# What case for my loop?



## DarkEgo (Jul 27, 2009)

I have a PA160 and a BIX360 and I want to mount them both internally. I also have a Res/ pump top that takes 2 5 1/4 bays. So what case (for less then $200) do you think I should get to fit all of this? 
PS: If you have a case you want to sell PM me.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

I guess I could push the budget up but it can't be more then $300 preferably less.


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## Dreadnought33 (Jul 28, 2009)

Sorry, but what is a PA160 and a BIX360??


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## Beertintedgoggles (Jul 28, 2009)

The older I get the more I tend to lean towards old tower sever cases.  They have all kinds of room inside and allow for all sorts of cutting/adding whatever you want.  You might need to cut your own holes for that PA160 unless you have an adapter for it to fit in a 120mm spot.  As far as new cases, I can't really help much on that....  it's been more than a few years since I've bought a case for myself.  I have built a few from scratch though.

For above:  the PA160 and BIX360 are radiators for liquid cooled setups.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

It has a shroud to mount it to a 120mm fan, So it could easitly be mounted to a 120 mm fan whole providing that there is nothing to obstruct the radiator such as drive bays. I really like the FT-01 but one I dont know if it will fit the BIX360 internally and two I don't realy want to spend that much.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jul 28, 2009)

I don't think you could fit a 120.2 rad internally on a FT-01, thats a small midtower. To fit that big 360 in a mid tower your going to need one with more space than that. A midtower that should be able to fit those both inside, is the HAF 922. With the 360 up top, and the 160 below. Should even be able to fit the 360 up top with 38mm fans. Now with the 360 up top and a 2 drive bay res, it will only leave you with 1 drivebay, but thats a lot of rad in a small case, not many others can pull this off. ere's a fex pictures showing a 120.3 internally, then another pic where you can see the massive amount of space in front of the PSU where you could put the 160 or you could put it on the back 120 spot also. This will most likely be the midtower I move to, hard to match it.

Plus it has awesome cable management, look how wide the case is, you can tell by the massive amount of space on the sides of the DVD brackets. It's an full inch wider than it's big brother, and has 1.5" width on most other mid towers.


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## phanbuey (Jul 28, 2009)

there really is only one case if you want to do 0 modding:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811163067

if you can mod then lian - li towers are good...

you can also mod a lian li v1000 with a koolance shroud if you want a mid tower.

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=92283 - if you do something like I did, but use the koolance 3 fan shroud on top, you can easily mount internally and retain all PCI slots.

also this thread might help:
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?p=3773222


Also - you might want to wait until the raven II and fortress II are out from silverstone - they should be coming on sale soon and will offer some massive radiator space.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jul 28, 2009)

What about a mountain mods ufo2? you can fit multiple rads internally in that.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

The HAF is nice but I would probably go with the 932. It dosn't have to be a mid tower, I just liked the FT-01 because it had a 160mm fan in the front that I could attach the PA160 to. I would actually kind of perfer a full tower for the extra space. Also I do have a largish PSU (1000w Enermax Galaxy) so that should be accounted for too.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jul 28, 2009)

DarkEgo said:


> The HAF is nice but I would probably go with the 932. It dosn't have to be a mid tower, I just liked the FT-01 because it had a 160mm fan in the front that I could attach the PA160 to. I would actually kind of perfer a full tower for the extra space. Also I do have a largish PSU (1000w Enermax Galaxy) so that should be accounted for too.



Ah figured you were looking for a Mid Tower, the 932 would also be a good choice, but going to point one thing out about the 922.






Thats a 10.5" videocard in there, just for a size comparison and look at the space till the HDD rack yet, and look at that PSU size, a 1000W and a 160 rad should still fit below. A 932 will be a bit easier to work with because the height, but CM did an amazing job with the 922, either case you can't go wrong with though.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

I could take out the HDD cage and put the PA160 up front also...
The one problem I have with the HAF's is my 2.5" to 3.5" converter for my vertex requires a floppy bay. Neither case has one (to my knolage).


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jul 28, 2009)

DarkEgo said:


> I could take out the HDD cage and put the PA160 up front also...
> The one problem I have with the HAF's is my 2.5" to 3.5" converter for my vertex requires a floppy bay. Neither case has one (to my knolage).



Yeah, removing the cage would add a ton of room. Or you could pop out the rivets and move the cage back just a bit, that would keep a nice clean look with a ton of HDD space, and still keep the rad well hidden. Probably wouldnt have to move it too far back, that front fan is very thick, probably about the same as your rad. Or if you didn't want to mod at all, since the case has soo much room even with a 10.5" card in there, you could stand up the rad on the back of the HDD cage, there is really a lot of space there. Or once again a 3rd option (this case really is awesome)






Mount it on the side.



