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Anyone have this case AND water cool?
thinking of getting one but curious how people have them setup inside for water cooling. I really want a nice full tower to replace my rather aged and inadequate 2001 circa thing.
why...I have one. I've not been very impressed with it thus far...
I have the Enthoo 719 which is a similar case, with the main differences being that the enthoo 719 has solid front and top panels that are low restriction, but kill off a good amount of high pitched noise from pumps etc. With an air based setup the temp diff would most likely be in the 2-3 degrees range, but in a water cooled setup it is a lot less (decimals). There is also slightly different top mount and overall slightly higher build quality with hinged door, nicer side panel etc. Outside of that the chassis is pretty much the same so most of the issues below would apply to the Enthoo Pro 2. It is a good case and I like it a lot, but there are some minor issues that has to be planned for when building.
I would have liked the case to be 4cm taller, 3cm wider and 5cm longer to allow for more radiator combos. The bottom doesn't take wide radiators so you are limited to around 122mm or so wide radiators and the side mount only has about 2.5cm of clearing to the front mount with a 130mm wide radiator. Basically you become limited as soon as you use a fat 480mm radiator at the front, which is what I am running in my main setup. There is also a not that much motherboard clearance at the top so it is likely that one runs into clearance issues with a 140mm class rad at the top.
If I were to add more radiators to my setup then it would have to be bottom or side mounted as a top mounted exhaust makes little sense due to a high efficiency radiator heating up the air to almost water temp. It is possible to mount a 360mm at the top along with a fat 480 at the front, but it requires a bit of "creative" mounting as the screw holes will not line up for all the slots. Unfortunately I would be limited to running 240mm at the bottom or swapping to either a 420mm or slim 480 at the front if I wanted to run 360mm at the bottom. The side mount would be difficult to use with the front slot occupied, but it is possible to use both with certain combos.
why...
There is so much room that you can place it many places. I had it mounted on the bottom to begin with on one of the 120mm fan mounts, but decided to move it to the front and mount it on the radiator. I have about 27cm of clearance from the bottom of the interior up to the GPU and unless you are running a 60mm radiator then the res should clear the GPU. My GPU is almost 33cm and the res would clear the GPU on a 40mm rad, but not a 60mm rad at the front. My pump+res combo is a EK Quantum kinetic 200 and is mounted on the bottom fan on my 480 and still has a couple of centimeters up to the the triple slot cooler on my GPU.thanks, yea I don't need that many rads and I'd probably use a 3 fan and a 2 fan rad. What about the pump placement? I use flexible tubing and old school barb fittings to complete the loop.
While I have the Enthoo 719 the main chassis is the same, outside of the top plate. We do agree on it being slightly more restrictive than it should with large radiators (should have been a few centimeters larger in each direction). I didn't have any sharp edges on my case or any problems with the screws, not sure if that is unit to unit variance or if they put more effort into the more expensive versions of the chassis.It does have good features as well...which is why I still may end up using it in this build, but only because I feel the 7000D has at least as many flaws (though not necessarily the same flaws) as the Enthoo Pro 2.
- It looks bigger (on paper)than it actually is to build in
- The bottom Rad placement is horrible in advertised size versus actual size available.
- The bottom Rad area has far less airflow than it should since 2 of the 3 holes are very restricted. One of the three spots for a fan is restricted for anything other than an 80mm fan
- There is an un-necessary mount on the bottom for the Rad..Should have been better designed and the extra "plate" shouldn't have been necessary.
- The "screwless" feature is not good. The knurled screws are tightened down as tightly as an NZXT case. (which means you can try your unscrewing them only to end up removing your fingerprints, rather than the screws) That's "some" of the screws...others are not knurled enough and slip out of your fingers
- For a case that size, width-wise, it has difficulties accepting thick radiators (specifically, XSPC 54mmx120mmx360mm rads)
- Mine had sharp edges to it, which resulted in multiple bleeds requiring band-aids and Neosporin applications
- Vertically-mounting a video card with one of the Phantek adapters (not included, btw) makes the back of the case flex more than it should.
- Included vertical GPU mount "brace" is not as effective as it should be, mainly because the back plate should just be of thicker gauge metal.
I'll say this as a summary...I can build a hardline dual rad system (H2O cooled CPU/GPU) in an O11 Dynamic XL easier than in either the 7000D and Enthoo Pro 2...and that's sad.
EDITED TO ADD: I'm very demanding when it comes to grading cases... I acknowledge this. If I am going to pay upwards of $275 for a case, I expect perfection, and 99.999% of cases fail miserably to live up to my standards...
While I have the Enthoo 719 the main chassis is the same, outside of the top plate. We do agree on it being slightly more restrictive than it should with large radiators (should have been a few centimeters larger in each direction). I didn't have any sharp edges on my case or any problems with the screws, not sure if that is unit to unit variance or if they put more effort into the more expensive versions of the chassis.
What is the true width of the XSPC radiator? If it was 120mm wide it would fit. Based on your photos it looks like it is in the 126-130mm range.I've revisited the Pro 2 with some changes in parts, and a change in my desire to keep the case unblemished. Since the purity has been put in the bin(!), I'll be taking the dremel tool to the bottom of the case to enlarge the very restrictive holes so it breathes much better...(that's a weekend project.
