Softmod Depot

Let's say I was going to build a new computer and I need a case with a way to cool the beast. When looking at cases, what should I look for, besides size and aesthetics?

Is watercooling really worth it to the average Joe Blow video game playing couch potato? Or would some cool, CHEAP, quite fans do the trick?

PS: full tower or mid tower?

Water cooling is more a problem then whats it's worth, with Newer Heat sinks and motherboards with pipe cooling  there is really no reason for water cooling anymore.

Hell i have a Stock CPU heat-sink with a No-fan ASUS cooling motherboard and the temps are

CPU: 32c (Old CPU P4 3.0ghz)
MB: 28c

i say with a New MB with pipe cooling and a CPU Heat-sink with pipe cooling And a Core i7 the temps will be around

CPU 38c
MB 32c

Maybe higher or lower But should not go over 45c

I good case with Fans is a good thing to have as well I say at best 
(a 120m in back 80m on top and 80m on the side) that will make for good air flow.

So basically just get a case that has the power supply fan, back fan, top fan, and side fan? Do I need a CPU cooling fan?

I have the Raidmax Aztec case which has a few fans on it it's got a 120 front and back and 3 80mm fans on the sides one on right side and two on left though I believe it will come with only 1 or two side fans the others you have to buy seperate. But I can Recomend a couple cases to you umm idk what your taste is but these cases should be great for cooling your beast  8)

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4146085&Sku=C283-1187
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103014

This one is already preset fro if you ever decide to go water cooling.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811517006

ps.I just went to water cooling from a stock intel cooler and it dropped my CPU temp by 10Degrees Celcious I was at 40-41 and it dropped it to 29-30 and it's a Core 2 Quad Q9550 @2.83Ghz with a 1333FSB sooo I've always been iffy about Water cooling till todayI just bought a simple water cooler it's the Corsair H50 kit it comes with everything you needfluid and everything and it's basically preassembled only installing you have to do is install the fan on the radiator andmount it and it's done.
and here's one more just in case you really wanna get crazy with cooling lol http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103029

Just wait a few weeks you'll see why water cooling is s**t =P  With newer pipe cooling CPU Heat-sinks it takes the temp down by 10 or more and no need for water lines popping off or pumps failing etc etc.


Ps.. Coburn  Yes you'll still need a CPU Heat-sink/Fan Best to buy a pipe cooling Heat-sink for your CPU

idk Zzk I'm looking at a pretty convincing Review here

a Core i7-965 Extreme Edition overclocked to 3.6GHz with a vcore of 1.3V with temps of 15 idle and 38 load that sounds like a really good AIO liquid cooling system  :D

here's the link to the Review if you'd like to take a look for yourself :)

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cooling/2009/07/29/corsair-hydro-h50-cpu-cooler-review/4

Come to think of it, you think an Alienware laptop with a Core i7 would be better than a desktop? About $1800 for the laptop, $12-1600 for the desktop..

I'd say no. it''l be goof for a few more years until they come out with a newer faster just everything new CPU and you won't be able to upgrade. laptops you can only upgrade so far unless they come up with a service that will upgrade anything for you which will require probably extra hardware and such to the point that it's not worth it. the only benifite you get with a laptop is Portability.  I'd say you're better off with a desktop.

with Newer pipe cooling Heat-sinks you can get down to them temps But really there's no point, i mean it's like the guy who done the -500c or some s**t like that. no point in it lol

But trust me water cooling it just a *female dog*, do you really want to have to keep filling that thing, cleaning it, fixing leaks etc etc it's just a pain in the ass when all you want is a Nice PC.

IDK i guess that's just me, and really water cooling just looks like the PC is on life support and your trying to keep it alive, Not good looking at all.  ::)

Idk I think it looks really cool if you have it setup right. like with the uv reactive tubes and fluids I heard it takes a lot of effort fot those tubes to break though not just that but you can zip tie them on to add more security even though if you wanted but it's not really necessary because these things are basically idiot proof. they have non spill quick disconnect hoses in case you need to do some maintenance or whatever but what I really want is something like this. http://www.xoxide.com/watcoolcas1.html

I'm tired of my computer being to loud that's why I went to water cooling. it's much quieter :)

IDk i guess it's all in the user, i tried water cooling back in the day and did not like it.

I never have room to place the Radiator and the whole looks like it's on life support Bugged me  ::)

I have never really had a problem with sound Most all my fans are GOOD =P and make little to no sound.

I have no problem with the small hum from my fans. Every once in awhile, it kicks in and it's loud for bout 20 seconds, but other than that, my fans are quite :)

ha ha Mine would sound like a blowdryer all the time it still does just a little less.  I'm gonna get sound dampining stuff to put inside my case. but I have a bunch of fans not like one or two I have like 5 fans well 6 but the side bar isn't in my case which holds one of the fans but I've got 3 120mm and 3 80mm all running like 1500-3000RPM's what I really want is a giant like 500mm fan on the side and one 120 on top and a 12o in front and that water cooling kit I want lol I'd be happy then but since I've got a Quad Core and two video cards along with my northbridge and southbridge chips things get a little warm inside my case lol idk why but my NB and SB are always over 100+ degrees. the heatsinks built in aren't doing jack so I need to get either individual fans or the water cooling system. which it's probably be fans just for the sake that it's cheaper that way lol.

A lot of people think More fans better cooling, that's not true, the main thing cooling the CPU and GPU is the Heat-sinks the fans are more for air flow for ram, MB and HDDs

I say the best Air flow setup is a 3 fan setup one in back one on top one on side, Any more then that is Over kill or hurts the air flow.

Maybe even a Small 40m fan on the front bottom where your HDDs are.

Just dip your rig in non-conductive oil :P So they make a 500mm fan? Where??

I'd only do 3 fans at max. Just like the setup ZZK suggested. Quiet and gets the job done. I think my computer now only has 2 though. Wait, it only has a back fan.. What's up with that?

Well Nooo I don't think anybody does make a 500mm fan for a computer I think I was being a bit exaggerative lol but I do know for a fact that 400 mm fans are made where to buy them I really don't have any clue as far as I know they're only made for computers that were designed to fit a 500mm fan
like this case for ex. http://xoxide.com/aerocool-aeroracer-red.html

who thinks this case is pretty cool? I personally think that it's pretty damn sweet lol BMW helped design it :D http://xoxide.com/tt-level-10.html

yea... but where the hell does the wires go LOL  ;D

you know....THAT'S A FANTASTIC QUESTION! ha ha ha XD I haven't thought about that till you just mensioned it lol

Well looking at this pic http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v722/Duane_Bolt/Cebit_Thermaltake_Level_10_PCGH__25.jpg

that top box is the PSU sooo I'd say it goes into the side and just dangles there or something until you need to use one and in that case i'd say there are designated holes behind eache removable parts cover or something. although looking at that pick I guess it doesn't have a glossy finish like xoxide shows it looks like a matte color or teflon or something. Like what they put on phones or whatever, it's got like that rubbery feel and grip so it but it's not rubber. well you all know what I'm talking about but I like the glossy look much better.