuan fan onto the side of the case. And having "cool all your life" etched into the window in 128 point font really looks gaudy as well. Make the logos more understated, and let the design of the case speak for itself.
2. While most say dual 360 rads, I would say the bare minimum would be a 360 and a 240 both internal. And for flexibility, please at least make the 360 mounting options flexible enough to take a thicker rad and 38mm fans. Not everyone would want 3000rpm fans in the case, but you'll be excluding a fair amount of modders right off the bat if you don't take that into account.
3. People want to show off what they've done to make their case unique, even if it's simple and small. So keep it simple, and leave off all the extra junk, and don't try to provide some pre-installed package, unless you offer it as a separate option. Keep the extras included to the basics, like thumb screws, grommets, and some cable management straps. The only "extra" I can think of that might be nice to have would be an integrated dual pump controller. We don't need some sliding door on the top with a hidden tray, or a 5.25 drawer.
4. Well placed tubing holes that can fit 3/4 inch OD tubing. Unibits are little pricey just to bore out a hole that's too small.
5. Keep the overall design simple. No "flaps" on the front, no flashy graphics, and don't bother with LEDs. If the builder wants lighting in the case, they'll most likely get a few cold cathodes.
6. It was mentioned earlier, but I'll reiterate. Watercooling rigs with multiple internal rads can get pretty heavy. Go easy on the weight. Maybe use aluminum where possible.
7. Skip the fans, because we'll likely toss them and install our own preferred fans anyway. If you really want to toss something in for the fans, maybe just a power block like Bitspower makes.
8. Include an integrated PSU jumper somewhere hidden to allow us to leak test our setup without resorting to a paper clip to hotwire the PSU.

That's about all I can think of for now. I'm really curious what the end result of this effort will be. I certainly don't envy your job of trying to surf through all of the feedback!

Edit: Just thought of one more. I understand that full metal cases are expensive, but if you're going toolless, please don't use cheap plastic clips. Because nothing says "awesome" like a cheap plastic clip holing that $700+ watercooled vid card in place, right?

Thanks for the feedback... some of this mirrors what others have said.

as for my job, its honestly no worries here as I do the same things you guys do, I just happen to do it not only on my free time but as my job as well.... before I did this I was still in this community reading and posting anyways

[vhaarr]

So I guess since you didn't reply to my posts, my ideas are not worthy and you have no plans for such a case. Perhaps you think the market isn't there for it, but I think it is. Like matt said, it would be awesome for air cooling, too.

[Tt Enthusiasts]

So I guess since you didn't reply to my posts, my ideas are not worthy and you have no plans for such a case. Perhaps you think the market isn't there for it, but I think it is. Like matt said, it would be awesome for air cooling, too.

I apologize I do not reply to every post but your ideas do mirror many I have seen or are similar, but all feedback is being compiled to give a good general ground as to what we can do.

As I said previously a perfect case is majorly different from person to person. we are trying to find where these lines intersect to give the best product everyone can enjoy.

[Church]

Tt Enthusiasts: that was my point about modular one - as to each his own - to cover most persons needs with same case by extending it on need to basis. Of course it will be more costlier then same size non-modular one .. but then again it probably can be offset by bigger volume (from wider buyer niche) and (i'm guessing) even more expensive to release 2-3 different cases of different size.

[Tt Enthusiasts]

Tt Enthusiasts: that was my point about modular one - as to each his own - to cover most persons needs with same case by extending it on need to basis. Of course it will be more costlier then same size non-modular one .. but then again it probably can be offset by bigger volume (from wider buyer niche) and (i'm guessing) even more expensive to release 2-3 different cases of different size.

I have actually looked at your idea and depending upon implementation can be very interesting.

[Church]

TT Enthusiasts: few of modular construction design ideas in rough sketch:

For SSD mount i meant something like in TJ11 or in these pics (#1, #2 (i don't remember from which build i bookmarked them though))
Case main layout is inverted ATX as main planned audience is for Liquid Cooling, and with such layout it's easier to show off full cover water blocks on GPUs.

I imagine something as basic set - main module + ceiling + smallest (for rad horizontal mount) module, for vertical rad mount (and for one or two vertically mounted PSUs) sold as extra (or in advanced set).
+One should be able to buy both extra rad mount modules (or hdd enclosures mountable in them).

So basic - one 3x140 rad & one PSU, advanced 4x140 rad vertically and one PSU (or 3x120 & two PSU mounts), and with extra modules - whatever rad amount user might wish, including 10 x 4x140 one .

