Chenbro 611 project

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 6:35 pm

For $41 shipped from newegg, I just had to check out the Chenbro 611. I chose beige, but black is available.

The case comes with a 92mm Sunon KD1209PTB-6 rated at 44CFM @ 33dBA.That's an $11 value. I can probably use it somewhere else.

This pic shows the size of a 120mm next to the case:

Some modifcations will have to be done to both fan holes.

I used a pencil and paper to trace a 120mm fan template. I used a knife to cut the holes and the circle diameter:

As you can see, this case is the bare minimum size to fit dual 120mm's in it.

. . .

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 6:35 pm

Now on to the modifications:
First, I cut the holes with tin snips, drilled the new isolator holes (yeah, I think I'll stop calling them screw holes, because I wont use screws anymore

)
I used some c-strip edge molding to clean up the apearance and sharp edges.

. . .

As you can see in this pic, they did not design the the front bezel very well. So out comes the dremmel!

. . .

Now there's an inexpensive case that can breathe quietly!

. . .

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Apr 23, 2003 8:10 pm

This case is nice! Reminicent of the Evercase. I would live to see how the plastic bezel works, what the airflow/noisse path is like. Pics please?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:35 am

Hello:

None of your pictures are showing up!

It's too bad that the SPRC servers can't host pictures...

Edit: There they are!

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:38 am

NeilBlanchard wrote:Hello:

None of your pictures are showing up!

They're showing up fine at my end.

Maybe you should hit "shift-refresh"?

dgouldin · Post by **dgouldin** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:45 am

Very interesting ... they're not showing up for me (at work) either. I can't access my web server. May be a firewall thing (?)

(questioning the reliability of my solution ...)

Any suggestions?

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:52 am

dgouldin, Thank you for offering to host the pics, but the connection is not reliable enough, so I've put them somewhere else. You should be able to see them now.

dgouldin · Post by **dgouldin** » Thu Apr 24, 2003 6:57 am

oh well ... it's the thought that counts, right (hopeful grin

)

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 12:59 am

Hello:

How's the project going? Any new pictures?

Ya know, it is really too bad that the Compucase doesn't have decent low noise/high airflow grills -- that case has room for plenty of HD's!

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 6:13 am

I got the holes cut, and I'm just waiting for my shippment of c strip molding. Looks like it'll come in tomorrow. I'll be posting plenty of pics.
I think it's going to turn out well. I'm pretty sure I'm going to use some steel mesh on the front bezel as well. I don't know what these designers are thinking, certainly not airflow.

Vector · Post by **Vector** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:35 am

Does this thing come with a removable hard drive cage (placed in front of the intake fan)? It doesn't show in the product pictures at newegg. That is a big must-have for me. I need to have my hard drives in front of my intake fan.

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:39 am

No it does not. This case would not be the case for you. I'd suggest the D8000, Antec SLK3700, Compucase 6A19 for another low cost alternative with a removeable hard drive cage.

Vector · Post by **Vector** » Mon Apr 28, 2003 7:42 am

thanks for the heads up.

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 12:34 am

Vector wrote:Does this thing come with a removable hard drive cage (placed in front of the intake fan)? It doesn't show in the product pictures at newegg. That is a big must-have for me. I need to have my hard drives in front of my intake fan.

You should check outthis thread.

This Chenbro case would be complete with the bracket fmah is building. You should talk to him.

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Tue Apr 29, 2003 5:32 pm

Mike, I've got the bezel pics up that you wanted. And the project is moving along nicely

Mr_Smartepants · Post by **Mr_Smartepants** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 12:29 am

Oh Man your mods are SWEET!

I have got to get me one of these for my next project!

KatanaMan, where did you source your c-strip molding? I've got some but it's chunky plastic, yours looks like thin rubber. I need some more.

Your 'moddersmesh' front grill looks nice too. Maybe if you 'color-keyed' it beige it'd blend better. A light coat of spray paint wouldn't affect airflow.

I'm looking forward to the 'next chapter'.

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 12:39 am

So the original external bezel is quite restrictive and your mesh is the opposite, but now the noise in the case has a straight path out...

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 4:32 am

Katana Man - Looks like you're using an L1A on the front of the case mounted with isolators. Where did you find isolators that will work with the thick flange on the 120mm L1A?

