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Baz · 9th Jan 2013, 08:57

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cas...rd-ii-review/1

A £50 case with all the features of a much more expensive chassis.

Spreadie · 9th Jan 2013, 10:39

Would you say it's possible to mount a 45-50mm thick rad in the roofspace and mount exhausting fans underneath? Depending on the layout of your motherboard, it looks possible from the pics.

I do like this case - there's a lot on offer for the money.

SchizoFrog · 9th Jan 2013, 10:49

By the looks of the mounting screw points for the MB I would doubt it as they seem to be as far to the edge as they can go. I'll wait for BT to confirm though... :-)

Dogbert666 · 9th Jan 2013, 10:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spreadie

Would you say it's possible to mount a 45-50mm thick rad in the roofspace and mount exhausting fans underneath? Depending on the layout of your motherboard, it looks possible from the pics.

I do like this case - there's a lot on offer for the money.

I'm not in the labs today so I can't answer definitely, but I'd say almost certainly not. There really didn't look to be enough space for anything beneath the recessed roof section, it appears to be designed so that everything sits on top of it. But if I remember then I'll confirm tomorrow

SchizoFrog · 9th Jan 2013, 11:05

If not Dogbert666, would it be possible to contact/request for a larger roof space unit instead to accommodate water cooling rads? Maybe even as a separate purchase although this would increase the overall cost and therefore affect the overall value.

Spreadie · 9th Jan 2013, 11:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dogbert666

I'm not in the labs today so I can't answer definitely, but I'd say almost certainly not. There really didn't look to be enough space for anything beneath the recessed roof section, it appears to be designed so that everything sits on top of it. But if I remember then I'll confirm tomorrow

Thanks, Dogbert.

I'm thinking that 120mm fans might fit, albeit overhanging the motherboard, I've done this before, in a different case. A lot depends on clearance for VRM sinks, the EPS 12v connector and possibly ram slots.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SchizoFrog

If not Dogbert666, would it be possible to contact/request for a larger roof space unit instead to accommodate water cooling rads? Maybe even as a separate purchase although this would increase the overall cost and therefore affect the overall value.

It looks like it would be easy enough to mod it, by removing the mesh and making a raised area from other mesh.

SchizoFrog · 9th Jan 2013, 11:17

@Spreadie: Fare enough if you have to tools and the know how. I don't though. :-(

Shirty · 9th Jan 2013, 11:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by SchizoFrog

@Spreadie: Fare enough if you have to tools and the know how. I don't though. :-(

Nor does Spreadie really, he's just trying to look cool

Spreadie · 9th Jan 2013, 11:37

Damn you, Shirty, damn you! I will have my revenge!

Quote:

Originally Posted by SchizoFrog

@Spreadie: Fare enough if you have to tools and the know how. I don't though. :-(

A pair of tin snips, some hot glue, with a bit of time and effort and you could make a decent job of it. It isn't that difficult. Shirty is just projecting his own ineptitude onto others.

Shirty · 9th Jan 2013, 13:38

Touché

Nice case for the money by the way, but I'm still happy with my sleepy little P182

mdshann · 9th Jan 2013, 16:39

There's plenty of room for a radiator even with standard philips screws. Use a slim 30mm radiator along with Scythe's 12mm fans and you have 8mm clearance left over!

http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/ac...12_detail.html

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15...?tl=g30c95s160

SchizoFrog · 9th Jan 2013, 17:55

This brings up an interesting idea... How would 2 of those 12mm fans (doubled up) do compared to a single 25mm fan? Would they cause wind turbulence and would that have a negative effect?

Spreadie · 9th Jan 2013, 17:56

Those Slipstream fans have zero static pressure and poor airflow = absolutely useless for a radiator, unfortunately.

OcSurfe · 9th Jan 2013, 18:59

i quite like the case,
looks very shinobi-esqe

SinxarKnights · 10th Jan 2013, 09:12

Haha! I thought that was an 8 track sticking out of the top on the first page!

