Complete System
It took around 20 minutes to put the system together, which is pretty quick overall, but since there wasn’t much to do and plenty of work space inside I didn’t really run into any compatibility issues, everything bolted in to place with ease.
The Corsair H80i has quite a thick radiator for an AIO water cooler, but it fit with relative ease, and will give us more than enough cooling performance for an overclocked gaming rig, while also helping to keep acoustics as low as possible.
The water pipes are under a bit of tension, but there quite thick anyway and that shouldn’t be an issue.
Between the PSU and the motherboard there is a nice bit of clearance and a couple of cable tie loops, I didn’t need to use them, but if you have a few extra hard drives installed they’ll certainly come in handy for keeping things organised.
The PSU fits nice and snug and the pass through cable was enough enough to connect, and it’s a great solution for keeping the airflow of the PSU independent of the rest of the case, which should help keep temperatures of our other components lower.
The GTX 560 isn’t a small card, but it fit with room to spare, there are a few cables cramped behind the PSU, but if you really needed to you can move them to the space between the PSU and motherboard.
The hard drive bays drop back into place last and after that you’re able to hook up your SATA cables, pop the top panel on and enjoy your new rig.
The final result is a great looking build and if you look through the left side vents you’ll see the back of our GPU, which will benefit from the extra airflow the vents provide.
Only problem that I forsee with this case, every kind of mITX motherboard and the H80i cooling system is, most (/every) of the time, there is :
– Only one USB 3.0 and 2.0 internal slot on the MB,
– On the other hand, the case have one usb 3.0 and one usb 2.0 on the front panel,
– And the H80i need also an usb connection internaly.
=> So, you will have to choose between plug usb case or H80i on the MB.
My understanding is that the internal USB3.0 headers on the motherboard will serve both 3.0 and 2.0 ports. Most cases include a cable that splits into 3.0/2.0 because some may not have USB3.0 support on their MB. They often warn to plug in only one or the other.
So there should be just enough for both the H80i and case I/O. Also, you could get an AIO that doesn’t require an internal USB connection.
I just bought this case (£30 del from Maplins) and while the looks are very good and construction is also v good I am finding that a 3.5 HDD in the middle holder is acting a bit like an echo chamber so the noise of the hard disk seeking is louder than it should be. This would be great as an SSD only case and the internal layout is good too. Not a fan of internally mounted power off switch tho. And the front LED strip is perfect for HTPC, very low level and discreet.
Really wanted an lian li q36 but @ £30, great value.
Which Mobo did you use?
With the H80i installed, were you able to mount a 3.5″ HDD on the side of the case?
Also with the H80i, were you able to fit the hanging 3.5″ HDD in the bracket above the mobo?
Dear Sir, Madam,
I really believe job well done Te only thing is the fan bar horizontall is not there yet. Please be advised that it should be a 1 to 3 point to the point of the start of the heating all together.
I think a cooling bar or something should go up an the end!
I am going to buy this later when i worked for it!
And I am happy I have an antec case here myself!
I am upping my old workstation!