In Pictures: Four ATX Cases Perfect For High-Capacity Water Cooling
Big radiators facilitate lots of cooling power without much noise. But taking the plunge into water also requires a specially-designed case. We inspect the layout and features of four 3 x 120 mm-capable chassis prior to our upcoming performance analysis.
Forward-Facing Ports
Top-panel ports are usually preferred for systems that slide under your desk, while front-panel ports are far easier to reach with a machine on your desk. Azza approaches both markets by facing its top-panel ports forward. Accessible eSATA eats up the space that would have been needed for a second USB 3.0 port, though two USB 2.0 ports are also present.
Front Hard Drive Access
Evidence that the Hurrican 2000 is a professional case repurposed for gamers comes from its classy finish and added features. A front-panel door holds two 120 mm fans with filters, and hides six externally-accessible 3.5” internal drive trays.
None of the drive trays natively support 2.5” drives, so Azza adds two 2.5” adapters. Because the 2.5” adapters don’t line up with backplane connectors, only the top four trays have the backplane feature.
Hurrican Winds
In addition to the expected front, rear, and top fans, both side panels of the Hurrican 2000 are actively cooled. The right side gets a single 120 mm exhaust fan designed specifically to draw heat away from the back of the CPU socket.
Two large grommets protect the lines of a single external liquid cooler, while a smaller third grommet allows cable pass-through to the I/O panel for the Hurrican 2000’s single USB 3.0 connector.
Cramped Cables
With little space behind its motherboard tray, the Hurrican 2000 relies on an extended side panel to make room for cable stowage. The plate itself also has very few cable access holes, though we were able to place a test system neatly inside.
Quasi Fan-Control
We don’t usually complain when a manufacturer copies the best feature of a competitor, but the Hurrican 2000’s fan control doesn't replicate the best implementations we've seen. Similar to a few other vendors, controllers soldered directly to power wires switch only the two top fans. Installation of replacement fans requires these controllers to be removed. That also affects the aftermarket fans we'll be adding for our liquid-cooling solution.
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Hurrican 2000 Dust Control
Dust filters on the Hurrican 2000’s power supply mount and optional bottom intake fan can be slid out from the side, allowing for easy cleaning without the need to tip the case. Exhaust fans get clean air from intakes, leaving only the side fans unprotected.
Eye Of The Hurrican
With seven expansion slots and support for up to 13.6” –wide motherboards, the Hurrican 2000 looks almost tiny compared to other cases that accommodate 360 mm radiators. On the other hand, it’s still big enough to hold an Extended ATX motherboard and every graphics card currently in our lab.
Added And Subtracted Features
Azza’s 3.5” backplane trays don’t support 2.5” SSDs, so Azza adds adapter trays. Those adapter trays don’t align 2.5” drives with backplane connectors though, so Azza omits the connectors entirely. As a result, only four of the trays are pluggable from outside, only two of the trays support 2.5” drives, and these features exclude each other.
Under The Big Top
The Hurrican 2000 gets monster-sized exhaust from a pair of 230 mm top-mounted fans. That’s the same space we’ll use for our triple 120 mm-fan radiator in the case’s upcoming performance evaluation.
Cooler Master Cosmos II
Rather than simply apply a nicer-looking finish, Cooler Master clads its Cosmos II in a more elegant material. Black, anodized, brushed aluminum is used for the exterior portion of its multi-layer side panels.
