Random Photos & Information
So the case assembly is pretty much complete at this point short of the right side window panel, but to get a better sense of the overall space, I figured I’d take a few random shots and narrate what I noticed.
This bottom compartment would probably be my favorite since it does have many possibilities. It is wide enough to hold a PSU with full length quad radiator on one end with possibly a triple + quad option with some mods. Factory it comes with holes for the XSPC radiator brackets that will hold either a 420 (140×3) radiator, or 360 (120×3) radiator and PSU without any modifications needed. You would simply need to buy the radiator brackets needed.
Those radiator options would also allow full use of the drive cage for possibly a bay reservoir or a bay/res pump combo. You would then also have plenty of space to install one or more pumps below and keep all the water cooling goodies in this compartment.
I only had one spare radiator on hand, my HWlabs 480GTX, so I did some test fitting and thought this would provide some sense of scale. It wouldn’t take much at all to fit a quad rad in the bottom as you can see here:
Sliding the radiator to the back still leaves a few inches up front.
The lower compartment is also much taller than needed for 120mm rads and purposely designed to fits 420 (140mm x 3) radiators.
Up top there is a perfect spot for a quad radiator of any thickness, here is a photo of a double thickness quad radiator in top.
So…radiator options are very good and ample to support large internal options. Factory comes with a 480 slot up top and with some optional brackets you could install factory 320 or 420 in the base. Mod happy folks could also install a quad or more in the bottom with some creativity.
Wire and tubing runs are also thought out as part of the case and allow some options to hide to some either behind the rad or behind the MB tray.
Moving a bit more to an overall photo set, you can see that below. One item that is obviously missing is the front drive covers. The factory package does not come with any drive covers, so you’ll really want to make sure you order those.
Reversible (Left Side Access) with mods
Update 6-11-11
While it’s not a simple bolt on, with a few simply mods…you could potentially run the case with the traditional left side access window by flipping the motherboard tray.
This is what I found as one possible solution. Basically the rear part of the tray flips without mods, but you need to do a little work to resecure the front portion of the motherboard tray.
- Drill & Countersink new holes in front & rear panel tab to shift upper securing beam up a bit.
- Drill new holes in beam
- Supply short loose screws and nuts to secure top of MB tray to beam
- Drill new holes in mid compartment divider
- Supply long 6-32 screws and spacers of the correct length to secure MB tray to divider
Martin, when I first saw this tower I immediately thought of one quad and one triple rad at the botom since I prefer much more vertically mounted rads, and this tower already has, at least, the side panel holes to do so. Well, the width of the case is 246.6mm the RX series rads are 63mm each and 25mm from each fan that would be 63+63+25+25 = 176mm. What do you think about cutting rectangular hole at the botom with 70mm of width right at the middle and mount each radiator with its fans pulling the air from the botom and exausting through both sides. Would it be doable while using the lower dual bay for a dual pump bay reservoir? That would be great.
The inside dimension of the case I measure is 8-13/16″ or 223.8mm. You could certainly do that. It is vented between lower and upper chamber too so you could probably draw air downward if you wanted as well.
That should work fine, but I would probably just hole saw a line of holes that size to retain structure in the base for the castors.
You also probably have options to push air in from the front if you built a screen/fan mount in the front drive bay. It’s not quite tall enough for a 120 in the factory double bay, but there is room to expand that.
Plenty of mod options in that lower bay, and I’ve always like the idea of keeping water down low where gravity keeps water away from electrical as much as possible..I spill a lot!:)
Another great review Martin! Congratulation on your new case & I shall wait for the build log.
Could you please let me know the internal length (depth) measurement for the lower chamber.
I’m contemplating modding the rear panel to accommodate dual psu’s (2x OCZ ZX 1250w), installing an XSPC dual bay 750 rev.2 pump / reservoir up front, and would like to know if there would be room left length wise to accommodate 2x Thermochill TA 120.2 dual rads (on stands against either side grill), allowing for PSU cabling of course.
The depth / length specs on the components are 200mm (XSPC 750), 175mm (PSU’s), and 129mm for the rads, totaling 504mm which should, in theory, leave 118.9mm left to play with.
However, you have stated above that the internal width of the case is 22.2mm less than the 246.6mm stated on the spec sheet, so I’m wondering how this may affect the other internal measurements?
I get roughly this for the bottom chamber using a tape measure and converting (rough):
606mm Long Internally
219mm Wide Internally
182mm Tall Internally
I have a Mountain Mods Pinnacle 24 and I noticed that several of the panel junctions in the XSPC case look identical to ones on my case. I wonder if XSPC is contracting Mountain Mods to make their cases. MM uses 1.65mm panels, how thick are the panels on the XSPC?
It’s approximately the same panel thickness, somewhere between 1.5 and 2.0mm (I need to replace my caliper battery, so I’m guessing). I wouldn’t assume any panels are compatible, as far as I know they are independent.
EXCELLENT REVIEW! Thanx Martin, I’m buying the case based on what your great review.
Just one question: If I install the two 120.4 rads and the one 120.3 rad, where does the PSU fit?
I haven’t tried it to confirm, but I think with an average sized triple 120, you can fit both the triple and PSU on the lower left side. There is just over 600mm worth of space there for the two of them to sit end to end. Check your PSU and radiator dimensions to make sure it would work. If those don’t fit, maybe a 2×140 rad would…which would give similar frontal radiator surface area.
Only thing that stopped me from going with this case is that the case is held together by VERY visible external thumb screws. In my opinion in really ruins the sleekness of the case having lumpy thumbscrews everywhere. Perhaps they should have gone with recessed screws of matching color.