Installation
Before getting started, a huge thanks goes to CrazyPC.com for supplying a Swiftech MCR-220 to explore the internal water cooling options.
This case is a joy to work with. The wire management system is extremely well thought out. The holes are in the right places to aim your wires where you need them with minimal exposure and the metal is in the right places to hide them. There are wire-tie mounts galore, also in all the right places. Wire management with this case is a breeze.
Let’s go over what’s installed before getting to the pictures. The system consists of:
- CPU: Intel i7 860
- MB: EVGA P55 FTW
- RAM: G.Skill Trident DDR3-2000
- GPU: HIS HD4890 Turbo
- HDDs: Four Western Digital drives of various sizes
- PSU: Corsair TX650 (Remember when looking at the photos, this unit is not modular.)
The water cooling loop consists of:
- Pump: Swiftech MCP-355 with an XSPC Reservoir Top.
- Radiator 1: Swiftech MCR-220, mounted up top with two high speed Yate Loon fans.
- Radiator 2: Swiftech MCR-320, mounted externally via 6″ 6-32 threaded rods with three Ultra High Speed Panaflo fans and 38mm shrouds.
- CPU Block: Swiftech Apogee XT
- Tubing: Primochill Pro LRT 7/16″ ID / 5/8″ OD
The Yate Loon fans on the MCR-220 are mounted above the case frame in between it and the top cover drawing cool outside air into the case and pushing it through the radiator. The rear exhaust fan is the Cooler Master supplied 120mm fan and the side panel (not photographed) received the 140mm fan that was originally mounted on top of the case for use as an extra exhaust fan.
In order to mount the MCP-355 and because there weren’t going to be any fans down there, the bottom air filter was removed. Note that you will need some extra washers to mount something through the enlarged mesh on the bottom of the case. The bolt is 3/4″ 6-32 with a a #6 and a #10 washer to keep it from pulling through.
Enough talk though, let’s look at how it turned out, shall we? We’ll start with the back of the motherboard tray/HDD bays to see how the wires were actually run.
Wire Management Fun
As you can see, the wire tie mounts are in all the right places to tame this non-modular Medusa of a power supply. Four of the six HDD bays are filled starting at the top, one under another. This left two HDD bays unused for some extra hiding space. All told, we went through the greater part of a 100-pack of 4″ wire ties.
One negative that was touched on earlier is the rear access hole for use in heatsink installation. Having the hole just a little bit bigger would have been perfect. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit the bill with this EVGA P55 board. You have to either mount the heatsink (or waterblock) before putting the board in or remove / loosen enough mounting screws (meaning pretty much all of them, one way or the other) so that you can maneuver the board out far enough to get the HS mounting plate in there. This is one of the few drawbacks to this otherwise superb case.
Now we’ll look at the fun photos and see how that mess in the back turns out in the front!
 Completed One |
 Completed Two |
 A Little Closer |
 Top-Mounted Rad and Water Block |
 Upshot from Left |
 Upshot from Right |
There you have it, installed and wire-managed. As you can see, the control you have over the wires translates very well to an extremely clean interior. Not only does this look a lot better, but it allows for great air flow inside the case to keep all of your components nice and cool.
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