Pro/Forums - View Single Post - Any retail rack-mount water cooled cases

gmat · 10-10-2002, 06:49 AM

First, you should set a precise set of goals. To give an example, i'll assume that you do not care about overclocking, extreme temps or 3D gaming, but want silence (often needed in a studio...)
The solution here would be:
- An integrated mobo, with sound, gfx, and ethernet all onboard.
- (1) Either a microATX format for case & mobo, in which case you'll have to get a riser card for the 2 PCI slots
- (2) Or a full ATX format, that is the rack solution.

Let's explore (1):
- turnkey solutions exist, they often involve heatpipes. No 'real' watercooling here, but you'll get a perfectly silent PC, if you get a silent Barracuda HDD.
- DIY solutions - microATX cases are easy to come by, heatpipes are not. That would involve a real rackmount case, and real watercooling stuff. Maybe a 1046, a BIX, one PAPST 8412 NGL, and any CPU block that fits. 3/8" all around.

Now (2):
- turnkey solutions, rather expensive, not watercooled (for what i know)
- DIY: a 3U case, with a standard ATX mobo, try to get one with gfx & ethernet & so on so you save space around PCI slots. A 1048, a BIX, blocks for CPU & NB (you'll need it, likely), and decoupled mounting (silentdrive suspension) for the HDD. Again a PAPST to cool down the rad. 1/2" could fit, get some elbows (round ones from Eheim are excellent) and/or Tygon for sharp turns. You can mount the rad behind unused PCI & AGP slots, the pump will fit horizontally in front of it. Get either a very quiet PSU (Seasonic, Q-tech) or a fanless one (TK power,RSG electronics,Deltatronic). You can even get rid of the rad fan by taking a huge rad (titan, or bigger) and mounting it externally, for example on top of your rack chassis, and use convection only. Zero fan, zero noise (well, the pump and HDD...)

10-10-2002, 06:49 AM	#20
gmat Thermophile Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: France Posts: 1,221	First, you should set a precise set of goals. To give an example, i'll assume that you do not care about overclocking, extreme temps or 3D gaming, but want silence (often needed in a studio...) The solution here would be: - An integrated mobo, with sound, gfx, and ethernet all onboard. - (1) Either a microATX format for case & mobo, in which case you'll have to get a riser card for the 2 PCI slots - (2) Or a full ATX format, that is the rack solution. Let's explore (1): - turnkey solutions exist, they often involve heatpipes. No 'real' watercooling here, but you'll get a perfectly silent PC, if you get a silent Barracuda HDD. - DIY solutions - microATX cases are easy to come by, heatpipes are not. That would involve a real rackmount case, and real watercooling stuff. Maybe a 1046, a BIX, one PAPST 8412 NGL, and any CPU block that fits. 3/8" all around. Now (2): - turnkey solutions, rather expensive, not watercooled (for what i know) - DIY: a 3U case, with a standard ATX mobo, try to get one with gfx & ethernet & so on so you save space around PCI slots. A 1048, a BIX, blocks for CPU & NB (you'll need it, likely), and decoupled mounting (silentdrive suspension) for the HDD. Again a PAPST to cool down the rad. 1/2" could fit, get some elbows (round ones from Eheim are excellent) and/or Tygon for sharp turns. You can mount the rad behind unused PCI & AGP slots, the pump will fit horizontally in front of it. Get either a very quiet PSU (Seasonic, Q-tech) or a fanless one (TK power,RSG electronics,Deltatronic). You can even get rid of the rad fan by taking a huge rad (titan, or bigger) and mounting it externally, for example on top of your rack chassis, and use convection only. Zero fan, zero noise (well, the pump and HDD...)