I'm not sure what a Vertex is, so I'm not sure what you mean by a converter. Maybe post a pic or a link and could figure something out.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

A vertex is a SSD (Solid State Disk). They are mass storage devices (hard disk drive substitutes) using NAND flash memory. SSD's come in a 2.5" (laptop) form factor. So I have a converter that allows me to mount the 2.5" SSD in a 3.5" Floppy bay. The reason it takes a floppy is it is hot swapable so I can add and remove drives without opening the whole computer.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jul 28, 2009)

DarkEgo said:


> A vertex is a SSD (Solid State Disk). They are mass storage devices (hard disk drive substitutes) using NAND flash memory. SSD's come in a 2.5" (laptop) form factor. So I have a converter that allows me to mount the 2.5" SSD in a 3.5" Floppy bay. The reason it takes a floppy is it is hot swapable so I can add and remove drives without opening the whole computer.



Theres a 8th slot in the back of the 922, put it there. Also the 922 does have a floppy bay, I think all CM cases do. But issue here is, a 360 rad will take up 2 5.25" bays, you have 2 bay res, that leaves only 1 bay left, if you use it for a SSD you won't have room for any other drives. 

Here's a pic of the back and front, I would really say stick it in the 8th slot on the back, you might have to make some sort of cradle that bolts in and holds the drive there, then put a finger off the top of the drive so you can pull it out the back.






That or you could do the samething for any of the drive slots, as I would assume your not using them all, just make a sort of tray and make it so you can pull the SSD out the back.


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## DarkEgo (Jul 28, 2009)

The 922 is looking good as it is cheep and can do what I need without much modding. The only problem is it is so ugly but hell I'll get over it


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## 1Kurgan1 (Jul 28, 2009)

DarkEgo said:


> The 922 is looking good as it is cheep and can do what I need without much modding. The only problem is it is so ugly but hell I'll get over it



I like how it looks, suppose to look like a military grade case, glad to help you make the choice. You won't find a much better mid tower, make sure to post up pics with the rads and everything all setup. I had to look high and low for that pic of the 360 rad, but there aren't any others from that build being done. So would be nice to see a functional loop inside the case finally.


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## TechnoHolic_Tim (Jul 28, 2009)

im looking for a case too, think i might get a xps 700 or 710 (is there any difference?) from ebay and do alot of modding! to start i will hav 2 sort out the fact that 700 and 710 are both btx and only the 730 (that i cant get for other that £300) is atx. after changing the back panel and mobo tray i will try and fit 1 240 rad at the intake then another 240 or 360 in side.
i dont no of any case that looks ad good as the xps 700 range.
what do u think of my wild idea?
oh and this has been done before
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=186919

other wise id go with this lian li armorsuit pc-p80
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=198088


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## DarkEgo (Aug 5, 2009)

I bought a HAF 922... complete failure. There was no mount up top for a tripple Rad... Easily remedied with a drill and a grinding tool. Then the real problems started. The Rad is to big, it blocks all of my memory slots on my board. And because of the rad taking up drive bays, I don't have enough. I am going to have to sell the 922 and get another case because the 922 dosn't meet any of my needs.


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## 1Kurgan1 (Aug 5, 2009)

DarkEgo said:


> I bought a HAF 922... complete failure. There was no mount up top for a tripple Rad... Easily remedied with a drill and a grinding tool. Then the real problems started. The Rad is to big, it blocks all of my memory slots on my board. And because of the rad taking up drive bays, I don't have enough. I am going to have to sell the 922 and get another case because the 922 dosn't meet any of my needs.



It's a mid tower, they wouldnt have mounts for a triple rad when that requires it to sit in the drive bays. Sounds like your looking for a full tower, hopefully my 922 arrives soon, and am goign to attempt to put a 360 rad in it, we'll see how it goes


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## bogmali (Aug 5, 2009)

Here is my HAF932 with a freshly mounted PA120.3, it replaced a swiftech MCR320.


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## phanbuey (Aug 5, 2009)

bogmali said:


> Here is my HAF932 with a freshly mounted PA120.3, it replaced a swiftech MCR320.
> 
> http://forums.techpowerup.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=27585&stc=1&d=1249438849



any temp difference between this and the swifty?  5C? 10C?


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## bogmali (Aug 5, 2009)

phanbuey said:


> any temp difference between this and the swifty?  5C? 10C?




I'm seeing a 10-12C difference from what it was before, GPU is also down 6-8C


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## 1Kurgan1 (Aug 5, 2009)

That much of a difference with 25mm fans? What the heck were your temps before? Granted you have an i7 and I hear they are heaters, but feeding 1.45v into my 720BE on a cheap Zalman block with 3/8ths lines and a swiftech 220 rad I don't cross 43C at load, and room temp here is always like 80 :/


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## aCid888* (Aug 5, 2009)

I love my Feser rad..shes a big lady but cools like a pro.  



*Edit:* I also love how nothing reads my PSU's rails right.


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