As for note in pic about unresistive grill pattern in rad mount places .. there is reason why so many modders cut out original round hole or hex pattern grills with as little as only ~50% actual open area and spend more money for extra grills. . If it's hex mesh, make it with very big/wide cells. I'd prefer wide stripes pattern though, and definitely not bricky pattern. (As alternative, you can make grills separate (and even sell separately of several patterns, but it probably will make case cost go up)

[Church]

Also forgot to note. However you make case top, DON'T put there lately popular in several cases external HDD recessed mounting place, if you meant case for LC. it's just means way more modding to do to cut it out or one rad section less that one can mount on top, as imho main trait of case fit for LC is how much rads one can mount internally, preferably with near to no modding.
To make case cheaper you can sell it with little count of fans. Most probably they will be replaced with big pile of scythe gentle typhoons, so why pay more for redundant stuff to rot in drawer?
What may benefit case though would be some veeery basic fan controller (that uses three speeds from molex (12/7/5V), but has distribution board for .. hmm .. ten fans or two PCBs each for 8 fans (4x2 for push pull per one rad)? With no full range regulating it should be cheap to make and handle lot of power without much heat dissipation.

[vhaarr]

Also forgot to note. However you make case top, DON'T put there lately popular in several cases external HDD recessed mounting place

That is the ugliest feature ever and only belongs in a server room where you have racks anyway so having it on a desktop/tower case is just nonsense.
Don't put that in any cases, ever :P

[Church]

Hmm, on 2nd thought basic set might be with no rad mount expansion modules at all. One can anyway mount rad on top, and smaller one on floor, but PSU .. for PSU in basic set one may include something for it to be mountable in lower 5.25 bays. Or it can be mounted on floor at case back, but only with micro ATX motherboards.

[Tt Enthusiasts]

that is pretty cool sketch as it gives a clear idea of what you are looking for.

Thank you

[Church]

And now two sketches of even way worse quality then previous one about different kind of cases.
Main idea - compact as possible with monstrous cooling power. Built around 9x140(4x180) or 9x120 MoRa-3 rads (or optionally two 3x120(x140)) almost by lego principle by putting hardware wherever there is free spot.
Both can be put as desktop or as tower. Leftmost is most compact one (uses for not blocking rad airflow space above motherboard), but has one drawback - no eye candy by not showing off LC gear installed below rad). Righmost .. eek, however i look, it thickened due need to distance rad to almost some double-wide tower, which i dislike a lot.
In left one HDDs mount idea came from new Lian-Li PC-90 case.

In both variants i suspect problems with PSU && mem module dimensions/placement. Probably one can check if it's so or not in 90deg turned inverted silverstone FT02 & RV02 cases, maybe it's not as bad.
To at least partially limit case dimension growth probably fans are feasible only on one side of rad.

[Tt Enthusiasts]

thanks for the feedback guys! Im gonna go ahead and consider this thread closed as we have pretty much covered what I consider a very wide range of ideas we can look into to make our chassis better for your usage.

Thank you

[Utnorris]

Any idea on when we will see some new cases implementing some of the ideas?

[Eeeaugheeeaugh!]

Personally?

Decide who you are going to market it for...

1. Super-ridiculous-high-end-folders-with-45 HDDs, 4 GFX cards and super-galactic tech / fabrication skills? (Nope...they won't buy it)
2. Gamers who are novices to water cooling? (Money!)
3. Gamers who know how to get it done already and want less fuss on their next build? (Money!)

I'm betting anything which appeals to the masses / main arteries will benefit your company the most.

I would avoid the UFO space robot theme in favor of conservative, elegant looks. Most of your money will come from a 30-40 something year old demographic with developed taste.

My personal tastes:

1. Must be reasonably sized (Mid Tower or full) and sturdy, with good cable management compartment.

2. Aluminum construction, please. Lian Li cases are exquisite looking, light weight and highly functional thermal properties...also easier to cut/fab. Steel is heavy, hot, cheap...and people know it.

3. Provide room and radiators for at least 2 graphics cards and an overclocked CPU.

4. Select an adequate and popular radiator size...most good high pressure fans developed for water cooling are 120mm.
(Why not design it to house two of the most popular radiatorss? One in front / one up top. I'm thinking two double or two triple 120mm radiators. Without radiators people could still populate the mounting areas with fans for air cooling. Then they could build their systems incrementally...which a lot of folks tend to do anyway...especially during these tough times).

5. Provide a pump / reservoir area, complete with holes for common pumps. DDC pumps are small but pack a huge punch / are VERY common. They are the best use of real estate IMO...and the buyer will love that it's not some underdeveloped, proprietary POS they have to keep running back to you to replace / possibly risking phaseout downstream.

Just my two cents. Well, five actually

Josh

[Eeeaugheeeaugh!]

LOL - did a build in that case -hated it. From the front it looks like a robot vagina with those folding lip things that serve no purpose in life

That....is funny

[Church]

I wonder why such preference for aluminium as material? Due less material strength/rigidity of aluminium it has to be much thicker then steel and then most of it's weight wins are nullified. Good cases can be made from both steel and aluminium, bad ones too. If i compare weight of Lian Li big towers to that of few steel big towers, it's almost completely same. Now if you prefer lian-li in general, eg. due design or quality .. but what that has to do with material used? Imho simpler then is asking for particular lian-li features.

[Kallenator]

I would like something a bit more simple and small. Easier to get around and place in the desk or whatever. But very open and organized as far as construction goes while still making it fairly compact.

And I would make 1 model + add on accessory for extra 360 rad on the bottom. Cause that means you wont be locked if you want to upgrade.

The case would have space for an ATX, 3x 3.5" 2x 2.5" and low profile CD/DVD/Blu-ray. (Cause CD drives are starting to loose its merit, might as well just have an external USB drive now a days.
I see no need for giving any special space for a reservoir, T-joint is just fine.

There will be ample space behind motherboard for organizing cables. The PSU placement must be adjusted to allow fairly large PSU, the PSU exhaust will go infront of the case, at it will have a low profile 110/230V cable going to the back of the case.

Distances may vary because of long cat graphic cards, as well as additional ports for organizing cables. Filters in top and bottom as well.

[Church]

Kallenator: long gpu-s .. - it's simple - just place PSU vertically or 2.5" enclosure where those long gpu-s might be placed.

[gmat]

Eeeaugheeeaugh! what you described is a Lian Li A70/A71/A77.
Screw the radiators on top, they are a bleeding nightmare. Toppling cases filled with watercooling equipment (and water !) is not fun at all.
Best watercooling case (excluding cube cases) was often considered to be the Silverstone TJ-07, and one reason was the radiators were on a bottom compartment, and had a separate heat path. Very good design. See this trend in newer Corsair, or even Little Devil cases. They are also popular for a reason.

[Tt Enthusiasts]

Any idea on when we will see some new cases implementing some of the ideas?

tough to say as alot of these changes are minor adjustments and some require complete overhaul or a completely new chassis design.

I am working to see what we can realistically impliment into the designs for you guys.

[NaeKuh]

Hello Guys,

We would like to know what features would you like to see in a watercooling case?

Please keep in mind that im sure this could go all out and end up being so expensive knowone would buy it....

were looking for your feedback so what practical options would you like to see in a watercooled case?

• sleek straight panels or rough edgy look like chaser MI-I
• triple rad in top
• internal dual rad on rear
• integrated reservoir
• pre-installed high end radiators
• extra width to give more room behind the motherboard tray

you let us know what you would like to see.

No offense but a lot of us old vets have worked with TT and u guys have told us that u dont care what we say.

But if you guys are really going to listen this time we can help you build a rock solid case which would even put the corsair 800D to shame.

What you guys need to do is ACTUALLY LISTEN to us like Fractile did.


First off the best LC cases are the ones that are made like the Silver Stone TJ-07.
We want an inverted mother board plane... why? because if the board is inverted the cpu block required is shorter to the bottom bay.
We also want a passthough from the bottom chamber to the top board chamber.
We would like a way to mount a radiator sideways elongated on the bottom of the case so it can pull air from the side and exhaust the other side in the lower bay (refer to the TJ-07)
We want to see less plastic and less bling bling on the case, because a case which is to house 700+ dollars in LC eq should not look like a montage of colors made by some 11 yr old kid.
(in short no innovation design like the Borg case u guys have)


We would like a integrated fan controller which is strong enough to power 4 x 120mm @ fans .52amps in the lower bay so we can do a direct plug on our radiators.
We would like a koolance style rad mount so we dont puncture our radiators when mounting them into the case.

I can go A LOT more with you guys @ TT if ur honestly willing to listen to us, and i can help you guys design one hell of a case which will put your case above all.

[Dark Bishop]

space for front mount 2x120, top mount 2x120, rear mount 1x or 2x 120, seperate drive section with space for 3x120 (that isnt an overly used tj07)