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Raven 3 and water cooler placement possibilities

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Caveat, I don't own any of this hardware yet and am wildly speculating on several points.

I am looking at getting the Raven 3 case. Likely to support a Sabertooth p67, i5 2500k, & 560ti (sli probably down the road). I like the positive air flow idea, the filters and the general design ideas make sense to me.

One thing I would like to do is use a CPU LC. I have seen people put the Corsair 40s, 60s, 70s, etc on the top side venting port.

Here is where the speculation starts. It seems like placing a grilled radiator (even with fans) over the main airflow exit (the one directly across from an intake) would inhibit air flow out of the case. Not so much for the CPU since it has LC, but more so for the rest of the heat in the case and the vid cards.

Looking at pics of the case online, I was wondering if some of the thinner Corsairs or maybe the Antex 620 would actually fit in the back of the case fan port. I'm pretty skeptical of this, as I think they would likely run into the board, or run into the ports (firewire/USB headers). Other option would possibly be to put it where one of the 5.25 racks are, possibly using one of the included 120mm fan frames that were meant for cooling HDDs.

Moving on to more likely (and more expensive) scenarios we have the Thermaltake BigWater 760 Plus CPU Cooler. I haven't found many reviews on this. Even if this worked well, I think its hitting my limits for how much I want to spend on cooling, which likely leaves more involved pump/block/reservoirs out as well.

Any experience or suggestions out there?

Thanks!
+brian

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Power supply Master

Hello plusbrian;

Have you run across any reviews for the Raven 3 yet?
The better reviews have enough pictures to let you get an idea how those cooling parts would fit.

Thanks for the replies.

I've read quite a few reviews and they do 'look' like they could hold one of the flatter radiator/fan combos on the back, but I haven't heard or seen anyone doing it. I have seen multiple people using the top exhaust port with push/pull fans on a LC radiator.

No putting off, I'm happy for any info that might avoid buying a problem. I have read other reviews of the BigWater that showed poor benchmarks. It's a novel idea, but probably needs a redesign to be effective.

I have read a lot more benchmarks and reviews on air and LC systems (the < $100 versions) now. And I am have someone rethought my position that a big air cooler (e.g. Noctua D14) in the middle of the main airflow is a bad thing, may in fact be a great thing. If I went LC, it would probably be something like a 620. They are comparable priced and comparable benchmarks, I think it mostly comes down to whether there is any benefit to an unobstructed air flow straight over the mobo (as would be the case with the LC). In the end I'm probably nit-picking over a couple of degrees one way or the other.

I am anxiously awaiting my case, which should be here tomorrow.
+brian
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Power supply Master

Once you have the case and can measure, its easier to see how things may or may not fit,
But given a choice between highend air and low end water, I would have to choose the air options personally
Moto

Pointy. I have the case now and seems unlikely to mount a LC to the back vent without modding. The board edge would be close (with fan and rad) and expansion slot case grills are really close. Just don't think any but a 25mm high fan would fit. You could probably put one on the side exhaust vent (under the board in the cable management area, if you moved the 2.5" cage). There are options (seen a h100 mounted even), but I think your point and the benchmarks for high end air are good enough for my situation (4.5ghz max probably for 2500k). Going to use a Silver Arrow. Thanks for the feedback.

+brian
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