Help with Case selection

mattek · Post by **mattek** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:27 am

First post. Read all the stickys. Still left with a question.

I have very specific requirements for my future case. If you know of a case that meets at least some of my reqiurements please share.

The standard amount of external bays seems to be four 5.25 och two 3.5. I will never use more than one of each so a case that has only one of each would be sweet. In the extra room this yields I would like to see an additional 120mm fan (ie 2x120 front and 1x120 back) as well as an internal HDD-rack that gives me more than standard 4 bays. I need minimum 5 bays and preferably 8 bays. A case without PSU would be nice since I'm planning to get a Seasonic.

Specs I'm looking for in short:
1. 120mm fans (yes I checked the sticky post on that)
2. Internal HDD rack with 5 or more bays.
3. Smallish bezel (like the 3700BQE) but not a SFF.
4. Rubbermounted drivebay.
5. Preferably without PSU, but not a dealbreaker.

Hardware I'll be running:
Gigabyte Mobo
3500+ Winchester + Zalman
2Gb Ram
5 Drives
- Maxtor Dimondmax10 250Gb SATA
- 2xHitachi 160Gb PATA (RAID 1) (will set AAM)
- Seagate 120Gb PATA
(Additional harddrives may come in future upgrade)
Hightech X800XT ICEQ
ADDA 120mm fans
ASUS DVD burner
Floppy

Eehh.. maybe not the quietest setup.

But I will be using this setup for schoolwork, gaming aswell as professional work so I need all the drives and the seminoisy X800-card.

mattek · Post by **mattek** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 12:48 am

Mockup of what I'm looking for. Based on a 3700BQE case. Check my l33t Photoshop skillz:

Tibors · Post by **Tibors** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:44 am

The only cases I know with a large number of internal bays are big towers or cube cases.

Have you looked at the Coolermaster Stacker

sensei · Post by **sensei** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 2:46 am

I seem to remember a lian li case that had a modular front arrangement, but I don't think it had 120mm fans.

You might be better off finding a server type case. They often have the setup you are looking for. They are also usually very heavy, which should be good for sound deadening (you're going to need all the help you can get

)

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 3:22 am

Hello:

The SLK3000B has five bays with rubber grommits, (space for) two 120's, and no PS. If you need more bays, use some of the 4 external 5.25" bays w/ suspension added.

mattek · Post by **mattek** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 4:33 am

Thanks for the input!

I recently ordered a Stacker for a server setup but this time that case is simply too big for me, otherwise that that would have been an intresting choice. The StackerII even more so.

The 3000 could be the case I end up going with, thanks for the tip.

More questions:
When is the Antec P180 made available in retail?
When is the SonataII made available in retail?
Why are Lian-Li so hot for 80mm fans? One of their cases has a "Stacker"-like drivebay setup that looks appealing but the 80mm fans spoils the fun.

Thanks again.

sensei · Post by **sensei** » Thu Mar 31, 2005 7:41 am

mattek wrote: Why are Lian-Li so hot for 80mm fans? One of their cases has a "Stacker"-like drivebay setup that looks appealing but the 80mm fans spoils the fun.

I think that's the one I was talking about... 80mm fans are actually not that bad if you fanmate them, as long as there are 2 doing the work a 120mm would be doing.

Otherwise, it's a mystery

still.. aluminium is not optimal for a low noise setup. Rule of thumb is the heavier the better.

Lycka til

nosoup_fouru · Post by **nosoup_fouru** » Sun Apr 03, 2005 2:15 pm

I am a huge fan of the SLK3000B, I built my latest system in one and am very pleased with the airflow and noise characteristics.

idiot · Post by **idiot** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 12:51 pm

The Compucase model can only hold potentially six hard drives, given the floppy you plan to install... though only five with grommets. I suppose that you could suspend any additional drives in the 5.25" bays, though, if you need more space. But it should be among the smallest and cheapest that you can find to satisfy your needs.

mattek · Post by **mattek** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 12:03 am

The Compucase was crossed from shortlist fairly early in my case selection process. Maybe it warrants another look. Thanks for the tip!

Talz · Post by **Talz** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:02 am

Only thing I would not as a deal killer on the SLK 3000 is it puts the top of the motherboard very close to the power supply so you do have to be careful with mobos mounting the cpu up top and big heatsinks not fitting.

ilh · Post by **ilh** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 11:17 am

Talz wrote:Only thing I would not as a deal killer on the SLK 3000 is it puts the top of the motherboard very close to the power supply so you do have to be careful with mobos mounting the cpu up top and big heatsinks not fitting.

I think there is at least 1.5 - 2in of clearance up there between the top of the motherboard and the bottom of the PSU.

Post by **NeilBlanchard** » Tue Apr 05, 2005 7:49 pm

Hello:

ilh wrote:
Talz wrote:Only thing I would not as a deal killer on the SLK 3000 is it puts the top of the motherboard very close to the power supply so you do have to be careful with mobos mounting the cpu up top and big heatsinks not fitting.
I think there is at least 1.5 - 2in of clearance up there between the top of the motherboard and the bottom of the PSU.

It is nowhere near as close as the Evercase 4252, which is "right" on top (about 1/4") -- but the SLK3000B has almost exactly 1 1/4" between the PS and the edge of the mobo. I think that on many mobo's, this is more than enough.

There were a lot of Socket A's that were located right at the top edge, but many/most S754/939 will fit in the 3000B, even with an XP-120. Heck, an XP-120 even fits in an Evercase (easily) with some mobo's. (The Gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra-9 is one...)

Help with Case selection

Help with Case selection

Mockup

Thx

Re: Thx

Thanks