Thermaltake CTE E550

[67Elco]

Waiting on the case to arrive I'm trying to make a inventory of needed fittings. This will be another copper hardline build with two 360 radiators...one in the bottom and the other upright on the back side. Thinking a 120mm res/pump combo will fit above the back radiator.

 

[JLK03F150]

Looking forward to it. You have done some nice builds.

 

[67Elco]

Just blew apart the JONSBO TK-1...these are the only parts that will get swapped into the new case.

 

[Blaylock]

I love the look of copper lines. Sub'd.

 

[67Elco]

Parts trickling in...it may be a challenge finding a spot to place this res/pump.

 

[67Elco]

Buffing some fittings in the meantime...

 

[67Elco]

Someone mentioned the worry of fingerprints on copper earlier. Pretty certain they coat these with clear...otherwise it would arrive tarnished most likely.

 

[67Elco]

This will be interesting...

 

[67Elco]

Yep...this is definitely different.

 

[67Elco]

I've never worked with a case this odd...will see how it works out in the end. I need to get a riser cable for the card.

 

[67Elco]

Just stumbled upon a perk that I have never had with any other case. Due to the large cavity up top I'm able to secure the fans outside of the interior of the case so they will not be visible looking in. This is handy as I will be using 3 different brands of fans in this case (using what I have on hand). I originally wanted to do a all Noctua fan build for this case, but Noctua does not offer a reverse rotation fan at all. Have to have three on the bottom radiator to pull some air into the case.



Yep, just as I suspected...this pump/res is going to be a problem. Few places to mount it and it clashes with other components.

 

[67Elco]

I'm going to have to wait on the radiators to make a final decision on the pump/res mounting situation. It may turn out the pump from a previous build might prove easier to pull off.

 

[67Elco]

Changing directions...I don't like where this was headed. Going with the ASRock Livemixer mb and ditching the water cooling altogether. I'll save that for the Antec C8 build. This case would be ok for a AIO, but it is a terrible configuration for standard water cooling components. The ASRock mb does look killer in this case however. Too bad I will have to use all those janky cables though.

 

[67Elco]

Well...I don't know if I could become any less enthused about this particular build. The ASRock Livemixer mb refused to boot with the 8700G and it won't accept a bios flash at all. The dejection is real here. The image below shows it with the MSI mb and Intel Arc B580. The Intel gpu performed just fine at 1080p...yet to test it at 1440p. Uncertain if I am going to pursue this one any further.



Edit: Eh...just one more thing that didn't go as planned. Give me a few days to shake it off and I'll get back to it.

 

[67Elco]

Just experimenting this afternoon with the vertical gpu bracket.

 

[67Elco]

After looking at it for awhile I decided the rear fans just give a better vibe mounted from the inside. I wish the idiots at Noctua would come to their senses and begin offering reverse airflow capability.

 

[Blaylock]

This build is like watching a tennis match. Lol

 

[67Elco]

This build is like watching a tennis match. Lol

You should experience it from my end lol...nah, I wouldn't wish that on anyone. I'll be back on it in earnest by the weekend.

 

[Blaylock]

When you want something unique and unusual, you run into unique and unusual build challenges. I'm no stranger to this. LOL I have my popcorn ready.

 

[67Elco]

Ok...I can get back to it now. ASRock LiveMixer mb gets the nod as it just looks at home in this case. I may have figured a method to liquid cool this case after all, but I will have to rob some components out of the running King 95 rig.