Can Silverstone GD05B be liquid cooled?

Hi, I'm trying to plan out my first water cooling system around my new case but ran into some problems. I'm hoping you can give me some ideas!

(tl;dr : how would you liquid cool this case? http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=241)

The case, when the 5.25 bay is installed will severely limit my air cooling options on the CPU (http://ksstudios.com/wp-content/gallery/gd05/gd04-20.jpg) so I probably have to go liquid. I have a 7970 that I would like to add into the cooling loop too.

The case is a Silverstone GD05B (MicroATX)
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=241

Here are some detailed interior pictures:
http://ksstudios.com/silverstone-grandia-series-gd05-htpc-case
http://www.extremeoverclocking.com/reviews/cases/SilverStone_GD05B_3.html

There is room in the front of the case for the pump/reservoir, but the problem is, the dual 120mm fans butt right up to the MOBO and extend below it, so there is no room for a radiator on that side. On the other side, the single 120mm fan, if I added a radiator, would probably hit the front USB mount. If I angle it a bit, I can possibly mount the radiator and another fan for a push/pull. Will that be enough? The only other thing I can think of is to mount the radiator on the exterior of the case on the dual 120mm side but I'd like to avoid that, if it's even possible.

Do you have any better ideas? I'm hoping there are water cooling options I don't know about! Thanks in advance for your help!

I'd water cool it the same way I do all my cases..with the radiator outside of the case.
I have a triple mounted on the wall right now, and will soon be building a new free-standing unit with two triple rads.

How handy are you? Have access to a work/wood shop?
Here's a pic of an older one, to give you an idea of what I'm talking about.

BTW, even without skills, there are radiator stands that can pull off the same thing, wall mounted or desktop stands.
I think they'd look cool with a set of metal screen fan filters to keep accidents from happening...

HERE

Grab a MORA3 rad with the reservoir and pump part of the housing and be done with it. (Waiting for the praise from Rollie )

Wow, thanks for the great input! I hadn't really considered building something externally and just running the tubing in/out. This will be for a HTPC setup so if you know of any radiator stands or enclosures that have decent looks for an entertainment center, feel free to post some links. I'm researching the MORA3 now. Looks impressive!

I was also thinking of attempting to mount this http://koolance.com/2x92mm-ran-radiator-shroud-black to the side of the case that has the 2x120mm fans. I could stick the rad in the housing and keep the fans where they are, or put the rad in the case where the fans are now and get new fans for the housing.

What do you think?

Oh, and I'm semi-handy, haha

Thanks!

Corsair used to make a nice looking radiator enclosure, but they discontinued it a while ago.
It really only has to be a plywood box with holes for your rad to breath. Leave the pump in the computer, then you only have to extend the fan wire.
Paint it with bed-liner spray so it's tough (and forgiving to cut errors ) and set it on the floor next the entertainment center like a subwoofer or something.

BTW, yes a normal little pump like an MCP35X will easily push 12' of tubing and a large radiator....

Edit: and I'd stick with 120mm fans to keep noise down for movie watching, though a shroud like the one you linked can be used as ready made holes for fans (so you only have to cut a rectangle).

monkey22 said:

Wow, thanks for the great input! I hadn't really considered building something externally and just running the tubing in/out. This will be for a HTPC setup so if you know of any radiator stands or enclosures that have decent looks for an entertainment center, feel free to post some links. I'm researching the MORA3 now. Looks impressive!

I was also thinking of attempting to mount this http://koolance.com/2x92mm-ran-radiator-shroud-black to the side of the case that has the 2x120mm fans. I could stick the rad in the housing and keep the fans where they are, or put the rad in the case where the fans are now and get new fans for the housing.

What do you think?

Oh, and I'm semi-handy, haha

Thanks!

Click to expand...

No need for anything if you're going external other than the blocks internally. Everything can be safely external.

Something like this for example.



But than again, in your situation it will be completely overkill. Something like diggrr suggested would be suitable for you. A simple radiator stand or bracket for something much smaller than 120.9 of heat surface.

Wow, that photo is impressive! Thanks for the further info. I will definitely be going 120mm or larger if I can.

Thanks Diggrr, now I'm really considering making something with the same footprint of my case, to sit on top of it, laying horizontally with standoffs for airflow and painted black.

The maximum case dimensions are 440 mm (W) x 325 mm (D) so I have to try to find a rad/fan configuration that will fit.

How can I calculate how many square inches of rad surface area I need to cool a single 7970 and E8600 @ 4Ghz/3.1v (eventually an overclocked i5)? It gets above 100F ambient in the summer but don't mind a bit more noise on those days and would likely go back to stock clocks if I did any gaming on those days anyway.

Thanks again!

200 watt card, and a 65 watt processor (give it a 100 watts just for OC margin), that's 300 watts. Covered easily by 3 rad cores, or 4 for a more silent, low fan speed system.
So either a quad or a couple of doubles (2X2 fits your size need better).

The fourth core will also cover future processors too....

the GD07
http://www.silverstonetek.com/product.php?pid=330&area=en

version in their htpc chassis can do water.
If you remove the HDD/CD rom cage - and remove the USB/audio front connector i did a retro fit of a 3x120mm rad into mine to see if it would fit. it did.

their is also a dual 80mm rear fan area that can house http://www.frozencpu.com/products/9...Pass_Liquid_Cooling_Radiator_-_Dual_80mm.html

Id say with those 2rads installed inside your looking at about 3x120 and a single 140mm(actually 180mm) worth of rad cooling.

which should be plenty even for a SLI / Crossfired system.

the case also can house a large ATX MOBO the EATX would be a tight fit imho.

I did it. I bought Silverstone GD05B + ATX motherboard + fluid FCPU. I didn't know what need I do to fix this fluid Fun CPU. I made everything so proper that didn't see simple decision that my friend tell me. So decision is cutting part of Silverstone)))

As I said before rads can fit in the front bottom of case if usb/audio Jacks are removed and hdd cd bay's

If you put them in a pull orientation you also still get function of filters.