Case Concept: 10L ITX with full custom watercooling (formerly portrait A(MD)4-SFX)

So here's my quick mockup for a res-less (and sidepanel-less at the moment) design, trying to work out where I can shove a small combo res/pump, or if I can use a distro plate instead... might be better.

Design at the moment is made with some standard 2020 aluminium profile, so that it's relatively easy to get someone to cut, flat-pack & ship the panels & extrusions, with final assembly done at my end.

I have yet to work out how to do the RADEON lighting at the front, but it's intended to result in a frontpanel with a very similar look to the 6000 series Radeons.

::EDIT:: I also need to work out where I want to put (if any) front panel IO, and the power switch/LED.

Bare case:


With PoC-hardware installed:

 

Where were you thinking of putting distro pump combo. have you dimensions of the pump in the kit. it looks like you could mount the pump on the inside front panel, nope thats the back panel

 

So I made an order, will probably end up replacing some of the other terminals later, will have to if I go with hard tubes anyway.

 

great build log, i'm enjoying your progress, my biggest problem is pulling my loop apart and hoping the new motherboard's backplate fits under the top radiator cheers

 

Plan at this stage is to build some proof-of-concept panels from MDF, ply or acrylic, depending on what's available/easy. Then eventually laser cut or mill from aluminium for the final version.

In theory I'll be able to remove the 2020 profile extrusions, and use folded or screwed/riveted panels for the final build. This would save quite a bit of space, but by using them for now, makes it much simpler for developing in the meantime. (Especially given I already have some 4020 I can use in the PoC stage )

 

I have no idea how the hell I'm gonna make this yet, and I'm fairly sure the tubing isn't particularly feasible... but:

 

Alternative no-riser layout, using the 2020 profile, wider (~180mm instead of ~130mm) but shorter in both other dimensions.

 

I was wondering where the pump going, is it still the same size, Your still going to fit the 6800XT ?

 

My 6800XT is same dimensions as the 5700XT pictured, but I don't have measurements and port locations of the EK FC 6800 block yet.

So the following is a guesstimate of tubing still. Will probably post this in extreme cooling forum to get some feedback as I don't know what I'm doing with tubing yet.



::EDIT:: sorry for the mad MS Paint skills, not sure how to do tubing in Sketchup's web app

Slightly zoomed, fans hidden, and less shit lines:


::EDIT:: Update:
Hard to see, but I managed to shave 20mm off the width, and 10mm off the height. Now 295x165x232 (+45mm depth for radiator out the back)

 

The block won't be any longer than your back plate, hard tubing will look great in that case , but soft would work as well, Cheers

 

I did also briefly have a play with an open-frame air-cooled design:

But these are pretty available these days (if overpriced) and I want to slap water on my GPU so more advanced case is needed

 

Have you got children that would make for a change of mind, the waterblock will give you some timespy points if you aren't power limited

 

I like that first mockup, perhaps made a little wider to fit the pump/res in front of the cpu?

More potential for a perspex panel or two to show it off too

Are you going to be making custom length psu cables once it starts to come together?

 

Two reasons not to go with the open frame & air cooled design:
1) yep, I have a toddler who likes to put his fingers in things, prefer to avoid fans without guards
2) I've already ordered the watercooling kit & GPU block, may as well use it for the performance

I'm considering whether or not I want an acrylic/TG window, leaning towards either mesh or window.
I wanted to have slat grills on either side and fans at the front, so the unit looks like a reference design RX6x00, but I'm not sure how to make it look slick or how the hell I'd practically make it.

Yeah the plan is to make some custom shorty cables and route them as hidden as possible. I have considered either routed cable channels in acrylic/aluminium or a hidden compartment to make them as invisible as possible, but again tricky to design or make.

==================================

'Sandwich' design (https://forums.overclockers.com.au/posts/18985034/)

Dimensions: HxWxD = 332mm x 135mm x 235mm (+45mm to depth for radiator) = ~10.5L internal volume
Pros: Looks tidy, separated CPU/GPU, slimmer width
Cons: Taller / greater volume overall, requires the FLT pump/res (>$300 I think), v. complex to make, front panel gonna be a bitch

Riserless design (https://forums.overclockers.com.au/posts/18985039/)

Dimensions: HxWxD = 295mm x 165mm x 232mm (+45mm to depth for radiator) = ~11.3L internal volume
Pros: No riser needed, already ordered all WC parts, reasonably easy to make main frame
Cons: Honestly thought it would be smaller in this shape, but still comes to over 11L! (Compared to DAN A4-SFX at 7.2L), front panel gonna be a bitch

