Enclosure Smallest Case That Fits a 280mm Rad?

[Paragon]

As I dive down the SFF rabbit hole I began to wonder what the smallest case that could accommodate a 280mm radiator is? I was hoping to find a horizontal sandwich layout case, something along the lines of a FormD T1 or a Ghost S but being able to fit a bigger radiator. Essentially I am looking at something like the Winter One without the bottom radiator. Some quick calculation says that it would only be around 11.3L and I think it could be quite esthetically pleasing.

There is the Meshlicious which is a vertical layout but also has a total volume of 14.6L.

Does a case like this exist? If not it makes me wonder if people would even value a 280mm radiator in terms of that size.

 

[birdsliveoutthere]

It's not a sandwich layout, but have you looked at the Dan C4-SFX? Under 12L, 280mm rad support, horizontal layout.

 

[Paragon]

Thanks for the suggestion, that is a nice looking case! I think it ticks almost all of the boxes except being a split sandwich case.

 

[tinyitx]

Winter One is ''L 322mm x W 160mm x H 302mm''. So, my calculation says 3.22 x 1.6 x 0.5 (assuming 25mm rad thickness and 25mm fan) = 2.60. Net volume reduction when a rad is removed = 15.6 - 2.60 = 13.0 litres.
Just curious how you get it down to 11.3 litres?

If 13L is acceptable, Aklla A4 v.2 might be an option.
The unibody water-cool version is 335 (L) x 155 (W) x 250(H) (which is recommended by the seller over the air-cool version plus a top hat if one plans to use 280 rad). Thickness of rad + fan cannot exceed 60mm.

淘宝网 - 淘！我喜欢

淘宝网(Taobao.com)作为专业的购物网站拥有全球时尚前沿的消费者购物集市,100%认证网上商城及超值二手商品区，同时购物安全，产品丰富，应有尽有,任你选购,让你尽享网上在线购物乐趣！

item.taobao.com

 

[Paragon]

Just curious how you get it down to 11.3 litres?

I agree it was a janky calculation on my part, but I just took the area of the base of the Winter One (3.22 x 1.6) and added a few mm onto the height of the FormD T1 (2.2) => 3.22 x 1.6 x 2.2 = 11.33

In hindsight, this might not have been the best way to calculate it. I am sure it would be slightly bigger in practice.

 

[rfarmer]

@Paragon have you seen the new concept from ZS Cases? It is a vertical layout but one of the smallest cases I have seen with 280mm support.

 

[Paragon]

have you seen the new concept from ZS Cases? It is a vertical layout but one of the smallest cases I have seen with 280mm support.

Yeah, I think it was posted the day after my post but that is essentially what I had in mind. I would prefer it if it was horizontal instead of vertical as I am not strapped for space. We will probably see more 280mm rad cases now that components are getting bigger and hotter.

 

[Ameubius]

Well, one aspect will be cooling performance. Designs where the GPU exhaust gets dumped into the case to be removed through the radiator might cause concerns for the CPU cooling, as well as other components inside the case. It gest very tricky to find an optimal placement maybe below 12-13L? Going with standard SFF PSUs and larger GPUs, at least.

In my current project I'm making a case partly in wood (https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/16l-high-end-sff-case-in-wood-and-aluminium.17400/), and thus the walls needs to be thicker than normal (12mm in fact). The inner volume is about 14L, but I guess I could technically squeeze it a bit further, maby down to 13.5L by reducing the height and length somewhat. I can fit a 280mm radiator (at least with long and flexible tubes), as well as a rather chunky 3080ti (rog strix). A standard SFX-L PSU should also fit. I believe the temps will be good, because I have room for two 140mm fans behind the GPU, pulling the hot air outside.

Please have a look.

A

 

[hrh_ginsterbusch]

Well, one aspect will be cooling performance. Designs where the GPU exhaust gets dumped into the case to be removed through the radiator might cause concerns for the CPU cooling, as well as other components inside the case. It gest very tricky to find an optimal placement maybe below 12-13L? Going with standard SFF PSUs and larger GPUs, at least.

In my current project I'm making a case partly in wood (https://smallformfactor.net/forum/threads/16l-high-end-sff-case-in-wood-and-aluminium.17400/), and thus the walls needs to be thicker than normal (12mm in fact). The inner volume is about 14L, but I guess I could technically squeeze it a bit further, maby down to 13.5L by reducing the height and length somewhat. I can fit a 280mm radiator (at least with long and flexible tubes), as well as a rather chunky 3080ti (rog strix). A standard SFX-L PSU should also fit. I believe the temps will be good, because I have room for two 140mm fans behind the GPU, pulling the hot air outside.

Please have a look.

A

On a side note: My plans for, when a 280 does not fit into my "Mesh-mATX" project, is going with a 200x200 mm radiator. In theory, that should best any regular 280 mm radiator.

Other options might be some of the more .. interesting looking .. radiators, like the Alphacool 80 mm Triple = 286 x 81 x 45mm. There is lots of other "odd sized" radiators, which one might be even able to combine, like a regular 120 + some oddity, to get the same or even better amount of cooling performance.

cu, w0lf.

 

[NegativeONE]

do any of these small cases have the ability to have top and bottom fans? I was watching the meshilicous build vids and noticed that the only airflow with fans on this and the likes of those Z cases (above) are through the front rad, has anyone seen one where there is some assistance with fans?