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Suggestions for a new case for water cooling and help with dust reduction.

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G

grimreaper1014

Member
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Joined
Jan 12, 2013
Location
Pittsburgh, Pa
Hi guys,

At the moment I am using a HAF912. I have a Swiftech H220 AIO water cooler installed on top of the case in a push/pull configuration. Two Swiftech Helix 120 PWM fans are installed on the inside of the top of the case doing the pushing. Then, I have the radiator installed on top of the case with two Swiftech Helix 120 PWM fans pulling the air. The rest of my case fans are Swiftech Helix 120 PWM fans as well. This case gets really dusty for me even with Silverstone fan filters installed. The filters do not work very good for catching fine dust particles. I know they say a positive air flow can reduce dust. However, in order to achieve positive air flow the only way I could do this is by making my rear exhaust fan a intake. Then, I would have just the radiator fans on top of my case removing heat from the case. This would give me 4 intakes and 2 exhausts instead of 3 intakes and 3 exhausts. Would it be okay to flip the rear exhaust fan around? Do you think this would actually help with dust? I do have an extra fan filter for the rear if I should flip it to intake.

As the title says I am also shopping for a new case. I am sick of how hard and complicated it is to tear down my current system with the Swiftech H220 having to be rigged up on top of the case. It is a pain to detach and reinstall when cleaning. Plus I just do not like the look of it on top of the case. I am aiming for a cleaner look with everything inside the case. My house gets really dusty for some reason so I need a case that has good filtering capabilities and does a good job of keeping the dust out. I also do not want to go shopping for new fans. So the case will need to be able to except my Swiftech Helix 120 PWM fans. I have like 10 or 12 of them laying around. I would like to put them to good use. Also, I am looking for a case with a nice window. Is there a case that will fit a 120x4 rad inside in addition to my Swiftech H220 AIO kit, that has good fan filters, a side window, and excepts 120mm fans? The reason for the 120x4 rad is I have two Sapphire HD7970's I want to water cool. I also do not want a case I am going to have to chop all up to get this stuff to fit. Is there any cases for under $150 that can achieve this?

Thanks,
Rocky
 
Phanteks is coming out with a new case, check it out. Should show up really soon.
 
120.4 is a stretch for a case under $150. You have to wait to see what price the Phanteks case releases at. Otherwise I'd say a NZXT Switch 810 (120.3 up top).
 
I just ordered silverstone "fine" filters for all my intakes, can't report on performance yet, or compare them to the normal ones. Just incase you didn't know about em I thought I would throw that out there.
 
Knufire said:
120.4 is a stretch for a case under $150. You have to wait to see what price the Phanteks case releases at. Otherwise I'd say a NZXT Switch 810 (120.3 up top).
Click to expand...

Also the H630:
120.3 top
120.3 front
120.2 bottom
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I really appreciate it. I have two Sapphire HD7970 OC W/ Boost in CF that I would like to water cool as well. That is the reason I am really wanting to go with a case that can hold a 120.4 rad. I don't want to go with anything smaller than that really. I know the Corsair 900D can fit a 120.4 rad at the bottom but man that thing is expensive as hell! There has to be something out there that will work for what I am trying to accomplish at a reasonable price. There are others that have used this setup before I just have to do some searching and find some posts with suggestions I guess. My thing is if I am going to dump $300+ on a new case I would rather put that money into a new CPU and motherboard to play with or something that I can get some fun out of rather than just looking at a case lol.
 
ATMINSIDE - Are you talking about the Enthoo Primo from Phanteks? If so I just checked it out on their website and this is what it says for water cooling.

- Extensive water cooling support. Provides up to 5 different installation areas for slim and thick radiators varying from single to quad (120mm and 140mm form factors). Clearance for push-pull fan configurations.
- Innovative liquid cooling mounting systems: radiator brackets for easy installation (bottom and side), cable cover can be transformed into a reservoir bracket with pre-drilled mounting holes and an universal pump bracket with vibration dampening function

Therefore, this case according to the description has room for a quad 120 or 140 and even push/pull. This looks like what I'm after. I just got to find out how much it is and if it has any fan filters. I don't want another case like my HAF 912 where when you mount 120 fans on top you have holes showing on both sides where dust can get in because it is made to hold 140mm fans too.
 
The more I look at it the more I am falling in love with it. I am just hoping it is in the $150 - $200 price area. If it is any more than that might as well cough up the money to get the Corsair 900D. I am still looking around trying to find information on how much it is, if its out yet, or when it will be out. If anyone finds any info on this please let me know.
 
Rumor is that it'll be the same or less than a 900D. Easy to tell that it will be a direct competitor.
 
Dang that sucks. Well, that has to be some other alternatives out there. I would rather use one big (120.4) radiator then have to resort to using two smaller rads like 120.2's. I just really don't want to spend that much on a case =(
 
grimreaper1014 said:
Dang that sucks. Well, that has to be some other alternatives out there. I would rather use one big (120.4) radiator then have to resort to using two smaller rads like 120.2's. I just really don't want to spend that much on a case =(
Click to expand...

Have you done your dT calculation to make sure a 120.4 is enough for 2xGPU and your CPU?

General rule of thumb is 120.2 per GPU/CPU.
 
Yes I have. I currently have a Swiftech AIO H220 kit that I will continue to use for the CPU. Then, I have two HD7970's so I will be using a 120.2 for each for a total of 120.4 in addition to the 120.2 from the Swiftech AIO H220 kit that I already have. This is why I don't want to go any smaller than a 120.4, and I think using two separate 120.2 rads for each video card would be more of a pain.
 
Ah, so you need to hold a 120.2 up top and a 120.4 either in the bottom or front.
 
ATMINSIDE said:
Ah, so you need to hold a 120.2 up top and a 120.4 either in the bottom or front.
Click to expand...

I was thinking he disconnect the H220 rad and add in a res to feed the pump, then stick the 120.2 from the H220 in the front or bottom and the 120.4 up top. Only reason I offer this suggestion is because it seems like it would be much easier to find a case that fits a 120.4 or 120.3 up top rather than in the front, I could be wrong though.
 
Knufire said:
I was thinking he disconnect the H220 rad and add in a res to feed the pump, then stick the 120.2 from the H220 in the front or bottom and the 120.4 up top. Only reason I offer this suggestion is because it seems like it would be much easier to find a case that fits a 120.4 or 120.3 up top rather than in the front, I could be wrong though.
Click to expand...

That could work very well, it would just require more work (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).

I think there are cases that do 120.4 up front, give me a minute.
 
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