FEATURED Recommended Cases of OCF

[steveokinevo]

im pretty sure they are both tempered glass side panels. as far as the price goes, think im going with the rosewill. like said, not much difference. i may do a water cooling later for the CPU, so hopefully there should be some room for that.

 

[Blaylock]

You are correct they are both tempered glass.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

im pretty sure they are both tempered glass side panels. as far as the price goes, think im going with the rosewill. like said, not much difference. i may do a water cooling later for the CPU, so hopefully there should be some room for that.

Agree. I would verify and future proof just in case you do go down a AIO or custom route for the CPU and GPU.

 

[steveokinevo]

i was looking at this

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Extr...pID=410fpLTJM-L&preST=_SX300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

the rosewill case says it will support up to 3 120mm fans on top, so by the looks of it, it takes up 2/3 spots (240mm radiator), possibly 3, right?

also is there any sort of maintenance with that 1 i listed? i see it comes prefilled but anything else i should know?

 

[Blaylock]

The h100i is one of the better AIO coolers on the market right now. It is a no maintenance cooler that will come pre-filled. Just apply proper TIM, bolt it in, plug it in, and let it run.

I would mount it at the top of the case with the fans blowing out as exhaust. With the front csse fans as intakes.

 

[Alaric]

The h100i is one of the better AIO coolers on the market right now. It is a no maintenance cooler that will come pre-filled. Just apply proper TIM, bolt it in, plug it in, and let it run.

I can back that up. Mine was trouble free on a hex core FX chip, and it lives on with no loss of performance 3 or 4 years later. If you go that route, download Corsair's software and try it. It's had some buggy versions, but you should at least see for yourself. It also gives you control of the RGB, let's you set fan curves, check temps, etc. The usual stuff.

 

[steveokinevo]

thanks for all the advice and help.

i have never used a liquid cooling system so im trying to figure it all out before i do it.
how does it actually hook up to everything though? is there still a 4 pin connector? something that goes to the power supply somewhere obviously? lol
and it says it will come with the necessary bracket for mounting of the CPU. looks like 4 screws are holding it down. is it magnetically secured to the cpu?

 

[Blaylock]

Magnetically? God no LOL.

Here, this will help.

EDIT: I would, however, recommend replacing the TIM with one of your choosing. I like MX4 but there are tons of great products out there.

 

[steveokinevo]

i was hoping it wasnt magnetic, lol. just didnt really know. thanks again! think i can understand it now

 

[steveokinevo]

I would, however, recommend replacing the TIM with one of your choosing. I like MX4 but there are tons of great products out there.

so the stuff that comes on there isnt really the greatest?

i do have some arctic silver that should work

just recently got a new case that supports 3 120mm fans so hopefully i can still have 1 fan on along with the cooler/radiator.

 

[Blaylock]

Depending on which cooler you decide to go with it may or may not come with TIM pre-installed. I have had horrible results with pre-installed TIM. Here is the last stock cooler I used with a recent build. Notice the lack of coverage. Arctic Silver will work just fine. Just be sure not to apply way too much as silver is a conductive material.

View attachment 195146
View attachment 195147


We have strayed pretty far off topic and I would like to get back on track. Lets talk about some cases that you love or hate.

 

[maxfly]

ive been contemplating a deepcool dukase as a home for my back up rig. right now its on sale for $55 with a $10 mir. the reviews ive seen of it are positive. but im torn. i like the back up rig on the test bench i have because its so easy to make modifications. on the other hand it looks terrible and i kinda need the test bench once in a while lol.
the reason im considering the dukase is that it isnt huge but theres lots of room inside, tbh i would like a small case that doesnt take up much room on my test bench. but i also need it to house my old wcing loop which consists of 2x120 rad, ddc pump/res combo, xtra ddc pump and cpu block. i havent been able to find any truly small cases that can accomodate both the atx mb and the loop so far. almost forgot the 5.25 bay. it needs to have at least one, believe it or not they are becoming rare. and of course it has to look good for the clients if you can think of anything in the $50 range that may fit the bill id really appreciate it. ive had the dukase in my cart for a week and im itching to get something.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811853036&ignorebbr=1

 

