It has other PSU options, and things like an optional hinged front rack to add mounting spots. Still gonna be a challenge in terms of rad space. It could concievably house at least two 240mm rads as long as they're under 30mm thick. Or something a like a 280 and a
dual 92mm rad - slap some noccies on it for extra bottom rad volume to back up a 280 on the front. The way the mounting areas are punched allows for that kind of stuff, which is handy, because being limited to only convetional component forms would make laying out a full loop and leaving mounting space for a 2.5" drive or two much more difficult - I will have to be pretty careful with part selection to make everything work out. I'm honestly not sure what I would do with a case like this, yet. But that's part of the appeal with this side of building and configuring cooling setups.
With current platforms allowing for 2 nvme drives, I can deal with doing just that for system/games and then tacking on a fatter sata ssd for general storage. I came into a dual-chip 10-core xeon dell server, which is going to get packed with drives for both shared network storage and backup. So I can leave pretty much all of my available mounting space for cooling. But in a case this compact, I think I would rather go full custom liquid. It would be an interesting challenge for me, and will likely be the better way to get decent cooling for more power-hungry components.
Custom loop in the Cerb X is the epitome of "sounds great, doesn't [really] work". There are some beautiful dual loop Cerb Xs out there, but the pictures do not nearly convey the work that goes into it. And none of them work for any ram that runs hot.
You can easily fit 2 x 240mm rads (1 x 240 and 1 x 280 is doable iirc). The dual 92mm sounds like garbage. The 240mm needs to go on the bottom if you want an ATX board because you aren't getting to your bottom board headers otherwise. Hence the ITX choice for custom loop if bottom 280mm rad (Cerb X does not support mATX), also bottom 280mm may need to be either push or push-pull depending on your rad, because rivets in the bottom prevented a pull-only XT45.
I frequently try to move back into my grey Cerberus X, but always end up coming back to my white Cerberus. Proportions are wack, build quality is worse on mine and the larger size causes a lot of problems with cable length on SFX PSUs. Unless you are willing to buy/make custom lengths just for this case (not a worthy case lmao), SFX cables are too short (EPS) and ATX cables are too long.
But watercooling in Cerb/CerbX is just a very awkward proposition which is part of the reason why I moved the loop out in the end into the Core P3.
- If you keep the normal SFX layout like mine, you get decent versatility in using either air or water, but if you do a loop then res location is very tough. You can go external with the Iceman like I do but the bends are really challenging, and having to wrestle with it stripped the acetal threads in the res. Otherwise you're looking at ghetto mounting a normal res externally, or cramming the smallest tube res you can find in the space between the PSU and board. Also have to get rather creative with the tube runs.
- If you use the "PSU over board" layout recommended for watercooling, you get much more space for rads and options for res mounting. But for one it looks like complete ass, and you can't use a window unless you want your PSU to starve. It's also the worst case scenario for VRM and RAM temps (best of luck if you run any high performance DDR4 IC), unless you run push pull you will have zero case airflow, period. PSU needs to come out to work on stuff too. Can imagine clearances are a bit tight between the block/fittings and the PSU too, but EK's new low profile fittings should take care of that.
If you want to do it properly, the SM580 looks like a better choice, even if things look visually tight in that case. More rads = more better, but you'd be surprised what you can do on a high end 280 from hwlabs.
Also, kahlin suggested that there may be a fatter Cerb X coming out soon (end of year?). May have much better CPU cooler clearance, and ATX support in the front. If so, I might get one - supporting say a NH-D15, U12A or FC140 would mean I no longer have to look to water to solve my thermals.
In the end, the tubing runs on the Core P3 were much better and simpler, but even so, I didn't notice any performance differences - a single DDC is plenty strong enough for this setup.
I love hating on EK but their black chrome quantum torque fittings are very nice indeed. Was tempted by the gold plated versions too but i'm not going to tear apart the entire loop just for that aesthetic reason. Admire your cable management and general neatness, I usually get tired of building, tuning and tweaking by the point i'm satisfied with performance, so much that I don't want to spend an extra half hour or so managing aesthetics.
The EK fittings look nice but they really take a toll on the hands. I put together a loop 3 times (Cerb, Cerb X, P3) and peeling bleeding hands smarted for days. The threads are very short and hard to catch. I should have used more 90s like you do, to ease the angles a bit.
Except for the loops (that take me >1 day), cable management usually takes up the majority of my time. Building takes 1 hour tops, cable runs take 2 hours sometimes in the smaller cases. I know not everybody has that sort of time to waste, and it doesn't improve performance at all.
As the final piece of the puzzle I would love some custom length and curve cables done for my SF750, but I don't yet have a case I feel is worthy of it. Still waiting patiently for Caselabs to come back.
Pump noise has always bothered me more than fan noise. Not the volume, but the mechanical noises. Then, anything above 700rpm bothers me so :shrug: Fortunately I don’t play games or do anything CPU intensive anymore
Not saying you can’t build an extremely quiet watercooled build (you can), just that noise is more subjective then what can be evaluated with a sound meter.
Pumps are a bit like screens - the lottery might give you a whisper quiet DDC or one that sounds like a banshee. The res you mount it to (or standalone mount) also has a big impact on overall pump sound profile.
AIOs are just not a good choice for pump noise.
