Back when I finally took the delve into watercooling I ran into the problem a lot of people do. Where do I mount this radiator? Well, I didn't exactly have the most friendly case to watercool with, so I decided to just make a decision and mount the radiator on the top of the case. This method basically allowed me to make the fewest mods to the case itself. I only had to drill two small holes (1/8th") and that was pretty much it. The problem is that I had somewhat of an eye sore after everything was installed. I ran this way for about 1 month until I began thinking... Maybe if I built a shroud around it, I can make this look a lot better. Since I am not very skilled with my hands, I decided to look elsewhere for this project: Dad!
So, I wasn't sure what kind of help he was going to give me, or how long it would take him. I took down the measurements and gave them to him. He had it built and assembled in thirty minutes. He just had one thing to do: Sand it, prime it, and paint it. I let him do this, as he actually does that for a living. The result, was something I hadn't quite expected. I was thrilled with the job he did, especially since it litterally took him, maybe at most, 1 hour.
Some people may not think this mod is cool, that is OK! I see some mods and sometimes I think "Why? Why?" But a lot of mods are simply personal preference, as was this one. I am posting this to help give others some ideas that if you have to mount a radiator outside the box, you can certainly do things to make it look great. The great part about this, is that the case mods I made did, did not in any way deterioate the resale value of this case. Sometimes you see some do mods to cases where the case could never be resold again, because it only fit one exact setup. In this situation, I have a P180B with two minor holes it that go unoticed, due to the top exhaust cover that goes over them under the stock setup. The cost of the mod was about $20 for the parts. Used a sheet of plywood, sand paper, primer, spray paint and adhesive designed for model airplanes.
Picture of what he built - Shroud
Picture of my machine with side panel and shroud off - Open Case
Picture of machine complete - Case Closed!
So, I wasn't sure what kind of help he was going to give me, or how long it would take him. I took down the measurements and gave them to him. He had it built and assembled in thirty minutes. He just had one thing to do: Sand it, prime it, and paint it. I let him do this, as he actually does that for a living. The result, was something I hadn't quite expected. I was thrilled with the job he did, especially since it litterally took him, maybe at most, 1 hour.
Some people may not think this mod is cool, that is OK! I see some mods and sometimes I think "Why? Why?" But a lot of mods are simply personal preference, as was this one. I am posting this to help give others some ideas that if you have to mount a radiator outside the box, you can certainly do things to make it look great. The great part about this, is that the case mods I made did, did not in any way deterioate the resale value of this case. Sometimes you see some do mods to cases where the case could never be resold again, because it only fit one exact setup. In this situation, I have a P180B with two minor holes it that go unoticed, due to the top exhaust cover that goes over them under the stock setup. The cost of the mod was about $20 for the parts. Used a sheet of plywood, sand paper, primer, spray paint and adhesive designed for model airplanes.
Picture of what he built - Shroud
Picture of my machine with side panel and shroud off - Open Case
Picture of machine complete - Case Closed!