Suggestion: Case/Cooling Compatibility Lists

As far as I can see, there are no master threads in this forum that list the custom or modular liquid cooling hardware that can be used in each case. I think this may be costing Corsair business because people who run custom or modular liquid cooling will look for a case that fits their cooling hardware, not the other way around. Allowing people who use this cooling hardware to confirm a Corsair case will work for them would maximize Corsair's potential customer base.

To allow these lists to function, Corsair could provide an exception to their rule against mentioning competitor products in these forums and instead ban mention of the companies that have AIO products that directly compete with Corsair. The companies who market custom or modular liquid cooling hardware provide products that are very different to the AIOs Corsair sell, so this would allow people to confirm a Corsair case will work for their custom or modular liquid cooling setup while maintaining the spirit of the ban.

I wouldn't have bought my 570X if I'd realized I would be using the cooling hardware I am because I couldn't have confirmed it would fit. As it turns out I love my 570X and it does fit the cooling hardware I need it to, and being able to offer confirmation this combination works to someone else might gain Corsair a customer they might otherwise have lost. Just saying.

As far as I can see, there are no master threads in this forum that list the custom or modular liquid cooling hardware that can be used in each case. I think this may be costing Corsair business because people who run custom or modular liquid cooling will look for a case that fits their cooling hardware, not the other way around. Allowing people who use this cooling hardware to confirm a Corsair case will work for them would maximize Corsair's potential customer base.

 

To allow these lists to function, Corsair could provide an exception to their rule against mentioning competitor products in these forums and instead ban mention of the companies that have AIO products that directly compete with Corsair. The companies who market custom or modular liquid cooling hardware provide products that are very different to the AIOs Corsair sell, so this would allow people to confirm a Corsair case will work for their custom or modular liquid cooling setup while maintaining the spirit of the ban.

 

I wouldn't have bought my 570X if I'd realized I would be using the cooling hardware I am because I couldn't have confirmed it would fit. As it turns out I love my 570X and it does fit the cooling hardware I need it to, and being able to offer confirmation this combination works to someone else might gain Corsair a customer they might otherwise have lost. Just saying.

I don't consider custom loops/open loop cooling as competition for Corsair, so I don't think it would go against their rules of talking about the competition. Though it is really up to their desecration about what defines competition. Corsair please correct me if I am wrong.

This forum is here for the express purpose of supporting current and future users of Corsair products. Please do not discuss competing products or their suppliers by name on this forum, either in a positive light or a negative one. Such posts or threads will be edited or deleted at our discretion. Please contact the makers of that product for help. As stated above, their names are filtered out from public view.

 

If you have questions about non-Corsair products that do not compete with Corsair (e.g. operating system, routers, video cards, etc.), please post in the appropriate sub-forums. Start out with the Hardware Related and Software Related (Non Corsair Questions) areas. Note that Corsair employees do not monitor these areas, but they will move posts / threads to them from the Corsair areas if needed. If you see a post in the wrong area, please report it so that it may be moved to the correct location.

AIO coolers on the other hand are sold by Corsair and many of their competitors, though luckily AIO tend to be similar in size and most are actually manufactured by Asetek with different branding and changes for each company selling them. Corsair does have radiator sizes listed on it's tech sheet.

As Corsair's new flagship the 1000D is front page with a custom loop that has a very visible OCOOL's label on radiator, I think this helps prove my point. They are not trying to market the 1000D to the run of the mill AIO or tower cooler, it is for people who want to build huge loops and run multiple systems within one case.

I can speak about custom loops from experience and the headaches of trying to get them to fit. In all honesty a HUGE case like the 1000D makes sense as you have a lot of room. Though it came after I built mine and to be honest it is a little to big for me, I would like a case slightly bigger than the 570x that can house and is tested to fit dual 360mm radiators and a vertically mounted pump/res combo. I can't mention the case I purchased, due to the above rule, though it did have a lot of shortcomings, one of which was quality. As Corsair does a pretty good job with their products, I would like to see them come out with something in this range.

That being said the hardest part about custom cooling and getting a case for it, is that you have a lot of variables. Unless you go something super big like the 1000D, then it is hard to say how everything will fit. A radiator might be only 360mm long and 30mm thick, the end blocks, fittings, and tubing can all vary. Then there are a lot of different reservoirs that come in all sorts of sizes. Sometimes cases can only really have 1x360mm rad at a time, as they will bump into each other. To add to that you have varying sizes of GPUs, MB IO shrouds, and just finding a place to mount a res can be annoying. In many cases I have had to resort to drilling holes for bulk head fittings, use tin snips and drilling out rivets to remove parts of the case that would prevent me from mounting the radiator and lastly drilling holes in the case to mount the res/pump.

I think the issue is that so few of us do custom loops that we are a niche of a niche of a niche. Not many people build their own systems, not many of those people use after market coolers, not many of those people use water cooled components, and only a fraction of those do a custom loop. We are such a small yet active niche group that sometimes the best idea is to wait a few months to a year after a case has come out to see what other people have done. Reddit has a great watercooling subreddit and just googling around you can find people who have done different things with case similar to yours. That honestly is the best way. Being a pathfinder usually means you have to figure out something yourself and it isn't always easy nor fun.

