Hello everyone. I have a 220 rad with now but I may be getting a 320 soon.I am looking for a case with 2 or 3 rear facing 120 mm fans to mount my radiator on inside the case. It has been very difficult to find cases like this. I have been looking with not too much luck. Does anyone have any suggestions of cases like this? I am wanting to have everything inside of a quiet case. Thanks everyone.

Why are you looking for a case with rear facing 120mm fans? Why not on the top of the case?

Its going to be tough (impossible?) to find a case with rear facing fans, as there is already a bunch of stuff on the rear (PCI slots etc). At best cases tend to have one single 120 or 140mm rear facing fan. OTOH there are many cases with fans in the roof, some that will take a radiator with zero modding:
-Cosmos
-HAF
-ATCS 840
-TJ07
-Corsair 800/700D
etc

If you are trying to avoid top mounts for noise reasons, then your choices are probably limited to cases like the TJ07 which have a bottom compartment which can be used for mounting a rad. Similar cases include the Corsair 800D, a bunch of Lian Li cases (ie V2000)... and thats about all I can think of, although there might be others.

My understanding of watercooling is admittedly limited, but isn't it more typical to mount radiators on the top / roof of the case above the motherboard (typically with a bottom mounted PSU)?

The only rear-mounted radiators I have seen tend to be externally mounted using adapters to be connected to the rear 120mm fan grill.

Cases with 2 x rear 120mm fans would seem to be quite rare (and 3 x 120mm fans unheard of). The Antec 1200 is one case that comes to mind, but I am sure that there are others.

Is there any reason you wouldn't go for a case with a top roof-mounted radiator (eg you have the case in an area that does not have much top clearance)?

I can think of a small number of cases that have room for a 240mm radiator at the top - and even a few that would have room for a 360mm radiator - some of which would be suitable for an internal radiator and an otherwise quiet system.

I was looking for a case with rear fans and no top fans. The reason for this is because it seems like it would be more quiet for the fans to be at the rear and thus farthest away from me as possible. With a roof radiator I would not be able to sit anything on top of my case. My current radiator also has a res in it and it would work out best if it was mounted straight up and down. Thanks for the help everyone.

Does anyone have any more case suggestions for me? Thanks.

I know its not internal, but what about mounting the radiator off the back of the case?

I currently have my radiator mounted off the back of the case with a radbox. I want to try to have it on the inside to reduce the noise and plus to have a neater look. It seems like the few cases I have been able to find with 2 rear facing fans have also had a top fan or side fans. I want a case with no top or side fan but with 2 rear fans. Does anyone know of such a case? Thanks for the responses!

(I know I'm not answering your question sorry!)

What about getting a case with 2 rear fans, and removing the top fans and blocking the grills? It might give you more choices.... cause what you want isn't common!

The only case I can think of with more than 1 rear-mounted 120mm fan is the old Liteon FS020, but there's basically no chance of getting a hold of one of those nowadays =(. Shame too, it was a nice case.

Hrm, found some on Craigslist new, but dunno if that's any use to you.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/sys/1722818897.html

Second hand is probably gonna be the easiest way to get one, though.

I recommend internally mounting a 320 radiator as an intake with some simple brackets in a 5 1/4 stack. There are quite a few cases that have 5 1/4 from top to bottom which makes this easy.

There are plenty of watercooling websites to look at reviews about the immaterial amount of air temperature difference. The added benefit of positive pressure by having 3 fans on the intake helps as well.

Plenty of forums to browse such as extremeoverclocking, hardforums, extremesystems, overclockers, and procooling.

Thats a really good idea, should have thought of that! Much easier to find a case that allows a 360 (or even a 480) in the front drive bays than at the rear!

Mounting the rad in the front is a good idea but I am a little confused. What brackets are you referring to and what configuration to mount the rad in the front bays? Also can you give some examples of these cases you refer to?

Also, I am somewhat concerned as to how mounting the rad in front would affect noise levels. I was wanting to have the rad fans as far away as possible. Mounting them in the back or bottom would be farther than mounting them in the top, front, or side.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Brackets like this:
http://www.performance-pcs.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=332&products_id=21047
there are others too. zip ties work. Many options.


For example a coolermaster Cosmos S and stacker are examples of cases with full 5.25" drive bays at the front. There are many more.

Another bracket with a picture showing a radiator mounted in 5.25 drive bays:
http://www.petrastechshop.com/uradbrre1.html

Mounting the radiator at the bottom is best for noise reduction in my opinion but then you do not get the best airflow pattern moving over motherboard and video card unless you have the Silverstone Raven2 or Ft02 case. Therefore, the front mount gives both ideal airflow pattern and very positive pressure inside the case. Noise may be higher so fan RPM may need to be lowered to your desired volume and as long as your cooling loop has low restriction and adequate water flow your cooling delta from ambient should not be bad.

Watercooling reduces the fans typically cooling memory/voltage regulators so planning your airflow can prevent having to add fans back in to react to high temperatures (especially if you intend to overclock).