Thermaltake Tai Chi concerns

[GrokAntipathy]

I'm putting together a new system for the release of Age of Conan coming this March/April and I've been looking at Thermaltake's Tai Chi case.

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/tai-chi/

http://www.thermaltakeusa.com/product/Chassis/fulltower/tai-chi/tai_chi_View03.html

I've got review site to review site looking at the pro's and con's and one would like to put some of my biggest concerns out on the table.


For starters, the water cooling system that comes with the case, sports a big dual 120mm radiator, and pumps 84 L / HR. This is my first water cooled system, and I'm not too familiar with all the spec's and I was wondering if anyone could provide insight on whether or not, this water cooling system is compatible with a Geforce 8800GTX SLI water block in addition to the cpu water block.

Multiple issues stem from this question. Firstly, I read one review on the case that suggested that due to the radiator being on the side panel, there is a space decrease from the door to the video card, which other cases don't normally experiance, thusly effectivng certain video card water blocks, but the article doesn't go on to specify which water blocks did not fit properly due to the space issue.

However, the article
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/301/2
mentions of a graphics card waterblock being installed in the case and mentions no spacing issues.

Secondly, with these space issues in mind, is it possible, that setup with an ASUS Nvidia 680i motherboard, that a Geforce 8800GTX SLi setup might not have enough room to be effeciently setup with a waterblock?

I'm not too crazy about overclocking, and don't have any current intentions to pursue the matter. I only wish to water cool the CPU and a Geforce8800GTX SLi setup for now. If anyone could provide some insight on the hardware and setups listed here, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

[waylander]

Whether you have space issues with the Tai Chi and GPU water blocks depends on what water blocks. I'm quite sure that the full coverage DD water blocks (same ones that you get from BFG preinstalled) are too big. You can get blocks that cover only the gpu processor and get after market heatsinks for the gpu ram, that should fit.

I personally don't think the pump that comes with the Tai Chi will be good enough for the cpu and two gpu's. Look at the DD D5 or Swiftech MCP655 (same pump) which has 120L/hr pump rate.

I suggest going with a DIY for your system anyway, get a full size case and mod a spot for the rad inside or out.

 

[GrokAntipathy]

Well I was also looking at the Thermaltake Armor, would that be sufficient for the full water blocks?

Also, what would be a proper L/HR rating for Dual GPU/CPU water cooling?

 

[GrokAntipathy]

A couple additional questions if you don't mind...


Could you suggest a DIY setup that could be used in the Tai Chi case that could support full graphics card water blocks for a 8800SLI setup?

And.....

The Thermaltake armor has a built in water cooling option that has a maximum capacity of 500 L / HR pump, I take it that, that would be more than enough to accomdate an SLI 8800 setup and the CPU block....

I just don't need that huge of a case.

If i must, I would probably look at external radiators for the Tai Chi first.

On that note, any recommendations based on what Im building above?

 

[baddad]

I have this case with this in it:

Thermaltake Super Tower Case Armor VA8000BWS
ASUS P5N32-SLI SE Deluxe
Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Dual Core Processor
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR 8800GTX 768MB 384 bit GDDR-3
EVGA 768-P2-N831-AR 8800GTX 768MB 384 bit GDDR-3
Corsair 1Gx2 VS2GBKIT667D2
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 200GB 7200 RPM Drive
With 4 Hitachi 160GB 8MB Cache 7200 RPM S-ATA Drives
Two Western Digital 160GB SATA2 WD1600JS
LITE-ON IDE DVD-CD Burner
TEAC Floppy
XFX SP- PCC5 - G PCI SATA 5-Port RAID Storage Processor
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink with Fan

I don’t have water cooling and have no heat problems.
This case is the same but much lighter.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133155

 

[Granite3]

I am using the Titan Robela watercooled case, with the radiators on the side, and my 8800 GTX fits with plenty of room.

Cools my e6600 to 29c idle and around 39c Orthos load. I am sending my 8800 back to evga and getting their ACS card that runs cooler.

Very nice case with everything for $200 at microcenter.