What size case for watercooling?

[j4ckaL]

What is the minimum size (HxWxL) of case that could easily house a WC system?

 

[Nubius]

personally I'd want nothing than a full tower but I believe there are people who can fit it into a mid-tower sized case....the dimensions differe from case maker to case maker so I couldn't tell you those

 

[j4ckaL]

Do you think this case would be big enough?

 

[Nubius]

it'd be possible, but remember you gotta put a pump in there along with a radiator....you can go and get a small little 80mm radiator and that'd help on space but of course cut down on performance...you could always put the rad at the front of the case where that front fan is...you might have to do something to make room though....it seems like the place for the harddrives would prevent you from putting a radiator there with the fan ontop unless you could put the rad where the fan is, and then the fan on the outside fron of the case or something along those lines....with a mid-tower I'd definitely suggest a T-line and not try to fit a reservoir in there unless you had the reservoir outside the case or something like that.

Basically with a mid-tower prepare to do some planning and/or modding to make it all work is all I'm saying

 

[AEagle20]

yeah I have the soprano, shiney fronted version of that exact case.. if you want it to fit in that be prepared to chop some of the mounting brackets for HDD's out.

 

[j4ckaL]

Well, I might go with the ASPIRE X-Navigator instead, its a full tower and it has a temp readout on the front. Any thoughts on its air cooling? Are the five 80mm fans (1 front, 2 rear, 1 side, 1 top) a good setup. My case will have to have excellent air cooling to begin with because if I do get a watercooling setup it won't be for a while.

EDIT: Wait I noticed its not called a full tower but its big (20.5" x 7.8" x 19")

 

[Counter-Strike]

Looks like that navigator would have a bit more room. Are you getting customs parts or a WC kit?

 

[j4ckaL]

I'm not even 100% sure that I'll get one but I want to keep my options open you know? I don't want to decide to invest in WCing down the road and have to spend another $150 on a bigger case.

If I do end up getting one I'd most likely get a kit because I've never done it before.

btw, I'm probably gonna get the Thermaltake XASER, Armor Series. Its a super tower with retaining holes for liquid cooling kits.