Open-frame design (https://forums.overclockers.com.au/posts/18985388/)

Dimensions: HxWxD 320mm x 185mm x 115mm = ~6.8L "internal" volume
Pros: shows off the original GPU cooler (schmexy), smallest footprint, easy & cheap to make
Cons: Lower performance and louder than using WC, toddler fingers + exposed fans are not a good mix

 

I've had a play with another layout.. Of course, to achieve these layouts I'd have to replace the pump/res I just got (EK-XRES 140 Revo D5 PWM Glass) with something much smaller (EK FLT 120 or integrated pump/res/block)

::EDIT:: An Alphacool Eisbaer LT would be perfect for this, as it includes the same pump but takes up MUCH less height than the taller Eisbaer version, potentially very tricky to fill/bleed though.

Using Alphacool Eisbaer combo res/pump/block:


Using an EK Kinetic FLT 120 pump/res:


Alt views:

 

Somehow I missed the Chimera MachOne -> Chimera MachOne: For the pros. Small meets flexible. | SFF.Network (smallformfactor.net)
Probably because it's >18L so close to a CoolerMaster NR200 in size, but other than the size and lack of AMD-custom-aesthetic, it's very close to spot-on for what I want. I noticed that a lot of cases that use the 'vertical' orientation face the IO upwards, I assume for ventilation, but (at least in the case of the RX6000 reference coolers with vapour chambers) GPU cooling can be far worse in that orientation...

 

Another useful reference concept
(1) Prototype - 12.18L Dual 240AIO quite gaming PC case——Dual Cool MKII (4 months use report) | SFF.Network (smallformfactor.net)

and

Liquid cooled SFF build in AMD Ryzen launch Crate : sffpc (reddit.com)

 

Another inspo concept here: (1) Production - Pluto: a 12L wood top tower by Artesian Builds | SFF.Network (smallformfactor.net)

 

Well, shit: (1) FormD T1 - 9.5L with UNLIMITED space!! - 3950X+64GB Ram+2GPUs - TITAN V FULL watercooled+TITAN RTX!! Fill the void 2.0 | SFF.Network (smallformfactor.net)

 

I have discovered that most, if not all, of the cases I've been looking at with 240mm rad support only support either slim rads or fans or both, although some do support 2 radiators.

I'm not convinced a single slim 240mm will provide sufficient cooling performance, so I'll keep my Alphacool XT45 and Silverstone Air Blazer fans. As such, below is probably the simplest, smallest and easiest vertical tower I can build. I haven't designed venting or mounting points yet, and certainly haven't added any prettifications that will be in my final revision.

184 x 168 x 304 mm = approx 10L total volume



To achieve this size, I'd need to move to a pump/res integrated CPU block, currently the contenders are:

Alphacool
Both Alphacool units use the DC-LT-2 pump ( 4W, 7 - 13.5 V DC (non-PWM), 2600 rpm, 75 L/h, 0.95m head)
- Eisbaer (Solo) [https://www.alphacool.com/shop/cpu-.../alphacool-eisbaer-solo-2600rpm-black?c=23741] approx 68mm tall + fittings
- Eisbaer LT (Solo) [https://www.alphacool.com/shop/cpu-water-cooler/amd/am4-ryzen/23937/alphacool-eisbaer-lt-solo-black] approx 39mm tall with horizontal fittings

Nouvolo units come without a pump, but support DDC design.
Likely end up with EK DDC 4.2 PWM pump ( 18W @ 12 V DC, 4x00 rpm?, 1000 L/h, 5.2m head), approx 60mm tall (+ fittings) with pump installed
- Nouvolo Aquanaut Combo [https://www.nouvolo.com/pages/aquanaut#aq-combo]
- Nouvolo Aquanaut Extreme [https://www.nouvolo.com/pages/aquanaut#aq-extreme]

- Barrow LTPRKA-04 Pump/Block/Res combo - approx 64mm tall + fittings [http://www.barrowint.com/product/cpuslt/Barrow_cpu_water_block/1604.html]
Uses Barrow's DDC clone pump (specs?)

Looking at the current mock-up, I'd have <73mm total height from socket to radiator which is definitely going to be tight but doable, the Alphacool LT gives an extra bit of space and has side fittings so could probably mount an additional 25mm.

Alternate desktop 'console style' version too: