The plan is a mini itx cube which will probably coincide with a haswell launch (the itx board is for reference atm). It is supposed to be 240x240x275 with handles on the top. The gap between the two fans is for a 180mm rad and there is a 92mm exhaust on the bottom. Obviously the front panel and io cutouts need work but I haven't worked out how to "crop" parts yet. Anyway this is it so far and opinions are appreciated :
It's not bad, though I'm not sure a single 92mm fan will be able to exhaust as much air as two (180mm?) fans in push/pull can suck in. So unless you have a load of ventilation holes in the sides to let the air out, you may end up with trapped heat and a lot of dust. If I can make a suggestion, try moving the reservoir to the back (where the 92mm is now), and place an equal sized exhaust fan adjacent at a 90 degree angle to the intakes. The 92mm could either be removed, or kept to aid airflow. Other than that, it's a solid layout. How do you plan on attaching the panels together?
I'll try that, although it will take ages as I am next to useless at sketchup. In terms of attaching the panels I have no idea at the moment.
I would make two major comments about your plan; first, push-pull will net you an extra couple of degrees coolant temperature, whitch'll net you a fraction of a degree in CPU temp, or maybe 20MHZ? If space is at a premium, then it's not worth it. Secondly, do you know there's a 200mm radiator out there, and it's 240mm in its longest dimension - so if you're willing to sacrifice a few mm to wall thickness then you could get in an extra 20% surface area (approx.) which'll show a bigger impact than push/pull... It'll fit - it'll even fit in a 243/243/243 cube - assumeing a 1.5mm aluminium shell
Any better, the box that is 220m wide represents the magicool 180mm radiator, I could probably take another cm off the height to make it 260x260x230 which is still the size I want just with a slightly larger footprint:
Lose the false floor and just have a small shelf with support against the psu. You need to work in some specifics first too. The risers on the motherboard, the thickness of the material, and how you are attaching everything will factor in heavily. Getting those things out of the way now will make layout a lot easier. You can flip the PSU over and use it to vent too.
+1 on the single-fan solution. I'm using a combo of the Phobya 200mm rad (the one Asura mentioned) plus one push Air Penetrator (180mm), using it to comfortably cool a very hotheaded I7-870 and a 5870. No need for more. Flip radiator and fan from your last design though. Having the rad on top will make for easier hose routing, and will also cool better due to the nature of the AP fan. It blows, but doesn't suck. You are also losing a lot of space in the bottom. Maybe it would be possible to place the PSU sideways, next to the mobo where that 120mm fan is now. Also, I wouldn't be too concerned with creating extra airflow aside from the big AP fan in the top. Just have vents and dustfilters in the bottom, and thermics and the big fan will do the work for you. If you want to add an HDD, and not just have the SSDs, then you could place a 92mm aimed at them maybe. Cool project, i'm having similar thoughts at the moment (ITX build at haswell launch).
Since it'll be on a radiator, switch the fan to exhaust and let it suck cool air inwards through the case, otherwise you'll be blowing that heat right back onto your hardware. Just cut up a pair of tights to use as filters over the vent(s). Stack the SSDs to save space? With a 180mm in the roof you probably don't need the intake fan tbh.
Aside the directions of the fans Will there be enough space for all cables and tubes? Especially for tubing it is (for me) hard to imagine a good way to and from all water-cooled components
