Best PC cases for Water Cooling?

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RenegadeNC

Commendable
Apr 26, 2016
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So I'm planning to upgrade my PC sometime soon and when I do I want to get a case that will allow me to do 2 custom water cooling loops for both my CPU and GPU when I get the money. I currently have the Corsair 750D and I just don't think 2 reservoirs will work out in it. I would get a caselabs case but I can't afford $600+ for the case alone. I need something that isn't quite as expensive but has tons of room and looks great. I was looking at the DG-87 but i'm not quite sure how I feel about that case. Any suggestions are welcomed and appreciated. Thanks.
 
Solution
Karadjgne
When it comes to custom loops, you'll need to rethink things like temps. It's not so much about actual cpu temp as it is about the liquid temp. After @ 1/2 hr, takes that long for the loop to balance, keeping the liquid temp closer to low 30's is far more important than if the cpu is 40°or 60°. As long as the cpu is under 70° and the gpus under 80° the loop is working fine. Using a full custom, dual loops just thinking you'll need that to put the cpu in the 40's is bass awkward. My i7-3770k at 4.6GHz only hits 63° under p95, with all 8 threads. On an nzxt Kraken x61 with fans no higher than 900rpm. A full custom loop really wouldn't do much to change that, and the temps aren't a concern. 80°, yes, I'd be rethinking, but my cpu runs...
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you could do with 1 resevoir and 2 radiators and go for this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16811854013

 
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Horizontal mount is even better ... the weight of the stuff are not on the side hanging ... they just made old cases mobos on the side to save space ... but if you have space horizontal mounting is perfect and most effective.
 
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The 750D is a great case, and unless you are just tired of it, there's no need for replacement. For a gpu and cpu there's also no need for separate loops either. No benefit whatsoever in splitting them up. Just run a single loop with enough radiator to cover both. If you are absolutely insistent on dual loops (your choice after all) then I'd suggest the 900D instead. It's about the only case that's going to have the ridiculous amount of interior space needed for the extra pump, extra reservoir, extra piping. You'll still use the same amount of radiator after all.
 
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If you're really worried about cooling, you can run two smaller radiators without needing a second pump or reservoir. Make your loop order reservoir > pump > CPU > rad 1 > GPU > rad 2. But as Kar said and I hinted at before, you would need massive heat generation to see any kind of benefit to a loop like that, like say an i7-6950X and SLI 1080s all overclocked to the limit.
 
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Well i'd like to have separate loops for both my CPU and GPU. At first it would just be a single 1080 but i'll be getting a 2nd. If i'm gonna put a load of money into custom loops it won't just be for aesthetics, I want it to do a great job at keeping load temps low. With that said that's why I want to do separate loops, that way the heat from the gpus and cpu aren't adding to each other in one loop. My 6700k is at 4.8Ghz and with just a AIO cooler it's sitting around 60-70c while playing games on it's on.
 
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When it comes to custom loops, you'll need to rethink things like temps. It's not so much about actual cpu temp as it is about the liquid temp. After @ 1/2 hr, takes that long for the loop to balance, keeping the liquid temp closer to low 30's is far more important than if the cpu is 40°or 60°. As long as the cpu is under 70° and the gpus under 80° the loop is working fine. Using a full custom, dual loops just thinking you'll need that to put the cpu in the 40's is bass awkward. My i7-3770k at 4.6GHz only hits 63° under p95, with all 8 threads. On an nzxt Kraken x61 with fans no higher than 900rpm. A full custom loop really wouldn't do much to change that, and the temps aren't a concern. 80°, yes, I'd be rethinking, but my cpu runs hotter than a skylake i7 is supposed to, so there's other issues with your cpu cooling ability that a full custom loop is not going to address.
 
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Solution
Kar has it right. A LC loop doesn't automagically lower temps to 40. If you're already under 70, a custom loop isn't going to get you much lower. A better waterblock than the AIO and a bigger radiator might get you a few degrees, but nothing else.

Also, while it is possible for a CPU and GPU to "steal" cooling from each other on the same loop, it takes either a poorly configured loop and/or components that generate a LOT of heat. Neither applies here. While the 6700K is higher-end, it still puts out much less heat than X99 CPUs and others. Also, GPU efficiency keeps increasing, meaning heat output is going down. Even SLI 1080s aren't a huge heat load. All this can easily be put on the same loop without any "thermal contamination," if you will.

However, as I said before, if you're really worried about it, use one loop with two radiators, each placed immediately after or before the CPU and GPU. That way, whatever heat the CPU dumps into the coolant can be dealt with in one radiator before going onto the GPU, or vice versa. If you're already willing to spend money on two complete loops, saving money on a second pump and reservoir will let you put that into bigger radiators and a better pump.
 
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Let's say it takes a double rad with 3/8 id piping to keep the liquid temp at @35°C after absorbing 100w of heat from a cpu. Now make that a quad radiator, its still going to absorb 100w of cpu heat, liquid might go down to 33°C. Both scenarios, the cpu sits at 60°C. The difference comes in what's after that 100w. Take it to 150w and the double rad can't effectively absorb that additional heat, cpu climbs. The quad can easily absorb it, so cpu stays at 60°C.

Liquid coolers, either AIO or custom loops are made to absorb the additional heat while maintaining safe cpu levels. Air coolers do the opposite, dissipate as much heat as possible before it gets replaced. This is why big liquid dominates over big air at high wattage levels, the ability to absorb more generated heat. But it's also why air coolers tie or beat liquid coolers at lower levels, they are more efficient.

A cpu doesn't care at all if it's 30° or 50°. It'll run the same all day. It only cares if the cooler can transfer enough wattage to keep it under 70°. Of course none of this supposition is taking into consideration ambient temps. High ambient is murder on the air coolers Delta-T, not so much on liquid

Either way, a 6700k at high OC with SLI 1080s won't generate much in the way of thermal wattage. Actually not much at all compared to a FX-9590 at 5GHz with xfire 290x which have been run successfully for years on a single loop
 
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yeah I agree with you. also most huge rigs I see have 2 radiators but only 1 reservoir... seems like to much of a luxury for the actual gains in performance....

honestly even if I had a bunch of money to throw around I would still keep the 6700K in a 240mm AIO cooler and the 1080's on a loop by themselves... mostly for the looks
 
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If you are going for looks, I'd use colored transparent piping, not clear, and plain distilled water, not the colored stuff. Custom loops do require regular maintenance and that colored stuff doesn't last. I prefer leds over blacklight too, but that's me. Read the stickys. There's a lot of info there, the posts are under the cpu forum. They'll have a lot of advice on tubing diameter, fittings, pros and cons etc.

Hope looks are worth the $500+ price tag it'll take for just the blocks, unless you plan on waiting for maybe hybrid gpus, and thats not to mention the cost of the rest of the loop.
 
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