Dogbert666 · 10th Jan 2013, 11:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spreadie

Would you say it's possible to mount a 45-50mm thick rad in the roofspace and mount exhausting fans underneath? Depending on the layout of your motherboard, it looks possible from the pics.

I do like this case - there's a lot on offer for the money.

As suspected, with a motherboard mounted there is *very* little room beneath that roof mount for anything to fit - even the ends of the RAM slots were in the way when I tried to put a normal sized fan in, and the Northbridge heatsink was nearly touching the edge. I doubt you'll find many if any boards where you'd be able to fit anything more than one of those half size fans someone mentioned, but as was also said their lack of static pressure/airflow will make them poor choices for rad cooling.

Spreadie · 10th Jan 2013, 11:44

Thanks for taking the time to go back and check it out, Dogbert. It is appreciated.

Shirty · 10th Jan 2013, 11:56

Rep for going the extra mile Matthew

Dogbert666 · 10th Jan 2013, 12:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spreadie

Thanks for taking the time to go back and check it out, Dogbert. It is appreciated.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shirty

Rep for going the extra mile Matthew

No worries, cheers guys

MrJim · 17th Jan 2013, 11:45

Great review, definitely a case to look when I get around to my next build.

On a side-note it's interesting the BT found the air cooling of the Corsair 200R to be so poor. I've just been reading a review of the 200R over at HardOCP, who found the air cooling to be excellent compared to other budget cases. Obviously there will be methodological differences between websites as to how they test air cooling, but it seems odd that their conclusions can vary so wildly?

9th Jan 2013, 08:57	#1
Baz Post moar ponies. bit-tech Staff Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Reading Posts: 1,744	Xigmatek Midgard II Review http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cas...rd-ii-review/1 A £50 case with all the features of a much more expensive chassis.

9th Jan 2013, 10:39	#2
Spreadie No disassemble! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: an island in the south Posts: 5,285	Would you say it's possible to mount a 45-50mm thick rad in the roofspace and mount exhausting fans underneath? Depending on the layout of your motherboard, it looks possible from the pics. I do like this case - there's a lot on offer for the money. __________________ Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes; after that, who cares?! He's a mile away and you've got his shoes! 2500K\|Gene-Z\|8GB\|670\|X-Fi\|V1200+\|3007WFP-HC\|M4\|F3\|MK-85\|G500\|EK Full Ni\|FC670\|D5\|360 GTS\|240 UT60

9th Jan 2013, 10:49	#3
SchizoFrog Ghost In The Machine Join Date: May 2009 Location: East London Posts: 453	By the looks of the mounting screw points for the MB I would doubt it as they seem to be as far to the edge as they can go. I'll wait for BT to confirm though... :-) __________________ Motherboard - ASUS P5K Premium CPU - Q6600 @ 3GHz - Arctic Freezer 13 GPU - Palit 9600GT @ Clock 750MHz - Mem 1100MHz - Shader 1850MHz RAM - 6GB Corsair PC2-6400 DHX @ 960MHz OS - Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit)

9th Jan 2013, 11:05	#5
SchizoFrog Ghost In The Machine Join Date: May 2009 Location: East London Posts: 453	If not Dogbert666, would it be possible to contact/request for a larger roof space unit instead to accommodate water cooling rads? Maybe even as a separate purchase although this would increase the overall cost and therefore affect the overall value. __________________ Motherboard - ASUS P5K Premium CPU - Q6600 @ 3GHz - Arctic Freezer 13 GPU - Palit 9600GT @ Clock 750MHz - Mem 1100MHz - Shader 1850MHz RAM - 6GB Corsair PC2-6400 DHX @ 960MHz OS - Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit)

9th Jan 2013, 11:17	#7
SchizoFrog Ghost In The Machine Join Date: May 2009 Location: East London Posts: 453	@Spreadie: Fare enough if you have to tools and the know how. I don't though. :-( __________________ Motherboard - ASUS P5K Premium CPU - Q6600 @ 3GHz - Arctic Freezer 13 GPU - Palit 9600GT @ Clock 750MHz - Mem 1100MHz - Shader 1850MHz RAM - 6GB Corsair PC2-6400 DHX @ 960MHz OS - Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit)

