I am in the process of upgrading my PC to better specs, especialy with regard to noise, cooling, and professionalism.

I use my computer in my home studio. I am also a musician and sound engineer, so I may want to move it about from time to time.

Initaly, I fancied a Lian Li case for my new setup. However, i have swung towards wanting to rackmount my PC, as I have other rack equipment, and I thought it would be cool to have it all in the same physical format.

I am in the UK, and it appears to me that rack cases are kinda hard to find, and are of course built for servers. This usualy means they are really deep, heavy, and quite costly (around £120 minimum).

My ideal case would be 4U, well built but light, with maybe 3 or 4 internal drive bays, 2 external optical drive bays, and an external floppy drive bay. Front USB isn't nessasary, or for that matter any front connections.

Fans would be kept to a minimum, with a good PSU fan doing most of the work. I would consider one 120mm fan would be possably needed, but I really dont want one unless it's needed.

This leads me to think that either I have to get really lucky finding a good enclosure, or I have to build my own!

I have built one 2u case before, for a previous audio project. I based it on a 2u 3mm aluminium blanking plate, and built the box from 2mm sheet aluminium. It wasn't too hard to do. I realise a PC case will be harder, with drive cages and (especialy) the PCI card holes at the back, but there is nothing that is imposible.

Does anyone have any experence building their own case? or does anyone know where I can buy a pre-made case to this spec in the UK? Any help would be much appreciated!

Might an Antec Overture fit the bill?
http://www.antec-inc.com/pro_details_enclosure.php?ProdID=15728

No direct experience, but I would note that rackmount cases also tend to be noisy since they are intended for server rooms and the like where noise isn't an issue.

You might find the easiest approach would be to get a desktop (horizontal) style case, and build an adapter to let you rack mount it. That would take care of much of the internal construction details for you at the very least.

Gooserider

Thanks for the pointers!

The antec case looks not bad, but no rack lugs and expensive. @Gooserider - good idea for using the inside of a desktop case. I know that normal rackmounts can be noisy, heavy and expensive, three things I DON'T want!

I am getting close to fully decided to make my own case from aluminium. i enjoy working with this material anyway, so it would be fun as well.

I have ideas:

OUTSIDE - black 4U rackmount, good handles (practical), minimal, strong, light, stealth, minimal discs on the outside (maybe just 1 optical drive?), industrial, retro

INSIDE - bare aluminium, 3 suspended hard disc bays, 1 internal or hidden floppy disc for bios updates, ducted cool air from front of case for needed areas, Tidy cables, standard motherboard and PSU mounting (use tray / backplate from old PC?), areas strenthened, easy to open, minimal fans (PSU + HDD?), Minimal openings

The more I think about this, the more I think I haven't seen anything like this before!

I haven't tried building my own case, but I suspect that the only really hairy part is getting the relationship between the mobo mounts, the card slots and the connector area right. Those are very much inter-related and have little tolerance for error (indeed that accuracy is a big differentiator between a good case and a cheapo model) IMHO the rest of the setup is pretty simple and not real fussy as to how the different parts interact.

My AMS CK1100 case has a removable mobo tray that includes all the brackets, card slots, and so forth needed to mount the mobo in the right position, including the end brackets for full length cards and an adjustable brace and bracket setup to support the top edge of any installed cards. I wouldn't reccomend getting this (very) expensive case just to steal that tray out of it, but I suspect other cheap cases might have a similar tray that might even be worth purchasing a case to get. It certainly would make the build easier.

Gooserider

Here are a few with a single 120mm up front:

Maxtop IPC-4032B-AL
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=11-150-047&depa=1

Evercase ECR9400B
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=11-127-011&depa=1

Antec 4U22
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=11-129-137&depa=1


I have the Evercase and Maxtops. I recommend the Maxtop. You can't beat the price ($90) and it's aluminum now, at no extra cost. (The first models were steel.) The aluminum case is very light.

I would HIGHLY suggest to modify any of these cases for better air flow. Rip out those black plastic card holders which seriously hinder the air flow. Then take out the hard drive cage and turn it 90 degrees and pin it between the support bar and front cage area. Then take out the front metal filter. You can see this in my bottom most Maxtop vs. the one above it. Once you've done all this, you can reduce the voltage of the 120mm fan to 5V and it's a very quiet case with good air flow.

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Nah - just buy a tray here or here.

So-trickcomputers unfortunatly don't ship to the UK that Lian Li replacement motherboard tray looks ideal! The other tray looks good, but 8.75 inches is way too high (4U is just under 7 inches).

The only things that worry me about a mobo tray are:

* weight
* noise (surely these will rattle like hell unless they are bolted down tight!)

I can't find anywhere in the UK selling mobo trays... or those bolt packs. Man, the UK is lame for "build it yourself" computer parts.

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/product.php? ... a44926e83f SORTED! ooh all kinds of cool stuff here!

Wow these folk are in Scotland as well WOOHOO!

hmm.. i would think that a heavier and thicker case would be better for acoustic performance ..

I have a case that's exactly the same as that antec 4u case above (probably oem'd from same source), save for a slightly different looking front cover here
and while i haven't put it together yet (papst fans just arrived), here are my observations:
* good front ventilation, all drive covers stamped with holes, with holes getting larger towards the sides of the bays (foam filter on case cover).
* front 120mm fan in enclosed in a 5-1/4" drive cage, so less turbulence and all of the airflow goes over the drives
* also means that you can use a zalman hdd cooler to effectively cool fast drives like 10k and 15k rpm hds while still having a slow speed 120mm.
* because all drive bays are ventilated and the right side mirrors the left, you can either swap sides having the fan on the right and seperate out your agp/pci slot area (i see this on some dells) with some barrier or keep it as is and have a dedicated airflow path to the power supply using an empty right side drive bay or shroud to the cage.
* 1.2 mm steel feels good

1.2 mm steel feels good untill you have to move that sucker about! Also, aluminium is much easier to work with, and I just prefer it as a material. 2mm aluminium is easy to cut, drill, tap, and bend at home. 1.2mm sheet steel is an entirely different kettle of fish!

Sure, the same thickness of steel will be better at stopping sound than aluminium, but what use is that if it is full of holes?

I got my Lian Li motherboard tray today, Nexus 3500 PSU was supposed to be here now, but the delivery guy must have stopped for a doughnut insted of delivering it GRRRR

I am doing a cardboard mock up of this case before I build the real one. Plan is that all air will be expeled out of the PSU, but if it gets too hot/fast, I will put in a case fan in the back as well.

HDD will be built into a custom cage, with cooling aluminium strip bolted to the side, and suspended. Airflow from the front will be directed over the HDD's. A seperate inlet will direct cool air over the mobo and the CPU.

Motherboard tray may be suspended from the rear of the case, tied in with elastic cord and isolated on neoprene gaskets. Same for PSU and other drives.

The cardboard mock up I am building will have a clear top, so I can use smoke to see how the airflow is doing. I will run the system and check tempratures.