As above really, am looking to downsize (now that I'm moving my pc more, the 800D is starting to annoy me ) So I'm looking to downgrade to possibly a matx case/small atx case. Will be aiming at watercooling cpu and gpu (possibly bulldozer and a fairly high end card, 580 possibly) So am looking at 2 240s? Looking to do no/a tiny amount of modding. What do people recommend. Like the look of the fractal arc mini, take a 240 in the roof, and with very little modding can take another in the front.
The Lian Li A05 will, with some modding, take a slim 240 to the roof with external fans - you can cover them with fanshrouds. It will also take a 120mm to the rear intake and if you can live without the HD cage it will take a 120mm to the front too. You can even add a slim 240mm to the floor of the case though that requires you to cut some holes in it. Edit: The A05 is the smallest case that will take a full sized ATX board.
I'm dying to throw a 180mm rad in the front of a Silverstone TJ08-E Remove all the drive bays, mount a res, pump and ssd up in the 5.25 bay area. You won't get much smaller without a lot of work and it would still be roomy inside with the bays gone. Alternatives would be to do similar PS07, except using a dual 120. The SG03 and SG03-f would work too if you like the open side panels, they would be smaller, but the psu is mounted oddly.
Not overly bothered about using an atx/matx board. And the A05 looks good, but requires lots of modding to be watercooled really. And I'd rather avoid it if at all possible. I'll have a look at the silverstones, although really need space for atleast a 120 and 240, ideally 2 240s.
edit: my bad, realised different case, What about the Arc midi? Instead of the Arc Mini? Skip to 14.34 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vaB_QnENLc that will fit 2 240's all internal
I'd go sandybridge, with a maximus IV gene-z, a fabulous micro-atx board. As for watercooling cases +1 for the Arc mini, if just for that top 2x120 top, but if you do, mount the radiator on the outside, otherwise you can't use the rear mount at the same time.
I've currently got an arc mini setup, my llano media build, with a 240 in the roof, tis very nice, and I'm very tempted to do the same/similar for my main build. I could go SB, but I wouldn't go for an ASUS board, just don't get on with them. I'm coming from an i7 920 system, power isn't an issue, I'm not upgrading because I need a better PC, I merely want a new build, want to watercool the gpu, and want to downsize.
Lian Li A05 If you look about on benchtec somewhere George, there is a build that Chris did, he put a load of tech in an A05 with 2 x 240 rads, 2 pumps, bay res. Its not easy, but its a super tiny case that can take all that gear and a full size atx board. Doesnt require too much modding, cuts in the top and bottom for rads, thats about it really. 240 on the roof doesnt need external fans either, Chris did his with everything internal. Link to build
+1 for the A05. I was thinking of water-cooling my sb build with this case, having a matx board and not watercooling the mb heatsinks would leave a bit more space to make the build quite tidy. I think I will start to do mine when my uni work dies down.
I'd submit the NZXT Vulcan, it's tiny and has a dual-120mm mount on the top, a 120mm front (blocked by cable organizing area), 92mm back mount, and a NZXT custom mount 200mm on the side. It's advertised on Newegg as being watercooling compatible, but I don't watercool so I don't know. I was just shopping for cases and saw it and thought I'd pass it on after I'd seen this thread. Bit-Tech Review here: http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cases/2011/06/17/nzxt-vulcan-review/1 From the pictures, there's water cooling hose holes in the back, so they probably want you to use an external 120mm rear rad. EDIT: Found a pic of it all gussied up for water cooling at http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1295/1/ Sure he doesn't have the GPU in a loop, but it shouldn't be too hard to put one in. Though the large external rad on top does make it so you can't use the carrying handle.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1038093127&postcount=56 Having seen that, I reckon I'll go for another arc mini (like the idea of both PCs being in the same case ) Then just go for the 240 in the front, and a 240 in the roof. Been working out budget this morning, and could be interesting, not sure whether I'd be able to get it quite yet, may have to wait a little
http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cool...vanced-dominator-black-mid-tower-case-w-o-psu Coolermaster CM690 II Advanced dominator. Not as small as a M-ATX case, but it's not a large ATX case either. room inside for 2x 240 rads and a few people have made some nice WC builds with the case already
If he's looking to downsize to matx, the CM690II is not for him, It's really kind of big. I'm looking to downsize too, and my current case is 18x17x8 [LxHxW]. Compared to what I've got now, in my opinion, it's huge. Also, does anyone know where to get my hands on an Arc Mini in the US? It's deactivated on newegg, and there's no indication if it'll be restocked. Edit: No results on Performance-pcs or Tigerdirect, and NCIX doesn't have it.
I have considered the cm690, but I'm reckoning if I'm going to downsize, might aswell go the whole way, since otherwise I may end up thinking the investment wasn't worth it. Yeah, I doubt mine will look anywhere near that good, but it's a good indicator of the kinda layout you can go for
