Water cooled PC cases are now getting all the love from gamers worldwide. And for good reasons too.
Games are now coming with high-end graphics and real-time online experience. Developers are jumping on even more demanding game engines; game simulation is so good it is almost akin to real life.
Now even the best CPU have to put out an excellent performance every time to keep up. And this comes at a cost.
Heat! Yeah, lots and lots of heat.
They come from your CPU and GPU and even other peripheral hardware. When you game, your processors are running a marathon at full speed.
If it doesn’t find a way to let go of all that heat, you’ll start seeing lags and stutters. Next, performance slows down to a crawl. Then if you allow the heat to build up further and you might have to deal with a fried CPU/GPU.
Best Watercooling Case In 2020
| Case | Spec | Internal Bays | Mother Board Support | Type | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phanteks Enthoo Elite | 260mm CPU coolers 480mm GPU length | 6 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS 13 x 3.5” DRIVE BAYS | Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX | Full Tower | Check Price |
| Lian Li Dynamic PC 011 | 155mm CPU coolers 420mm GPU length | 4 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS 2 x 3.5” DRIVE BAYS | Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX | Full Tower | Check Price |
| Thermaltake Core x9 Snow Edition | 250mm CPU coolers 590mm GPU length | 6 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS/3.5” DRIVE BAYS 2 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS/1 x 3.5” DRIVE BAYS | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX | Cube | Check Price |
| DeepCool Genome ROG | 2 x front 120mm fans, 1 x 120mm pre-installed rear fans, supports up to 330mm GPU | 4 x Internal 2.5” 2 x Internal 2.5”/3.5” | ATX, Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX | Mid-Tower | Check Price |
| Cougar Panzer Max | 240mm CPU coolers 390mm GPU length | 6 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS/ 4 x 2.5” DRIVE BAYS/ 2 x 3.5” DRIVE BAYS | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX, E-ATX, CEB | Full Tower | Check Price |
| DEEPCOOL Mid Tower Case Dukase Liquid | 160mm CPU coolers 390mm GPU length | 2 x 3.5“Drive Bays/ 5 x2.5“Drive Bays | Mini-ITX, Micro-ATX, ATX | Mid Tower | Check Price |
Table of Contents:
1. Phanteks Enthoo Elite
This full tower PC case is a premium design. It blends exceptional aesthetics with functionality that provides an excellent array of options for building a capable gaming rig.
In the cooling department, this is nothing short of spectacular. In our hands-on review, we found the internal space management to be optimal. This reduces the possibility of hotspots forming inside the build. But that’s not all.
They come with isolated storage and cooling chamber. For the radiator cooling, they provide a nigh extreme solution.
You can mount as many as 20 of the 120mm radiators in it. If you prefer to use 140mm radiators, then you can mount as many as 16 radiators. The intelligent engineering provides spaces for mounting these radiators on the top, side, mid-plate, rear, and front of them.
And while it is a powerful cooling behemoth, it still manages to stay very attractive. It features an ambient RGB illumination. You also get a thorough dust filtration system. The filters are present in all possible areas susceptible to dust entry.
- Extreme cool support
- Brilliant and pretty design
- Swappable panels (silent/performance)
- Cable Management
- A powerful dust filtration system
- Quite Expensive
- Only two style options – gray/black
- The package is quite heavy
2. Lian Li Dynamic PC 011
This full tower case features a sturdy and functional build. It also manages to retain an aesthetic appeal despite its rather serious design.
This is built for gaming, and its design is optimized for water cooling. For our build, we could install up to seven radiators on the case. The radiator sizes are also adequate.
These provide space for installation of three 120mm radiators, two 140mm radiators, and another two 120mm radiators. These are mounted on different sections – top bottom and side.
It features a powerful water cooling module at the bottom. It shares this space with the isolated PSU unit.
For more functionality, it houses a dual chamber design allowing for easier customization of the internals. It also provides a roomy interior to house 420mm GPU and 155mm CPU coolers.
- Sturdy, functional design
- Sufficient radiators and fan options
- Tempered glass exterior boosts aesthetics
- Roomy enough to house full-length Video cards (420mm)
- Not very aesthetically pleasing
- Only comes in two style options – white or black
- Large size
3. Thermaltake Core x9 Snow Edition
The Thermaltake Core X9 is a cube designed for extreme gaming and intensive application. This provides excellent stacking functionality and excellent ventilation. It is best for servers and high-end gaming purposes. It utilizes every space to optimize ventilation without compromising on your performance.
For the best water cooling features, the Thermaltake core x9 is a performer. In our build, we find that you can fit just about any radiator size into the case without hassles. The sizes we tested that are supported include the 140mm radiators and 120mm radiators and 180mm radiators.
You can stack these up to create either 360mm, 420mm, 480 mm or 540mm racks as you see fit. It designs allowed us to fit these radiators on the sides, front, top, rear, and even bottom of it. In the best combination, you can install up to 7 high-performance radiators in them.
Other features of this include its dual chamber design that allows you to install up to six drives.
We also found that these can allow installation of up to 590mm of GPU. For CPU cooling you can expect to install up to 250mm of cooling tower height.
- Very roomy with optimal ventilation
- Supports full-length GPU and also CPU coolers
- Flexible options for mounting radiators
- Allows stacking
- Not very aesthetically pleasing
- Cube design may turn off tower PC case enthusiasts
- Comes in only white style
- No dust filter
4. DeepCool Genome ROG
Let’s face facts here – a liquid-cooled PC is always going to be cooler than one cooled by just fans. And when it comes to liquid cooling and overall cooling performance, not many brands can truly match DeepCool in the market.
The DeepCool Gamer Storm Genome arrived in a flashy box, flaunting the color and lighting the case exhibits. Inside, we’re treated to this Mid-Tower beauty of a case from DeepCool.
