Upgrade 10 year old case for new system with liquid cooling


  1. Posts : 219
    Windows 10 Pro
       #1

    Upgrade 10 year old case for new system with liquid cooling


    I'm going to build a 'gaming' PC with a Z370 micro ATX motherboard with i7-8700K, 32 GB RAM, 750 watt PSU, and a 1070 EVGA gpu and was wondering if I need to also upgrade to a new case for liquid cooling (Corsair H60 2018). I don't care about having LED lighting or whatever. Just a functional simple but fast PC box for occasional gaming. Please advise. Thank you.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 1,307
    Windows 10
       #2

    Off the books despite advanced cooling systems helps system stabilize performance of extensive CPU oriented tasks such as video encoding / 3D rendering , they do not affect gaming performance much since :

    1 - Gamers hardly use built in intel graphics
    2 - GPUs do most of the job and they have their own cooling methods that can hardly be modified
    3 - Most games are not optimized to use but 1 core of CPU rendering max load added during game-play 25% on a quad core CPU which would hardly heat a CPU above normal

    Why do gamers like installing liquid coolers however revolves all around bragging and being perfectionists and few other 3 lettered syndromes one can get fried bringing up to a forum :)

    This artical might interest you as well : On upgrading your system beware of 16+ GBs RAM - Hell Corner

    So whatever you can save on these upgrades might benefit you going a little further with the GPU , maybe 1080 Ti ? :)

    Cheers
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 4,453
    Win 11 Pro 22000.708
       #3

    I don't quite follow. "upgrade to as new case"? Do you have one now? What is it?

    The H60 looks like it uses mounting points for a 120 mm fan. Cases that can fit that aren't uncommon.

    My most recent case purchase was a Phanteks ENTHOO Pro M _PH-ES515PA_TG Titanium Green. It's out of stock at Newegg, however. It's larger than you need for a micro ATX board. (By the way: why micro ATX? I know they can be a bit cheaper than a regular ATX.)

    In the past, I used large third-party air coolers. I switched to AIO (all in one) liquid coolers to free up space around the CPU socket. The AIO coolers can run quieter with similar levels of cooling. The main down side is the potential for water leaks, which might destroy the system.

    I have modified the cooling systems of GPUs in the past with aftermarket coolers. I have added a purpose-made AIO cooler to the graphics card on my primary system. (It doesn't allow for much greater overclocking of the card, but it's quieter under heavy load.)

    The serious builders use discrete water systems to cool the CPU and GPU, and maybe the motherboard's chipset. That's expensive, plus a fair bit of work.

    I can't really disagree that all this hot-rodding may not buy much in terms of real performance. I'm not a gamer. I used to enjoy running benchmarks, but I never joined the serious overclockers with their liquid nitrogen cooling.

    Is it really true that most games are still single-threaded? Seems unlikely, as CPUs with multiple cores have been common for many years now.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 1,307
    Windows 10
       #4

    bobkn said:
    In the past, I used large third-party air coolers. I switched to AIO (all in one) liquid coolers to free up space around the CPU socket. The AIO coolers can run quieter with similar levels of cooling. The main down side is the potential for water leaks, which might destroy the system.
    I have modified the cooling systems of GPUs in the past with aftermarket coolers. I have added a purpose-made AIO cooler to the graphics card on my primary system. (It doesn't allow for much greater overclocking of the card, but it's quieter under heavy load.)
    Modding a GPU into water cooling is possible , just hard for casual users , this would require dis-assembling cards that come sealed in cunning ways sometimes without screws which would instantly void your warranty , add to that over clocking and you might end up with a fried 1k USD card in hand so I wouldn't recommend it to a novice without even a Youtube video as a guide :)

    bobkn said:
    Is it really true that most games are still single-threaded? Seems unlikely, as CPUs with multiple cores have been common for many years now.
    Believe it or not not just that , but most games still come in 32 bit architecture , see as they all know games are all about graphics the major investment developers do usually revolve around GPUs neglecting all other aspects but they like to officially claim that this is for "Backward compatibility purposes" to sugar top it :)
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 219
    Windows 10 Pro
    Thread Starter
       #5

    @bobkn ...Why micro ATX? Because I want to follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) moving forward.