[GTXJackBauer]

ive been contemplating a deepcool dukase as a home for my back up rig. right now its on sale for $55 with a $10 mir. the reviews ive seen of it are positive. but im torn. i like the back up rig on the test bench i have because its so easy to make modifications. on the other hand it looks terrible and i kinda need the test bench once in a while lol.
the reason im considering the dukase is that it isnt huge but theres lots of room inside, tbh i would like a small case that doesnt take up much room on my test bench. but i also need it to house my old wcing loop which consists of 2x120 rad, ddc pump/res combo, xtra ddc pump and cpu block. i havent been able to find any truly small cases that can accomodate both the atx mb and the loop so far. almost forgot the 5.25 bay. it needs to have at least one, believe it or not they are becoming rare. and of course it has to look good for the clients if you can think of anything in the $50 range that may fit the bill id really appreciate it. ive had the dukase in my cart for a week and im itching to get something.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811853036&ignorebbr=1

I've never seen a case with that much room for that price. lol Not a bad offer but I would do measurements before purchasing for all that cooling gear. The smaller the case, the more you push the envelope but it can work.

Make sure you have enough room up top for rad + fans and res/pump combo.

 

[Blaylock]

ive been contemplating a deepcool dukase as a home for my back up rig. right now its on sale for $55 with a $10 mir. the reviews ive seen of it are positive. but im torn. i like the back up rig on the test bench i have because its so easy to make modifications. on the other hand it looks terrible and i kinda need the test bench once in a while lol.
the reason im considering the dukase is that it isnt huge but theres lots of room inside, tbh i would like a small case that doesnt take up much room on my test bench. but i also need it to house my old wcing loop which consists of 2x120 rad, ddc pump/res combo, xtra ddc pump and cpu block. i havent been able to find any truly small cases that can accomodate both the atx mb and the loop so far. almost forgot the 5.25 bay. it needs to have at least one, believe it or not they are becoming rare. and of course it has to look good for the clients if you can think of anything in the $50 range that may fit the bill id really appreciate it. ive had the dukase in my cart for a week and im itching to get something.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811853036&ignorebbr=1

What size is your pump/res combo? Any chance to eliminate the secondary pump?

 

[maxfly]

it is a bitspower minitank, i use a fill line through the top port that i remove once the loop has been bled. so i need some room above it to fill the loop. the other is a petras ddc top and pump. i really need to keep them both in the loop being that they are both more than 10 years old. manny date is 12/05 on one and the other just says 19/10.
http://www.performance-pcs.com/bitspower-bp-ddct2-cl-ddc-mini-water-tank-plus.html

 

[Blaylock]

Here's another option for you. Cougar MX-330. Mind you at sub $50 the panels are generally thinner on these cases than we like to use.

Also I think you will have a difficult time fitting all these components into a mid tower. Not saying it can't be done, but it will be a challenge for sure. LOL

 

[maxfly]

i hear ya. it isnt going to be easy to install all of it OR to stop looking at far more expensive cases!
here are just a few that i have been pondering(have 11 more in my cart)...wish i could buy them all RIGHT NOW! im a case junky what can i say...

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811147272&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACUC57H2438&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIACUC57H2444&ignorebbr=1
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133316&ignorebbr=1

 

[Blaylock]

I can tell you I was impressed with the last Rosewill case I built in. The quality was definitely better than I expected for a $70 case. It was the Gungnir FTR.

 

[maxfly]

thats a sweet case. ive had really good luck with rosewill cases. i know alot of people think of rosewill as subpar compared to name brand stuff but its not true. rosewill cases are solid for the most part and usually far cheaper than its competitors. the last one i used had a bad power button but it was a easy fix. it was $20 after rebate. now its $79 lol. i found this phanteks case and was really impressed, its small but looks really nice (17.7in H x 15.7in L x 7.7in W) you have to check this case out if your looking for a small but roomy mid tower. if it had come with a 5.25 bay i would have snagged it! theres a $10 mir too...
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811854068

anyhoo i pulled the trigger on the deepcool dukase. if more mannies made their cases with front doors that covered 5.25 bays the choice would have been impossible but thats what made my mind up. i dont like looking at dvd/br drives so the door is perfect. ill try to update when i get everything installed.

 

[Blaylock]

Awesome. Yeah let me know for sure if you like the Dukase. I've only read good things about them so I expect you'll like it. Fwiw Phanteks is my favorite case manufacturer. I have the Luxe and absolutely love it.