The case has to carry holes on the side to allow for easy carriage. The Genome is one of the best liquid cooling systems because it comes preinstalled with DeepCool Captain liquid-cooling unit – featuring a 360mm radiator. There are mounting kits for Intel and AMD sockets plus a fan controller for three 120mm fans. To create more space, there are no 5.25-inch drive bays on this case. However, we must add that this case has room for up to six hard drives. And of course, it can accommodate long GPUs.
The double helix glass reservoir is placed at the lower ends of the chassis. To get the hot air out, there’s a 120mm fan at the back of the case. To help with the airflow are large vents along with the top cover.
There aren’t a lot of I/O options with the Genome. You get a couple of USB 3.0 ports and an audio plug like most cases.
When fully operational, the Genome comes alive with the Aura RGB lighting system which connects to the water pump and reservoir. Everything looks colorful and beautiful in this case. And something we’ve not seen too often is the remote control that allows you control the RGB lighting system of the Genome.
The cooling performance and design of this case can best be described as impressive.
- Elaborate design
- Supports long graphics card
- Has inbuilt water cooling support
- Price
- Noise
5. Cougar Panzer Max
The Panzer Max is a classy, full tower styled with a military theme. The engineers at cougar designed it to be the ultimate PC case for extreme gamers and high-performance hardware.
Our review unit shows that they did deliver on this promise. Considering the number of fan support for ventilation, you should have no problems with cooling for this PC case. For water cooling support the exceeds expectations especially if you consider its price range.
The Panzar Max provides excellent racks to support the installation of multiple water cooling radiator sizes. You can install 120mm, 140mm radiators in the racks with ease. They also support a joint installation of 240mm, 280mm and 360mm crates for radiator units.
There’s still more. The units allow you to install these on the front, top, bottom, and rear of the case.
In addition to its superb cooling functionality, it sports a unique and aesthetically pleasing design. The LED RGB lights ups the interior when the PC comes up. This complements the military design to give it a very appealing form factor.
It supports as much six units of memory drives as well as a 390mm long GPU. They also support six different motherboard styles providing limitless build flexibility.
- Unique design
- Excellent Cooling features
- Multiple hard drive support
- Multiple Motherboard style support
- The military design may appeal to only a niche of gamers
- Only one style available
- No dust filter
6. DEEPCOOL Mid Tower Dukase Liquid
This is the only Mid Tower case featured in this article. So if you are tight on a budget or fancy compact PC cases this option is for you. It comes with a pre-built and integrated cooling system right out of the box.
For our review unit, the PC case offers a competitive option for installation of radiators. The case also buffs this up with impressive fan support. You can install up to five cooling fans of different sizes (120, 240, 360mm).
For Liquid cooling, the PC case provides a rack for installing a 120mm radiator at the rear. This is in addition to the 240mm preinstalled cooling radiators that come with it.
In addition to this impressive array of cooling systems, it supports a massive 390mm of GPU length. You also get a CPU cooler support of 160mm with a 240mm cooler preinstalled for you.
The RGB LED lighting makes for an aesthetic appeal for such a low price. Also, the interior is roomy enough to hold up to 4 drives for file storage. It costs $188.99 to get one from Amazon.
- The LED lighting and transparent flow tube exudes brilliant aesthetics
- Support for lengthy 390mm GPU
- Pre-installed cooling system and CPU coolers
- Efficient cable and Space management
- Performance pales in comparison to full-tower designs
- Only one style available
- Quite noisy
Why Should You Pick Liquid Over Air Cooling?
Air Cooling is perfect if you are only running MS Office Tools and watching movies. But if you want to game you need something a lot more potent. Here are two reasons:
Overclocking
Overclocking CPUs and GPUs is now mainstream among gamers today. This has consequences. One of them is heat. A liquid cooler can extract a lot more heat from the heat sink within a shorter period that air coolers can hope to manage.
Ventilation
There’s also the issue of spaces. Fancy gaming cases have poor space management. It’s a tradeoff many gamers are willing to consider. But it also comes at a cost. Hotspot areas develop in your gaming rig. This is due to poor ventilation as air can’t circulate optimally around it.
You don’t have to worry about that with water-coolers. They don’t rely on ventilation to get the job done.
In essence, you can choose any PC case style that panders to your whims without worrying about a chip frying in the middle of a Fortnite session.
Tips To Get The Best Case for Your Next Gaming Rig
To serve as a buying guide here are some solid tips to help you get around the hurdle of purchasing your next water cooled PC case.
Budget
The first question is about how much you are willing to shell out for it. The best ones are usually north of $500. But there are also decent liquid-cooled ones for much below that price.
Size and Use Case
If you’re an avid gamer and need only top performance, you best get a large, premium case. But if space is a limitation in your home, consider the smaller full-tower alternatives.
Aesthetics and Design Appeal
If you are big on design and aesthetics, you should look for the one with this feature. LED lights, RGB fans, and tempered glass exterior are relatively common these days. Select the case with the best aesthetic appeal for your budget.
Cable Management
Cable management is a big deal, especially with compact ones. Modern PC cases now offer a cable control feature to organize your cable paths and how they are organized in your chassis. Velcros and clip are also excellent ways to control the cable.
Dust Filters and Sound Dampening
Consider adding sound dampening features on your lookout list, if you intend to use your PC in a silent environment. The dust filter is essential if you don’t want to open them up to clean out accumulated dust routinely.
Conclusion
Getting the right water cooled PC case can be a drag sometimes. In this article, we have recommended some of the best available options for high-end gaming and design needs.
You can choose one of the listed options here. If you like, you can use our buying guide to inform your search for your next PC case. Either way, you are sure to get the best bang for your bucks.
