I bought the case this weekend since I thought it looks really good and was hoping to shave off a few degrees on my GPU. Initially I noticed that it comes well packed in foam which is good, so no damaged parts. There was an instruction booklet and a box with screws inside the case as always. My first impressions was that it's quite a small case and that there is hardly any space at all for cable management in the back. The 3.5" drive cage is removable and can be moved slightly to the left which is necessary since there isn't any space for PSU cables (I have the not too large EVGA G2 Supernova). The PSU shroud cannot be installed once the PSU is in place, keep that in mind. The other shroud cannot be installed if you have a 280mm AIO and have the 3,5" drive cage installed. Another note about the 280mm AIO, you'll need to push the FP cables out of the way. All in all it's a terrible case to work with since there are no margins like in my Define S. The only good thing is that the end result looks great! It's neat and clean and compact. Last but not least, I was forced to install the rad at the front since the case doesn't support 280mm rads (even though it says it supports H110). Anyone got any experience with that? When I held my hand close to the fans at the front it felt like more air was being pushed back out than inside. This obviously increased the GPU temps.
Hmm sorry, no experience with the case. But I do have learned why I love my huge Corsair 900D as well as my Carbide Air 540... lots of space to work with for cable management and quite flexible in terms of the interior. It's also quite upsetting that it doesn't really work well with your AIO even though it's stated in the specs...
I dont have any experience with this case and looking at the specs/user manual, unfortunately theres barely any info to go on here for your watercooling needs. From past experience however, on similar sized cases, i've mostly always installed the AIO, h08i V2 or H100i V1 on the front of the case. Usually at the top of the case, the thickness of the radiator/fans plays a parts here otherwise the radiator will touch the motherboard or some other component such as VRM heatsinks or RAM modules. Even if there is space for the rad, the fans might not fit. I had a similar issue and thought of getting smaller 120mm fans but that was too much work There are no dimensions for the case listed on the site, normally if a case is designed for watercooling, they at least give you an idea of the size and types of radiators you can get away with and where you can place them. I think watercooling was an after thought with this case, as it is with most. A 280 rad can be installed at the front, according to the site data so you should be able to install the h100i there, using the top two slots but thats your only mounting point unless you go externally and that means case modding. It sounds like fans are obstructed and you are getting some feedback. Did you use the supplied SP140L fans with the H100i or the case fans? I was thinking perhaps that you used the case fans with the h100i rad and they dont have enough static pressure to force the air through the fins on the rad efficiently, it is a high density rad so it needs powerful fans. Most of my cases have weird cut out designs where the mounting fans normally go rather than just having a straight cut hole. I guess its to help with case rigidity but that might be the reason why you can feel turbulence at the front. I have the H100i V1 on a Thermaltake Core p3 and there is lots of feedback or turbulance from the fans, but this is only usually evident at the side or outer edge of the fans, not directly in front. It should be pulling air in there.
Sorry, I wasnt clear enough I meant that it did fit on the front but not on the top but I must have completely misunderstood the info cause it clearly says that top rad max is 240mm. Sorry, like i said to fantas, my H110i GT did fit in the front of the case but just barely. I'm using the SP140L that came with the AIO even though I've though about changing them to ML140s instead but not done that yet. I've watched a few videos and I could try a PushPull config since it should minimize the turbulence and make sure more air is sucked inside the case to help the GPU. I still think it's better that the GPU gets cool air from powerful AF140 fans instead of from the AIO. What would you say? PS. I also managed to get the shroud on in the end But the drive cage does show a little since I had to move it. Interesting video, his motherboard must be slightly smaller than mine cause I couldn't fit the HD Audio or FP cables just below the motherboard and had to pull them through the hole in the shroud. Also he doesn't show where he puts his drive cage. His cable management though, damn!
I got an air cooler and installed everything to see how it would perform and I was quite unhappy with the results. I though that when the chassi fans are a bit closer to the GPU, it would cool it even better but it seems to be the opposite here. CPU temps are fine, but the GPU really has a hard time keeping temps down and goes up to 77 degrees in Prey where I used to have 70 degrees with my old Define S case. Pretty huge difference if you ask me. It's sad cause the case is beautiful and seeing all components is really nice. I'll try to add one fan in the top but I doubt that will help. It feels like the airflow goes "above" the GPU to the CPU.