I am now able to fit an XSPC 54mm x 120mm x 360mm Radiator in the bottom of the case. I can neither confirm nor deny that a hammer is a vital component in anyone's "computer build" tool box.
notarat appreciate the detailed review of the case but what kind of potato are you using to snap those pictures?
What is the true width of the XSPC radiator? If it was 120mm wide it would fit. Based on your photos it looks like it is in the 126-130mm range.
are those like extra thick rads?
Yes. 360x120x54, though the 120 part is more like 125 with the XSPC Rads.
scared me for a second, made me think the case was small inside.
My 40mm and 60mm thick rads are 130mm wide so 125 isn't that bad to be fair.Yes. 360x120x54, though the 120 part is more like 125 with the XSPC Rads.
well, I ended up ordering one. First new case for me since....2001.
Going to redo my entire water loop, new tubing, new fittings. Been using the same loop setup and what not since 2009. Going to go all black this time instead of clear tubing and chrome fitting. Time to let the old Chieftec monster tower go. Think this case say Dual AMD MP, P4, Athlon X2, Core 2 duo, i7 920, Xeon, 2700x, and now 3800x. I don't even think I can remember the videos cards it has seen, 9700pro, AIW800 something, SLI 7800gts, SLI 280gtx, SLI480GTX, SLI980s, 1080ti.
View attachment 390105
I have a completely different pump to use for this that can mount to a 140mm fan.
So i was going to mount it to a 140 at the bottom
That will work fine if it is a 40mm or 30mm thickness, you may have to measure if it is a 60mm thickness radiator. I've had my EK D5 quantum kinetic 200 pump+res combo bottom mounted with a 40mm 360 in the front but never tried it after I went with a 60mm 480 at the front as I chose to mount it to the radiator. Be aware that the largest versions of the res+pump (300) may be too tall to clear your GPU if the GPU is 30cm or so in length (you will need to measure or do a mock up). Out of curiosity, is there any specific reason you are not going with a 360 or a 480 in the front? A slim 480 shouldn't cause issues with clearance at the top as long as you mount it tubes down and a thick 360 mounted to the lower portion of the front with res mounted to rad would be fine as well.Here is my crude drawing of what i was thinking. My new pump is one of the EK ones with the little res attached to it.
Im not sure what other fans i will put in it. I haven't even ordered any fitting yet because I want to see the stuff in the case first before spending like 100 bucks on fittings. Flex tubing so it shouldn't easy enough to route but I plan to try and keep the tube length to a minimum.
That will work fine if it is a 40mm or 30mm thickness, you may have to measure if it is a 60mm thickness radiator. I've had my EK D5 quantum kinetic 200 pump+res combo bottom mounted with a 40mm 360 in the front but never tried it after I went with a 60mm 480 at the front as I chose to mount it to the radiator. Be aware that the largest versions of the res+pump (300) may be too tall to clear your GPU if the GPU is 30cm or so in length (you will need to measure or do a mock up). Out of curiosity, is there any specific reason you are not going with a 360 or a 480 in the front? A slim 480 shouldn't cause issues with clearance at the top as long as you mount it tubes down and a thick 360 mounted to the lower portion of the front with res mounted to rad would be fine as well.
I would consider puting the 360 in the front as it will be drawing cool air while the one at the top is drawing hotter air from the case. Also consider blocking of the unused fan slots on the front to avoid re circulation of the air. Loop order doesn't matter that much as once it reaches steady state the difference in temps inside the loop is unlikely to be much more than 1 degree, unless your water temp is way above ambient.I don't think I need that much rad. A single 360 has been doing fine but I figured I'd split it to cool between the hot bits. Sadly I don't know the thickness of the 360 I have, the 240 I have coming is about 1.5 inches thick without the fans. I also have slim fans for everything. It was also a cost thing. Although I could have ordered whatever, I was seriously trying to keep costs lower but that may go out the window anyway since I'm going to switch up to compression fittings which cost more.
yea I didn't even order fittings yet because the plan was to move things to the new case to figure out what worked and what didn't, then order what I need.
I would consider puting the 360 in the front as it will be drawing cool air while the one at the top is drawing hotter air from the case. Also consider blocking of the unused fan slots on the front to avoid re circulation of the air. Loop order doesn't matter that much as once it reaches steady state the difference in temps inside the loop is unlikely to be much more than 1 degree, unless your water temp is way above ambient.
I think it will work. Only tight part might be the pump out to the front rad.
Now to wait for my lime 180 dollars worth of fittings and a fan controller.
Interesting that in so.e ways the old case was easier to work with but not in other ways.
Very glad this case is way lighter. Old case was beastly.
View attachment 390996
If you find you're having too much of a hassle with the pump to front rad run, you can put your fans outside the frame (after removing the mesh from the front panel) and that'll give you 25mm more to play with for that tubing run.
I may do that then, its going be tight i think the get a little pice of tubing between 2 90s.
I did use some skinny yate loot fans i had to get more. I mean they arent that much smaller, maybe 5mm or something.
Im not sure how else to run it without 90s
You could move your pump back 1 spot, to the middle fan, to also clear up some room and make the angle less severe. Since your video card is also water cooled it is not as absolutely vital to have all 3 bottom fans blowing at it directly...blocking "some" of the airflow (by having the pump on the middle fan) is not going to cause major problems with your layout.