    Yes, I have a mid-tower case now which I'm using for an i5-2500k and Arctic Freezer 7 Pro cooling unit, EVGA GTX 780, 650 watt Antec PSU, and an Asus P8Z68 Pro/Gen3 motherboard with 4 sticks of 4 GB ram. I bought the case on sale for about $20 from Newegg about 10 years ago. It was the cheapest case they had then. Why change to liquid cooling? Because I plan to overclock the 8700K as much as possible to run a flight simulator called Prepar3D v4 which is 64-bit and I want to have more space inside the box also.

    If I have to change to a new case I'd like one that is as small as possible with a handle on top too and preferably for less than U$50 (Black Friday sales is almost here too). Something that will work with an i7-8700K, EVGA 1070 GPU, Corsair H60 2018 cooling unit, a Corsair CX750M watt PSU, an EVGA micro-ATX Z370 motherboard and two 16 GB of DDR4 ram.

    That's it. No fancy stuff meaning no RGB lighting or transparent sides. Just something that's very simple and functional.

    I am liking the Thermaltake Versa H15 for U$ 32 on Amazon but it doesn't have a handle on top and based on reviews the space for an optical drive has issues ie. too small and it won't take a regular sized DVD drive (Amazon.com: Thermaltake Versa H15 SPCC Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Chassis CA-1D4-00S1NN-00: Computers Accessories).
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,099
    Win 10 pro Upgraded from 8.1
       #6

    Quite a few years back I built a Micro ATX it had a handle, never used as it never left my wife's desktop, I had it Air Cooled with CD/DVD had Nvidia Video Card, I forget the brand but it was a Lan Party case. It was alright, lasted quite a few years and I never built another one.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 4,453
    Win 11 Pro 22000.708
       #7

    bofhlusr said:
    @bobkn ...Why micro ATX? Because I want to follow the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid) moving forward.

    Yes, I have a mid-tower case now which I'm using for an i5-2500k and Arctic Freezer 7 Pro cooling unit, EVGA GTX 780, 650 watt Antec PSU, and an Asus P8Z68 Pro/Gen3 motherboard with 4 sticks of 4 GB ram. I bought the case on sale for about $20 from Newegg about 10 years ago. It was the cheapest case they had then. Why change to liquid cooling? Because I plan to overclock the 8700K as much as possible to run a flight simulator called Prepar3D v4 which is 64-bit and I want to have more space inside the box also.

    If I have to change to a new case I'd like one that is as small as possible with a handle on top too and preferably for less than U$50 (Black Friday sales is almost here too). Something that will work with an i7-8700K, EVGA 1070 GPU, Corsair H60 2018 cooling unit, a Corsair CX750M watt PSU, an EVGA micro-ATX Z370 motherboard and two 16 GB of DDR4 ram.

    That's it. No fancy stuff meaning no RGB lighting or transparent sides. Just something that's very simple and functional.

    I am liking the Thermaltake Versa H15 for U$ 32 on Amazon but it doesn't have a handle on top and based on reviews the space for an optical drive has issues ie. too small and it won't take a regular sized DVD drive (Amazon.com: Thermaltake Versa H15 SPCC Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Chassis CA-1D4-00S1NN-00: Computers Accessories).
    "Keep it simple"? I guess that micro ATX boards tend to have fewer slots than larger boards, but I doubt that there's a significant difference in reliability given the same chipset. A microATX may enforce a certain discipline: you won't be tempted to hang new things on the board because you can't do it.

    I don't know what case to recommend. It sounds like you're looking for a case intended for LAN parties (highly portable). I don't know what the smallest case is that will accept a 120 mm cooler and a 10.5" long graphics card (the least expensive eVGA 1070).

    I doubt that the Corsair H60 is the choice of rabid overclockers, but it appears to be better than the Intel heat sink/fan.
      My Computers


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:44.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums