Gaming PC - Ultimate Cases

[saltyhair81]

You didn't give me a budget! :rasp:

I'm still using my Antec P180 at home, though the last build I did used an Antec P183. Excellent case that, imo.

D.

Mine was rusty when I received it a couple years ago - that's how you know a case is made properly - man steel

 

[Greeny.]

TJ07 all day long, love mine

 

[Phill1978]

i have zalman z7pro and aerocool s9pro with stupid large 40cm side fan lol

 

[Baldin0]

I have an akasa mirage and I love it
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Akasa/Mirage62

 

[Gareth]

I've found another new contender which looks good, 50/50 on the red tbh.

 

[Gumby]

There used to be a case that was awesome for carting about to LANs and suchlike, can't remember what it was called but it looked like a military box. I think it was by Antec?

 

[ro55o]

Best case I've used has been the Silverstone Fortress FT01B. Awesome looking case, well built, big enough without being overly massive. It's a smaller version of the red and black FT02B above, really liking that one as well.

 

[Gareth]

Apparently a 12" card (ATI 5970) has only 1/2mm spare before hitting the fans at the bottom.

 

[Gareth]

Oh my.

 

[Darren S]

^^^ - this is what I love about high-end and extreme PC cases. They perform their job really well, but they also go that one stage further where they almost become an art form.

That one above looks very smart and professional indeed.

D.

 

[Gareth]

I was almost ready to order the one I posted above tbh, but since finding that and the forum its on I'm going to look around for inspiration and re-consider going down the watercooling route.

 

[Silent_Scone]

watercooling is the way forward, thats some nice cable tidy work there

 

[Darren S]

Just having a look at that pipework again (I've no personal experience with W/C) - is that the most efficient/only way of doing it?

Unless I'm wrong, it looks like the pipe from the radiator unit pumps to the CPU first - but then carries on its journey to the GFX card? Surely an overclocked PC would be generating a fair amount of excess heat from the CPU alone - meaning that the water getting to the GFX block is nowhere near thermally efficient as it could be? Or is the liquid in the tubes super-chilled?

D.

 

[wozzaa]

It takes a fair while to heat up any water passing through it to be honest. Also got to think about how much water is in the system and how fast it is being pumped through. I mean there is a fairly large radiator in there add in all the water in the radiator and pipes and you are talking about a fair amount of water. Which could be pumping through rather quickly. So heat from the CPU and GPU together will be hardly anything to that.

There are other ways of doing it. Look at scans current dream pc build...yours for a little under £10,000!

http://3xs.scan.co.uk/images/awards/Scan3XS_Jellyfish_Review.pdf

Use the standard corsair 800D for my build, best case I have ever owned to be honest. Going to be going with a bigger water cooled build with it soon though. Only my CPU is water cooled at the moment. I didn't want to buy all the bits until I could get my 2nd GPU.

 

[Gareth]

have you got any pics of your 800D wozzaa? I'm thinking it might be a good option to go for.

 

[Gareth]

I think I'm going to go for the Corsair 800D and aim for something similar to one of these:

The 800D has bags of space which gives lots of potential, its also got excellent cable management and doesn't force a colour scheme so I'm free to choose (unlike some cases)

 

[Greeny.]

Mine when I originally built it:

And now only slightly different but due an upgrade!

 

[Silent_Scone]

I've got to be honest if you're only going for a CPU solution you'll be hard pressed to beat the H50 Corsair 120mm even with heavy overclocking. In my experience unless you're doing it for the lesser noise levels, W/C GPUs is a waste of time - I suppose it depends how long you intend on keeping them.

 

[Greeny.]

I've got to be honest if you're only going for a CPU solution you'll be hard pressed to beat the H50 Corsair 120mm even with heavy overclocking. In my experience unless you're doing it for the lesser noise levels, W/C GPUs is a waste of time - I suppose it depends how long you intend on keeping them.

Not really, got a massive overclock on mine for 2 years now and its still running fast and cool.

 

[Silent_Scone]

Fair enough, depends on what you're running and would call a massive oc I guess. Most GDDR5 will tap out before you really need W/C anyway. It's all good fun, think it's more that personally I can't be bothered with tinkering anymore

 

[Gareth]

tbh mate that's probably what I'm going to end up with. The Corsair H50 is already on my list and I don't think I'll have the balls to try putting a watercooling block on a brand new £500 GPU (especially having never done it before).

 

[Darren S]

Those case mods are a bit 'meh', thinking about it. Check some of these out...

http://www.tomshardware.com/picturestory/549-case-modding-russia.html

D.

 

[Gareth]

just noticed there is actually a Corsair H70 which seems to be worth the extra, so I've updated my list.

 

[Silent_Scone]

yeah I noticed that yesterday - not sure what the differences are

 

[Gareth]

Larger radiator, two fans rather than one (they are faster also) and a completely re-designed CPU pump.

 

[Adam]

Sod them all in one kits, build it yourself.

Head over to http://www.chilledpc.co.uk/shop/ for your bits, and they have a great forum too.

 

[wozzaa]

To be fair if all he wants to do is cool his CPU. The Corsair will do fine, as well as working out cheaper.

The H70 from what I have seen only cools a couple degrees more than the H50. Both will support an i7 920/930 up to 4ghz+ so not a bit deal really which ever one you get.

Would save some money and just get the H50 myself. Or do it properly with a triple rad in the top of the case, which is what it was designed for.

Lot of people run a triple rad at the top and a double at the bottom, removing the internal hard drive bays.

 

[Gareth]

tbh I'm thinking a 360 rad in the top and start off with CPU cooling atleast. Otherwise I'll get the H70. I'm essentially now waiting for the 6000 series GPUs to be released before purchasing, but I may buy the 800D soon and start fitting watercooling components to it so I can start to learn/test.

 

[wozzaa]

One thing I will say is the 800D is a massive case so getting everything in will be easy.

Makes my Coolermaster Stacker look small sat next to it. It is also bloody heavy when built up.

 

[Gareth]

I think what I've currently got is a stacker ( an nVidia special edition) and the 800D is taller but pretty much the same otherwise. But yeah, if I stand any chance of going watercooled it looks like the best option from the current choice.