I don't consider custom loops/open loop cooling as competition for Corsair, so I don't think it would go against their rules of talking about the competition. Though it is really up to their desecration about what defines competition. Corsair please correct me if I am wrong.

 

 

 

AIO coolers on the other hand are sold by Corsair and many of their competitors, though luckily AIO tend to be similar in size and most are actually manufactured by Asetek with different branding and changes for each company selling them. Corsair does have radiator sizes listed on it's tech sheet.

 

As Corsair's new flagship the 1000D is front page with a custom loop that has a very visible OCOOL's label on radiator, I think this helps prove my point. They are not trying to market the 1000D to the run of the mill AIO or tower cooler, it is for people who want to build huge loops and run multiple systems within one case.

 

I can speak about custom loops from experience and the headaches of trying to get them to fit. In all honesty a HUGE case like the 1000D makes sense as you have a lot of room. Though it came after I built mine and to be honest it is a little to big for me, I would like a case slightly bigger than the 570x that can house and is tested to fit dual 360mm radiators and a vertically mounted pump/res combo. I can't mention the case I purchased, due to the above rule, though it did have a lot of shortcomings, one of which was quality. As Corsair does a pretty good job with their products, I would like to see them come out with something in this range.

 

That being said the hardest part about custom cooling and getting a case for it, is that you have a lot of variables. Unless you go something super big like the 1000D, then it is hard to say how everything will fit. A radiator might be only 360mm long and 30mm thick, the end blocks, fittings, and tubing can all vary. Then there are a lot of different reservoirs that come in all sorts of sizes. Sometimes cases can only really have 1x360mm rad at a time, as they will bump into each other. To add to that you have varying sizes of GPUs, MB IO shrouds, and just finding a place to mount a res can be annoying. In many cases I have had to resort to drilling holes for bulk head fittings, use tin snips and drilling out rivets to remove parts of the case that would prevent me from mounting the radiator and lastly drilling holes in the case to mount the res/pump.

 

I think the issue is that so few of us do custom loops that we are a niche of a niche of a niche. Not many people build their own systems, not many of those people use after market coolers, not many of those people use water cooled components, and only a fraction of those do a custom loop. We are such a small yet active niche group that sometimes the best idea is to wait a few months to a year after a case has come out to see what other people have done. Reddit has a great watercooling subreddit and just googling around you can find people who have done different things with case similar to yours. That honestly is the best way. Being a pathfinder usually means you have to figure out something yourself and it isn't always easy nor fun.

Thanks for replying, we do seem to understand each other.

I wound up getting the 570X before realizing I'd have to go with something beyond an Asetek (or similar) AIO, so the idea came from the realization that it was the case that would change rather than the cooling. My old 800D had been fairly custom loop friendly so I did take a closer look at whether the 750D would meet my needs, but the 900D was too large so if I was going to need a larger case I think I would have wound up with something from a different company.

You are right ofc about most people not doing custom loops, and the main computing forum I hang out on probably isn't representative of the consumer PC market as a whole, and as you say there are build logs from people on Reddit and elsewhere that let people see how their choice of cooling has worked in their choice of case and whether the use of one component in one part of the case precludes the use of another component elsewhere, so I can see why Corsair might not be inclined to wade into all that.

Thanks for replying, we do seem to understand each other.

 

I wound up getting the 570X before realizing I'd have to go with something beyond an Asetek (or similar) AIO, so the idea came from the realization that it was the case that would change rather than the cooling. My old 800D had been fairly custom loop friendly so I did take a closer look at whether the 750D would meet my needs, but the 900D was too large so if I was going to need a larger case I think I would have wound up with something from a different company.

 

You are right ofc about most people not doing custom loops, and the main computing forum I hang out on probably isn't representative of the consumer PC market as a whole, and as you say there are build logs from people on Reddit and elsewhere that let people see how their choice of cooling has worked in their choice of case and whether the use of one component in one part of the case precludes the use of another component elsewhere, so I can see why Corsair might not be inclined to wade into all that.

In my situation I have a case similar to the 570x in the way it has tempered glass front and side panels. I did see some situations that a few people did a dual 360mm in my case, though in some of those situations people did one of the following:

1) Have fans up against glass (no air flow)

2) Have radiator in front of fans (who wants to look at a radiator, when I have beautiful HD-120 fans)

3) Drill holes and use tin snips. (this is what I did)

I tried to make my loop be unique and I spent hours and hours trying to do so, though because of the limited space everything I tried really ended up being a lot like someone else's build on reddit. I might redo it to use a parallel configuration. It would be hard for me not to upgrade to a Corsair case, if they kind of made a case that met the market of the twin 360mm configurations and has appealing aesthetics. I do like the black stealthy/understated tinted tempered glass cases.

I have heard of rumors of people putting the front fan bracket of the 570x on the roof, though I haven't seen any examples of dual 360mm rads or even a single 360mm on top. I would try it, though I don't own one.

Is your main forum OCN?

