Scoob
New member
Case selection advice 
Hey all,
Happy New Year!
I'm looking at parts for my new build - finally going to replace the 2600k system - and one of my sticking points is choice of case. Now I LOVE the new Fractal Design R6 and it'd be my perfect case, if I was using internal water cooling.
Basically, I built an excessively over-engineered external water-cooling solution over five years ago now, back when Sandy Bridge was king. It cooled my 2500k and twin 570's - later twin 680's so epically well. This system still works fine now.
However, thanks to getting some second-hand bits cheap, I built a second gaming system around a 2600k with AIO + GTX 680. I used this for LAN gaming around a friends. When my 680's started to feel a bit old - and the lack of SLI support in the titles I played crippled them in effect - I decided to get a 1070. However, to avoid excessive work, I upgraded the 2600k system and it's been my main gamer since.
So, with the new build on the horizon it's finally time for me to transfer my external loop to a new build - I'll be stripping down the 2500k system of course. I'll rob the PSU from it (a Corsair AX860i) but no other hardware (other than the external loop of course) will be re-used.
My plan, such as it is, is to initially build my new system air cooled, so a normal CPU Heat Sink and Fan (or AIO) and keep the GPU (likely a 1080Ti but possibly the 1070 initially) on air too.
However, regarding case choice, it'd be ideal if the case has water cooling ports (like the 2500k's old Cooler Master case) for when I eventually plumb in my loop.
Basically, I'm looking for recommendations of a decent mid-tower case that will initially be air-cooled, but ultimately will be linked to my external cooling assembly. Note: my external assembly is everything Rad, pump, res and its own power supply. Only the inlet and outlet pipes go into the case, allowing for a very clean build.
Note: I could potentially just re-use the case my 2600k is in, it's not a bad case, but something newer would be nice.
Note 2: the 2500k will ultimately be reverted to an air-cooled rig again and the very nice GPU blocks I used will become a display item - added to other past water cooling items
Anyway, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts on this. I'm sorta tempted to start stripping down the 2500k system now, so I'm all ready come go time lol.
Edit: that's annoying, I noticed my typo in the thread title, corrected it, but it still shows the old title *sigh*
Scoob.
Hey all,
Happy New Year!
I'm looking at parts for my new build - finally going to replace the 2600k system - and one of my sticking points is choice of case. Now I LOVE the new Fractal Design R6 and it'd be my perfect case, if I was using internal water cooling.
Basically, I built an excessively over-engineered external water-cooling solution over five years ago now, back when Sandy Bridge was king. It cooled my 2500k and twin 570's - later twin 680's so epically well. This system still works fine now.
However, thanks to getting some second-hand bits cheap, I built a second gaming system around a 2600k with AIO + GTX 680. I used this for LAN gaming around a friends. When my 680's started to feel a bit old - and the lack of SLI support in the titles I played crippled them in effect - I decided to get a 1070. However, to avoid excessive work, I upgraded the 2600k system and it's been my main gamer since.
So, with the new build on the horizon it's finally time for me to transfer my external loop to a new build - I'll be stripping down the 2500k system of course. I'll rob the PSU from it (a Corsair AX860i) but no other hardware (other than the external loop of course) will be re-used.
My plan, such as it is, is to initially build my new system air cooled, so a normal CPU Heat Sink and Fan (or AIO) and keep the GPU (likely a 1080Ti but possibly the 1070 initially) on air too.
However, regarding case choice, it'd be ideal if the case has water cooling ports (like the 2500k's old Cooler Master case) for when I eventually plumb in my loop.
Basically, I'm looking for recommendations of a decent mid-tower case that will initially be air-cooled, but ultimately will be linked to my external cooling assembly. Note: my external assembly is everything Rad, pump, res and its own power supply. Only the inlet and outlet pipes go into the case, allowing for a very clean build.
Note: I could potentially just re-use the case my 2600k is in, it's not a bad case, but something newer would be nice.
Note 2: the 2500k will ultimately be reverted to an air-cooled rig again and the very nice GPU blocks I used will become a display item - added to other past water cooling items
Anyway, I'd love to hear peoples thoughts on this. I'm sorta tempted to start stripping down the 2500k system now, so I'm all ready come go time lol.
Edit: that's annoying, I noticed my typo in the thread title, corrected it, but it still shows the old title *sigh*
Scoob.
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