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 6:06 am

Hello:

It also looks like there are slide-in rails for additional HD cages -- any of these available as an option from Chenbro? If so, then that front fan might have to be a 25mm thick unit...

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 6:58 am

MikeC wrote:So the original external bezel is quite restrictive and your mesh is the opposite, but now the noise in the case has a straight path out...

Through much experimenting, I've learned that it's better to open up the airflow and turn down the fan speed. If the bezel or anything was in front of the fan, you have to turn the fan speed up in order to maintain the same temps.

From my D8000 project, I've concluded that it's much better to let it breathe. The fans are running sub 5V so they don't kick out much noise at all.

Mr_Smartepants wrote:KatanaMan, where did you source your c-strip molding? I've got some but it's chunky plastic, yours looks like thin rubber. I need some more.

I got it from BestByte.net. However, be warned, he is not very professional over there at all. I barely got the shippment, after delays, repeated calls, and emails. It might be better to get it from Directron.
Neither of these guys make it, so I'd like to find their upstream supplier and order some from bulk.

Vector wrote:Does this thing come with a removable hard drive cage (placed in front of the intake fan)?

No it does not, but the 610 does. The 610 is a better version of this case in my opinion. Rackmount pro has the 610.

Ralf Hutter wrote:Katana Man - Looks like you're using an L1A on the front of the case mounted with isolators. Where did you find isolators that will work with the thick flange on the 120mm L1A?

Same isolators. They only go through the first fan hole. This is true even with the 120x25mm fans.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 9:23 am

Hello:

This picture (while it comes from the 610 link) seems to be of the 611, and it shows 4 extra HD bays...

http://www.rackmountpro.com/prodimages/610-2.jpg

So the total would be 4 5.25" external, 1 3.5" ext. and 6 internal 3.5"!

If you think that picture is big, check this one out:

http://www.rackmountpro.com/prodimages/610-3.jpg

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 9:25 am

Don't take much stock in those pics on Rackmountpro. All 3 pics contradict one another.
This is the official site for the 610:
http://www.chenbro.com.tw/product/produ ... =102&pid=9

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Wed Apr 30, 2003 9:35 am

Hello:

The intake on the 610 looks much better than on the 611: it looks quite open and it fits a 120mm out of the box! It's also moved up a bit from the bottom of the case.

aristide1 · Post by **aristide1** » Fri May 02, 2003 8:51 pm

Interesting place to browse. Check out all the holes in this case:

http://www.rackmountpro.com/productpage.cfm?prodid=642

Liquidated · Post by **Liquidated** » Sat May 03, 2003 10:46 pm

so um a buck a foot for that stripping....

hmmm think 20 feet would cover any rough edges on the average global win mini server case? =)

Cheers!
-Liq

Katana Man · Post by **Katana Man** » Wed May 07, 2003 5:59 am

One negative to this case..... no reset switch! What were they thinking?

confusion · Post by **confusion** » Thu May 08, 2003 1:36 am

Does anyone actually use a reset switch? For what purpose?

ruprag · Post by **ruprag** » Thu May 08, 2003 3:00 am

well if you play a lot of games then you tend to use the reset switch a bit, also if you have kids that mess around with it.

aristide1 · Post by **aristide1** » Thu May 08, 2003 5:09 am

Does anyone actually use a reset switch? For what purpose?

I haven't used it in years, but recently installing a new mobo I plugged all my cards into the same slots as my previous mobo and I had an IRQ problem, so even W2K Pro managed to freeze up on me.

During the whole install process it surprised me how W2K didn't behaved much better than any prior versions of Winduhs.

Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Thu May 08, 2003 6:23 am

confusion wrote:Does anyone actually use a reset switch? For what purpose?

I've been using the Coolermaster 710 for the last year and it has no reset switch. The few times I've ever had to, I've just held down the main power button for about five seconds which shuts off the computer. Then just restart as normal. This works just fine and I don't miss not having a reset switch.

Chenbro 611 project

Chenbro 611 project

Waaa...no pictures!

Re: Waaa...no pictures!

Any new pics yet?

HD cage

Re: HD cage

Optional HD cages?

611 with 4 extra drive bays?

The intake on the official 610 looks much better!

hmmmmm