In my situation I have a case similar to the 570x in the way it has tempered glass front and side panels. I did see some situations that a few people did a dual 360mm in my case, though in some of those situations people did one of the following:

 

1) Have fans up against glass (no air flow)

2) Have radiator in front of fans (who wants to look at a radiator, when I have beautiful HD-120 fans)

3) Drill holes and use tin snips. (this is what I did)

 

I tried to make my loop be unique and I spent hours and hours trying to do so, though because of the limited space everything I tried really ended up being a lot like someone else's build on reddit. I might redo it to use a parallel configuration. It would be hard for me not to upgrade to a Corsair case, if they kind of made a case that met the market of the twin 360mm configurations and has appealing aesthetics. I do like the black stealthy/understated tinted tempered glass cases.

 

I have heard of rumors of people putting the front fan bracket of the 570x on the roof, though I haven't seen any examples of dual 360mm rads or even a single 360mm on top. I would try it, though I don't own one.

 

Is your main forum OCN?

Impressive dedication to take that much trouble to make your build work the way you want! When I was last doing a custom loop (I'm doing "modular" cooling atm) I had my 800D with a 360 on top and a 240 attached to the back by brackets, but the noise of the fans at the back drove me crazy so I wound up getting a case where I could lie the 240 on the floor. The 360 I have now is 43mm thick most of the way with a 68mm part at the end that contains the pump. The H100 rad literally had about 1mm clearance above the heatspreaders for my Vengeance ram, so I abandoned the idea of putting my new 360 on top pretty quick. Personally, I think any rad thicker than 27mm is unlikely to fit, but I guess creativity can overcome most things.

OCN is exactly right, Justinator is my handle there (I am duly ashamed of my username). You on OCN too?

Impressive dedication to take that much trouble to make your build work the way you want! When I was last doing a custom loop (I'm doing "modular" cooling atm) I had my 800D with a 360 on top and a 240 attached to the back by brackets, but the noise of the fans at the back drove me crazy so I wound up getting a case where I could lie the 240 on the floor. The 360 I have now is 43mm thick most of the way with a 68mm part at the end that contains the pump. The H100 rad literally had about 1mm clearance above the heatspreaders for my Vengeance ram, so I abandoned the idea of putting my new 360 on top pretty quick. Personally, I think any rad thicker than 27mm is unlikely to fit, but I guess creativity can overcome most things.

 

OCN is exactly right, Justinator is my handle there (I am duly ashamed of my username). You on OCN too?

Yeah, I am there to under the same name. Though haven't been as active, since the take over.

That is just a small part of it. I loved how iCUE can control my keyboard, strips, and HD-120 based off the game I play, so I wrote a tool to change my Gigabyte Motherboard's LEDs based off the game I play, so things can match. I am very heavy on the RGB I think I have close to 16 different cables I have to manage for RGB alone LOL! I am even thinking about going further and using an Arduino to help control some of the analog devices that I have, like the 6x RGB Fittings.

Yeah, I am there to under the same name. Though haven't been as active, since the take over.

 

That is just a small part of it. I loved how iCUE can control my keyboard, strips, and HD-120 based off the game I play, so I wrote a tool to change my Gigabyte Motherboard's LEDs based off the game I play, so things can match. I am very heavy on the RGB I think I have close to 16 different cables I have to manage for RGB alone LOL! I am even thinking about going further and using an Arduino to help control some of the analog devices that I have, like the 6x RGB Fittings.

I hear you about OCN. I really liked being able to match my description of a component to a standardized entry, they might as well not have bothered with the new rigbuilder. I hadn't been there much from the months leading up to the takeover to about a month ago, I don't think the site as it is now would have captured my interest the way the previous version of the site did.

Is iCUE fairly stable right now? It looks like a great idea but I figured it would need some time to mature, but I love the idea of being able to integrate peripheral and case lighting. RGB gives a build personality IMO, being able to create and use tools to allow you to do things with your lighting that other people can't must add a personal touch to your build

There definitely is no problem coming to the forum and asking how X-brand radiator fits into a Corsair case. That is what the forums are here for and that kind of information can be hard to root out when planning your build. Cases tend to be quirky and there is usually is a catch or two that can't be seen from specifications, only once you have your hands on it.

However, you are quite right. The radiator fitment aspect of the main Corsair product pages needs to be cleaned up. Too many general listing of coolers that are compatible without reference to placement or any other restrictions. If you see the very latest case pages (like for the 1000D), they have added a new radiator layout section to the product page. This is good, but the specs page needs to be complete as well. Far too much risk of failed plans without the full scope of information and that can only result in hard feelings and a hefty return shipping fee.

iCUE still has some quirks, but it really gives extraordinary lighting capabilities to the fans and strips. I feel like I haven't even scratched the surface yet. Regardless, you can switch back and forth between Link and iCUE in a matter of moments. Save your data/profiles folders from the C drive, uninstall one, reinstall the other. Technically you don't have to even reboot. I go back and forth frequently as I try to troubleshoot various issues and it takes a couple of minutes. It also provides good perspective. I was a little slow to warm up to iCUE, but it is winning me over.