Help finding a Case

SolarNova

New member
Greetings.

So im planning a new build. It wont happen for a while but im gunna be on the lookout for parts in the mean time.

The plan is to have a chilled water loop, using an powerfull aquarium water chiller (likely the HC1000) which will be in my Loft space, piped down to my PC.

The case, which ever one it be, will be sealed up as close to airtight as possible and a Dehumidifier will be stuffed inside with the rest of the PC components to keep the air dry, a small 120mm Rad will be added to the chilled loop to cool internal air.
Thus the dew point will be low and I wont have to worry about condensation. (though ill still be taking all usual sub ambient/sub zero condensation precautions i.e Dielectric grease, art eraser etc etc)

Now I'm rather OCD when it comes to the quality of my cases, in the past I sent back 5 NZXT Phantom 820's because of a very small paint chipping issue, in the end I went with a different case.

As such, im loath to build one myself, I don't have the tools or practical experience to build one to the quality I would like. That said its not like I could not design one. I've never used a 3D render program b4 but an hour with it and I came up with a few possible designs.
This being one. (would post more but don't wanna clutter the post)

gallery_68244_3598_68832.jpg


Obviously a bottom exit I/O cube like case doesn't exist, but the important part is the space to enclose the Dehumidifier.

What I would prefer to do is just modify a retail case, but it needs to meet some specific internal space requirements.

To fit the dehumidifier it needs to have:
A internal Width of at least 240mm, preferably more.
internal height of at least 360mm (easy enough)
Space between the front of the case and the motherboard of at least 150mm.

I'm having a hard time finding a retail case (other than CaseLabs, which shipping wise isn't an option) that can meet these requirements.

I've looked at Thermaltakes Core X9, and while it has the space, it will be a royal PITA to seal up.

Any help/suggestions welcome.

Cheers
 
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Well there arent many other cases that would work well for OP. The X9 is pretty mucha a clone, but its quite affordable.
 
I wouldn't say your looking at any Thermaltake cases on this forum ;)

Thermaltake is a dirty word on this forum.
It used to be but not so much these days, I'll be the first to admit they have quite a few nice looking and from a modders perspective quite attractive chassis, like the V71 and V51.
 
I would speak to the Parvum boys - I'd bet they would take on a custom project based on your designs, and make you an acrylic case that you can even solvent weld together if you want ultimate air tightness. Costs wise I would think it would still be cheaper than a Caselabs as those things cost LOADS.
 
Ill give Parvum a call closer to the time of the build, thanks for referring them, wouldn't have thought of that.

I'll be looking around for a while longer. I'm basically waiting on a OLED VDU before I build a new system.

That said, I may cave and rebuild my current system with the chilled loop and new case before then.

Earliest would be August during my works 3 week shutdown period.

Anymore suggestions on retail cases are still welcome.

Cheers
 
Aye, the problem is the same as with CaseLabs, its US based and shipping would cost a fortune.


EDIT:
The CooleMaster Cosmos SE seems ok, BUT the external width is most definably wider than internally. Any1 know what the internal width is ?

The Cosmos II is a no go though since it doesn't have a side window, which is a shame as it looks great and looks very well made.
 
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