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9th Jan 2013, 13:38	#10
Shirty Good news everyone! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Salisbury, UK Posts: 5,636	Touché Nice case for the money by the way, but I'm still happy with my sleepy little P182 __________________ 2500K \| Corsair H55 \| HIS 7950 \| 8GB XMS3 \| 128GB Crucial M4 \| Samsung 2TB \| ASRock H77M-ITX \| Corsair CX500M \| White Bitfenix Prodigy \| Dell U2311H \| Creative T6060s \| Ducky G2 Pro TKL (Reds) \| Logitech G500 Why.

9th Jan 2013, 16:39	#11
mdshann Minimodder Join Date: Nov 2010 Posts: 45	There's plenty of room for a radiator even with standard philips screws. Use a slim 30mm radiator along with Scythe's 12mm fans and you have 8mm clearance left over! http://www.scythe-usa.com/product/ac...12_detail.html http://www.frozencpu.com/products/15...?tl=g30c95s160

9th Jan 2013, 17:55	#12
SchizoFrog Ghost In The Machine Join Date: May 2009 Location: East London Posts: 453	This brings up an interesting idea... How would 2 of those 12mm fans (doubled up) do compared to a single 25mm fan? Would they cause wind turbulence and would that have a negative effect? __________________ Motherboard - ASUS P5K Premium CPU - Q6600 @ 3GHz - Arctic Freezer 13 GPU - Palit 9600GT @ Clock 750MHz - Mem 1100MHz - Shader 1850MHz RAM - 6GB Corsair PC2-6400 DHX @ 960MHz OS - Windows 7 Ultimate (64bit)

9th Jan 2013, 17:56	#13
Spreadie No disassemble! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: an island in the south Posts: 5,285	Those Slipstream fans have zero static pressure and poor airflow = absolutely useless for a radiator, unfortunately. __________________ Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes; after that, who cares?! He's a mile away and you've got his shoes! 2500K\|Gene-Z\|8GB\|670\|X-Fi\|V1200+\|3007WFP-HC\|M4\|F3\|MK-85\|G500\|EK Full Ni\|FC670\|D5\|360 GTS\|240 UT60

9th Jan 2013, 18:59	#14
OcSurfe Uber Noob Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 240	i quite like the case, looks very shinobi-esqe

10th Jan 2013, 09:12	#15
SinxarKnights Multimodder Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 101	Haha! I thought that was an 8 track sticking out of the top on the first page!

10th Jan 2013, 11:44	#17
Spreadie No disassemble! Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: an island in the south Posts: 5,285	Thanks for taking the time to go back and check it out, Dogbert. It is appreciated. __________________ Before you judge a man, walk a mile in his shoes; after that, who cares?! He's a mile away and you've got his shoes! 2500K\|Gene-Z\|8GB\|670\|X-Fi\|V1200+\|3007WFP-HC\|M4\|F3\|MK-85\|G500\|EK Full Ni\|FC670\|D5\|360 GTS\|240 UT60

10th Jan 2013, 11:56	#18
Shirty Good news everyone! Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Salisbury, UK Posts: 5,636	Rep for going the extra mile Matthew __________________ 2500K \| Corsair H55 \| HIS 7950 \| 8GB XMS3 \| 128GB Crucial M4 \| Samsung 2TB \| ASRock H77M-ITX \| Corsair CX500M \| White Bitfenix Prodigy \| Dell U2311H \| Creative T6060s \| Ducky G2 Pro TKL (Reds) \| Logitech G500 Why.

17th Jan 2013, 11:45	#20
MrJim What's a Dremel? Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: London Posts: 6	Great review, definitely a case to look when I get around to my next build. On a side-note it's interesting the BT found the air cooling of the Corsair 200R to be so poor. I've just been reading a review of the 200R over at HardOCP, who found the air cooling to be excellent compared to other budget cases. Obviously there will be methodological differences between websites as to how they test air cooling, but it seems odd that their conclusions can vary so wildly?